Free Public Displays Make Art Accessible Around Seattle
Three art pieces came to the Seattle Center and are here until the cherry blossoms bloom this April. The Seattle Center, in collaboration with The Office of Arts and Culture, commissioned three public pieces for a short-term display on their campus: two sculptures and one hung banner.
Crybaby by Nichole Rathburn is a set of wooden boards drenched in rich colors and organized into a crying monster. An orange nose, single-eye, and red headed face is bolted to a gate at the Seattle Center Play Plaza.
Rathburn is a foundry artist and resides in Washington creating works inspired by nature. She casts and carves diverse materials into luminous icicles, armored bugs in motion, and blooming flora. From bronze in her Nest Surprise series, funded by Seattle Park District, to her other work in wire, Catacomb, the variety of produced textures across works illuminate Rathburn’s many artistic languages. The sculptures come to life with a movement and glimmer that energizes curiosity to explore from all angles.
A more static and celebratory portrait depicts the toilet paper shortage, KN95 masks, and protest gear. These 2020 icons elicit memories of a chaotic time for the world. What the F*** Just Happened by multidisciplinary artist Gerardo Pena hangs at the Fisher Pavilion and begs us to remember the experience of long battles and universal adversities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The work was originally painted on canvas and printed on banner for the commission.
What the F*** Just Happened honors the healthcare workers who fight for our lives. A heroic nurse is the focal point of the piece with an angelic halo radiating with syringes from her crown. Whether they’re being recognized as a saint or a heavenly figure, they are true healers.
Inspired by his Mexican heritage, Pena’s art is emboldened by flying monarch butterflies, dazzling skulls and other death motifs. His works span across large sets of public art, sculpture, and paintings. Pena continues to make his mark on Seattle with murals across the city. You might have already seen his work in passing.
What the F*** Just Happened by Gerardo Pena hanging at Seattle Center.
The Evergreen Echo
Across the entrance of the Pacific Science Center, Jack the Giant by artist June Sekiguchi perches atop a kiosk flaunting playful colors. While giant by name and size, it might be small enough for you to miss—so look up!
Jack the Giant is a recreation of the iconic toy from the game Jacks. In an oversized rendition of a jack, the original spikes are transformed into three flattened boards with rounded corners. Cut out designs radiate from the boards’ center. A ladybug polka dot pattern adds another whimsical touch. Jack the Giant uplifts the joys of play and curiosity the Pacific Science Center inspires.
Sekiguchi is a curator and artist with extensive museum involvement across the Salish Sea. You can find her woodwork throughout Washington. Jack the Giant will be moved elsewhere in February 2025, earlier than the other highlighted artworks in this article.
Tree-sized and at new car prices, larger sculptures are not as accessible or frequently rotated in view like paintings and drawings. But there are a plethora of sculptures scattered throughout Seattle neighborhoods, around your closest city park, or down the street that was never on your itinerary home. Make a trip to see sculptures standing in plain sight.
Don’t live near Seattle Center? Here are some cherished resident pieces around Seattle:
Changing Form by Doris Totten Chase at Kerry Park
The Black Sun by Isamu Noguchi at Discovery Park
Eagle by Alexander Calder at Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park
Parking Squid by Susan Robb at The Waterfront, the base of Pike place
Union by John Grade at The Washington Arboretum
Centennial Fountain by George Tsutakawa at the Seattle University campus’ quad
