Artwork copyright Jake Seniuk. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Colleen Chartier.

Artwork copyright Jake Seniuk. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Colleen Chartier.

Artwork copyright Jake Seniuk. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Colleen Chartier.

Artwork copyright Jake Seniuk. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Colleen Chartier.

Artwork copyright Jake Seniuk. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Colleen Chartier.

Artwork copyright Jake Seniuk. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Colleen Chartier.

Artwork copyright Jake Seniuk. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Colleen Chartier.

Artwork copyright Jake Seniuk. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Colleen Chartier.

Olympic Crossing, 1994

Jake Seniuk
(American, born 1949, died 2016)

Location: University of Washington, Seattle

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Olympic Crossing by artist Jake Seniuk is a series of six lightbox images for a bus stop. It is a meditation on his long distance run across Olympic National Park, the Northwest corner of Washington, in September 1994. He explores the psychological, spiritual, and physical challenges of his run and crossing. He referred to the work as "a contract with Destiny." Seniuk's images were temporarily installed in six lightboxes at the bus stop outside of the UW School of Art.

This artwork was part of a group of rotating installations on the University of Washington campus. The artists were selected in a competitive process to create images for existing lightboxes at bus stops outside of the UW's School of Art and Meany Hall. The images were reproduced as large-scale transparencies to fit the lightboxes. The bus stops featured the artworks for several months.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with University of Washington.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Port Angeles, Washington-based artist Jake Seniuk (1949-2016) was also a writer and curator.

Seniuk graduate from Harvard College in Massachusetts and the University of Washington in Seattle where he obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree in photography. He was the director of the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center from 1989 to 2012, located on the Olympic Peninsula in Northwestern Washington. He previously served as the program manager for the Washington State Arts Commission's Art in Public Places Program.