Quarterly updates from our Public Art division. Find the other posts in this series here.
The emergence of daffodils, plum, and cherry blossoms throughout the region are the signs that spring is just around the corner. This is the time when our Public Art division thinks about new growth for our program and developing a new cohort of artists within the public art realm.
It can be challenging for studio artists to receive public art commissions, so we provide training on the ins and outs of public art via our Public Art Boot Camp Program. Temporary art installations help introduce artists to making public art, and this program provides a wealth of information like community engagement, design development, fabrication, and administration. In-person workshops, seminar-style discussions, lectures with subject matter experts, and cohort-model learning is all part of the curriculum curated by our Public Art staff.
Our next Public Art Boot Camp will consist of five monthly workshops from Sep. 2026 – Jan. 2027. This is a limited paid opportunity for up to 18 artists, but the workshops, and past Boot Camps, will be available on our YouTube channel for everybody. The call for artists to apply will be open April 15 – May 18, 2026. Sign up for our mailing list and check our Opportunities page for the latest information.
A number of Public Art Boot Campers have gone on to receive public art commissions including Damon Brown and Kalina Chung. The conclusion of this year’s Boot Camp cohort will lead up to the call for artists to apply to our 2027-2029 Public Artist Roster. This roster is the primary way artists are selected for public art commissions through our office.
In this edition:
- The Municipal Art Plan
- Conservation Spotlight
- What’s New in Public Art
- City Gallery Highlights
- Events & Opportunities
The Municipal Art Plan
The Municipal Art Plan shows how we plan to use 1% for Art funds from our capital department partners. Learn which factors we consider and how we engage community in the process of creating public art.
Conservation Spotlight
As Seattle prepares to host the world for the Beautiful Game, we are busy beautifying artworks across the city for soccer fans to experience during their visit.
Blanche
Situated in the heart of Seattle’s historic maritime community, Blanche is an artwork that shares space with the Museum of History and Industry, the Center for Wooden Boats. Historic vessels are also there, like the 103-year-old wooden steam ship called The Steamer Virginia V., which was part of the Pacific Northwest’s original mass transit system called the “Mosquito Fleet”.
Created by Sue and Peter Richards in 2011, Blanche serves as both a functioning dock for small craft, and as a contemplative space with unobstructed, panoramic views of South Lake Union. The sculpture produces music reminiscent of traveling on the water as waves move through pipes and resonate from a sound chamber created by an inverted boat hull.
Work this year included a comprehensive structural inspection, wood replacement, and repairs to the gangway and dock surface.
South Park Vortex
Situated east of Marra Farm and Marra-Desimone Park in the South Park neighborhood, Horatio Law’s 2010 South Park Vortex sculpture gently disperses light through more than 500 unique cobalt blue and white snowflake disks that were designed by South Park residents.
The vortex shape of the sculpture rises above the drain cover of the site’s bio-swale, an open channel that uses vegetation to capture and filter stormwater.
The artwork has been an occasional target for damage and in addition to preventive maintenance, over the winter, staff also replaced 9 of the broken glass snowflakes with new designs.
Madrona Meeting
Installed in 2019 as part of the Safe Routes to School Madrona Tree Project, Madrona Meeting by Julia Harrison is a colored cement and steel sculpture that resembles Madrona tree stumps on top of which seven white birds are perched. The result of the 2015 Move Seattle Levy, the Safe Routes to School program, builds safe and welcoming infrastructure to support students travelling to and from school.
Nearby vegetation at the site has grown substantially since installation, initiating biological growth on the cement, which can accelerate degradation of the material. Routine cleaning and sealing of the materials are necessary to protect surfaces from water which can expand in cold temperatures and create surface cracking.
Skytones
The work to transform the Symphony Block (3rd Ave between Union St and University St) into a more vibrant, creative place for everyone to enjoy through public art is in full swing! Together with SDOT, the Seattle Symphony, Benaroya Hall, the Downtown Seattle Association and other community stakeholders, lighting upgrades for the Skytones artwork by Anna Valentina Murch were completed in December 2025. The new programmable LED fixtures restore the artwork to its original splendor and brighten the Benaroya Hall Boeing Gallery.
Originally installed in 1998, Skytones uses color and light to affect the atmospheric quality of the entire Boeing Arcade. As the west view of the sky is hidden by the building, this horizontal band of subtle, dissolving light creates the illusion of seeing a sky through the building. The lights are programmed in three different sequences which run during concerts. When the house lights are off the arcade is illuminated only by the niches; and when people leave the concert and drive past Benaroya Hall, they will see the memory of the place they have just experienced.
What’s New in Public Art
Guests Artist Dedication
Artist Ann Hamilton whose new artwork, Guests, is featured among the publicly sited artworks at the new Seattle Central Waterferont was recently in Seattle to give a lecture at the Seattle Art Museum to discuss the thought process behind her new commissioned artwork. Several hundred people attended the talk by the artist, and afterwards, attendees were invited to meet the artist and get a behind-the-scenes look at the artwork that features over 40 hanging figures beneath the Overlook Walk.
Artist Selection: Gerardo Peña
Exciting news is on the horizon for the NE 130 St & NE 125 St corridor: in partnership with SDOT and Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), we’re bringing new site-integrated public art to the neighborhood. The project will feature a series of nine cast metal inlays embedded directly into the new sidewalks along the corridor between Lake City Way NE and First Avenue NE, creating moments of discovery while also reflecting the stories and voices of the surrounding community.
After a competitive artist selection process that included review of 51 artists from the Public Artist Roster, the panel recommended Washington-based artist, Gerardo Peña (Periko the Artist). Known for his surreal, metaphor-driven work exploring identity, belonging, and the immigrant experience. Peña will collaborate with community members and the project design team to shape artwork that resonates with the neighborhood’s history and future. Stay tuned—community engagement opportunities and more project updates will be shared soon, read more about this project and Peña in this blog post.
Upcoming Projects
We’ve initiated three new public art projects and have begun the artist selection process for Seattle Center Sculpture Walk, Lake City Community Center, and a new initiative with Seattle City Light for a Creative Outreach and Engagement Artist. Artist selections for these and other projects are managed through an open application process to our Public Art Roster. Commissioned artists develop their artwork in close coordination and collaboration with the other City departments for successful integration and community impact. The Public Art Roster will open again for application in early 2027.
City Gallery Highlights
Ethnic Heritage Art Gallery
The Blues Led Me Here by Jonarra Swanson
January 20 – April 13, 2026
Seattle Municipal Tower, 3rd Floor Plaza
Anne Focke Gallery
Essentially Seattle
City Hall, Level 2
During the mandated restrictions on physical movement and gatherings of the COVID-19 pandemic, we hired artists to document essential City services. The intent of Essentially Seattle was twofold: to showcase the diverse group of 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.
Photographers: Norman E Riley, Adam Jabari, Adam Collet, Shann Thomas, Hugo Ludeña, Jennifer Loomis, Zorn B. Taylor, Michael B. Maine
Events & Opportunities
Applications for 2026’s Public Art Bootcamp are open April 15 – May 18! This training and education opportunity is intended for artists who are interested in entering the field of public art. In-person workshops, seminar-style discussions, lectures with subject matter experts, and cohort-model learning is all part of the curriculum curated by our Public Art staff. Workshops will begin in late Summer. Participation is limited since this is a paid opportunity, but portions of the training will be recorded and made available online.
