"Gathering" by Ben Zamora The Seattle Office of Arts & Culture’s (ARTS) Public Art division is starting 2025 with new projects, newly installed artwork, and ongoing gallery shows and maintenance to the Civic Art Collection. Here’s a brief overview of some of the many things happening in and around the city.
Staffing Updates
Public Art staff welcome new Project Managers Adetola Abatan and Jesse Jimenez.
Many thanks to Project Manager Rebecca Johnson-Rende who has joined the Austin Art in Public Places division after 6 years with us.
New Public Artwork
Small scale sculptures for neighborhood bioretention areas
By Will Schlough
In partnership with Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), we’ve been working with Seattle artist, Will Schlough, to develop a catalog of small art components that can be incorporated into bioswale designs for future SPU projects. This allows SPU to work with neighborhoods where bioswales will be installed, allowing them to select artworks from these artist-designed elements to integrate and personalize the infrastructure added to their community. Some of the designed artworks from Schoulgh’s catalog have been prototyped and are being installed in bioswales in Ballard and Broadview. Additional prototypes will be installed in communities in the South Thornton Creek watershed.
Photos by Will Schlough
Rapid Ride G Line – New Public Artwork Installation
By Ben Zamora
In partnership with Seattle Department of Transportation and the Rapid Ride G Line project, Ben Zamora created a new public artwork, Gathering, at the intersection of Madison St, 14th Ave and Pike St. This large-scale new artwork is intended to capture multiple views and experiences from all angles as well as vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
Thank you for all the reports that there’s still tape/plastic on the artwork. It surrounds the welded joints where the metal framework was attached and welded. The artist team is waiting for weather that is not too cold and wet to remove the tape and paint the joints. Until then, it needs to remain in place to reduce the risk of rust on the new welds.
New ecological focused artwork in Thorton Creek
By Leo Berk
In partnership with Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) Where the Rubber Meets the Road created by Leo Berk brings awareness to the ecological benefits of natural drainage systems by using the visual metaphor of an oversized kitchen strainer. The artwork’s pattern of perforations illustrates the mechanism of these bioretention systems to reduce the roadway’s pollutants from entering Thorton Creek and Lake Washington. This artwork was developed in coordination with SPU and the South Thornton Natural Drainage System Project.
Now Open! Bridge Artist in Residence Call to Artists
Animate Seattle’s History: Artist Residency at Iconic Bridge Towers
Calling all animators! Imagine creating your next masterpiece inside the historic towers of Seattle’s iconic Fremont and University Bridges. The Seattle Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS) and Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) are offering two emerging artists a chance to bring these landmarks to life through animation. Explore the bridges’ history, engineering, and cultural significance, and share your vision with the city at an ARTS at King Street Station gallery exhibition in February 2026.
A $10,000 stipend awaits the two selected artists. Local, emerging artists (no prior City of Seattle commissions and no prior commissions exceeding $20,000) can now apply via the ARTS Submittable portal. Submit your application by April 15, 2025 and don’t miss this chance to animate Seattle’s story!
This is an ongoing program which has previously hosted musicians, poets, and graphic novelists in this unique artist in residency.
Last Chance! Temporary Work on View at the Seattle Center
Don’t miss the 2024 Seattle Center Sculpture Walk on view until April, with temporary artworks by Gerardo Peña, Nichole Rathburn and June Sekiguchi
New Projects and Artist Selections
Bitter Lake Reservoir
Elizabeth Gahan, Lauren Ida, James Dihn and Saya Moriyasu
ARTS has partnered with Seattle Public Utilities, Seattle Parks and Recreation, and planning artist Kate Clark over the last two years to develop a public art plan for the upcoming Bitter Lake Reservoir Improvement project. Four artists (Elizabeth Gahan, James Dinh, Lauren Iida and Saya Moriyasu) were selected to create publicly sited artwork for this project. The artists met with staff, design team members, community members, and stakeholders during a site visit in December to kick off the process of developing artwork concepts that respond to the site and embody the diverse community.
Marra Desimone Park
MINDSITE Studio
ARTS is pleased to announce Sarah Thompson Moore (Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians) and Shiela Berger of MINDSITE Studio as the selected artists for the Marra-Desimone Park public art project. Moore and Berger will work to create art that honors the park’s rich agricultural roots, reflecting the history of the land and its connection to the community.
Sarah Thompson Moore, a Coeur d’Alene, Idaho-based artist specializing in monumental sculpture, brings her expertise in site-specific installations, informed by themes of nature, history, and culture. Shiela Berger, who has exhibited internationally, from the Rubin Museum in NY to the US Embassy in Laos, brings her experience enhancing public spaces through nature-inspired sculpture. Their combined and diverse artistic backgrounds promise a unique and meaningful addition to Marra-Desimone Park.
