10th Annual Public Art Walk-n-Talk Around Burien

“I had a pleasant time on this walk and discovered art in Burien that I hadn’t known about since living in the area beginning in 1992. Where are we heading on the next walk?”

Rick

Frequent Walk-n-Talker

Sunday August 7, 2022

In keeping with our summertime tradition, we will enjoy the 10th Annual Burien Public Art Walk-n-Talk on Sunday, August 7, 2022, as we begin the TWELFTH YEAR (!) of our monthly Walk-n-Talks.

This month’s walk is a great way to discover the Public Art that Burien has scattered throughout town. We have sculptures, murals, decorated signal boxes, architectural and park details that are the result of artists’ collaborations with the City and other organizations.

Date: Sunday, August 7, 2022
Time: Meet-up at 2:00. Walking starts at 2:15.
Who: Walkers of every level and ability (dogs and cats are welcome, too.)
Place: Meet out in front of the Wells Fargo Bank, at the corner of Ambaum and SW 152nd. St.
Walking Route: We will start at “Gordon, Dixie and Clem”, and walk through town from there, including through the “Art Alley” between SW 152nd and 153rd Streets, from 6th Ave. to 4th Ave. We’ll also add the art spaces at The Maverick Apartments and Merrill Gardens, which are curated in partnership with the City of Burien.
Distance: About 1.75 miles, round trip, mostly flat with sidewalks.

NOTE: We will be walking outside for the most part. Please follow appropriate guidelines regarding use of facial coverings and social distancing.

Merrill and Maverick

Burien has innovative spaces devoted to the public display of sculpture, drawings, paintings and artistic installations. The City of Burien is partnering with The Maverick Apartments and Merrill Gardens to bring art to downtown Burien. Community art is showcased in the windows for three-month intervals. According to the City of Burien:

“As part of the design review process for the two developments, the City encouraged the architects to create a display space for local art. City design standards require buildings to have specific elements to make the downtown a pedestrian-friendly place. This includes how a building presents itself to the street. We want to avoid blank walls and make the streetscape more interesting to the pedestrian. There are multiple ways to achieve this: retail space, landscaping, and art displays. The City worked in partnership with the developer to meet the intent of the design standards. The result was the inclusion of display windows in the final design–meeting both the buildings’ needs and contributing to our downtown streetscape.”

At Merrill Gardens

On the east side of Merrill Gardens, along 4th Ave. SW between SW 151st and SW 150th, passersby see nine lighted display cases.

At the Maverick Apartments

The curious glassed-in space at the northwest corner of The Maverick, at SW 150th and 6th Ave. SW. hosts art of many types.

Burien Public Art Web Site & Survey

The City of Burien has a web site where you can view photos, maps, descriptions and the artist’s name for each piece of public art. Click HERE to explore the Burien Public Art web site.

Former Public Art Map

In 2013, the City of Burien’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services, along with the Burien Arts Commission, created a walking map and signage for 23 public art pieces that were around town at the time. Though new artwork has since been added to our city, you may still DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THE PRIOR PUBLIC ART WALKING MAP HERE to carry along with you as we discover 20 of the art pieces.

“Only through art can we emerge from ourselves and know what another person sees.”

Marcel Proust

French novelist, Critic, and Essayist

What is Public Art in Burien?

It stands tall on a pedestal at your side, adds pattern and color to a painted wall and is embedded in the floor at your feet. Art is creative expression made visible through metal, glass, paint, paper, concrete… any material available to the artist.

Explore this community in a different way. Art is everywhere… sculptures, murals, carvings… but also artist-designed floors, windows, water features and more. Think about what “ART” means to you as you wander through Burien. Do you see pattern in a stack of tires, or texture in the natural landscape? How is your life enriched by the art around you?

According to Americans for the Arts: American cities and towns aspire to be places where people want to live and want to visit. Having a particular community identity, especially in terms of what our towns look like, is becoming even more important in a world where every place tends to look like everyplace else. Places with strong public art expressions break the trend of blandness and sameness, and give communities a stronger sense of place and identity.

The people responsible for planning public art projects are the Burien Arts Commission, a volunteer board of nine Burien residents who are appointed by the City Council. The Arts Commission is responsible for developing public art projects, for recommending funding allocations of the yearly Arts and Culture Grants and supporting the arts in other areas of the city such as events and residency program in the schools.