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In Portland last weekend, I ran into this 1970s bronze sculpture on the street, of a naked lady(/Sith) with flowing hair(/Sith robe) and fully rendered pubic hair, attempting to be proudly mermaidy/Mother Naturey, and I asked myself: Where’s the evidence of vagina-loving, first-wave-feminism in Seattle?

Or hippieism in general—did the 1960s only deposit itself in Seattle in futurist forms (white post-Gothic arches, the Needle)?

Where is Seattle’s embarrassing 1970s side??

Jen Graves (The Stranger’s former arts critic) mostly writes about things you approach with your eyeballs. But she’s also a history nerd interested in anything that needs more talking about, from male...

46 replies on “Where Is Seattle’s Embarrassing 1970s Side?”

  5. Solstice Parade FTW!!!!!1111!!111!11one!!!! All your naked bicyclists are belong to us!

    That’s my WiS impression.

    Most of our tragic seventies side was carved out of wood and has thus rotted away by now, like the teeth of the people who put it there.

  8. Fnarf actually Billionaires plotted their Tunnel in 70’s Mercer Mess Seattle unlike in Vancouver with all its 100-story towers of affordable housing. LOL.

  10. @9, was that feminist, though? It didn’t look like a boob to me, which is surprising, because almost everything does. The Doma Tacoma certainly does.

  14. @10 – The Kingdome wasn’t as well-formed, but, like the Tacoma Dome, had an areola topped off with an American flag nipple.

  21. Wasn’t everyone clamouring to turn out the lights after rushing to be the last to leave Seattle in the ’70s?

  23. What about Orestes? It was that weird white mound that used to be at the bottom of the Counterbalance on Queen Anne. It was a bunch of different restaurants and then they finally tore it down a few years ago.

  25. Despite having a major university within the city, I’m not sure largely working-class 70’s Seattle every really let anyone’s feminist, flower-child expressions explode into the public. If there was a uniquely 70’s hippy-inspired aesthetic there, it was probably the Northwest Indian art obsession. Anyone ever go to Totem Lake mall back then?

    I think what you’re looking for could be found on Orcas Island, in the 80’s.

  27. Good point, Dougsf.

    By the way, I think people in the 70s were out in the woods more than in the city. Not that I’d know, I was a kid then, and all the American hippies were up in Canada having more fun than the squares down here.

  28. #26 – I suppose that depends on whether or not the viewer see’s oneself as the sculpture, or the Space Needle.

  29. Seattle’s long lived 70’s leftovers gave way and merged with the 90s leftovers a long time ago.

    So, the tall hairy bearded guy with elephant bell bottoms becomes the bassist for Soundgarden. Silver beads become piercings. Heavy metal becomes grunge.

    I’m surprised that aging GenXers with floppy bellies hanging out of their 3/4 t-shirts, stretched tattoos and Mohawks with bald patches aren’t erecting bronze statues to their candy raver glory days.

    Bush! 16 Stone! Yea!

  34. That statue was sculpted by a Seattle artist: http://faculty.washington.edu/taylornj/i…

    Here’s the interesting story behind the poster featuring it: http://www.photographicimage.com/merchan…

    About Dick and Jane’s Spot in Ellensburg — Dick Elliott died in November, 2008: http://www.reflectorart.com/dick/Obit.ht…

    You can see some of his reflector artwork along the Link Light Rail line, just south of Columbia City Station (you can only see it while facing north).

  37. We don’t have a lot of 70’s architecture because nobody in Seattle had any money in the 70’s.

    But there is the King County Administration Building (which is dreadful). The Cabrini tower (which is hideous) and that borish luxury apartment building on First Hill.

    And, while technically from both the ’60’s and ’80’s, the Westin Hotel is reliably 70’s.

  38. His name is Knute Berger, and you can find him on the P-I web site. He’s gotten more crotchety as time has gone on, though.

  45. On 39th and Hudson in Columbia City, there’s a small 70s storefront that houses a home birthing center. The have a big window into their office, which is decorated with two giant stained glass pieces. Each one features a variation on a rainbow-lined uterus containing a fetus.
    While it’s not officially public art, they are certainly (sadly) viewable by the public.

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