Day 55: High & Lowbrow Seattle

Pseudo History and Real Art

Underground Seattle

We got lucky today and the weather held all day, so we could go walking to check out the galleries around Pioneer Square.  But first, we checked into Bill Speidel's Underground Tour.  The tour took us to parts of the Seattle underground-- a series of interconnected subterranean storefronts and sidewalks that fell into disuse after the city rebuilt itself at a higher level after the Great Fire of 1889.

This diagram depicts the design.

Seattle Raised Streets & Sidewalks and created Seattle Underground

Originally the storefronts were built at the bottom level, but after the fire the city decided to raise all the streets and sidewalks to allow for better sewage infrastructure and more stable streets.  At that point, storefronts could be accessed from sidewalk level or from the lower level underground entrances that existed before the new elevated streets. (Stairways like the one in the diagram provided underground access.)

The tour was part looking at cool old infrastructure and part dead-pan humor and a history lesson that was a bit more tall tale than true fact; but there were some interesting (and likely mostly true) stories thrown in among the sewer jokes.  But as you can see from this picture, our guide was more performer than historian.

Guide for our Underground Seattle Tour

While we were hoping for more time actually walking through underground tunnels and less time in a clump listening to stories, we did get some interesting peeks.  This shot is representative:

Underground Seattle from Our Tour

We particularly liked it when we could relate where we were standing on street level to where we were underground.  These two images of glass skylights built into the sidewalk to help light the underground portion are a great example.

Original Glass Skylight from Sidewalk Level

The Same Skylight from Below

After the Underground tour we began our gallery hop through Pioneer Square.  I had mapped out a list beforehand, and I think we hit just about all of them.  One of our first stops was a glass studio where we picked up a very reasonably priced drinking glass and a glass ornament.

After visits to several other fine galleries, we ended up at our real destination-- Azuma, a gallery specializing in Japanese prints.  We have a small (and now growing) collection of prints from Japanese artists, and were looking to add to it.  We had purchased a couple of prints we loved when we were last in Seattle 15 years ago, and my parents have bought several others from Azuma for us over the years.

We spent several hours (really!) looking at work from several of our favorite Japanese artists-- the had one of the largest and more comprehensive collection of Katsunori Hamanishi mezzotints we have ever seen.

Eventually we decided on 4 pieces, each from an artist we already have, but each very different from the other ones we own.  Here's what we chose:

Heart Five, by  Kazuo Sakohata (Silkscreen Print)

For Days III, by Yoshikatsu Tamekane (Woodblock Print)

Calm #7 and Calm #6 by Katsunori Hamanishi (Mezzotint)

So, I clearly blew my art budget for the day.  But as Bob reminded me, there is no telling when we will next be in Seattle (it was 15 years before) and I would probably kick myself if I left any of these on the table. (He definitely indulges me!)

So, tomorrow we are going to view art with no possibility of purchasing it-- at the Seattle Art museum.  It is our last full day in Seattle, so we'll try to get in every last bit of tourism we can.

Until then...
--Lisa