Beauty abounds at the UW. On our campus in Seattle, you may have found yourself entranced by the carvings etched into buildings on the Quad, the delicate stained windows of Suzzallo Library or the blush of cherry blossoms every spring. But did you know about all the public art you may be strolling past every day? From sculptural ravens flying overhead to tree logs you can walk through and cultural stories told visually, there’s a rich collection of art you can visit as you go about your UW day.
Story by Haylee Nguyen, ’27 // Photos by University Photography
Breaking Away (2000): Near Meany Center for the Performing Arts
As a part of Joseph McDonnell’s collection of the same name, seemingly broken pieces of objects form a reconstructed shape representing the cycle of evolution — symbolizing change that forces us to rebuild ourselves in different forms, but with the same pieces. Contemplate this on your way down the stairs between Meany Center for the Performing Arts and Gerberding Hall.
Welcoming Figures (2015): wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House
In the Gathering Hall of wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House, a communal spot for American Indian and Alaska Native students, faculty and staff and the whole Husky community, these figures represent ancestral and future spirits, comforting and guiding those who enter. Designed by Ruth and Andy Peterson (Skokomish) and brought to life by carver Andrea Wilbur-Sigo (Squaxin Island and Skokomish), these 10-foot-tall panels were installed in 2015.
Husky Spirit (1995): Husky Stadium
UW alumna Georgia Gerber’s 360-pound bronze sculpture welcomes fans to Husky Stadium, where Husky pride is the loudest. Gerber is known for her distinctive animal sculptures found throughout Seattle, including Rachel the Piggy Bank, the famous mascot of Pike Place Market. Gerber's goal with Husky Spirit was to create “a proud husky, larger than life, that would become an iconic image.”
Not Afraid of Falling (2024): Gates Center for Computer Science & Engineering
Swinging above the Anita Borg Grand Stairway in the Gates Center for Computer Science & Engineering is this humanlike figure caught in mid-arc, meant to remind students of the inventiveness and creativity in all of us. Artist Glenn Kaino’s playful robot moves incrementally each day with the Earth’s rotation, a fitting reminder to take risks in a setting devoted to innovation.
Broken Obelisk (1967): Red Square
In 1971, the Virginia Wright Foundation gifted the UW this three-ton installation from Barnett Newman’s collection of identical sculptures — its sisters can be found at the Museum of Modern Art and the Storm King Art Center in New York and the Rothko Chapel in Texas. The UW is fortunate to host the fourth one on campus in Red Square.
Salish Journey Through Water (2023): Founders Hall
Coasting along the wall of the Founders Hall Commons is an underwater scene showcasing five important elements of Coast Salish identity: killer whale, salmon, salmon roe, moon and canoe. Artist Shaun Peterson (Puyallup), whose Native name is Qwalsius, created these pieces to honor the Indigenous peoples of the land where the building sits.
The Department of Forensic Morphology Annex (2004): Parrington Lawn
Just off the path of Parrington Lawn, this stainless-steel sculpture is one of several on campus funded by Washington state’s Art in Public Places program. Artist Cris Bruch, known for his experiments with nontraditional materials, was inspired by the UW’s F.K. Kirsten Wind Tunnel and the Theodore Jacobsen Observatory. Peer through an opening in the structure and you’ll even find a star map.
Nourish / Enrich / Nurse Log (2024): Health Sciences Education Building
UW medical programs teach students to care for and nurture human health and well-being, and the Health Sciences Education Building is, in turn, a space that nurtures this learning. In an immersive depiction of that care and support, Acrylicize, an artist collective, constructed arches shaped like cross sections of nurse logs — decayed trees that act as nurseries for seedlings to grow — outside the facility.
Guests From the Great River (2020): Burke Museum
The art of the Burke Museum extends beyond its walls with these bronze paddles, just outside the museum’s doors. Tony A. (naschio) Johnson and Adam McIsaac (Chinook) sculpted the 11 pieces in a variety of sizes and styles, arranged to represent a Chinook canoe carrying cultural figures from the Columbia River region, bringing knowledge to the University and the land on which it sits.
The Seated IV (2019): Hans Rosling Center for Population Health
In front of the Hans Rosling Center for Population Health, this piece inspired by caryatids — sculpted female figures that act as pillars — sits with strength and poise. Kenyan artist Wangechi Mutu drew from classical African and European traditions to forge the form of a woman who, rather than carrying society’s weight, is seated in dignity and repose.
Raven Brings Light to This House of Stories (1993): Allen Library
In a modern retelling of a Pacific Northwest Coast Indigenous tale, sculpted ravens soar above the Allen Library's north entrance lobby. Some carry emblems of cultures from around the world, symbolizing the library’s collected knowledge. Artist Carl T. Chew collaborated with Mare Blocker, J.T. Stewart and Ron Hilbert (Lushootseed) on multiple elements installed in the lobby and throughout the library.
Blocked Out (2005): Near Mary Gates Hall
Dedicated to “those who are excluded from the house they were exploited to create,” this piece was lobbied for, funded, designed and installed by UW students who saw a lack of diversity in what existing campus art memorialized and celebrated. Huskies Jaebadiah Gardner and Sumona Das Gupta, frustrated at the many memorials to those whose power often came at the expense of marginalized communities, worked with UW administration and brought together other students to create this monument to oppressed peoples and the power of freedom.
