Leif Erikson Statue at Shilshole Bay Marina

3/9/2014 ~ Leif Erikson Statue at Shilshole Bay Marina, Ballard Neighborhood, Seattle, WA

Afternoon walk and the sky went from sunshine to heavy cloud cover moving in fast form the west/south west. With Leif facing north it gave the impression he was summoning the wind so that he could cast off on a journey.

Information regarding the statue can be found here.

On a rainy Oct. 7, 2007, the Leif Erikson International Foundation (LEIF) unveiled a tribute to immigrants in a new setting for the statue of Leif Erikson at Ballard’s Shilshole Marina.

The Leif Erikson statue was a gift to Seattle from the Norwegian American community and originally unveiled during the Seattle World’s Fair in June 1962.

LEIF commissioned a new base for the existing statue and a display of some 850 immigrants’ names. (More names were added in July 2010, for a total of 1,767.) The statue base is a large granite stone approximately six feet high, in the middle of a plaza. It is encircled with upright, runic-like stones, featuring authentic Viking carvings and plaques with the names of immigrants, along with their home towns and years of immigration.

The base and tribute display were designed by internationally known artist Jay Haavik, grandson of the former pastor of Ballard First Lutheran Church, the Rev. O. L. Haavik. Jay won a Norwegian Marshall Fund award to study Viking art at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway. Integrated with the renovation project, this new setting for the statue is a compelling tourist attraction.