Earlier this spring, we had a call with the team at DPR where they shared that they had acceptable RFP responses and would be moving forward with project construction. This was great news, doubly so, as thought had honestly never crossed our minds that it might not move forward. On Mother’s Day, fences went up around the project site, and demo began soon after.

While construction started, we began working on custom artwork for the cedar benches and several of the robinia posts that make up the “forest” element of the play area. This artwork will be tonal and cut into the wood. It’s been a lot of work, but has been such a special way to remember Quinny, and share memories we had with him.

As you can see in the plans, there are three benches on the site. We created three different layouts highlighting places, plants, and animals we shared with Quinn on each—the western “Mountain” bench, central “Neighborhood” bench, and eastern “Meadow” bench. We were inspired by traditional woodcut styles, which have a playful, crafted quality, and the work of Eric Carle, as Quinn loved Brown Bear so much. The resulting artwork is a combination of local and familiar flora and animal pairs together. Memories of Quinny run through them: his delicious little bear growl; the eagle we saw on Christmas day; the heart-shaped aspens and cottonwoods that rustled on our hikes; the weed and flower bouquets that Kendal and Ames would bring home each day; the bird songs we listened for; his tap-tap-tap! of a woodpecker; and the neighborhood dogs that he would bark with and pet and would never mind if they kissed his face.

The center bench will also feature a plaque honoring Quinn. It’s so touching to have his name be a part of the memories people will make at the playground, a place Ames and Esme will also know with Quinn.