The statue of Lenin became a Fremont landmark and object of curiosity, representing the quirky nature of the artistic neighborhood, whose motto is
Libertas Quirkas – freedom to be peculiar. Like the
Fremont Troll and the
Waiting for the Interurban sculpture, the Lenin statue has often been decorated, appropriated, or vandalized with various intentions, both whimsical and serious.
Knute Berger, acknowledging that "we are supposed to be amused" by the "hippie whimsy" of a Soviet symbol in the middle of an American city, said that seeing the statue cannot help but remind us of the killing and repression Lenin inspired. But Berger reflected that perhaps the meaning of this Soviet relic is the opposite, that it is "a trophy of Western triumphalism", representing the victory over communism and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Some of Seattle's most iconic 'totem poles' (actually Alaskan
Tlingit carved house posts) were brazenly stolen from an Alaska village by respected members of the scientific and business community, the
Harriman Alaska expedition, so immersed in the triumph of their own culture over that of Native Americans that little thought was given to what Dr.
Robin K. Wright of the
Burke Museum called "a very clear case of theft". Berger said the story of victory of one culture over another told by the totem pole, or the Lenin statue, make it "an icon, but if you know the story, a complicated one." The statue's hands are often painted (and repainted) red to protest what critics perceive as the glorification of what they see as a historical villain who has blood on his hands. The Association of Slovak Artists noted the loss of an artist whose long career helped define Slovak monumental and architectural sculpture, creating works distinctive for their subtext. Some groups have called for removal of Fremont's Lenin statue. On August 16, 2017, in the wake of the Charlottesville, Virginia
Unite the Right rally, conservative commentator
Jack Posobiec led a gathering of several protesters at the statue to demand its removal. On August 17, Murray added that he believed the Lenin statue should go as well, because we should "not idolize figures who have committed violent atrocities and sought to divide us", though he was aware the Lenin statue was also on private property. In the following days, a city staffer told
The Washington Post off the record that the Seattle City Council was considering debating a symbolic resolution on removing the Lenin statue and the Confederate memorial, though the city government has no power to remove either against the wishes of the owners, since neither monument, nor the properties they are on, are city-owned. In an article discussing Confederate monuments in
USA Today,
Allen Guelzo said that there should be a movement of protesters asking that the statue be removed, as Lenin's "murderous ideas and deeds dwarf any of [the] sins" of
Robert E. Lee. A bill introduced to the
state legislature in early 2019 by a group of
Republican representatives called for the statue's removal and replacement, in response to a bill reconsidering a statue of
Marcus Whitman at the
Washington State Capitol. One of Fremont's major landowners, businesswoman Suzie Burke, told
KUOW radio that if any of the bill's sponsors actually lived in the Seattle area, she would have invited them to come to Fremont to discuss it, and she would have reminded them that the government does not have the authority to remove privately owned artwork on private property. == See also ==