Bridging the GAP 2022
USA BMX HQ & Hall of Fame | Tulsa, OK
Bridging the GAP is a series of outdoor sculptures and corresponding plaza design for the USA BMX Headquarters and Hall of Fame in the historic African American neighborhood of Greenwood, in North Tulsa. The project’s complex task was to honor the legacy of the neighborhood which had been all but destroyed during the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, as well as herald the exciting next chapter for a cycling organization and its new campus.
In the aftermath of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, photographs show a landscape of brick chimneys standing impossibly upright amidst a devastating landscape of rubble. The residents of the historic Greenwood neighborhood rebuilt, brick by brick. Nearly fifty years later the highways came through, seeking to permanently divide Tulsa from itself. The efforts of eminent domain and ‘urban renewal’ left North Tulsa scattered with concrete steps leading to empty home sites. The ‘Steps to Nowhere’, as they are referred to locally, are stark reminders of the inequality that North Tulsa has faced. Yet these stairs hold a certain optimism for new beginnings, whatever they may be.
Bridging the GAP is a permanent art installation at the new USA BMX headquarters in Greenwood, Tulsa which seeks to commemorate the complicated legacy of the land on which it stands. Rising up to 24’ above the plaza at USA BMX are five, cast-concrete sculptural columns. One side of each vertical form undulates like the topography of a BMX roller section, while a low relief brick pattern is stamped into the surface of each column - calling to mind the chimneys of Greenwood post-massacre. Each column is painted its own brilliant color, pushing their associations beyond the devastation of 1921 and into the bright, new horizons of 2021.
Punctuating the plaza beneath the columns are three sets of cast-concrete staircases. These stark forms remain raw and unpainted and draw a direct connection to the ‘Steps to Nowhere’ which still populate North Tulsa. Their role in the installation is multi-layered however. On a functional level, the steps in the plaza serve as seating for guests and passers by as well as podiums for medals ceremonies. On a symbolic level, the stairs offer a formal conduit from the ground to the sky, suggesting the journey and aspirational drive of every athlete and citizen alike.
The third and final element of Bridging the GAP is a series of bronze, text inlays set into and surrounding the central staircase which sits as a focal point in the overall installation. The central, podium staircase has the cardinal direction indicators N, S, E, W embedded into the top level which correspond with the orientation of the staircase. Establishing the cardinal directions in such a charged location is a chance to stand on top of the stairs and consider the city of Tulsa holistically, from each direction. Embedded into the concrete of the plaza itself, on each side of the central staircase, are the virtues: EQUITY, ACCESS, SUSTAINABILITY. These embedded virtues are meant to be symbolic placeholders for the ideals that any community, institution, or city should strive to meet.
The fourth phrase that is embedded in the plaza is the title of the installation, BRIDGING THE GAP. Bridging the gap is a common term for collapsing the boundaries between communities - often in reference to socioeconomic or racial disparities. The physical location of USA BMX sits at the threshold between North and South Tulsa and no doubt aspires to bridge the gap between the inequities faced by citizens of North Tulsa and their neighbors to the South, East and West. In this instance, the term gap itself has two additional connotations. Gap is a common term for the space underneath an airborne bmxer - the gap between the takeoff and landing of a jump or trick. And in North Tulsa, GAP is synonymous with The GAP Band, the R&B and funk trio of Charlie, Ronnie & Robert Wilson. The GAP in their name refers to the streets of Greenwood, Archer & Pine which loosely denote the parameters of the Tulsa Race Massacre. The installation Bridging the GAP welcomes USA BMX to the rich and enduring landscape of North Tulsa and it welcomes greater Tulsa to the passionate community of athletes and visionaries of USA BMX.
Bridging the GAP was designed by Shane Darwent, Kolby Ari and Adam Baldwin. Darwent served as lead artist and project manager. Ari’s experience with urban design advocacy pushed the project to consider the function of the plaza as a public space as well as issues of equity and access, especially as related to cycling. Finally, Baldwin’s career as an architect brought a level of material knowledge and spatial understanding to the installation and it’s final arrangement. Additionally, Baldwin’s experience with architectural modeling software guided the initial project renderings. Shane Darwent LLC held the insurance for the duration of the project.
