Re: “Scuttling of my West Seattle sculpture could have been avoided” (May 3, Opinion):
As a venerable defender of Seattle’s cultural legacies and artist rights, the Allied Arts Foundation is gravely concerned by the fate of Don Fels’ sculpture “Paragon” placed at Terminal 107 in 2003.
This sculpture, funded by the 1% for Art fund, Seattle Parks & Recreation funds, Port of Seattle funds and a Washington State Department of Natural Resources grant, has great cultural resonance for many communities historically inhabiting the Duwamish River, communities often excluded from the cultural dialogue: Native Americans and working class communities.
Despite the artist’s repeated requests, the wood portion of this sculpture, symbolizing a halibut schooner, was not maintained and is now deteriorated. Fels obtained fiscal, material and logistical support to remove, repair and reinstall this work. The Seattle Office of Arts & Culture’s response was to offer the artist a contract with full liability and no financial support. Their lack of accountability is concerning for all artwork in the city of Seattle public art collection.
Many artworks in the city’s art collection have been removed or damaged without reasonable communication with the creating artists. We are losing publicly funded artwork meaningful to local communities because we are failing to schedule and fund maintenance of this work.
Lydia Aldredge, president, Allied Arts Foundation, Seattle