Tomorrow Laurelhurst Resident's Book Signing At UW Bookstore

Long-time Laurelhurst resident, Jim Rupp, invites the neighborhood to his discussion and book signing, Art in Seattle's Public Spaces From SoDo to South Lake Union, tomorrow at 6pm at the University Bookstore.  

Jim and his book were also featured in a recent segment of KING 5’s Evening program. 

Jim told the Laurelhurst Blog that he is a Laurelhurst native whose parents lived in the neighborhood from 1938 to 1989. Jim moved back to the neighborhood in 1983, and he and his wife have two children, who are both graduates of Laurelhurst Elementary School and Roosevelt High School.

Jim started collecting information about art in Seattle’s public places when he was in Roosevelt High School "about 50 years ago." 

"I was always frustrated that whenever I saw art around town, there was nothing available to tell what that art was and how it got there," Jim told the Laurelhurst Blog. 

Jim’s first book, Art in Seattle’s Public Places, and Illustrated Guide, covers art in the entire city, and was published in 1992 by the University of Washington Press. 

Jim said his newest book, which took five years to research, is  a "more portable book" than his first one, as it covers the area specifically from SoDo to South Lake Union and includes the waterfront and the Olympic Sculpture Park."

Jim said in about two years he hopes to publish another book, Art in Seattle’s Neighborhood Public Spaces, which will cover artworks throughout the rest of the city, including Laurelhurst and other neighborhoods in Northeast Seattle.  Following that book, he hopes to write a cultural history of early Seattle.

The information Jim sent to the Laurelhurst Blog said:

James Rupp is a Seattle native, long-time lawyer, and local historian who has been collecting information about art in Seattle's public places for over forty years. This is his second book on the subject. Sculptor Miguel Edwards has been a commercial and fine-art photographer in Seattle since 1992. His clients include Pacific Northwest municipalities and Fortune 500 companies, and his photographs have been included in numerous publications, including Billboard and City Arts magazines.  

From cedar totem poles to high-tech video installations, downtown Seattle sparkles with hundreds of artworks adorning plazas, lobbies, parks, and waterfront piers and paths. This impressive collection, comprising works by artists with regional or international reputations (and often both), has expanded rapidly as Seattle's urban core has grown. 

The explosive development of South Lake Union in recent years has brought major works by Jaume Plensa, Julie Speidel, Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo, Buster Simpson, Jenny Heishman, and more. The Seattle Art Museum's ten-year-old Olympic Sculpture Park provides a breathtaking setting for Richard Serra's monumental Wake and Beverly Pepper's ever-changing Perre's Ventaglio III, and links the downtown waterfront to Myrtle Edwards Park, which features Michael Heizer's once-maligned and now beloved Adjacent, Against, Upon. 

To tell the lively stories of those who commissioned and created these artworks, James Rupp interviewed and corresponded with more than ninety artists, also drawing from newspaper reviews, books, catalogs, and artist statements. Photographs by Miguel Edwards, all new to this book, showcase the pieces' street-level presentation and help the reader understand the larger impact of each work in its neighborhood context.  

This comprehensive guide offers detailed information about the individual works of art, organized by downtown neighborhood, and features: more than 350 artworks, over 300 color photographs, 9 9 detailed area maps for self-guided tours, unique descriptions of each artwork and biographies of all the artists. 

Perfect for art and architecture lovers, as well as visitors and newcomers to the city, Art in Seattle's Public Spaces showcases the wealth of urban art to be freely enjoyed by all. 

Jim told the Laurelhurst Blog that his book has already sold over 1,000 copies. It is available in local bookstores and through online booksellers, as well as directly from the author.