First Avenue Project, (sculpture).

First Avenue Project, (sculpture).

Mackie, Jack, 1946- , sculptor.

Simpson, Buster, 1942- , sculptor.

Rhinehart, Paul, sculptor.

Rhinehart, Deborah, sculptor.

First Avenue Project, (sculpture).

Digital Reference:

Concrete, metal, wood, stone boulders, sandstone, quartzite, trees, architectural artifacts, picket fencing, cyclone fencing, chain-link fencing, steel bed headboards, streamers, splints, a crutch and keystones.

(On welcome mat incised:) WELCOME (On some benches:) "G2" unsigned

An environmental sculpture along five blocks, including bus stop benches, clusters of trees, tree grates and tree supports. The benches are variously made from wood, slabs and columns of sandstone and quartzite, and architectural elements from fallen buildings, such as the keystones from the cupola of the capitol. The benches come in a variety of shapes, including cylindrical, pie-shaped, trapezoidal and a cube on wheels. Some are engraved. One bench is made of three sandstone slabs arranged like three steps. At the foot of the steps, inlaid into the sidewalk is an engraved sandstone welcome mat. The trees include purple plum trees to mark bus stops, evergreens, cherries, three varieties of cedar, gingkos, and flowering magnolias. The trees are protected and supported by a variety of materials including colorful picket fencing, cyclone fencing, steel bed headboards, chain-link fencing, colorful streamers, splints and a crutch.

Outdoor Sculpture -- Washington -- Seattle

Administered by City of Seattle, Seattle Arts Commission, 312 1st Avenue North, Seattle, Washington 98109

Located Along 1st Avenue, from Virginia Street to Denny Way, Seattle, Washington

Funded with a National Endowment for the Arts, Art in Public Places grant of $10,000 given in 1984 to the Seattle Arts Commission. In 1978 the artists began work on the project, intending to provide seating and trees in the Belltown area of First Avenue. Initial support was provided by the local community council and area merchants. In 1985 the project received funding from the Seattle Arts Commission's "Urban Artworks" project. Since 1985 the First Avenue project has expanded to include eleven bus stops and an urban arboretum. A second phase of the project was funded in 1988. The project has also been sponsored by Community Development Block Grant Funds and the Seattle City Light One Percent for Art. IAS files contain related articles from the Seattle Arts Commission's "A Field Guide to Seattle's Public Art," Seattle: Art Commission of Seattle, 1991, pg. 25-29, 98-99 and from James M. Rupp's "Art in Seattle's Public Places," Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1992.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Washington survey, 1995.

Heritage Preservation SOS! survey of NEA Art in Public Places funded sculpture, 2002.

Seattle Arts Commission, "A Field Guide to Seattle's Public Art", Seattle: Seattle Arts Commission, 1991, pg. 25-29, 98-99.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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