Many Renton residents, especially new residents, may not know about the city’s coal mining past. In fact asking people on the street what the Renton Mine Hoist Foundation is, might produce some very blank stares.

So what is it?

Renton History Museum Director Elizabeth Stewart describes it as “the last physical reminder of Renton’s coal mining past, so it’s very significant to our history, recognized by the fact that it’s a King County landmark site,” she said in an email. “The foundation had a giant engine bolted to it that dragged loaded coal cars out of the mine.”

In August, artist Kristin Schimik will create a site-specific art installation and performance art piece for the Renton Mine Hoist Foundation. The Renton History Museum staff helped write a grant application to 4Culture, an arts organization, for the project.

The Infinity Loop Project is the name of Schimik’s art installation.

The mine hoist is located off of Benson Road South, unnoticed by probably most of the drivers heading down the road into downtown Renton toward Sam’s Club and Renton City Hall.

For the project, Schimik will use a great deal of raw, red clay to build paths in the shape of a St. James Arms symbol, which is used to “indicate a place of interest and ancient monument in Scandanavia,” the project description reads. There will be walking paths to symbolize the endless time, perpetual motion and symmetrical stillness of the center.

“I was excited by the idea of the project for the mining history and where materials come from,” said Schimik.

When Schimik first saw the foundation, she felt like she was standing in the ruin of a castle, she said.

Previously, Schimik didn’t associate the Northwest with a coal mining history.

She did her graduate studies in ceramic sculpture and lived for five years in Marquette, Mich., an iron- ore mining town. Schimik became intrigued by the idea of where the rocks come from and that the rocks seem to be where the wealth in that town was located. The artist currently lives in Seattle and has a residency with Pottery Northwest.

Stewart notes how Renton got its start with coal.

“Coal mining continued to be more or less profitable until the World War I, when production declined significantly,” Stewart said. “Small-scale mining continued into the 1950s, but it became increasingly difficult as the mines were exhausted.”

For the performance piece of the project, a performer will repeatedly walk the loops of the paths. Carbon “stones” will be reconstructed into a tower. For each broken down chunk of stone, the performer will walk another loop.

The slowness of making the “stones” or “balls” is important, Schimik said, because it is done in contrast to fast-moving roads in the area.

“It takes some imagination to picture what it would have looked like, but I think Kristin’s art installation will help brings it to life,” said Stewart of the Renton Mine Hoist Foundation.

The museum director said the artist is ideal for this particular site “because of her interest in energy and how humans use it-that’s exactly what gave Renton its start!”

On Aug. 15 the Renton History Museum will host a talk by the artist, where she will invite attendees to create spheres for the project after a  7 p.m. lecture. On Aug. 24, Schimik will build the coal tower that goes in the center of the piece.

For more information, visit http://www.sitespecificarts.org/project/command-renton-mine-hoist/.

Contact Tracey Compton at tcompton@rentonreporter.com or 425-255-3484 ext. 5052