SEATTLE, WA.- The Seattle Art Museum (SAM) opened the Olympic Sculpture Park. The fall opening of the sculpture park was postponed due to an almost month-long strike by International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302 which cut off the concrete supply to building projects throughout the region.

“We look forward to celebrating with everyone in our community and the many people who have made this park and expanded museum a reality. It will be a celebration of all that makes the Northwest great,” said SAM Director Mimi Gates.

Transforming an industrial site on downtown Seattle ’s waterfront, the 9-acre Olympic Sculpture Park will be a major attraction, open year round and free to all. This new park will give residents and visitors the opportunity to experience sculpture in a spacious green park enjoying the incredible views and beauty of the Olympic Mountains and Puget Sound .

Weiss/Manfredi Architects' unique z-shaped design for the park has already won several awards and is becoming well-known nationally and internationally. The main path zigzags down to Elliott Bay, passing through four diverse environments of native plants and over Elliott Avenue and the Burlington Northern railroad tracks. Works and special commissions by artists Louise Bourgeois, Richard Serra, Alexander Calder, Teresita Fernandez, Roy McMakin, Mark Dion and other leading contemporary artists will be integrated into the fabric of the park.

The phased expansion of SAM’s downtown museum will accommodate the museum’s rapidly growing collections, programs and audiences. The first phase of Allied Works Architecture’s dynamic design will inaugurate 118,000 square feet, including two floors of free public space and 70 percent more gallery space for the museum’s permanent collections and special exhibition programs. The reinstallation of SAM’s collection will provide innovative perspectives on artworks across cultures and time periods, exploring the cultural context of creativity and issues meaningful to our lives.