Contractor New Line Skateparks, a world leader in skate and bike park design and construction, collaborated with artist Germaine Koh to include interactive sculptures throughout the skatepark. The sculptures are inspired by native plants that celebrate energy flows around the site from human movement, natural forces and urban systems.
The Rushes public artwork celebrates the various kinds of energy that flow around the Topaz Skatepark. Four plant-like stainless-steel sculptures appear to have sprouted up in different habitats of the skatepark. Each one has springy stalks and custom LED flower bulbs that are animated both by the actions of users and by natural forces. Connected to sensors in the skatepark features, the lights react to their own swaying stems and the movements of nearby skaters and pedestrians.
The sculptural forms all refer to traditional food plants native to the local Garry Oak ecosystems of the area and remind us of the natural ecosystems, habitats and traditional practices that predate the site's use as a park. They are located in parts of the skatepark terrain that suggest the plants' natural habitats, also reminding us that skaters also tend respond to different types of terrain.