A rendering of the orange and yellow flower design on the roof of Tacoma Dome.
Thirty-two years ago, Andy Warhol lost an art competition. In 1982 when Tacoma (Wash.) Dome was under construction, the city put out a call for public art as a competition. Though Warhol competed, the community chose a sculpture to commemorate the facility. Decades later, the arts community is attempting to honor the artist’s original submission by putting his flower design on the Tacoma Dome’s roof.
“There is an excitement in the community to ‘right the wrong’ of his design not being chosen,” said Kim Bedier, director, City of Tacoma Public Assembly Facilities.
The first step to turning the vision into reality was for the facility to get permission from the owner (the city), which they did. Now, City of Tacoma’s Arts and Facilities divisions are working to raise money and “get a plan together to show the Warhol Foundation that we would be great stewards of the image.”
Warhol’s original proposal, submitted by VP of Andy Warhol Enterprises Vincent Fremont, said that “Andy Warhol would like to see the Tacoma Dome as a large flower… The design of the flower is a composite of different flowers that Andy has put together to make it a unique flower from the imagination, a flower’s flower.”
Overall, the community and the Arts division are working to raise $5 million.
Another option involves a blue version of Warhol's design.
“It’s not being done with any city money,” said Bedier, who added that the design will be seen from the air with the facility right on the flight path to Seattle. It’s also located on a major freeway with 200,000 people driving past each day.
“They’d either love it or hate it, because that’s how art is,” added Bedier.
The flower design will be affixed to the roof as a plastic polymer sticker-type graphic. An 8-foot by 4-foot test pattern was affixed to the roof for a six-month period that Bedier said “got a little grimy,” leading them to budget for regular cleaning and maintenance.
About $2.5 million of the budget is allocated just for the installation and labor, with the additional money going toward cleaning (“a bunch of guys attached to the roof with ropes using squeegees”) and removal.
The Arts division is proposing that the graphic stay on the roof for three-to-five years, with twice-per-year cleanings that cost about $150,000 each. In early conversations with the Warhol Foundation, Tacoma Arts Administrator Amy McBride of the City of Tacoma Arts Division said that she “was told that they consider this public art and wouldn’t foresee charging us a licensing fee.” That is the only way that this project would continue to be possible because “if it were a commercial endeavor trying to get license for a Warhol, that itself would have been millions of dollars.”
The original yellow and orange design, as seen from the air.
There are a couple of different color options. Warhol’s original design incorporated oranges and yellows, but there is also a version featuring blues and whites. McBride said she isn’t yet sure how the color will be decided, but first things first: fundraising.
“We expect that we’ll be able to raise a lot of money outside of this community in addition to local support. We’ll be seeking funding from foundations and high net worth individuals, but I think it’s very important to have local grassroots efforts, too,” she added.
The hope is that the design will add to the facility as opposed to take away from it, and bring more attention to the city.
“You have to be daring and make bold movies,” said McBride. “It’s a competitive market.”
“I hope this brings eyes to Tacoma that may not have even known who we were before,” she added.
Interviewed for this story: Kim Bedier, (253) 573-2554; Amy McBride, (253) 591-5192