Spokane artist Glenn Emmons was the artist chosen by the Northwest Mining Association to sculpt what Spokesman Review writer Lorie Hutson dubbed, the "larger-than-life bronze statue" that they donated to Spokane. According to Hutson, "he carefully researched the details for each of his sculptures. He went to the Hecla Mining Co's mines in Silver Valley to study miners at work and their equipment for the bronze." The statue depicts a hard-rock miner holding a jackleg drill against rock face, checking the quality of the ore that he's extracting. This is Emmons' most prominent sculpture in Spokane.

This statue was commissioned by the Northwest Mining Association, in celebration of their centennial anniversary in 1995. The NWMA was founded in 1895 in Spokane, Washington as a non-profit, non-partisan trade association. The association soon grew to support the mining industry in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Washington, Alberta, and British Columbia. Their main purpose is to support and represent the mining and smelting interests in the U.S. and Canada and consider themselves "the national voice for exploration and access to public lands." Today they monitor and interpret local, state, and national legislation that impacts the mining industry. They also consider creating and dispersing mining education materials to federal and state agencies, the public, and international business communities as part of their purpose. Committee activities, referrals, and their annual convention are the platforms they use to accomplish their purposes.

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The Joy of Running Together is a public work of art in honor of the annual Spokane Bloomsday Run. Located near the finish line of the race, and is meant to give encouragement to the runners in their last leg of the race.

The work is comprised of 40 life-sized figures, all posed in the motion of running. According to the artist, David Govedare, this was accomplished by having runners pose against a wall, putting a bright light on them, and tracing their exact silhouettes. Govedare then turned to the community and was able to find sponsorships for all of the runners who participated in his artwork. To Govedare, the most important thing about Bloomsday were all the ages, ethnicities, and nationalities of all of the participants coming together and uniting in a single effort to run the race. Because of this the runners he chose to trace were of all different ethnicities and nationalities.

Contributions of $1,500 per figure provided the cost of making the art, and the names of the contributors are listed on each figure. Despite the fact that this artwork did not cost the city anything, there was still controversy surrounding the sculptures. Local artists felt that the Arts Commission should have been given the final say on the project, and protested the process the art went through to get approved. Govedare received permission from the Park Board, who apparently did not consult the Arts Commission before approving the project. The Park Board maintained that it had full control over the parks of the city, and enough artistic taste to decide what artwork to put up. Govedare said that he did not intend to bypass the commission, and that it was unfortunate.

According to news writer Richard Ripley, most people, when asked right after the art was installed, liked what they saw and felt that it was a good memorial and celebration of Bloomsday.

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A graduate of Cheney High School and the University of Washington, Michael P. Anderson was a proud Washingtonian.

He was described by friends and family at his memorial service as being "a humble, deeply religious and inspirational man who lived out his dream." He was also an astronaut and a Lieutenant Colonel in the Unites States Air Force.

The artist of this sculpture, Dorothy Fowler used this description as inspiration for her 8 foot high, 600 pound bronze sculpture of Anderson. She decided on his pose after talking to his family; kneeling, in space uniform, helmet on his knee and a dove in his hand. There are three significant meanings in his pose, according to Fowler; "the kneeling position - humility; the uplifting arm and heavenward gaze - faith; releasing a dove of peace - inspiration. Fowler also quoted President Bush, who spoke about Anderson at the memorial service: 'Michael told his minister, 'If this thing doesn't come out right, don't worry about me, I'm just going on higher.'" Those words spoke to my heart and inspired my work."

On February 1st, 2003 NASA was excitedly awaiting the Columbia space shuttles' return from its 16 day mission, which Anderson was part of. The shuttle lost contact at 9:00 AM upon reentering the atmosphere. NASA didn't get too worried, as it was a common occurrence; the true worry set in when they never reestablished contact. When the space shuttle had launched a piece of foam fell off of the fuel tank and hit the wing - this had happened many times before and had never caused any problems. Despite warning from their engineers, NASA allowed the shuttle to finish its mission for the fully allotted time, during which the damaged wing began to deteriorate, weakening the structure of the shuttle. Upon reentering the atmosphere the weakened shuttle could not stand the high heat and pressure, and the seven crew members and the shuttle were lost when the shuttle disintegrated.

The statue cost $125,000, which was contributed to by private citizens, Sacred Heart Medical Center, Avista, Washington Trust Bank, and the Harriet Cheney Cowles Foundation.

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The Australian Sundial was commissioned by Australia as a gift for Spokane after the world fair in 1974. Sister Paula Mary Turnbull was asked to build the sundial, and it was completed in 1976. She designed the 7 foot high, hollow steel dial with Australia in mind, braze bronzing native animals and flowers onto the main column of the statue. Included on the dial are kangaroos, koala bears, an emu, a grass owl, a squirrel glider, a ring-tail possum, a parrot, wattle, banksia, roses, and eucalyptus.

The sundial is not completely accurate for telling time year round, but Sister Paula did spend a lot of time recording the sun's movement to make it as accurate as she could for the spring and summer months. The size of the numbers in the dial is in direct correlation with the sun's movement between the equinoxes and the summer solstice. The statue stands where the Australian pavilion stood during the world fair. Sister Paula also sculpted the garbage eating goat at Riverfront Park, and many other public artworks in the Spokane area.

The 1974 world fair in Spokane was the first with an environmental theme. The City of Spokane Arts Commission, Parks & Rec Department, Public Facilities District, the Public Library, and many more community groups all helped fund and develop Riverfront Park, the main site of the fair. The park has many paved pathways through it, with sculptures scattered throughout. The Spokane Sculpture Walk is centered around this park.

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At the Spokane Public Library's Overlook Park there is a platform overlooking Spokane Falls. It was here that artist and former Spokane resident Sherman Alexie was inspired to write his poem, "That Place Where Ghosts of Salmon Jump." It is "an environmentally sensitive poem that celebrates the creation of the falls and the river - and laments what has become of this former river of nurture and the people who inhabited its banks."

The poem is written in its entirety on a polished granite spiral set in concrete, right at the spot where Alexie was inspired to write it. When Alexie was asked to write this poem he walked to the falls and tried to see the river from his ancestor's point of view. "The river was the center of our lives, the center of our religion, so that location, there overlooking the river, is just where I wanted the poem to be. I looked down at the river and its beauty and also wondered how many inches of mercury lay under the water. The river makes me think of the ghosts of us and the ghosts of the salmon." At first Alexie did not care for the spiral design, but a few years later he changed his mind. He came back to see it, and saw a couple reading the poem. "Their movement was a dance. The design forces people to dance. The true power of it is in watching people reading the poem in that way."

This poem was the final installation of public art for the Spokane Public Library, and was installed in 1995. Sherman Alexie is a Spokane/Coeur D'Alene Indian author, poet, playwright, comedian, and lecturer.

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