OSO, Wash. — For the longest time, when family members would visit the Oso slide scene, the ominous presence of the hillside itself was the focal point, a menacing cloud of dirt and misery looming over everything.
Then came a break in the gloom that arrived with a purpose.
"To go to that site and every time, see that landslide, it's truly very emotional for me. Every time," said Seattle artist Tsovinar Muradyan. "I made a promise that I will do something unique and something special for each of the victims, for everyone."
Muradyan accepted the daunting task of memorializing each of the people killed in the slide. Over the past two years, she created 26 panels, one for each family, 43 souls in all.
The rust-colored steel monuments, some more than 7 feet tall, are spread throughout the grounds of the scene's newly dedicated memorial park.
Each is uniquely adorned with personal memories and effects. They are curved to give the feeling of an embrace.
"It's so people and family members who come here, can find peace and harmony," says Muradyan. "I'm so grateful the families opened their hearts and shared these precious moments and stories with me."
One of those family members is John Hadaway.
During a visit to the artist's Seattle studio, he told her, "You did such a beautiful job," to which the soft-spoken Armenian immigrant responded, "Thank you I put my heart in the project."
"Absolutely," replied Hadaway,
Hadaway's brother, Steve, was installing a satellite dish on a rooftop when disaster struck on March 22, 2014. Steve's was the second to last body recovered two agonizing months later.
The memorial park spans 4 acres. All of the displays are made with three simple materials: stone, steel and timber. They are testaments to the strength and resilience of the Steelhead Drive community.
On his visit to Muradyan's studio, Hadaway looked over the plans for his brother's memorial. It's a fitting tribute with Steve's beloved Whitehorse Mountain keeping watch over him.
"I've always said god put her here at this point in our lives at this time. Nobody else could have done what she did," smiled Hadaway, choking back tears.
Muradyan found her inspiration in her own loss. She had been working on an exhibition of 66 brass bells for her own late father. He passed away in Armenia in 2020. Because of the pandemic, Muradyan couldn't see him.
That pain immediately connected her to the families of all 43 victims.
"When I heard about the memorial I thought these are people, family members, who are looking for the bells to ring for their loved ones," she said. "When you lose your loved ones your life can't be the same again."
"This is gonna be healing for so many people. You have no idea," Hadaway said.
After a decade of waiting, Muradyan hopes a long-lasting peace will finally settle over the slide scene and the hearts that occupy it.
Hadaway believes it will.
"There's no words," he said, wiping away a tear. "She will always have a piece of my heart. For what she's done, she will always have a piece of my heart."
Light and hope, now replacing darkness and despair.
"It's gonna be life-changing for a lot of people," Hadaway said.
From the KING 5 Archives: Remembering the Oso landslide one year later