Proposal
“A Seat for the Elite” is a bench made out of western red cedar with photos of the wetlands and the university covering the surface. It will be located in the left corner of the Sarah Simonds Green Conservatory closest to Cascadia Community College. The bench addresses issues of environmental health as it relates to the history of the University of Washington Bothell.
Artist’s Statement
I wanted to show the history of the University as well as the wetland’s history and how they have been connected since the beginning. I put photos of the wetland’s restoration on the seat of the bench so that visitors can sit on the wetland, as they are in reality and as the students at UW Bothell and Cascadia do when they go to school and sit in their desks. I want to show that even though the University restored the part of the wetland, the University also had to destroy some of the wetlands in order to build the school.
Budget
Western Red Cedar: $300
Photo printing on wood: $3,000
Pubic Art and Social Change 2014 
What a useful piece! I enjoy the meaning behind this piece and it’s message. The photos of the wetland on the bench itself are a nice touch. It is an interesting take on elitism with having the privileged students have a seat directly on the wetlands. Speaks to many things like how we just ignore them. Great work!
I like that you made the point, that the University had to destroy some of the wetlands to build the school, because they do seem to glaze over that when it is explained how they did restoration in them. I think that is an important point to recognize and think about, because that seems to still be present at the school, because they just put a sports field on the wetlands as well. It seems counter productive. I think highlighting the environmental health on the bench, really shows the history and improvements the University has made to the land, and in a simple way to understand.