Community unveils 'Shape of the Family' sculptures at 5 Mile Prairie roundabout

At a public unveiling at the 5 Mile Prairie roundabout near Spokane, neighborhood residents, elected officials and tribal representatives revealed a three-piece metal sculpture installation titled "Shape of the Family." Aaron Reese, chair of the 5 Mile Neighborhood Prairie Council, introduced the artwork curated by Louis Boyd and described the roundabout as "the heart of 5 Mile."

The sculpture set — a buck, a doe and a fawn — is intended as both public art and a visual focal point for the roundabout. "This roundabout signifies the heart of 5 Mile," Reese said. City Council President Betsy Wilkerson said the pieces "add to this neighborhood" and described the figures as representing family and intergenerational connection.

Why it matters: neighborhood leaders and elected officials said the sculptures both reflect local history and help with traffic safety by giving drivers a visual cue to slow. State funding played a role: participants said state capital budget allocations supported the project, though speakers did not specify the dollar amount. The Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation cleared the installation, and tribal members from the Spokane-area nations participated in the ceremony and consultations.

Artist and fabrication: The sculptures were created by Louis Boyd (credited in remarks as both Louis and Lewis Boyd). Colleen McKinney, director of special projects at Kalispel Metal Products, described Boyd's work history with the shop and his other public pieces, including a canoe bike rack created with the Muckleshoot tribe, a piece at Northern Quest and an almost life-sized buffalo fabricated as part of a larger expansion project the shop described as $14,000,000. McKinney said Boyd has been with Kalispel Metal Products about two and a half years and that the company continues to support his work as he develops an independent practice.

Design and scale: According to remarks at the unveiling, the doe is "more than 6 feet tall" while the fawn weighs about 250 pounds and stands roughly 4 feet tall. Wilkerson described cut patterns in the metal as "spirit lines" meant to convey individuality within a family grouping.

Elected officials and community partners: State Senator Marcus Riccelli and State Representative Jenny Graham attended and spoke about the project's community support and the role of state funding. "Community is not about partisan politics. It's about doing what's right," Sen. Riccelli said. Rep. Graham highlighted safety, saying roundabouts can reduce certain types of fatal crashes and that public art can help drivers pay attention: "If we're gonna slow down, we might as well enjoy the beauty of the artwork that artist Boyd created." Spokane Arts Executive Director Skyler Oberst and representatives of the Kalispel Tribe participated; organizers thanked the Department of Commerce for assistance and the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation for permitting clearance.

Project history and neighborhood role: Project lead and former City Council member Candice Mumm recounted nearly a decade of neighborhood planning and iterations on design that sought to reflect local farming history, native connections and the prairie landscape. The neighborhood task force considered several concepts before selecting a nature-based family grouping and worked with city public works staff and consultants through the permitting process. Organizers said the roundabout marks a city/county boundary at the site and that the neighborhood council includes both city and county residents.

Ceremony and next steps: Organizers invited attendees to view the sculptures, take photos and continue the celebration with refreshments provided inside. No permits, contracts or funding amounts were specified during the remarks; speakers noted only that state allocations supported the installation and that the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation had cleared the site.

Notes: Remarks quoted in this article were attributed to speakers during the unveiling event. Where multiple spellings of a person's name were spoken during the ceremony, this article uses the spellings given by event organizers and official titles when available.