Posts Tagged ‘Fremont’

I always seem to be waiting for the bus. Recent cuts to Chicago service mean I have to wait a little longer for the number nine between Lakeview and Wicker Park. A break down on the El meant I was late to work the other day when all the trains had to share one track, slowing service tremendously. And, inevitably, on the coldest day of the year, I will miss the brown line by ten seconds and have to wait on the platform for what seems like eternity for the next one to come.

But at least I can take solace in the fact that I won’t have been waiting for thirty years.

On a corner in Seattle five people, a baby, and a dog have been patiently waiting for the Seattle-Everett Interurban since 1979.

Waiting for the Interurban is a cast aluminum piece crafted by sculptor Richard Beyer. Commemorating the light rail Interurban line that used to connect downtown Seattle with all of its neighborhoods, the sculpture depicts six people and a dog with a human face under a shelter waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

One of the most curious things about the statue is that the dog has a human face. Rumor has it that committee member (and honorary mayor) Armen Stepanian disagreed with Bayer appointing himself as sculptor. The two argues so much that Beyer got revenge by making the dog’s face resemble Stepanian.

Like the giant Lenin statue, Waiting for the Interurban is often decorated by locals. Dubbed by some as “art attacks” the statues often get decorated for local sports teams or birthdays or holidays or any other occasion someone sees fit. The only thing not allowed is advertisements.

My trains and buses eventually come and I get manage to make it home safe to defrost. One can only hope that someday the street car will come for those still waiting for the Interurban.

Site: Waiting for the Interurban
Location: North 34th St. and Fremont Avenue North., Fremont, Seattle, Washignton
Cost: Free to see.
Hours: Always visible.
Date: June 29, 2009

Not many American towns would play home to, let alone boast, a giant bronze sculpture of a Bolshevik dictator. But I guess Fremont isn’t like most American towns.

Standing tall on a street corner in Seattle, just in front of a Taco Del Mar is a 7-ton 16-foot rendering of the infamous Russian communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin.

In 1988, after 10 years in the making, Slavic artist Emil Venkov completed the statue and it was installed in Poprad, Slovakia. Despite being commissioned by the Soviet and Czechoslovak governments, Venkov forwent the traditional depictions of the leader that showed him as an intellectual and instead opted to surround him with flames and guns and symbols of war.

Shortly after, in the fall of Czechoslovak communism in the 1989 Velvet Revolution the statue was removed and was eventually bought by Lewis E. Carpenter, an American from Washington who was teaching English nearby. He convinced city officials that the sculpture was art worth saving and he offered to buy it for $13,000 and it was shipped back to his home in three pieces.

In 1994 Carpenter died in a car accident and a local foundry offered to move it off of his property to be displayed in Fremont where it is still outside, both for viewing and for sale.

Even in a bizarre neighborhood like Fremont, the controversy over a statue of Lenin does not go unnoticed and it remains a pretty controversial piece. But as many other pieces in the area attest, artistic freedom and the respect of different opinions is a high value in the area.

Also in grand Fremont tradition, the statue’s public presence lends itself to a prank or two and it is wide open for decorating by locals. One day it may be in a Halloween costume and the next in drag. When I stopped by it happened to have an advertisement for Taco Del Mar tied around its neck from a noose.

So if you’re in Fremont be sure to stop by. And if you’re in the market for a giant communist dictator statue, you’re in luck.

Site: Statue of Lenin
Location: 600 N 36th, Seattle, Washington (Fremont Area)
Cost: Free to see.
Hours: Always visible.
Date: June 29, 2009