The Washington State Legislature has had House Bill #2120 introduced, sponsored by Representatives Brandon Vick, Matt Shea, Jim Walsh, Andrew Barkis, Brad Klippert, Mike Volz, Drew MacEwen, Chris Corry, Morgan Irwin, Drew Stokesbary, Vicki Kraft, Larry Hoff, Paul Harris, and Joel Kretz.
House Bill #2120 is for “Creating a work group to study and make recommendations on a statue to replace the Vladimir Lenin statue.” Please visit the website, at app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary (click here) to find out specific details.
Bill #2120 spends over a page of the four page document establishing that Vladimir Lenin was a very bad dude. For those unaware or unconvinced. Because, I guess, some of the sponsoring legislators were worried we didn’t know this.
The rest is not about how the State could conceivable replace a privately owned piece of art located on privately owned property. It is about what should replace Fremont statue of Lenin, a large bronze sculptor by the late Emil Venkov, currently up for sale. House Bill #2120 outlines who will serve on the work group and how many public meetings should be held about replacing our statue. Of course, being a State work group, two of the five public meetings outlined in House Bill #2120 must be held in Eastern Washington, to make sure that citizens from all over the State have a say in what will replace the Fremont statue of Lenin.
Please go to the State Legislature Bill summary website (click here,) to download a copy of House Bill #2120, and submit comments.
The Fremont statue of Lenin is for sale, and could be sold to someone or some entity that could remove it from Fremont. According to unidentified sources, the owner of the property on which the statue has resided, temporarily, since 1997, would prefer to have the statue relocated and would not, necessarily, welcome another piece of art in its place.
For insight into what one writer believes to be the general attitude of Fremont to our statue of Lenin – a piece of art that does depict a murderous despot and is frequently decorated or dressed by the neighborhood in irreverent and outlandish ways – please read the editorial on Fremocentrist.com from August 2017.
Thank you to the two artists who have pieces on display in public right-of-ways in Fremont for alerting us at Fremocentrist.com about House Bill #2120.