When it comes to art, what’s your preference? Maybe you’re a traditionalist who wants a painting of a dog to look like a dog. Maybe you’re more experimental and can imagine the dog emerging from a few splashes of color.

Whatever your tastes, you’re bound to find something that catches your eye during upcoming art tours hosted by the city’s Office of Arts & Culture.

The focus is on art in the Seattle Municipal Tower (SMT) and City Light’s portable artworks collection, so if you work in the building, or find yourself in the neighborhood, book a tour and learn more about public art.

City Light has supported the City’s Percent for Art program since it began in 1973, which specifies that one percent of eligible city capital-improvement project funds be set aside for the commission, purchase and installation of public art in different settings, including parks, libraries, community centers, roadways and bridges.

The SMT “Spotlight Art Tours” are being led by Deborah Paine, curator and collections manager at the Office of Arts & Culture, and include works on more than half a dozen SMT elevator lobbies and two galleries located in the building.

Upcoming tours:

Thursday, January 14, 10 a.m.

Friday, January 29, 2 p.m.

Reservations are made online. Tours take about an hour and are limited to 12 people. They’re ADA accessible; if you have specific accommodation requests please email arts.culture@seattle.gov or call (206) 684-7372.

If you can, take a break from your work week with an art tour, and you may find, as Picasso once said, that “art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”

Image by Larry Mizell Jr