Olympic Sculpture Park Photos -- Cool Art, Really Cool Park・Barbara Falconer Newhall

"Seattle Cloud Cover," by Teresita Fernandez, 2006, a pedestrian bridge with photographic material between layers of glass. To the left "Echo" "Echo" by James Plensa. 46 feet tall. Resin, steel, marble dust. 13,118 pounds. May, .Photo by Barbara Newhall — Jon and I started our stroll with this glimpse of the homely 2014 sculpture, “Echo,” made of resin, steel and marble dust by James Plensa. Up the stairs we were in for a treat — a pedestrian bridge with “Seattle Cloud Cover,” by Teresita Fernandez. *Photo by Barbara Newhall*

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Can’t decide whether to take in a modern art museum or go for a walk in the city? In Seattle, you can have it both ways — at a seven-year-old sculpture park along the city’s waterfront. For those who can’t get to Seattle, maybe these Olympic Sculpture Park photos will suffice.

When the park was completed in 2007, some locals protested that it took out too much of the gritty waterfront scene — an old streetcar barn in particular. But the Olympic Sculpture Park’s planners achieved something striking in the process: a nine-acre grass and concrete space that starts at water’s edge, spans a pair of old railroad tracks, leaps over a four- lane auto thoroughfare and ends with an events pavillion sporting big windows and a danceable floor.

Designed by the New York architectural firm Weiss / Manfredi, the park is a project of the Seattle Art Museum. The cost was $85 million, most of which was covered by private donors. From the

Rocky short of Seattle waterfront. Construction of the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle included restoration of the Puget Sound beachfront. Photo by Barbara Newhall Photo by Barbara Newhall — Construction of the Sculpture Park included restoration of the Puget Sound beachfront — and these gorgous licheny rocks. *Photo by Barbara Newhall*

park’s lawns and sidewalks visitors can see Elliott Bay, the Olympic mountains, Mount Rainier, downtown Seattle, the Space Needle — and, of course, a collection of contemporary sculptures.

The sculptures are nice enough. The park itself — is genius. It’s a work of art. Go and spend some time there.

More photos of Teresita Fernandez’s magical glass shelter at “The Olympic Sculpture Park — An Artful Stroll on Seattle’s Waterfront.” Elsewhere in Seattle — “Dale Chihuly’s Glass — Fine Art, Kitsch or Both?”