"Crow With Fries"

Artist Peter Reiquam

In late 2017, the City of Auburn began the process of commissioning an artist to create an iconic public art piece for Les Gove Park to be sited on the newly renovated property of the park that extends to Auburn Way South. The site was identified in the 2015 Les Gove Master Plan as a potential location for something iconic to serve as a canvas to help announce the park to cars driving by on Auburn Way South. The site was formerly a Triple XXX Root Beer Drive-In and then Big Daddy’s Drive-In. The property was purchased by the City in 2014 using a 50% matching grant from King Conservation Futures.

One of the goals for this public art commission was to create a unique and highly-recognizable piece of art for the newly reclaimed portion of the Les Gove Campus that has been transformed into a beautiful grassy entrance to one of Auburn's most beloved parks. The artwork should also catch the attention of thousands that drive along Auburn Way South. In a very competitive selection and interview process, applications were received from many accomplished Pacific Northwest public artists. The talented artist Peter Reiquam was selected by a committee and his proposed artwork was confirmed by the Auburn Arts Commission and Auburn City Council.

Artist Peter Reiquam has been successfully creating interactive, site specific public art for over 30 years. Each of his projects is a unique response to the special character of a given site, inspired by its history, culture, architecture, and surrounding landscape. Inspired here by the history of the site and the countless playful crows that frequent Les Gove Park, Reiquam designed and created “Crow With Fries.”

“Crow With Fries” seeks to spark the imagination of thousands that drive along Auburn Way South and will encourage public interaction for those that use the Park, whether sitting on the oversize package of sculptural fries or posing for a selfie with this winged creature.

Did You Know? Fun Crow Facts

Have you ever noticed crows playing games in the air with their food, or cleverly dropping nuts from great heights to crack them open on the pavement below? Did you know that crows can even create and use tools to solve complex puzzles?

Crows are known as one of the most intelligent species in the animal world. They can imitate other birds, cars, and even learn to speak if socialized with humans.

Crows can recognize individual people and form a relationships with humans, pick a person out of a crowd, follow them, and remember them — for years!

Crow expert, Dr. John Marzluff, notes in his book Gifts of the Crow:

Crows are mischievous, playful, social, and passionate. They have brains that are huge for their body size and exhibit an avian kind of eloquence.

They mate for life and associate with relatives and neighbors for years.

Because they often live near people—in our gardens, parks, and cities—they are also keenly aware of our peculiarities, staying away from and even scolding anyone who threatens or harms them and quickly learning to recognize and approach those who care for and feed them, even giving them numerous, oddly touching gifts in return.

The ongoing connection between humans and crows—a cultural co-evolution—has shaped both species for millions of years. The characteristics of crows that allow this symbiotic relationship are language, delinquency, frolic, passion, wrath, risk-taking, and awareness—seven traits that humans find strangely familiar.