Robert Morris Earthwork is a 1979

public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

earthworks Earthworks may refer to: Construction *Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour * Earthworks (engineering), civil engineering works created by moving or processing quantities of soil *Earthworks (military), m ...

installation in

Seatac, Washington SeaTac is a city in southern King County, Washington, United States. The city is an inner-ring suburb of Seattle and part of the Seattle metropolitan area. The name "SeaTac" is derived from the Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, itself a ...

by Robert Morris. The area surrounding the piece, a former

gravel pit A gravel pit is an open-pit mine for the extraction of gravel. Gravel pits often lie in river valleys where the water table is high, so they may naturally fill with water to form ponds or lakes. Old, abandoned gravel pits are normally used eithe ...

overlooking the

Kent Valley Kent is a city in King County, Washington, United States. It is part of the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue metropolitan area and had a population of 136,588 as of the 2020 census, making it the 4th most populous municipality in greater Seattle an ...

outside of Seattle, has rapidly filled in with urban growth, leading to efforts to both protect it and to enhance public access and enjoyment. The earthwork was the result of a

King County King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the st ...

government symposium titled ''Earthworks: Land Reclamation as Sculpture''. The same symposium also gave impetus to the creation of '' Mill Creek Canyon Earthworks''. According to the former director of public art for the city and county, the two pieces are the major earthworks in King County; according to

4Culture 4Culture is a tax-exempt public development authority (PDA), with a fifteen-member board of directors, who are nominated by the King County Executive and confirmed by the King County Council. A Public Development Authority is a public entity creat ...

, the piece is of "international importance". The site was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2021.

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

* from Washington Trust for Historic Preservation
Photographs
of construction and finished piece from Washington Trust for Historic Preservation 1979 establishments in Washington (state) Buildings and structures completed in 1979 Land art Public art in the United States SeaTac, Washington National Register of Historic Places in King County, Washington {{Washington-sculpture-stub