I haven’t been by to see the new dual bike-riding angel sculptures on the Chief Sealth Trail yet, but they look pretty cool. Then again, I like just about any public art featuring bicycles.
The sculptures are by Dan Webb and funded through 1% for the Arts.
Have you seen them yet? Thoughts?
The artwork, each atop a 11-foot-high column on either side of Beacon Avenue South, shows winged helmeted bicyclists (a boy on a pink column and a girl on a blue column) riding above clouds. Webb states “The two bicycle riders represented in this piece ride among the clouds, as all do who ride in Seattle. At the base of each column is the symbol of the Duwamish people, ‘The People of the Inside,’ living between the Cascades and the Olympics. As we ride these paths, we remember them, the first and future riders of these hills.” Seattle was named for the most well- known northwest Native American Chief, Chief Sealth (1784 – 1866) of the Duwamish Tribe.
The artwork enlivens the streetscape and visually marks the location of the trail for drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians. The artwork was installed on either side of Beacon Avenue South to identify the Chief Sealth Trail. The artwork was commissioned in 2010 with SDOT 1% for the Arts Funds administered by the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs.
Comments
One response to “Have you seen the Chief Sealth Trail’s new biking angel sculptures?”
They’re cool, but they also kind of look like something you’d put where someone riding a bicycle died. It weirded me out a bit the first time I saw one — then saw the other one on the other side of Beacon so realized it was just art. They’re cool-looking, though, and hooray for bike art.