The Golden Connection
With completion
of the railroad,
“Ashland had a
population boom.
Local agriculture,
industry and
cultural activities
all expanded.”
By Ken Engelund
Ashland Public Arts Commission
32 Ashland Gallery Guide
The “Golden Connections”
sculpture marking the
Historic Railroad District is
scheduled for completion
and installation in the spring of 2022.
The sculpture will be placed in the
Railroad Park in a small, grassy area
at the bottom of 7th Street.
Complementing the sculpture will be
five bronze medallions to be placed
in sidewalks at five historic sites in
the Railroad District. The medallions
are titled, Ashland Train Station and
Roundhouse, the Natatorium and
Twin Plunges, Fourth Street Fire
Station, Ashland Depot Hotel Kitchen,
and Ashland’s Chinatown. The
Chinatown medallion on 2nd street
commemorates the Wah Chung family
and the impact he had in supporting
the Chinese community that came to
work on the railroad. Dale Shostrom,
Terry Skibby and Peter Finkle
contributed to the production of the
medallions. Andy Stallman did much
of the overall project coordination
and most of the communications
with Jennifer Andrews, owner of
Masterworks Plaques who cast the
medallion plaques. Stanley Smith was
a major contributor for the project.
This project represents the first of the
Marking Ashland Places (MAP) public
art works to create a Historic Marker
Program approved by the City Council
in May, 2013. The project was dormant
until joint sub-committee meetings of
the Public Arts Commission (PAC) and
Historic Commission (HC) members
began in 2018. In December of 2020,
the Request for Qualifications (RFQ)
was issued to professional artists or
artist-led teams to design, fabricate,
deliver, and install a contemporary free