This spring, a giant transparent column will rise from the ground outside the Georgetown Wet Weather Treatment Station (GWWTS) in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood, turning rain into a theater. Sans façon’s Monument to Rain—created with El Dorado and scheduled for completion this summer—will glow like a beacon and change with the weather: When it’s raining, it will stand empty, illuminating the rain around it. When it’s not, drops will begin to fall inside the column, with the same quality and intensity as the most recent rainfall.

Monument to Rain is the latest of many public art projects incorporated into our region’s water infrastructure through 4Culture’s partnerships with King County’s Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD) and Water and Land Resource Division (WLRD), both of which are critical protectors of public health and the environment. Whether permanent or temporary, these projects not only highlight the beauty of water—they reveal ways in which it moves through land, waterways, and the atmosphere, drawing attention to the impact humans have on the water cycle.

4Culture first began working with Sans façon—artist duo Charles Blanc and Tristan Surtees—in 2015, when they were hired to create a CSO Art Plan for WTD’s Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Program. The program formed in the 1970s to limit the amount of untreated or poorly treated wastewater that flowed from King County sewers into lakes, rivers, and Puget Sound during heavy rains.

Consider Georgetown, for example: The neighborhood covers 2.649 square miles; an inch of rain over that area yields 121 million gallons of water. The neighborhood’s Wet Weather Treatment Station can treat up to 70 million gallons of sewage and stormwater daily before releasing the treated water into the nearby Duwamish River, an important habitat for salmon and other species.

The plan Sans façon produced offers a curatorial framework for commissioning artworks for CSO locations via four primary control methodologies: treatment, storage, conveyance, and green stormwater infrastructure. It’s organized around five themes (The Weather, The Intangible, End of The Line, Hidden Rivers, and The Magicians) and aims to increase a sense of ownership and connection to the largely hidden CSO system for the public through commissioned artists.

Guided by the CSO Art Plan, several temporary projects sprang into being over the last few years, helping King County residents to learn more about the flow of stormwater and inspired by the GTWWTS and Rainier Valley Wet Weather Storage Facility. Susan Robb’s Deep Listening to the System honored the essential WTD workers at Brightwater with a tour of the treatment facility followed by a sound bath designed to elevate sensory awareness. Don Wilkison’s Hidden River and Downstream helped people feel more connected to the largely invisible CSO system through a series of four large outdoor posters and public events where people learned about clean water and took home pollinator mix in seed packets designed by Wilkison. (Expect more CSO projects in 2025 from AREA C projects and Timothy White Eagle.)

Laura C. Wright’s West Duwamish Wet Weather Storage Facility project explored the similarities between the wastewater treatment process and the process of making pigments. For waterplant, she planted and harvested a pair of Duwamish Valley dye gardens to make pigments for watercolor paints—involving the local community in various workshops along the way. Over in Woodinville, Vaughn Bell completed the second of two projects she created to inspire people to establish their own rain gardens. Commissioned by WLRD’s Stormwater Section, her Atmospheric River Garden includes not just the garden itself, but also a collection of ceramic forms that support plants and bees, and a guide for planting and maintaining rain gardens.

Stencils designed by Hernan Paganini also contributed to stormwater awareness by marking stormwater drains on streets and sidewalks around the county. Paganini created the stencils as part of his artist residency with the Stormwater Services section several years ago, which resulted in an array of experiences and tools for increased public understanding. Keep an eye out for more of Paganini’s stencil designs as more of them are painted in 2025!

Of course, water has defined our region since time immemorial. Indigenous artists Tommy Segundo (Haida/Katzie) and Toka Valu (Tongan) created a mural at the King County International Airport that depicts the history of the Duwamish River and the area where the airport first opened almost 100 years ago. After Return on Investments was completed in 2024, they created an audio recording to share the meaning and stories behind the mural—from the fight between Thunderbird and Serpent that created the windy waterway to the industrial dredging and straightening that left it in poor health and current efforts to restore its ecosystem.

The quality of our water has an enormous impact on the health of our entire region. 4Culture is proud to support artists and artworks that empower us all to be an active part of its wellbeing.