These days it seems like something new is happening every week! It has been so exciting to watch local businesses come together to support each other and create community. Last month, Liberty Public Market officially opened! We have been so thrilled over the community coming together to make this happen. One feature we were particularly excited about has been lovingly nicknamed by friends as “Noah’s Ark”. We commissioned Jon Allen, a local craftsman and artist, to create a seating area for outside the Public Market, but we didn’t want just any seating area. Together, we created a vision for a seating area that would pay tribute to our naval history by creating a boat! “My friends were asking me what projects I had coming up and I told them that I was going to be building a boat for Liberty Station,” Jon said. “From there people started calling me Noah and I thought it was funny. At times it does feel like it’s as difficult as making the ark, but I’m having a lot of fun with it.” Jon is one of the co-founders of Moniker Group (which will also be joining Liberty Station at Moniker General this year). As their lead designer, he created stage designs and installations for conferences like Catalyst, Lumen, Not for Sale and more! He also had the lucky opportunity to fly to Sydney, Australia with the rest of the Moniker team to create a graffiti art piece in Bondi Beach! Eventually, Jon started working at Urban Outfitters in the Gaslamp as their Display Artist for three years before taking a leap of faith to start his own business, Brave Aesthetics. Jon specializes in artistic installations and retail design so it was the perfect fit for this ambitious and exciting project! Jon has worked with clients like Van de Vort, Lone Flag, Rock Church, Richer Poorer and Restored International to name a few. “A few years ago Bob Goff asked me to come with him to Seattle for a fundraiser and do a life art piece during worship led by Brandon Heath. Donald Miller was there and purchased my art piece. It was pretty awesome.”   When NTC was at its peak, you would often find men in the Navy training in whale boats. The goal of this training was to build a team bond. In order for the boat to get where it needed to go, each man had to work together, paddling long, hard, and in sync. As we learned more about the history of these whale boats and the camaraderie that the training built, it seemed a perfect fit to create a piece of art that pays tribute to the men who gave their lives to service, but to also celebrate the community currently joining together to make history in Liberty Station.     We were thrilled to partner with Jon on this project to bring some of our history to life and his excitement about the project made it the perfect fit. “I love getting the opportunity to create functional art. I’ve been super inspired by this opportunity to build a piece of art that will be seen and enjoyed by so many people.”     The finished product is now installed for your enjoyment! Head over to Liberty Public Market to enjoy a little slice of history (and of course a bit to eat). Stay up-to-date on Jon’s work, progress and other projects via Instagram.