Where EXACTLY is
“The Center of the
Universe?” In
Fremont—a
district that sits
on the bank of the
ship canal just north of downtown Seattle. Back in 1994, Fremont artists created a
quirky way to
express the
uniqueness of their
neighborhood to city planners. Eventually they convinced
the King County
Council to designate
the neighborhood as the center of the universe and to declare
that “…the Artistic
Republic of Fremont
…is a Mecca for those of independent minds and spirits…”
The neighborhood
boasts many public works
of art. TA
seven-ton bronze
Lenin statue that
was rescued from Czechoslovakia, towers more
than 20 feet over
the corner
of 36th
and
Fremont Way.
Beneath the Aurora Bridge sits a giant cement troll holding a
full-size Volkswagen
Beetle.
Probably the most
community-participatory
work
is the life-size
sculpture known as
“Waiting for
the Interurban”
—five adults, an
infant and a
human-faced dog,
waiting for a trolley-bus. For years Fremont residents have enjoyed dressing the
figures according
to the season
or the celebration.
Even the Fremont Bridge carries the neighborhood’s whimsical personality with its cheerful
orange and blue paint and its glowing
neon Rapunzel, whose
hair cascades in
golden waves from
the Bridge master’s
tower.
Fremont
offers gallery walks
once a month, quirky
outdoor cinema on summer weekend nights and the Fremont
Public Market every
Sunday. Thousands
of people flock
annually to the
Fremont Fair (with
hundreds of crafts
and food vendors) the Summer Solstice Parade (with colorful
floats and
imaginative
costumes),
Oktoberfest, and
Trolloween, (a
community wide
Halloween carnival).
Fremont
is undergoing a
transition as Adobe
Software and several
other high tech
firms move their
offices near the
ship canal. But with
its sculptural
curiosities, lively
bistros, artist
studios, boutiques,
coffee shops and
counter culture
roots,
Fremont will continue to be one of Seattle’s favorite
communities.