Beach Drive residents and visitors are familiar with artist Lezlie Jane‘s waterfront work – including the distinctive installations at Weather Watch Park, Constellation Park, and Cormorant Cove. She is working on a new creation that’s been discussed at the last two Alki Community Council meetings, and when ACC met last Thursday night, she revealed the boardwalk east of Alki Bathhouse is the new proposed location for “Luna Girls on Alki,” seen in her rendering above.
The steel sculpture outlines three early-20th-century bathing beauties you might have found swimming at the Luna Park amusement park – just the outline, so you can look right through to the Puget Sound view. As of the first discussion at last month’s ACC meeting, the landscaped island at 63rd and Alki was the suggested location – that’s what the Parks Department originally approached Jane about – but that didn’t work out, and last Thursday night, Jane revealed a brand-new proposed location, in the curve that protrudes from the boardwalk by the seawall east of the bathhouse. (She says many details are yet to be worked out, but since it’s in the expanded section, it wouldn’t be in the traffic flow; it would be expected that people might climb or sit on it, and that would be OK.)
She says the outlines of the Luna Girls will be sandblasted but left to “go natural,” eventually oxidizing to a dark orange. They’re about 6 feet high. They’ll likely be cut from one-inch- to inch-and-a-half-thick plate steel. Jane is seeking private funding for the work, with a budget around $30,000; she is hoping that will come from three donors contributing $10,000 each, and says one has already signed on. They’ve come up with ways to acknowledge and thank donors, as well as the tax deduction and a plaque AND naming rights for “their girl.” (It will be a permanent installation.)
If you’re interested in being a sponsor – or just want to find out more about the “Luna Girls” – they have their own website, lunagirlsonalki.com.
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