"Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" was stolen from Peace Park in July 2024. Photo by Ivy Ceballo, The Seattle Times.

One of the wonderful things about living in Seattle is the richness of public art for all to enjoy. No matter where you go whether a park, downtown or your own neighborhood, Seattle is adorned with a wealth of art from the small scale, like Lost in Thought to the large scale, like Hammering Man.

Throughout the greater Seattle area, the artworks that you stumble upon as you go about your day were likely commissioned or purchased through city, county, state or private funding. Within this landscape of public art, the City of Seattle Civic Collection currently holds over 400 artworks that were mostly paid for by 1% for Art funds.

Bronze is a popular material for public sculptures as it is a robust metal that can be cast into intricate shapes allowing for fine details in the artwork. Unfortunately artworks in the public realm, especially sculptures cast in bronze or other metals, are stolen and removed from their bases to be sold for scrap.

If you notice an artwork that has been removed or damaged, please contact the funding agency to notify them of this loss. It could be that the artwork was removed for maintenance, but please reach out in case a theft may have occurred.

If it’s a theft, timeliness is crucial, especially when metals are involved. There is a scrap metal alert system in which the agency who maintains the artwork can report the theft. This alert system sends messages to all regional commerce sites that accept scrap metal. This alert cannot be initiated until a police report has been filed about the theft. So the sooner the agency can start the alert process, the more likely the stolen artwork might be spotted and recovered.

If you notice an artwork has gone missing or has incurred damage and there isn’t a plaque or identifying information to indicate who the agency/owner might be, here are two options:

1. Use the City’s Find It, Fix It app to report it. You can attach photos, include location data, and more.
2. Call us at 206-684-7171 and ask to be directed to staff in our Collections Management division. If the artwork isn’t under our purview, we will use what resources are available to help in identifying what collection it might belong to.