City of Seattle: Artwork to Honor Coast Salish Culture at Salmon Bay Pump Station

The Office of Arts & Culture, in partnership with Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), seeks to commission an artist or artist team to create artwork for SPU's Ship Canal Water Quality Project Pump Station, located at 24th Ave NW and Shilshole Ave NW in the Ballard neighborhood along the shoreline of Salmon Bay. The selected artist(s) will develop outdoor permanent artwork that responds to the Coast Salish history and present condition of the Salmon Bay and Shilshole areas and local estuaries. The artwork could take the form of large-scale sculpture, cast metal, glass, light, carvings, murals, or site enhancements; it can be a singular element or a series of pieces in two- or three-dimensional media. Artwork can be created as a free-standing element along the perimeter fence or landscaped areas, or integrated with the Pump Station building. Artists are encouraged to explore a diversity of media and may consider incorporating themes that raise awareness to the function of the facility and the health of Seattle's waterways. The artwork design should be visible from a distance and provide a marker for pedestrians and drivers.

Salmon Bay and Shilshole Bay have been important places to Coast Salish people for thousands of years. For the Shilshoolabsh people, Salmon Bay was the site of the village known as Tucked Away Inside. Other Coast Salish peoples used the bays as a route between interior lakes and waterways and Puget Sound. Fish, shellfish, aquatic and shoreline plants, and other materials gathered from the sea and shore are important resources in Coast Salish culture. The bays historically served as one end of a route between Puget Sound and interior waterways, allowing the Coast Salish to travel by canoe to fish, gather plant materials, hunt, and trade.

The call is open to established professional artists residing in the United States and British Columbia. Artists with a historic and/or artistic connection to the tribal peoples of this region are strongly encouraged to apply. Artists may apply individually or as a team of no more than two. Students are not eligible. The selected artist will receive a commission of $185,000.00 (plus Washington State Sales/Use Tax) to design, fabricate, and install the artwork. Applications close at 11 p.m. on February 9, 2017 (Pacific Standard Time).