Souvenir (Toast; That was something we used to do; Sunch; To Be Determined)
Artist
Sheila Klein
MediumCast and fabricated silicon bronze alloy 655
Dimensions.01, Toast: 30 x 24 in. (76.2 x 61 cm)
.02, That was Something We Used to Do: 31 x 20 x 3 in. (78.7 x 50.8 x 7.6 cm)
.03, Sunch: 40 x 25 x 6 in. (101.6 x 63.5 x 15.2 cm)
.04, To be Determined: 29 x 22 x 16 in. (73.7 x 55.9 x 40.6 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineSeattle Parks and Recreation 2008 Parks and Green Spaces Levy 1% for Art funds
Description: Klein’s artwork, Souvenir, consists of four bronze artworks that are featured on each of the blocks that Bell Street Park occupies. In the 1980s, Klein and her husband lived and rented their artist studio in the Belltown neighborhood. The four sculptures that make up Souvenir speaks to Klein’s love of the neighborhood, and encouraging those who live in and visit Belltown to find their own path.
Artist Statement: In the early 1980s I moved to an empty large building at the corner of 1st and Cedar. It was a heady time for me and a magical moment in a place: where it’s empty and quiet and full of potential. We worked around the clock, partied all the time and began the commitment to a life of making art, being part of bohemia and an alternative to the status quo. Belltown was inhabited by many visual artists, writers, musicians, dreamers, designers and other creative types eating toast on the side walk sharing with the Indians, longshoreman, loggers, and electricians drinking in the union bars, dancing in the gay night club, and reinforcing the idea that we were a community. My work has often served to domesticate the street, making it a place you want to be. These signposts are my physical love letter to the neighborhood.
Location: Bell Street Park, Bell Street between 1st and 5th Avenues, Seattle WA 98121
