Haven’t you noticed the captivating sculptures peppering the landscape of the Olympic Sculpture Park? This park is a free-admission outdoor space. It features permanent sculptures, temporary works and site-specific installations. Let’s explore one intriguing piece.
The Olympic Sculpture Park is operated by the Seattle Art Museum SAM. It opened on January 20, 2007. The park covers 9 acres. It includes an outdoor sculpture museum, an indoor pavilion and a beach on Puget Sound.
Before the Olympic Sculpture Park was established, the area was an industrial site. It was once occupied by the Unocal oil and gas corporation until the 1970s. It later became a contaminated brownfield. The Seattle Art Museum SAM proposed to transform the area. They wanted to create green spaces in Downtown Seattle.
The lead designer for the Olympic Sculpture Park was Weiss/Manfredi Architects. They collaborated with Charles Anderson Landscape Architecture and others.
The idea for a green space with monumental sculpture came from Virginia and Bagley Wright. Mary and Jon Shirley and Mimi Gardner Gates also contributed to the idea. Mary and Jon Shirley donated $30 million to the project.
During construction, $5.7 million was used to transform 1000 feet of seawall. A three-level underwater slope was built to revitalize juvenile salmon.
The Olympic Sculpture Park has a wide range of environmental restoration goals. These include brownfield redevelopment and salmon habitat restoration. The park also utilizes native plantings. It captures and uses rainwater.
The Olympic Sculpture Park’s design includes four landscapes. These landscapes reflect the native ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest. They provide diverse settings for art. They reintroduce habitat complexity. This creates microclimates and diversity for plant and animal life.
The Olympic Sculpture Park is home to many sculptures. These include “Bunyon’s Chess” by Mark di Suvero and “Eagle” by Alexander Calder. “Wake” is created by Richard Serra. “Stinger” is by Tony Smith.
Maintaining these sculptures has been a challenge. The Puget Sound environment is corrosive. The museum has a “no-touch” policy. This protects the art from damage. Oils from human contact can cause long-term changes.
The Olympic Sculpture Park has received positive reviews. Frommer’s guide calls it “the best thing to happen to Seattle in years.” Artsy named the park one of the “World’s Greatest Sculpture Parks.”
The Olympic Sculpture Park received the Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design. It also won the American Architecture Award.
The Olympic Sculpture Park offers a unique blend of art and nature. It transformed a contaminated site into a vibrant public space. The park contributes to Seattle’s cultural scene.