The ''Seattle George Monument'', also known as ''Seattle, Washington Monument'', is an outdoor 1989 sculpture by

Buster Simpson Lewis Cole "Buster" Simpson (born in 1942) is an Americans, American sculptor and environmental artist based in Seattle, Washington. Career Lewis Cole Simpson was born in Saginaw, Michigan and raised in a nearby farming community. He became int ...

, installed outside the

Seattle Convention Center The Seattle Convention Center (SCC), formerly the Washington State Convention Center (WSCC), is a convention center in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. It consists of two buildings in Downtown Seattle with exhibition hall ...

, north of 7th Avenue between Union and Pike Streets, in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, in the United States.

Description and history

The kinetic sculpture, which is made from aluminum, steel, painted metal, wire, English ivy, concrete, and mylar sheets, depicts

Chief Seattle Seattle ( – June 7, 1866; , ; usually styled as Chief Seattle) was a leader of the Duwamish and Suquamish peoples. A leading figure among his people, he pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers, forming a personal relationship wi ...

and

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

. It was surveyed and deemed "treatment needed" by the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

's "

Save Outdoor Sculpture! Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!) was a community-based effort to identify, document, and conserve outdoor sculpture in the United States. The program was initiated in 1989 and ended in 1999. History Save Outdoor Sculpture! was initiated by Heri ...

" program in October 1994. The sculpture was designed to resemble the

highway shield A highway shield or route marker is a Signage, sign denoting the route number of a highway, usually in the form of a symbolic shape with the route number enclosed. As the focus of the sign, the route number is usually the sign's largest element, ...

s used by Washington's state highway system. The sculpture rests on a trellis base under the suspended nose of a

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, the initial first flew on Decembe ...

. Lines from Chief Seattle's farewell speech are etched in the base in English and phonetic

Salish Salish () may refer to: * Salish peoples, a group of First Nations/Native Americans ** Coast Salish peoples, several First Nations/Native American groups in the coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest ** Interior Salish peoples, several First Na ...

References

1989 establishments in Washington (state) 1989 sculptures Aluminum sculptures in Washington (state) Concrete sculptures in Washington (state) Cultural depictions of George Washington Kinetic sculptures in the United States Monuments and memorials in Seattle Monuments and memorials to George Washington in the United States Outdoor sculptures in Seattle Sculptures of Native Americans in Washington (state) Sculptures of presidents of the United States Steel sculptures in Washington (state) {{Washington-sculpture-stub

Description and history

See also

References