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Each year, the plinths at Percival Landing host a new selection of loaned sculptures by local and regional artists.
The first month of the year-long Percival Plinth Project exhibition is dedicated to a public vote to decide the winner of the Peoples’ Choice Award, which determines one sculpture to be purchased by the city for permanent display at another location in Olympia.
The vote took place during the month of July, through the platform RankedVote, where 917 votes were cast in total.
The participation was a sharp jump from the 519 votes received in 2025, according to the City of Olympia.
Last year’s winner was “Crane Study No. 47” by Travis Pond, of Oregon City, Oregon.
At their Sept. 15 meeting, members of the Olympia City Council approved the purchase of “Liberty Wept” by Christine Rose, winner of the 2026 Percival Plinth Project Peoples' Choice Award, as determined by public vote.
The sculpture, standing 6-foot-3-inches tall and forged from reclaimed steel, was created by Chrstine Rose of Portland, Oregon.
“‘Liberty Wept’ belongs to that lineage of resistance. It echoes the urgency behind movements insisting that art is not a luxury, but a necessary force when democratic freedoms are at risk,” Rose writes in an artist statement. “Ultimately, Liberty Wept stands as both elegy and call to action: a testament to what we are losing, and a reminder that the fight to protect liberty — and each other — is far from over.”
Following its year-long exhibition on Percival Landing, the sculpture will move to City Hall for one year, and then out into the community.
“I'm not surprised that ‘Liberty Wept’ is the winner. I heard quite a few comments from people in the community who would just come up to me and start talking about the statue,” said Olympia Mayor Dontae Payne.
The City of Olympia, at council members’ request, is also considering purchasing the runner-up in the People’s Choice competition: “Playful Sea Otter” by Steven Nagode of Federal Way.
All 15 of the 2026-2027 project sculptures are on display on Percival Landing through June 2027.
For more information on this year’s sculptures, visit https://tinyurl.com/n9k48d3t
