The Paragon is a large public art piece on the Duwamish, created in 2001 by artist Donald Fels (www.artisthinker.com) in collaboration with many people and institutions. At 3/5 scale, it is modeled after the Paragon, a wooden halibut schooner, built in 1923 in Seattle by immigrant fisherpersons. The original Paragon worked the waters of Alaska for 90 years.

The wooden boat frame, made of old-growth fir reclaimed from beams taken from a Puget Sound warehouse, was lofted in Tacoma at Bates Technical College by boatwrights Capt. Mike Vlahovich and Chuck Graydon, and their students. The 50’ long ‘boat’ floats 35’ above W Marginal Way on a sculptural base of steel and concrete. Beneath the boat are panels narrating the story of the site, those who lived there over the centuries, and the creation of the boat itself. It was recently discovered that the wooden frame is infested with carpenter ants and is rotting. It will have to come down. Working with the community of West Seattle, the Duwamish Tribe, whose Longhouse is across the street, and several arts, historical and maritime heritage organizations, Fels is spearheading a project to build a replacement for the wooden boat frame, and to renew what has become a community treasure. It will be a broad collaborative effort, just as was its creation over twenty years ago. He is donating his time working on the project, and there will be much volunteer help. Nonetheless, there will be substantial hard costs. Friends of the Paragon now exists to raise those funds.

Friends of the Paragon is a fiscally sponsored project of the Allied Arts Foundation.