Thanks to Erika Lindsay with the city’s Office of Arts and Culture for news that “Engine 32 1/2” has been installed at the new Fire Station 32 in The Triangle. She included photos of the installation, which as you can see required a crane.
Sean Orlando of Engineered Artworks is the artist. Engine 32 1/2 is described as:
… a large-scale fabricated steel version of a wooden toy fire truck. Inspired by historic fire trucks of the late 1920s and 1930s … modeled after the original Engine 32 that Captain Steve Sanislo operated out of this station for many years … a 1924 Seagrave Apparatus … a custom designed and fabricated idealized version of a real vintage fire truck built to ½ scale with a toy-maker’s detailed aesthetic … endowing it with a sense of play, whimsy and imagination. The ladders of “Engine 32 ½” will extend, stretch and come alive behind the apparatus, organically and impossibly creeping up the outer wall of the firehouse. The extension of the ladders behind the truck represents the speed and urgency of the Fire Fighter’s mission. The overall shape of the ladders will emulate a chaotic abstract flame.
Capt. Sanislo is of course the namesake of the elementary school on Puget Ridge. But the truck has even more of a local backstory – inspired by toy trucks made by a man living near FS 32, as detailed on Orlando’s website.
The artist is quoted as saying, “This particular work of art represents an internal discovery and connection between the primal emotions and memory within children of all ages, as well as adults. By creating a piece that spans the generations, “Engine 32 ½” will act as a catalyst to bridge the gap between the adolescent child and the inner child of the adult.”
No date yet for when SFD will move into the new station (which was built on the site where the old one was demolished, at SW Alaska and 37th SW), according to our most-recent check with the department. Construction began with demolition more than 14 months ago. The call for artists originally went out in 2013.
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