## Meeting Overview The Bellingham Arts Commission convened for its November 4th meeting in the City Council boardroom, with five commissioners present and two absent. Chair Patricia McDonnell and Blake Hudson were not in attendance, leaving Eric Shew to facilitate the meeting. The agenda centered on three substantive items: approving an artistic approach for the Middle Fork Trail project, formally deaccessioning a deteriorated sculpture, and reviewing the city's expanding pipeline of Percent for Art projects. What made this meeting notable was both the routine business of managing an aging public art collection and the forward momentum on new projects. The commission grappled with the practical realities of public art maintenance while also charting paths for nearly 20 upcoming projects that will shape Bellingham's artistic landscape in coming years. ## The Middle Fork Trail Connector: Art in Wetlands Paul Knippel from the Parks and Recreation Department oriented commissioners to a new trail project that would create a crucial pedestrian connection between Cordata Park and Stewart Road. The Middle Fork Spring Open Space Cordata Connector Trail represents more than just a walking path — it's a 1,300-foot corridor that will link the shopping areas around Meridian Street with Cordata Park, passing through sensitive wetlands along the way. "This was actually one of the sites that they were looking at for the tiny home village originally," Knippel explained, describing how the 9-acre parcel evolved from one purpose to another. The trail design includes nearly 700 feet of 10-foot-wide boardwalks elevated above the wetlands, plus 600 feet of gravel trail, with weathering steel substructures that will develop a rusted patina over time. The environmental constraints proved to be the defining factor for artistic integration. As Darby Galligan from the planning department explained, "One of the main considerations for this site is that it's heavily encumbered with critical areas, and so they've already gone through that mitigation process to…