Focus on Statue of Lenin (Seattle) and discuss the Fremont curiosity.
The statue of Lenin became a Fremont landmark and object of curiosity, representing the quirky nature of the artistic neighborhood, whose motto is Libertas Quirkas – freedom to be peculiar. Like the Fremont Troll and the Waiting for the Interurban sculpture, the Lenin statue has often been decorated, appropriated, or vandalized with various intentions, both whimsical and serious.Knute Berger, acknowledging that "we are supposed to be amused" by the "hippie whimsy" of a Soviet symbol in the middle of an American city, said that seeing the statue cannot help but remind us of the killing and repression Lenin inspired. But Berger reflected that perhaps the meaning of this Soviet relic is the opposite, that it is "a trophy of Western triumphalism", representing the victory over communism and the fall of the Berlin Wall.  By removing the statue from its original context where it was meant to keep the Slovak people in awe, given a new context where it oppresses no one and is used entirely in the service of free enterprise and profit making. Berger goes on to compare the Lenin statue with Native American totem poles, so many of which were once on display in the city that they became a "symbol of Seattle". Some of Seattle's most iconic 'totem poles' (actually Alaskan Tlingit carved house posts) were brazenly stolen from an Alaska village by respected members of the scientific and business community, the Harriman Alaska expedition, so immersed in the triumph of their own culture over that of Native Americans that little thought was given to what Dr. Robin K. Wright of the Burke Museum called "a very clear case of theft". Berger said the story of victory of one culture over another told by the totem pole, or the Lenin statue, make it "an icon, but if you know the story, a complicated one."A glowing Soviet-style red star or Christmas lights have been added to the statue during the holiday season since 2004. For the 2004 Solstice Parade, the statue was made to look like John Lennon. During Gay Pride Week, the statue is dressed in drag.The BBC highlighted Seattle's Lenin statue after protesters removed Lenin statues in Ukraine.The statue's hands are often painted (and repainted) red to protest what critics perceive as the glorification of what they see as a historical villain who has blood on his hands. The Taco del Mar restaurant, one of the retail property's tenants, constructed a monumental-scale burrito wrapped in foil for the statue to hold, which one Fremont publisher said did not turn out as intended, but rather "looked like a doobie."In June 2017, the statue's sculptor, Emil Venkov, died at age 79. The Association of Slovak Artists noted the loss of an artist whose long career helped define Slovak monumental and architectural sculpture, creating works distinctive for their subtext.Some groups have called for removal of Fremont's Lenin statue. On August 16, 2017, in the wake of the Charlottesville, Virginia Unite the Right rally, pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec led a gathering of several protesters at the statue to demand its removal. The same day, Mayor Ed Murray said his office contacted Lake View Cemetery to "express our concerns" about the United Confederate Veterans Memorial there, and ask for its removal. On August 17, Murray added that he believed the Lenin statue should go as well, because we should "not idolize figures who have committed violent atrocities and sought to divide us", though he was aware the Lenin statue was also on private property. In the following days, a city staffer told The Washington Post off the record that the Seattle City Council was considering debating a symbolic resolution on removing the Lenin statue and the Confederate memorial, though the city government has no power to remove either against the wishes of the owners, since neither monument, nor the properties they are on, are city-owned. In an article discussing Confederate monuments in USA Today, Allen Guelzo said that there should be a movement of protesters asking that the statue be removed, as Lenin's "murderous ideas and deeds dwarf any of [the] sins" of Robert E. Lee.A bill introduced to the state legislature in early 2019 by a group of Republican representatives called for the statue's removal and replacement, in response to a bill reconsidering a statue of Marcus Whitman at the Washington State Capitol. One of Fremont's major landowners, businesswoman Suzie Burke, told KUOW radio that if any of the bill's sponsors actually lived in the Seattle area, she would have invited them to come to Fremont to discuss it, and she would have reminded them that the government does not have the authority to remove privately owned artwork on private property. One of the bill's sponsors said he would never infringe on private property rights, and that the bill was intended as a tongue-in-cheek reaction to State Senate opposition to the Whitman statue.In the midst of the 2020 George Floyd protests, the Confederate memorial in Lake View Cemetery was toppled by unknown persons. The statue had been criticized by protestors, and targeted with vandalism and graffiti in recent years.
KUOW Knute Berger Solstice Parade The Washington Post Washington State Marcus Whitman totem poles state legislature Allen Guelzo KUOW radio Robert E. Lee Jack Posobiec doobie Slovak Seattle Tlingit USA Today Slovak people Harriman Alaska expedition drag BBC Fremont Washington State Capitol John Lennon Unite the Right rally Emil Venkov United Confederate Veterans Memorial Ed Murray red star Lake View Cemetery Waiting for the Interurban Fremont Troll George Floyd protests Burke Museum Taco del Mar Republican Gay Pride Week