Artwork copyright Jake Seniuk. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Papa, what should I dream about?, 1990

Jake Seniuk
American (born 1949, died 2016)

Location: Sunnyslope Elementary, Port Orchard

About the Artwork

Papa, what should I dream about? is an artwork created by artist Jake Seniuk. It is a study created for an exhibition of artists called "In Transition" in the summer of 1990. Eighteen Seattle artists and two Russian artists designed large murals mounted onto the sides of Seattle metro buses. These artworks toured the city during the Goodwill Games Arts Festival. He composed this piece to resemble an advertisement you might commonly see on the side of a bus. The title suggests innocence and imagination. It was a question often asked by the artist's young son. Seniuk framed this question as "a rhetorical advertising slogan." He noted, "The sleeping cherub is portrayed with open senses and an unencumbered mind ready to receive the messages of the dominant culture. Papa, what should I dream about? [Because my dreams will become reality.]"

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with South Kitsap School District.

About the Artist

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.