Seattle, Washington, USA, 2004
Oxbow Park is the result of a grassroots effort by Seattle’s Georgetown community to turn a vacant one-acre lot into a park and save the landmark historical "Hat ‘n’ Boots" structures, built in 1954 as part of a western-themed gas station just a couple blocks away from the park site. Laura Haddad worked with the community to establish a conceptual design with an "industrial cowboy" theme. Following that she worked with Jones & Jones Landscape Architects to develop the design. Oxbow Park won a WASLA Honor Award for its "defiant civic space" and "strong concept."
In conjunction with park construction Haddad|Drugan won a grant from 4Culture to lead a team of community volunteers in covering the structure of Seattle’s largest and most beloved cowboy hat with a veil of live carnations, laurel, and sunflowers. The installation was carried out in conjunction with the Georgetown Art & Garden Walk and created the backdrop for a musical performance and community party. The fantastic novelty of the flowerdraped hat brought media awareness to efforts to restore this historic landmark, which occurred in 2009.