March 27, 2022 - Spring is Pink Redux

 

The University of Washington cherry blossoms are in full bloom and the Quad was filled with admirers before 9am on a Sunday!  A 5k fun run that ended nearby added to the crowd.

A statue of George Washington (framed by 'Broken Obelisk'), Red Square and Drumheller Fountain completed the brief visit.

March 17, 2016 - Graduate Wizard Room

The Graduate Reading Room in the University of Washington's Suzzallo Library has the feel of a room one might find in a certain school of wizardry.  The Collegiate Gothic style architecture of this 1920s building makes it one of the most recognizable on campus.  In the words of the university president, and the library's namesake, it is a cathedral of learning.  The grand room runs the length of the building and measures 250' long with a vaulted ceiling that reaches 65' high.  The ceiling panels are stenciled and painted, the oak bookcases are topped by hand-carved friezes of native plants.  The 35' high stained glass panels feature reproductions of Renaissance watermarks.  At either end of the room hang painted globes.

The exterior of the library features 12 spires with terra cotta figures that include influential artists and thinkers including Plato, Benjamin Franklin and Shakespeare.  The library borders Red Square.  From the edge of Red Square one can look down the Rainier Vista walkway towards Drumheller Fountain and Mount Rainier beyond.

April 5, 2014 - West of Suzallo

From the steps of the University of Washington's Suzzallo Library, the profile of Lorado Taft's giant sculpture of George Washington, framed by Barnett Newman's "Broken Obelisk", appears to be watching over the I-5 traffic on the Ship Canal Bridge.  At times it can seem like the traffic moves as swiftly as the statue...

The sculpture of the first President was unveiled on June 14, 1909, just in time for the opening of the 1909 Alaska-Yukon Exposition and represents yet another legacy of this bold fair.  The local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution along with school children throughout the state and the state commission of the Alaska-Yukon Exposition paid for Mr. Taft's work.  Lorado Taft grew up in Urbana Illinois and his father taught at what is now the University of Illinois at Champagn-Urbana.  He himself taught at the Chicago Art Institute and many of his sculptures are located in the greater Chicago area.