Jacque Liu – Public Art Consultant

Permanent Public Artwork: Tristin Lowe. Shooting Star. 2015. Site: SWAT / Bomb Disposal / K9 Unit, Philadelphia, PA. Project Budget: $95,000. Funded through Percent for Art.

Partners: Philadelphia Police Department

* More Images Below Text

In 2015, the City of Philadelphia completed construction on a new SWAT / Bomb Disposal / K9 Unit building. With the goal of creating a new Philadelphia tactical response team campus, the Police Department combined the units together in a single building on the Philadelphia Police Academy campus.

The building was designed to have three primary areas: (1) the Primary Building and Commons contain areas for SWAT, Canine, and BDU offices; support functions; vehicle garage; training facilities; locker rooms; fitness room; and break area, (2) the Kennel Wing houses individual dog kennels; support areas including grooming, food storage, and food prep; and training room with trainer workstations and storage, and (3) the Bomb Garage addition includes storage spaces for BDU equipment and supplies.

This project is rated LEED Gold Certified for environmentally sustainable features such as ground-source heat pumps and a building automation system, showcasing the City of Philadelphia’s commitment to green power.

Tristen Lowe’s Shooting Star is a site-specific permanent public artwork at the City of Philadelphia’s SWAT / Bomb Disposal / K9 Unit. The artwork is 32’ 2" long and 4’ 4” in diameter. It is composed of an array of powder-coated aluminum elements that, as a composite, represent the strength and unity of Philadelphia’s Special Forces units. Patterns are drawn from an array of cultures.

Mr. Lowe states that he wanted “to create a sculpture of a shooting star meant to embody the exceedingly high standards and achievement of these elite police units.”

I served as the Percent for Art Project Manager on this project.

Selected Press

Avilucea, Isaac. “Artist Tristin Lowe contemplates next big move.” Axios Philadelphia, March 8, 2024.