Early this morning, at the foot of Hammering Man, a Seattle artist left an artwork wrapped in a big red bow. It contained a card addressed to Seattle Art Museum, which reads:

Dear Seattle Art Museum,

Artists are fortunate to have an institution like the Seattle Art Museum, which brings so much wonderful art to our city, expands our creative horizons, and encourages our artistic endeavors. To say thank you I would
like to give you my installation piece, Gallery (206), as a gift.

Gallery (206) contains the work of over 206 Seattle artists. The eighteen windows contain original artwork by artists such as Robert Hardgrave, Jesse Higman, Doug Jeck, Rumi Koshino, Robert Yoder, Cait Willis, Sharon Arnold and more. The phone now plays a musical composition by Dave Abramson when the receiver is lifted, while a lighted installation by Troy Gua illuminates the gallery each evening. The phone book is a directory containing images of work by 206 Seattle artists.

I hope that you will consider Gallery (206) for your long-term collection, however I would also support a decision to auction off the piece to benefit the SAM. If you decide that the installation does not meet the needs of the museum, I hope you would allow it to stand in its current location and be available to the public for the holidays. It would be a wonderful show of support for all that Seattle’s artists do to make our city great.

Happy Holidays,
Todd Jannausch
www.gallery206.net

We'll see what the museum says. In the meantime, enjoy the show.