Big Red Wagon Sculpture in Spokane, WA.

Located in Spokane Washington’s Riverfront Park and commissioned by the Jr. League of Spokane, this giant wagon is the work of artist Ken Spiering. According to an article from Washington’s Outer Limits:

… artist Ken Spiering’s ideas for a bronze sculpture had dried up – he knew it the instant he drew a sketch of a child urinating in a pond. So, after six weeks of struggling to devise the perfect piece of interactive public art, he gave in. He quit. But just days before the submission deadline, Spiering had another vision. This time, the child was pulling a red wagon. That’s it, he said to himself. A big red wagon. What could be a better symbol of childhood? He quickly devised a plan and submitted it.

We arrived in the middle of George Dubbya’s visit to Spokane for a $1,000/plate benefit for a local politician and all the hubub was just two blocks away from the lil’ red wagon. Luckily, after swimming through waves of protesters and supporters, the wagon was being enjoyed in its intended way – a hoard of kids were sliding and running and yelling and enjoying life at a really big wagon!

Built in 1990 from 26 tons of steel and reinforced concrete, the 12-foot-high, 27-foot-long Radio Flyer Wagon can hold as many as 300 people. Spiering worked six to seven days a week for a year building the $36,000 sculpture, for which he received a $30,000 commission.

Related reading:

• Spokane: A Guide to the Hub of the Inland Northwest (M.E. Buckham) (M.E. Buckham)
• Spokane & the Inland Empire: An Interior Pacific Northwest Anthology
• Vintage Postcards from Old Spokane
• Shattered Silence– The Untold Story of a Serial Killer’s Daughter