Lantern Statue

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This twenty-foot cement statue was originally titled Untitled, but was quickly renamed The Lantern due to its striking closeness to that of a Japanese lantern. A disarray of geometric cut-outs allows Spokane's eminent Clocktower to be visible from the opposite side of the sculpture. If you were allowed to climb to the top (and you are not), you could look down the column and see the artist's message inside.

The outstanding sculpture in front of you was designed by Harold Balazs. The artist developed his skills and experience with metal fabrication and complex shapes while helping his father in their family's air conditioning and sheet metal business in Ohio. Balazs pioneered the significance of his craft throughout the Northwest and by the mid-1960s, he had become so revered that The Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture acquired thirty of his pieces.

In an interview, artist Harold Balazs said of his creations: "I don't think it's important what it is we make, but I think we just need to decorate the world and cause surprises. Too much importance is placed on the interpretation of art. He believes his duty, and that of all artists, is to create a sense of wonder through their work. The one thing that runs through the work that I consider my most serious stuff is the idea of juxtaposing disparate ideas. This is a very complex world. This disparate quality of life in the world today -- we need to start getting along with each other. I try to express that idea -- disparate ideas can get along. And it's nothing more complicated than that."