Seattle's Olympic Sculpture Park: A Place for Art, Environment, and an Open Mind

The Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park stands out as an exemplary civic project: an urban park filled with iconic art, free and open to all.  Featuring five site-specific works from artists (including Teresita Fernández and Louise Bourgeois), its inspired design by Weiss/Manfredi Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism transformed an abandoned brownfield into a dynamic green space.  Uniting art, urban infrastructure, and ecology, the location captures the unique character of the Pacific Northwest and the majestic Olympic Mountains.  Using the park as a model for creating innovative civic spaces through public-private partnerships, this publication is a vital resource for museum professionals, architects, urban planners, students, and art lovers, bringing Seattle’s Olympic Sculpture Park to global audiences.

Editor Mimi Gardner Gates is a specialist in Asian art history and was Director of Seattle Art Museum (1994-2009), when the park was conceived and created.  She currently serves as Director Emerita of the Gardner Center at Seattle Asian Art Museum.

Other contributors for this publication include: Barry Bergdoll, Lisa Graziose Corrin, Renée Devine, Mark Dion, Teresita Fernández, Leonard Garfield, Jerry Gorovoy for Louise Bourgeois, Michael A. Manfredi, Lynda V. Mapes, Roy McMakin, Peter Reed, Pedro Reyes, Maggie Walker, and Marion Weiss.

Hardcover: 192 pages, 160 color images/illustrations

Publisher: University of Washington Press (Nov 2021)

ISBN:  9780932216809

Product Dimensions: 8.75 x 10.2 x 0.75 inches