Seattle Center Memorial Stadium
Malia Jensen
Artist Malia Jensen has been commissioned to create a permanent, site-specific artwork within the Seattle Center Campus adjacent to the new Memorial Stadium. Malia emerged as the chosen artist through a rigorous community selection panel process. Jensen’s work celebrates the vibrant spirit of the Pacific Northwest, showcasing a deep appreciation for nature and a commitment to fostering a strong sense of regional identity. Artwork will be developed and installed upon completion of the new Memorial Stadium, estimated for mid-2027.
Conservation Updates
ARTS conservation staff recently completed repairs to multiple artworks in the Collection including:
- Restoration of the camera feature and coordination with arborist crews for Highpoint by Daniel Laskarin at the High Point Community Center
- Fabrication and installation of new skateboard deterrents for the foundation of the Black Sun artwork by Isamu Noguchi at Volunteer Park
- Structural repairs for the Westcrest Park overlook artwork Hollow: City by Milenko Matanovic
- Conservation and electrical upgrades to the lighting elements on Heaven, Man, Earth by George Tsutakawa
- Removal of graffiti from eight artwork assets in seven locations.
Conservation staff also routinely contribute to sustainability reviews for a broad range of forthcoming projects for both internal and external teams, including eight in the first quarter of this year.
- Staff coordinated vegetation clearing with Memory Tree artist John Fleming and Seattle Public Utilities Habitat Restoration Management team at the Thornton Creek Confluence project
- Environmental upgrades for Michael Heizer’s Adjacent, Against, Upon at Myrtle Edwards Park
- Removal and sustainable reproduction of components for Jen Dixon’s Witness Trees at Bergan Place Park in Ballard
- Relocation of Anna MacDonald’s Burke Gilman Trail artwork Reclamation.
Projects in the final stages of completion include:
- Fabrication work on Buster Simpon’s Beckoning Cistern in the Belltown neighborhood
- Replacement of two elements in Maggie Smith’s Spur Line artwork on South Lake Union
- Structural design and reattachment plans for Wang Po Shu’s Re-Burial at the Delridge playfield
- Reattachment of the historic adornments on the Seward Monument by Richard Brooks at Volunteer Park.
In partnership with the Seattle Department of Transportation, staff are working to restore the lighting feature to the pergola at Waiting for the Interurban in Fremont by artist Peter Larsen, and with assistance from Seattle City Light, restoration of the Sutton Beres Culler neon artwork Sequence/Consequence will begin in the second quarter of 2025.
Photos by Tiffany Hedrick
The Seattle Civic Art Collection
Fresh Perspectives Artwork Purchase and Exhibition
The Public Art division recently conducted an artwork purchase for the Civic Art Collection. Fresh Perspectives is an annual program where young adults receive training in art curation from ARTS staff and experienced curators. The 2024 cohort visited Seattle City Light offices and interviewed their staff to gain understanding of how the artwork throughout City spaces impacts the working environment. The newly purchased works are on display at ARTS at King Street Station through April 5 and will then be distributed among Seattle City Light Offices. This is a rare opportunity for the public to see all of these purchases in one place, so stop by.
Other City Galleries
Ethnic Heritage Art Gallery
Tatiana Garmendia, Thirteen Ways of Looking
On View Jan. 23 – March 25, 2025
Seattle Municipal Tower, Arcade Level, Third Floor
700 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
“Through these dreamlike compositions, I’m reimagining the legacy of remarkable women artists, revealing the alchemy of perspective in shaping their story. A celebration of transformation, I invite you to explore the fluid interplay between art, archetypes, and perception.”
Tatiana Garmendia was born in Cuba at the height of the Cold War and remembers playing in abandoned missile trenches as a girl. In her interdisciplinary work, history is understood as meditations on national and private mythologies, as the stories we tell others and whisper to ourselves. Garmendia has exhibited her work throughout the US and in many countries including England, Italy, Germany, Mexico, and India. She is the recipient of numerous awards including two Artist Trust Fellowships, the coveted Cintas International Fellowship and Pollock Krasner Grant. Her works are in public collections in Seattle, New York, Washington D.C., Miami, Illinois, California, Ohio, and the Dominican Republic. Garmendia has been teaching at Seattle Central Community College since 1993.
Seattle Municipal Tower Gallery
Essentially Seattle: Seattle City Light, Part II
On View Jan. 6 – March 31, 2025
Seattle Municipal Tower Gallery, Third Floor
700 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
During the mandated restrictions on physical movement and gatherings of the COVID-19 pandemic, ARTS hired photographers to document essential city services. The intent of the project Essentially Seattle was twofold: one to showcase the diverse group of Seattle City Light and other city frontline employees who kept essential services “on”, allowing the residents of Seattle to shelter in place; and to highlight Seattle’s cityscape and infrastructure that residents utilized for refuge, to uplift, find solace, and connection during social distancing.
The 8 artists that documented frontline workers and infrastructure were Chloe Collyer, Hugo Ludeña, Jennifer Loomis, Lelita McKILL, Peter de Lory, Michael B. Maine, Sunita Martini, and Zorn B. Taylor.
A total of 65 images were brought into the Civic Art Collection, of which 18 are represented here.
