Stroll Elliott Bay’s Waterfront Park, the newly completed 17-block redevelopment stretching from the sports stadiums on the edge of Pioneer Square to Belltown, and you’ll encounter numerous Native artworks created for the new infrastructure. Lummi glass artist Dan Friday designed three installations—including 33 hand-blown glass salmon that hang from the ceiling—for Ocean Pavilion, the exciting new addition to the Seattle Aquarium.

At Pioneer Square’s Plazas on Railroad Way, see annually rotating art installations by Indigenous local artists, including Kimberly Saladin of the Muckleshoot Tribe, whose digital paintings are on display, and Stephan Smith, from the Quinault and Makah tribes, who contributed abstract-realist images of birds. Spanning the bike path from Columbia to Spring streets, view Oscar Tuazon’s collaboration with local Native carvers Randi Purser, Tyson Simmons, and Keith Stevenson, To Our Teachers deqwaled (Houseposts), which shines a light on the living tradition of carved houseposts. At Pier 58, view Qwalsius-Shaun Peterson’s three bronze-and-cedar figures, Family, which welcome visitors to the homelands of the Coast Salish people.
Muckleshoot Indian Tribe member Valerie Segrest designed the landscaping on the dynamic new Overlook Walk, which connects the Ocean Pavilion rooftop to Pike Place Market. Her mission was to represent the diversity of ecosystems and food from the top of Mount Rainier (Tahoma) to the shores of the Salish Sea.

At the southwest shore of Lake Union, construction has begun on the new Northwest Native Canoe Center, which is slated to open at the end of 2026. This is a long-awaited project of the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation (UIATF), which has advocated for waterfront space dedicated to traditional Coast Salish canoe culture. The 1,700-square-foot building will offer a contemporary interpretation of a longhouse, with a living roof that will bloom with blue camas. Visitors will be able see indoor and outdoor workspaces for carving and learn about the integral relationship between the Coast Salish and Seattle’s waterways.