Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Rusty the Opera Pig


Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.

Seattle's "Pigs on Parade 2007" is underway all over the city this month and through the summer, celebrating Pike Place Market's 100th Anniversary. Organizations, businesses, and artists created 70 unique life size art hogs. This one, Rusty the Opera Pig, has been skillfully adorned to look like rain rusted metal and sits in front of McCaw Hall at Seattle Center, home of many performance arts, including the ballet (you can see a ballet costume exhibit just beyond the glass). In fact, it looks to me like Rusty is looking longingly at the tutu the dancer in the poster is wearing and might desert the Opera to dance on point! The pigs are fiberglass models based on Rachael the Market's giant bronze "piggy bank" that helps the Market Foundation raise funds to assist local residents and market farmers in times of need. Rachel herself was modeled by an artist after a prize winning sow at an island fair years ago. You can find Rachel out in front of the fish vendor famous for tossing fish and entertaining the crowds. You can find the locations of all the artistic Pigs on Parade throughout Seattle by clicking here.

2 comments:

lv2scpbk said...

We have pig statues in our town too. They have the mamma and two babies displayed. I forgot all about them till I seen your post.

Kim said...

Lv2scpbk, that sounds nice. This is the second time Seattle's Pike Place Market has sponsored these pigs about town. At Christmastime there were decorated life sized Nutcrackers on display. Paris had cows, DC had elephants and donkeys. . . seems its a city trend all over the globe.