Originally published April 4, 2008 at 12:00 AM | Page modified April 4, 2008 at 12:35 PM
Sculptor envisions colorful steel birds for Capitol Hill subway station
Take a pair of used fighter jets. Slice each fuselage and the wings into cross-sections. Paint the segments a soothing pinkish-orange. Rearrange the slices so...
Seattle Times transportation reporter
Take a pair of used fighter jets. Slice each fuselage and the wings into cross-sections. Paint the segments a soothing pinkish-orange. Rearrange the slices so that each plane curves, like a heron taking flight.
That's the vision of Mike Ross, the public-art sculptor for Sound Transit's future underground station at Capitol Hill. His steel birds, one facing north and one facing south, would appear to kiss each other. They would lurk among huge crossbeams, over the train platforms. "Because I started with such aggressive symbols, I arranged them in a nonaggressive way," he said Thursday. A New Yorker, he was inspired by Seattle's natural setting and aviation history, but wanted bright colors to offset the region's perpetually gray skies.
The concept recalls his famed "Big Rig Jig," a curvy duet of sliced semi trucks that Ross built in the Nevada desert last year for the Burning Man festival.
The Seattle sculpture would explore the relationship between nature and technology, war and peace, strength and fragility. "It asks a lot of people," he said. Ross said he hopes children will enjoy the playful shape.
Riders would see multiple perspectives when they descend the station escalators. Near the surface only a few fragments appear, but the whole piece would be visible from the boarding area, 65 feet deep.
The $550,000 sculpture at the station, near Broadway at John Street, would be part of a three-mile, $1.8 billion subway from downtown to Husky Stadium, to open in late 2016.
Sound Transit staffers say they are pleased with the design; the final decision to fund the sculpture rests with the agency's board of directors.
Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
Illegal workers quietly let go
Metro won't cut bus service after all
Jerry Large: Food-bank theft turns into a gift
Bumper to Bumper: How can the city let bridges go dark?

Real Salt Lake wins MLS Cup
Real Salt Lake defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy with penalty kicks after 120 minutes of play at Qwest Field in Seattle.
general classifieds
Garage & estate salesFurniture & home furnishings
Sporting goods
just listed
42" Hitachi Plasma 1080i - $500
8 Drawer Dresser with Attached Mirror - $200
8 seat pecon formal dining table and china hutch - $1500
More listings
POST A FREE LISTING
shopping
Give yourself a treat and visit Watson Kennedy's Holiday Open Houses
More minding the store
events for Monday, Nov. 23
- Castle Discount with Military ID
- CraftsGiving
- Alhambra 20 Percent Off Jewelry Sale
- Dish It Up! Totally Truffles
editors' picks
- Phinney Ridge & Greenwood shopping
- Independent video stores
- Pioneer Square shopping
- Garden furnishings
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Snow piles up on Cascade slopes
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Illegal workers quietly let go
373 - Climate change speeds up since 1997 Kyoto accord
210 - Metro won't cut bus service after all
151 - New Husky recruit: Enes Kanter
97 - Historic health care bill clears Senate hurdle
95 - Tattoos at Mill Creek Church pierce skin, soul
83 - Middleton says Huskies "plan on scoring at least 50 points'' Saturday
82 - Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
74 - UW, WSU once again meet to see who's worse
68 - Seattle woman charged with knife attack on boyfriend's ex
65
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Architects, chefs find 'kid' within to build Gingerbread Village
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Taste | The Great Pie Bake-off pits friends and fruit




