Statue of Leif Erikson

A statue of Leif Erikson is installed at Seattle's Shilshole Bay Marina, in the U.S. state of Washington. The 16-foot tall sculpture was donated by the Leif Erikson League for the Century 21 Exposition. It was relocated to Shilshole Marina in 2007. According to Lonely Planet, the statue is surrounded by a stone circle and serves as "an important reminder of Seattle's (and Ballard's) Nordic heritage". Background and history Seattle's strong Scandinavian-American community is historically centered in Ballard, the neighborhood where the Shilshole Bay Marina is located, and is particularly strong in the maritime trades. The bronze Leif Erikson statue, designed by University of Washington music professor August Werner (1893-1980), was unveiled June 17, 1962 (Norwegian Constitution Day). Since 1963, maritime charts have noted the statue as a navigational landmark. Seattle's Scandinavian-American community had celebrated Leif Erikson Day annually on October 9 beginning in 1941. Trygve "Ted" Nakkerud (1903-1995) began advocating for a statue of Leif Erikson in 1956, and founded the Leif Erikson League (still extant 2022 as the Leif Erikson Society) April 29, 1957, with members from 17 different Scandinavian groups in Seattle to raise funds and obtain an appropriate site. The league was chaired by Thorbjorn Grønning (1888-1969). They raised US$40,000 to cast the statue, and began negotiations to have an appropriate place to put the statue. Early efforts would have placed the statue at Seattle Center (then the "Civic Center" and soon to be the site of the Century 21 Exposition, a World's Fair) or in a city park. Originally the League planned to hold a competition for the designer of the statue, but Werner put himself forward and convinced the League to skip that and appoint him. This was not without rancor, including that architect and league member John Engan, who initially worked with Werner, declined to work with him after Werner ignored Engan's structural advice and an early model of the statue collapsed. Werner also feuded with the league over who should do the casting; he ultimately won that battle, and the bronze was cast by Franco Vianello and Spero Anargyros in Berkeley, California, rather than in New York or Oslo.