Seattle's new Olympic Sculpture Park is now Open! The new 9 acre park located in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood (Urban Village) celebrated it's Grand Opening over the weekend!
There was bright sunshine, blue skies, crowds, shades, Alexander Calder's Eagle, and The Space Needle for the Grand Opening on Saturday, January 20th 2007! Given our horrible weather these past few months, it was amazing to have such a dazzeling day for the long awaited opening of the new park! The park was jammed with Seattlites enjoying the the ART, the SUN, the Park, and the new Beach on Elliott Bay.
Fireboat welcomes the crowd as they photogragh all the wonderful ART. My friend Patti laughing about the "Ask Me" sign. Seattlites exploring this new addtion to Downtown Seattle and Belltown! Down near the waterfront is Mark di Suvero's "Schubert Sonata".
For more information on the Olympic Sculpture Park, The Seattle Times has a great interactive site to learn more about the Sculptures, Artists, the Grand Opening Festivities, the parks' development, and the people who made it happen.
Walking through Teresita Fernandez's "Seattle Cloud Cover" a commissioned work for the park.
The play of light and shadow on Richard Serra's "Wake"
....Patti's playful "Llama" shadow while I take photograghs!
The day could not have been better for the Grand Opening of the Seattle Art Museum's (SAM) new Olympic Sculpture Park in Belltown/Downtown Seattle. The blue of the sky, and Elliott Bay against the red/orange of some of the art, the green of the grass and the colorful crowd made for an exciting experience!
Eagle silhouetted against Elliott Bay, and Alki Point.
Very cool. I saw some press on the local news stations over the weekend but your pictures do it much more justice. I'm going to have to get down there and check it out. Truth be told though, I'll probably wait until one of those first sunny days of spring that bring all the locals out. It will be me and a million other Seattlites coming to gawk at our newest beauty.
Bob
Great shots! We have started a Flickr photo group for sharing images of the new Olympic Sculpture Park. We would love to see your favorite images!
http://www.flickr.com/groups/36699021@N00/
Great to see another JLSer in the Rain. I haven't made it over to the new park yet, though it's just a few block from our office. I heard there's a sculpture with a placard that states photographing the sculpture is prohibited...kind of odd (part of the Paul Allen Family collection).
Fantastic photos, thanks for sharing them with us. If I may just add one suggestion...for blog/website posting, those photos are a fairly large files averaging over 600KB each. It may be helpful for visitors if the files were resized.
Bob - Thanks for the compliment on my photos, that was very nice of you! It was a very beautiful day, and while there were tons of people there, it had a fun, festival atmosphere! It's cool also when it's gray and overcast, the red of the some of the sculptures glows in the gloom. There is also a newly reclaimed (re-created) beach to walk down to Elliott Bay.
Hi Flickr Group - I am meaning to do that. I had gotten your post on my earlier article too, there just has not been enough time, thanks for the invite!
Ben - You are right! The Paul Allen Family collection apparently does have a sign that states that, I did not see it myself (probably looking through my view finder!) but the friend I went with saw it. The piece is by Claus Oldenburg called "Typewriter Eraser" and can be seen when you drive south on Elliott Ave. Thanks for the feedback on the file size, Ardell asked me about that too, and I thought I was doing if right, but I'll have to see what else I can do. Thanks for the compliment on my photos!
Peter - Yes, Seattle is a beautiful place to visit (and live!) so come and see us!
Lauren - Thank you! I am glad you enjoyed them!
Mike - Thank you, and now you have another place to come and visit!
Ardell - Thank you! Yes the red ((( POPS! ))) against the blue sky and <<glows>> against gray skies. Of course, it is really a unique space in the world, there is nothing like it anywhere because of how the park is sited on Elliott Bay, against the backdrop of the Oplympic Mountains, and Downtown Seattle.
Karen - Thank you...just hop in your car and give the park a test "drive"!
Betsy - Thank you! I am glad you got to see the park too! There was an article in the Seattle Times about using the park as a selling feature.
Jeff - Thank you! I am glad you enjoyed my post and the photos!
Deborah, what an awesome job! I've driven past this "Traffic Jam" several times over the past year, and now it's nice to know that it's finished. I'll have to run over and take a look see. Maybe the next time we do Old Spaghetti Factory! Yeah, there's a good enough excuse!
P.S. We have a much better view of the Olympics over here!!!
Rich - Thank you! Yes, you could check out the Park after eating at The Old Spaghetti Factory, it's right accross the street, and walk off some of the carbs! Yes, you do have better view of the Olympics....but we have a better view of the Cascades! : )
Teri - You could grab a picnic lunch/dinner at Pike Place Market and enjoy it at the Park!
Christy - Thank you! There is always soooo much work to do!
Maggie - Thank you! Glad you liked the llama too!
Jennifer - Thank you! Now you'll have to visit the new park....it's between Pike Place Market and Experience Music Project!
John - Thank you! It's time to visit your cousin and Seattle! Mostly we have very wet, heavy mist!
Ardell,
This town needs a little color! Glad they made it red.
After they unveiled the EMP you'd think Seattle had enough color to last for a few generations. Haha.
Bob
Deborah.. a little late to the party.... but as some have said, great pictures. Thanks for sharing. I kind of like art and such. I love what Philly has to offer.... I loved Paris and Rome.... Paris had a lot to offer and a lot of natural art.
Overall, looked like a very good grand opening. It also looked a little chilly. How cold was it? I am not sure on the Seattle weather, except that it rains.... ;o) Again, some great photos.
John - Thank you! It's great because it's so accessible...it spans over a main road and along side another, so everyone can experience "Drive by Art"!
Jeff - Thank you! That's cool that you enjoy art and have been able to see it in such great places. The weather was a little chilly, I think it was in the low 50's, maybe high 40's, but the week before we had snow on the ground for 6 days (very unusual)....so we were loving the sunshine and "warmer" temperatures!