Shared Histories, Shared Futures
Seattle Convention Center Summit Garage Door
Installed 2023
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The Seattle Convention Center’s public art program, one of the first of its kind in the nation, was established to provide an environment that enriches the experience of all who visit the meeting facility. Founded by Phyllis Lamphere, the art program has been a popular feature since the Center opened in 1988 and features over 100 works.
The Summit art program includes several key components, including a variety of free-standing artworks which were commissioned for the project, artistic elements have been integrated into the architecture of the building, and dozens of existing studio works were purchased for exhibition. |
Main entry garage door design was fabricated from a cut-paper prototype
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ARTIST STATEMENT
"As a Japanese American biracial child, I grew up in Seattle watching my Japanese grandmother prepare these foods with meticulous care for our family. She massaged each paper-thin cucumber slice marinating in rice wine vinegar with her weathered hands, she proudly presented me with bowls of octopus legs and perfect little piles of fish roe on tiny plates which I awkwardly tried to manipulate with chopsticks in my small, inexperienced hands. As a child, I didn’t realize that food was essentially the only part of my Japanese heritage that survived the incarceration of my family members at a Japanese concentration camp at Tule Lake in northern California during World War II. This piece celebrates food, the most important remnant of my Japanese heritage still carried through the generations and highlight the fact that many of the foods, flowers, and seafood we commonly enjoy in the Pacific Northwest were introduced by Japanese immigrants. These include cherry blossoms, Matsutake mushrooms, and persimmons which thrive here due to the similarities in the two climates. " |
Original cut paper design features flora and fauna commonly enjoyed in both the Pacific Northwest and Japan, referencing the artist's cultural identity
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