SEATTLE — A local artist is working to save a West Seattle sculpture from being removed from where it has stood for over 20 years.
Don Fels built the Paragon sculpture at həʔapus Village Park and Shoreline Habitat in West Seattle in the early 2000s. Due to weathered and damaged materials on the sculpture, the city has plans to “deaccession,” or remove, the piece for public safety.
“I don’t want the sculpture to die because with it goes a huge amount of work, hope, research, thought, not to mention public money, that went into building this,” Fels said on Tuesday afternoon.
Made of steel, concrete, and old growth fir, the sculpture was built for the West Seattle Cultural Trail, a project led by artists Fels, Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, and Joe Feddersen. Paragon is a replica of a halibut schooner inspired by the Native American people who worked and lived along the Duwamish River.
“It was an expression of a community both in its history and it was a collaboration with lots and lots of people,” Fels said.
Fels said while the City of Seattle maintained the artwork in its initial years, those efforts have fallen off – leading ants and wood rot to take over. When a city staffer was pressure washing and resealing timbers this year, the destruction was found, Fels said.
The City of Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture is responsible for maintaining the sculpture and said that the office was “very surprised to read that Mr. Fels is placing blame on the City for its current condition,” a spokesperson told KING 5. “The procedures and standards used to build it in 2001 are not the same as we use today.”
Since Fels raised concerns in the West Seattle Blog on July 14, he said many people have expressed support for the artwork and a willingness to help.
“My position, and many people in the community, is that there’s no way the sculpture should be taken down,” he said.
The wood part of the sculpture should be rebuilt, he said, as any other wood structure may require in the raining Pacific Northwest climate, and that a recent engineering report deemed the bottom of the structure, the steel and concrete, “totally sound.”
When the City of Seattle took the sculpture into its collection, Fels said there was an agreement to maintain it. Which the city has done, an employee told KING 5.
The City of Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture put a fence around the piece in the meantime to ensure there is no risk to the public in the event the artwork breaks apart or collapses.
Deaccessioning artworks is always a last resort, said Otts Bolisay, the communications manager for the Office of Arts & Culture. Bolisay said Fels’ Paragon is one of 400 artworks in the city’s Civic Arts Collection that requires maintenance.
“The Office of Arts and Culture has maintained the structure over the years, however, Seattle’s rainy climate, the passage of time (23 years) and the original materials used in Paragon have resulted in this very natural outcome,” Bolisay said. “The structure is currently a significant safety hazard that must be addressed as soon as possible.”
Fels met with the city on Tuesday to discuss options, however, an agreement was not reached. Bolisay said the city has its own engineering report and Art Conservator’s assessment for recommended actions.
Looking to the future, Fels said he sees this as an opportunity to bring the community together, re-dedicate the artwork to the community and work with local boat builders to rebuild and preserve the piece.