Back in April we reported that artist Paul Horiuchi’s famed Seattle Mural, the backdrop for the Mural Amphitheater at Seattle Center, was one of 25 historic sites in the area up for a restoration grant from Partners in Preservation.
(Photo courtesy of Neil B. Waller via his Flickr page).
The mural was originally build for the 1962 World’s Fair, and has served as a gathering place on the Center grounds for the past five decades. However the Venetian glass mosaic mural is showing signs of age and funds needed to restore the wall and keep pieces of the mosaic from falling off.
The community was asked to vote on which sites they would like to see restored, and though the Horiuchi Mural did not come in the top slot (the top two sites as voted by the public were the Schooner Adverturess and Seattle’s Town hall, which will each receive $125,000 for restoration purposes), American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation did award the mural a $5,000 grant to go towards its preservation. The mural was one of 14 of the original 25 historic sites up for funds to receive this award; the other 11 sites were awarded more sizable grants of $50,000 and up.
Though the Horiuchi Mural did not take home the restoration gold, it was one of ten sites named city landmarks by the Seattle City Council last month. Read more about the top 11 Partners in Preservation grant winners here.