From our friends at WABI Burien:

Come join us on Sunday, August 6 for the 11th Annual Burien Public Art Walk-n-Talk!

Rain-or-shine we’ve gathered on the first Sunday of every month* to stroll the 19 neighborhoods of Burien. (We did miss two months of mandatory isolation at the start of the pandemic.) These are FREE events enjoyed by folks of all ages, from Burien as well as other towns. Dogs (and CATS, too!) join the processions around town.

We walk in all neighborhoods and encounter passersby, interesting architecture, hidden paths, treasured parks and more. On foot, we see so much more than when encased in our cars.

“I had a pleasant time on this walk and discovered art in Burien that I hadn’t known about since living in the area beginning in 1992. Where are we heading on the next walk?”

– Rick
Frequent Walk-n-Talker

In keeping with our summertime tradition, we will enjoy the 11th Annual Burien Public Art Walk-n-Talk on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023, starting at 2:15 p.m.

This month’s walk is a great way to discover the Public Art in Burien. We have sculptures, murals, decorated signal boxes, architectural and park details that are the result of artists’ collaborations with the City and other organizations.

Date: Sunday, August 6, 2023
Time: Meet-up at 2:00. Walking starts at 2:15.
Who: Walkers of every level and ability (friendly four-legged dogs and cats are welcome, too.)
Place: Meet out in front of the Wells Fargo Bank, at the corner of Ambaum and SW 152nd. St. (800 SW 152nd St. Burien)
Walking Route: We will start at “Gordon, Dixie and Clem”, and walk through town from there. Our walk will include viewing the art spaces at The Maverick Apartments and Merrill Gardens, which are curated in partnership with the City of Burien.
Distance: About 1.75 miles, round trip, mostly flat with sidewalks.

Merrill and Maverick

Burien has innovative spaces devoted to the public display of sculpture, drawings, paintings and artistic installations. The City of Burien is partnering with The Maverick Apartments and Merrill Gardens to bring art to downtown Burien. Community art is showcased in the windows for three-month intervals. According to the City of Burien:

“As part of the design review process for the two developments, the City encouraged the architects to create a display space for local art. City design standards require buildings to have specific elements to make the downtown a pedestrian-friendly place. This includes how a building presents itself to the street. We want to avoid blank walls and make the streetscape more interesting to the pedestrian. There are multiple ways to achieve this: retail space, landscaping, and art displays. The City worked in partnership with the developer to meet the intent of the design standards. The result was the inclusion of display windows in the final design–meeting both the buildings’ needs and contributing to our downtown streetscape.”

At Merrill Gardens

On the east side of Merrill Gardens, along 4th Ave. SW between SW 151st and SW 150th, passersby see nine lighted display cases.

At the Maverick Apartments

The curious glassed-in space at the northwest corner of The Maverick, at SW 150th and 6th Ave. SW. hosts art of many types.

Burien Public Art Web Site

The City of Burien has a web site where you can view photos, maps, descriptions and the artist’s name for each piece of public art. Click HERE to explore the Burien Public Art web site.

Former Public Art Map

In 2013, the City of Burien’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services, along with the Burien Arts Commission, created a walking map and signage for 23 public art pieces that were around town at the time. Though new artwork has since been added to our city, you may still DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THE PRIOR PUBLIC ART WALKING MAP HERE to carry along with you as we discover 20 of the art pieces.

“Only through art can we emerge from ourselves and know what another person sees.”

ºMarcel Proust
French novelist, Critic, and Essayist

What is Public Art in Burien?

It stands tall on a pedestal at your side, adds pattern and color to a painted wall and is embedded in the floor at your feet. Art is creative expression made visible through metal, glass, paint, paper, concrete… any material available to the artist.

Explore this community in a different way. Art is everywhere… sculptures, murals, carvings… but also artist-designed floors, windows, water features and more. Think about what “ART” means to you as you wander through Burien. Do you see pattern in a stack of tires, or texture in the natural landscape? How is your life enriched by the art around you?

According to Americans for the Arts: American cities and towns aspire to be places where people want to live and want to visit. Having a particular community identity, especially in terms of what our towns look like, is becoming even more important in a world where every place tends to look like everyplace else. Places with strong public art expressions break the trend of blandness and sameness, and give communities a stronger sense of place and identity.

The people responsible for planning public art projects are the Burien Arts Commission, a volunteer board of nine Burien residents who are appointed by the City Council. The Arts Commission is responsible for developing public art projects, for recommending funding allocations of the yearly Arts and Culture Grants and supporting the arts in other areas of the city such as events and residency program in the schools.