From the Architect
When the owner and developer of Sleeping Lady, Harriet Bullitt, met architect Johnpaul Jones, she sensed they spoke the same language and a partnership was born. Much of his dedication to and inspiration for work at the Sleeping Lady project comes from his spiritual feeling for the site inspired by his Native American heritage.
By Johnpaul Jones, Jones & Jones Architects and Landscape Architects
The Sleeping Lady site is a living thing. We need architecture to recede and nature to come forward. We need to listen to what the land is telling us.
Sleeping Lady is more than a retreat and conference facility. It is connected with something larger than those human activities. It is connected to what we share across our diversities.
There is a large black canoe sculpture at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC, by Haida artist Bill Reid. This black canoe is filled with animals, spirits, humans and plant forms. The canoe is totally full. There is hardly any room in the canoe; it is full of wolf and wolf tails, cedar hats, human paddlers, beaver paddler, and bear spirit hanging on to humans who are part animal spirit.
There is no interpretive text. It is not important to understand the significance of all the symbols in the sculpture. The canoe's message is about connectedness. This is what visitors to Sleeping Lady relate to and carry away with them. They feel connected to something larger than themselves.
And it feels good.
