The two gentlemen who lead this tour have infectious enthusiasm about hatch covers across the country and the history of Seattle. We got a lesson in graphic design that is part of even the most utilitarian parts of our urban environment. From the not-so-lowly covers for utility tunnels you can, if you are looking with the right clues, see the history of the city, learn about the public works art project that populated Seattle with art works that people see (or walk right over) every day. The guides have produced prints that bring these designs to life in a whole new way.
If you live in the Seattle area, go on the tour to find out what you have been missing right under your feet. If you are visiting Seattle, go on the tour and see the greatest collection of hatch covers in the country, then take your new awareness home to explore the graphic art in your own community's public works iron.
The founders/guides of this tour have connected with the artists behind many of the commissioned art works you will see on the tour. They also are establishing a growing network of hatch cover aficionados across the nation in the world. Be careful or they may conscript you to the movement! That is one of the endearing features of the tour as well. The guides are humbly open to learning more about history or art or any aspect of this work to add to their own knowledge and pass it on to others. They joke that they thought starting a tour might attract other experts in these fields to join the conversation.
As Arlo Guthrie sings in Alice's Restaurant, "when you get three people singing, you have a movement!" We were privileged to be on the first "official" tour and we are on the hunt for more art hidden in plain sight. read more
