Brotman Forum Archives

“From Rooted to Airy”: Middle Fork Makes Way For FriendsWithYou Commission

Rachel Eggers on Feb 4 2025

After eight years on view and countless imaginations inspired, this week John Grade’s Middle Fork is being deinstalled from the Seattle Art Museum’s Brotman Forum. And that means something new will soon be taking residence in the soaring entrance lobby of the museum, which is a community space free to the public to enjoy without a ticket. Margo Vansynghel of The Seattle Times broke the news today that it will be a new commission from FriendsWithYou, the internationally celebrated LA-based duo of Samuel (Sam) Borkson and Arturo (Tury) Sandoval III. Little Cloud Sky (2025) will debut on June 27 and be on view for at least two years.

The new work is curated by José Carlos Diaz, SAM’s Susan Brotman Deputy Director for Art, who told Vansynghel that “the beauty of [FriendsWithYou’s] work is that it creates really uplifting atmospheres.” Little Cloud Sky (2025) is composed of 40 sculptures of the artists’ signature “Little Cloud” character, each custom made of plastic, four feet wide, and suspended from the ceiling of the Brotman Forum. The work is designed to spread positivity and inspire a sense of connection, encouraging museum visitors to reflect on the beauty of togetherness and the power of joy and nature. While versions of this interior skyscape have been displayed in cities around the world, including Las Vegas, Miami, Tokyo, and London, this is a brand-new iteration and the artists’ first long-term museum installation.

“Sam and Tury create Pop-inspired projects across the globe where visual joy takes center stage,” says Diaz. “We cannot wait to see our lofty entrance come to life with FriendsWithYou’s uplifting work that reminds us of the magic in public spaces and the boundless power of collective happiness. As visitors are captivated by the smiling clouds floating above their heads, we hope they will feel the sense of optimism in the atmosphere.”

The “Little Cloud” character serves as a symbol of peace and connectivity and can be found throughout the artists’ work. In August 2024, London’s Covent Garden featured Little Cloud World, an installation with 40 inflatable “Little Cloud” characters. In January 2024, Tokyo’s Yoyogi Park hosted an iteration of Little Cloud Sky, accompanied by a large-scale parade, “The Happy Dancing Rainbow Alliance,” featuring FriendsWithYou’s iconic characters.

FriendsWithYou’s work has been exhibited around the world. Their latest work, The BAND, an interactive performance-based installation featuring five large-scale autonomous robots, is currently on view at the Cleveland Public Library. In Miami Beach, the artists have a permanent public artwork 50-foot-tall sculpture titled Starchild, commissioned by The City of Miami Beach. FriendsWithYou has had recent projects in Covent Gardens in London, MOCA LA, the Telfair Museum in Savannah, the Dallas Contemporary as well as several gallery shows in Japan and Hong Kong.

– Rachel Eggers, SAM’s Associate Director of Public Relations

Photos: Arturo Sandoval III and Samuel Borkson in front of Little Cloud World in Covent Garden, 2024, Courtesy of FriendsWithYou. Rendering of “Little Cloud,” 2024, Courtesy of FriendsWithYou.

Make Like a Tree: It’s Time to Say Goodbye to John Grade’s Middle Fork

Rachel Eggers on Oct 12 2024

Since February 10, 2017, a dynamic, 105-foot sculpture of a tree created by Seattle-based artist John Grade has graced the Seattle Art Museum’s main entrance lobby, greeting each visitor that walks through the doors. Recently, the museum announced that the work will be deinstalled from the Brotman Forum in early 2025 after eight years on view. The last day for visitors to experience Middle Fork at SAM is February 2, 2025. Margo Vansynghel of The Seattle Times broke the news, noting that the “beloved” artwork has welcomed more than a million visitors in its time at SAM.

The highly detailed sculpture was created by Grade, his team, and over 3,000 volunteers using a plaster cast of a 150-year-old western hemlock tree in the Cascade Mountains east of Seattle. The cast was used as a mold to assemble a new tree from nearly one million reclaimed cedar segments. Suspended horizontally from the museum’s ceiling and above the viewer, Grade’s sculpture offers a mesmerizing new perspective on a familiar form, and its collaborative energy has made it a symbol of Seattle’s arts community.

“We bid a fond farewell to Middle Fork,” says Scott Stulen, SAM’s Illsley Ball Nordstrom Director and CEO. “For the last eight years, this sculpture has inspired awe and delight in every visitor to the museum. John Grade’s deep appreciation for the interconnectedness of nature and people in the Pacific Northwest has reflected our mission to connect art to life these past years. We look forward, along with everyone else, to see the next part of its journey.”

Middle Fork (2014–2017) was first conceived at MadArt Studio, a Seattle gallery from 2009–2024, and debuted there in January 2015. Following that, it was included in the WONDER exhibition at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC (November 13, 2015–May 13, 2016) and was displayed at the 2017 Davos World Economic Forum in Switzerland. At SAM, the sculpture was presented in its largest iteration yet, more than doubling from its previous length of 50 feet to 105 feet. Grade’s intention has always been to continue the sculpture’s growth to match the length of the living tree that it is based on, 140 feet. Eventually, he plans to bring the sculpture back to the forest, allowing it to decompose and return to the earth at the base of that original tree.

Middle Fork is only the second installation to make a home in the Brotman Forum. The first was Inopportune: Stage One (2004) by Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang. The large-scale installation featured nine Ford Taurus cars that appeared to be arrested in an animated sequence of explosions via numerous LED light tubes. It was on view at SAM as part of the expansion of its downtown building on May 5, 2007. The installation closed on January 19, 2016.

The Brotman Forum will welcome a new installation in June 2025, to be announced at a later date. From a massive tree, where do you think the museum will go next?

– Rachel Eggers, SAM’s Associate Director of Public Relations

Photos: Middle Fork, 2014–2017, John Grade, American, b. 1970, cedar, 105 ft. long x 30 ft. diameter, Seattle Art Museum commission, Photo: Ben Benschneider.