Eight, 10-foot-tall aluminum sculptures were installed at the north end of the Ballard bridge in the middle of September, and they may look familiar to motorists.
Titled "Ballard Gateway" and designed by artists Tom Askman and Lea Anne Lake, the fanciful pieces were first installed on the bridge in 2003, noted Lori Patrick, the public-relations manager for the Mayor's Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs.
Costing $80,000, the sculptures are meant to depict different historical aspects of Queen Anne's and Magnolia's neighbor to the north. The aspects include Ballard's Scandinavian and American-Indian roots, as well as its maritime and lumber industries, according to an Arts & Cultural Affairs press release.
Money for the project came from a combination of the city's 1 percent for Arts, the Millennium Lighting Fund, the city's Neighborhood Matching Fund and the Ballard Gateway Committee, Patrick said.
But bases on two of the sculptures were damaged in the massive windstorm of February 2006, and all eight were removed as a precaution, she said. Problem was, Patrick added, there was no money to repair the bases and reinstall the sculptures in either 2006 or 2007.
The cost to retrofit the bases and reinstall the freshly painted pieces was $20,000, which finally came from the conservation and maintenance fund for public art, she said. "We're pleased to have it back on the bridge."[[In-content Ad]]
