Artist Eric Powell designed custom laser-cut steel gates, based on a bird’s eye view of the neighborhood street layouts. Maps are crucial and essential part of successful firefighting. Today firefighters use sophisticated satellite-driven technology to obtain information about the location of a fire, establish priorities, and implement an action plan. Using that same technology, artist Eric Powell examined the area surrounding Fire Station156. Powell began seeing very interesting patterns and designs in the layout of the streets and cul-de-sacs. At that point, he realized that maps would be a compelling theme for the development of an artwork. The shapes that form the designs of the three entry gates at Fire Station 156 are called directly from the streets in the immediate neighborhood. Made of welded steel tubing, the patterns of the streets evoke references to numbers, letters, and ancient petroglyphs or rock engravings. The transparency of the gates allows the natural landscape to merge with the artwork. During certain hours of the day, the light adds an interesting dimension through shadows cast on the ground. Says Powell, “My intention was to explore a theme that would connect the fire station and the firefighters to the community they serve. The gates are meant to create a boundary without creating a sense of separation.”

Eric Powell currently resides and works in Berkeley, CA where he was commissioned by the Berkeley Arts Commission to create the Mandala Gates for the City of Berkeley Corporation Yard. His work has been featured in various museums and galleries, such as the Oakland Museum and the Artscape Gallery in Walnut Creek, CA. He is well known for his metal gates which he says, “…are among the most noted and public aspects of my work. I have made gates for cities including Madison, Wisconsin, Oakland and Berkeley, California and also for many historical buildings and private homeowners.”