Seattle Center Sculpture Walk

Throughout the year, Seattle Center hosts temporary art installations across our campus, enlivening the grounds and offering the public a unique and surprising engagement with art. Currently, we have three art installation initiatives, The Monorail Column Mural Project, Celebrate Seattle Mural, and Seattle Center Sculpture Walk. Read more about each below!

Seattle Center is pleased to collaborate with Seattle Office of Arts & Culture to bring Seattle Center Sculpture Walk to campus as part of our Temporary Art Program. Yearly funding is provided by Seattle Center 1% for Arts Funds, Climate Pledge Arena and Seattle Kraken. Enjoy Seattle Center Sculpture Walk on our grounds, mid-July through November 2025. The four artists this year were selected through a competitive process to receive commissions at Seattle Center.

Title: Find Your Angle
Artist: Will Jewett
Location: Theatre Commons

A series of lounge chairs rests along the steps of Theater Commons, inviting visitors to kick back and take in their surroundings. Each chair leans at a slightly different angle and wears its own shade of blue, creating a gentle sense of motion across the step. Try one out—but don't be afraid to switch it up! This playful installation brings a pop of color and a lighthearted pause to an otherwise orderly stretch of stone and concrete.

More info on artist.

Title: Cambia
Artist: Morgan Madison
Location: Artists at Play Plaza

The artist presents a tree stump inspired sculpture designed and scaled to reference mature evergreen trees of the Pacific Northwest, a valuable resource for the region’s original inhabitants and fuel for the rise of Seattle.
The form and shingle cladding call to mind the harvest of these trees and their valuable contribution to the building of this city. Incorporating the same high-tech materials that cover MoPOP, the work highlights Seattle’s evolving contributions to this region and the world. Distinct tree rings embody the cycles of change that have layered one upon another to create the complex and dynamic version of Seattle we know today. And the emerging shoot speaks of the resilience of this land and its natural denizens and embodies optimism for our shared future.

More info on artist.

Title: Koi No Taki Nobori
Artist: Teruko Nimura
Location: Founders Court

Koi No Taki Nobori is a Japanese proverb that translates to "carp climbing a waterfall." It symbolizes overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles and perseverance. The proverb is based on a legend where koi fish, known for their strength and resilience, attempt to swim upstream and leap over a waterfall, transforming into a dragon at the top. This legend is at the heart of the Japanese children's day festival where hundreds of colorful carp kites are flown together in the spring to celebrate the health and well being of children. Working from this meaningful cultural connection, my installation for Seattle Center consists of 100 hand made carp kites installed in a sweeping arch formation in the breezeway of Founder's Court. The fish flutter with the currents of wind, animating the solid columns with color and movement to surprise and delight passers-by. Each fish is hand crafted and considered an integral part of the overall harmony of the shape, reinforcing the importance of the individual in collective efforts.

More info on artist.

Title: Shifting Ribbons: Red Ratchet Strap Remnant Relationship 5
Artist: Megan Prince
Location: Poetry Garden

Ratchet straps, once tools of tension and compression, are transformed into flowing, lyrical forms that evoke rock strata, tree limbs, or ribbons of wind. The artist has built upon previous versions of this artwork for Seattle Center. This fifth iteration of RRSRR softens and deepens the original sculptural gesture, leaning into the poetics of restraint. The addition of poetry—directly inscribed into the materials—extends an invitation: to pause, reflect, receive, and be curious.

More info on artist.

Will Jewett: Find Your Angle

Megan Prince:Shifting Ribbons

Artist Ronnie Hawkins was born in Granite City, Illinois in 1962. He attended the Art Institute of Seattle from 1991 to the end of 1993 where he received a degree in Applied Art. Graphic design allowed him to learn to add other elements to his portraits and he began to draw mural size works with backgrounds. After a residence in Tokyo for 13 years, the artist did several large pieces that took years to complete, along with earning a Bachelor of Science. Ronnie came back to Seattle where he noticed artists had done art pieces of The Waterfront, Pike Place Market, The Space Needle, Pioneer Square, landmark businesses, or one-off portraits of the famous, but no one had combined all these elements in one work of art. This mural is the 6-year result of the combination of all the elements of Seattle. It is also a reminder of the spectacular place that Seattle is. The artist wants to remind people of the spirit of Seattle as well as what Seattle has to offer the world. Installed in the Armory Food & Event Hall through the end of 2024.

Seattle's Picture Gallery

Seattle Monorail Services has partnered with Seattle Center and the City of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development to showcase local art on the historic Seattle Center Monorail guideway columns. The Monorail Column Mural Project is part of the City’s efforts to support the economic and cultural recovery of downtown Seattle by activating the 5th Avenue corridor. Artwork is located on 14 monorail columns along 5th Avenue between Broad Street and Pine Street. The monorail column murals were created by local linocut artist and instructor, Leslie Nan Moon. Moon’s murals highlight cultural activities, community organizations, festivals, and attractions at Seattle Center and around the city. To create learning opportunities for local youth, Moon built community partnerships and worked with Pratt Fine Arts Center, Seattle Print Arts, and YouthCare, conducting workshops for over 40 young people teaching them the process of making linocut art. Three of the monorail column murals feature collages of their work representing Seattle Center festival themes such as Bite of Seattle, Winterfest, and Bumbershoot.

Art Installations

Temporary Art on campus