Buster Simpson


Lewis Cole "Buster" Simpson is an American sculptor and environmental artist based in Seattle, Washington.

Career

Lewis Cole Simpson was born in Saginaw, Michigan and raised in a nearby farming community. He became interested in art while attending junior college in Flint and attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, graduating in 1969 with a master in fine arts. After graduating, Simpson joined other artists at the Woodstock Festival in New York state, helping build play areas for festivalgoers.
Simpson caught the attention of glass artist Dale Chihuly in 1971 while giving a talk at the Rhode Island School of Design and invited him to join the new Pilchuck Glass School near Stanwood, Washington. Two years later, Simpson moved to Seattle and began his work in "recycled art" at a studio in Pioneer Square. During the 1970s, Simpson created several pieces of public art along Post Alley near Pike Place Market, utilizing materials from dumpsters and thrift shops for Shared Clothesline and discarded bottles as scrap glass for 90 Pine Show and Counterparts. He also developed an alter ego, named "Woodman", used during street performances while scavenging for materials.
During the 1980s, Simpson engaged in "agitprop" work, including dropping soft limestone blocks in the headwaters of the Hudson River that was dubbed by the media as "River Rolaids".
Simpson was later commissioned by institutions and governments across the United States and Canada to create public art to display in cities. Simpson was given his first career retrospective in 2013 at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, called Buster Simpson: Surveyor.
In 2019, Buster Simpson was included in two group exhibitions exploring the material glass as vehicle for sculpture, in painting and as tool of conceptual inspiration - An Alternative History: The Other Glass, in New York City and As In Also: An Alternative Too, in Seattle - each organized by artist, published author and independent curator John Drury.

Works

TITLELOCATIONCITYSTATE/COUNTRYYEARNOTESIMAGE
DiviningLatta Plantation Nature Preserve
Visitor's Center		HuntersvilleNorth Carolina2018
Wickiup Overlook & EncampmentPearsall ParkSan AntonioTexas2016
Discombobulated DiscourseDuwamish RevealedSeattleWashington2015
Orange Lining & Impressed ConcreteTriMet Orange LinePortlandOregon2015Collaboration with Peg Butler
CradleSouth Waterfront ParkPortlandOregon2015
Offering CycleAnchorageAlaska2014
Anthropocene BeachElliott Bay Seawall Habitat ProjectSeattleWashingtonIn Progress
VernacularBellevue Regional LibraryBellevueWashington2013
PresenceSalt Lake City Public Safety BuildingSalt Lake CityUtah2013
AerieUS Army Corps of Engineers HQSeattleWashington2012
Oculus SolOld Town CenterIndioCalifornia2012
Carbon VeilSeaTac International Airport Rental Car FacilitySeattleWashington2012
Dekumstruction Bike CorralAdjacent to Breakside Brewery/NEPortlandOregon2012Collaboration with Peg Butler
Bio Boulevard & Water MoleculeBrightwater Treatment FacilityWoodenvilleWashington2011
Flamingo ArroyoFlamingo Arroyo TrailheadLas VegasNevada2010Collaboration with Barbara Grygutis, Kevin Berry
Cloke PlazaUniversity of MaineOronoMaine2010
Bucket BrigadeEast Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District HQPortlandOregon2009Collaboration with Peg Butler
Whole FlowWhole FoodsPasadenaCalifornia2009
Instrument Implement: Walla Walla CampanileWilliam A. Grant Water & Environmental CenterWalla WallaWashington2008
Poetic LicenseWilliam A. Grant Water & Environmental CenterWalla WallaWashington2008
Ice BladeOlympic Oval BridgeRichmondBritish Columbia, Canada2008
ParableSound Transit, Mount Baker StationSeattleWashington2008
Tempe Light Rail Transit BridgeTempeArizona2007
The MonolithTurtle Bay Exploration CenterReddingCalifornia2005
RosettaraayMerck-RosettaSeattleWashington2004
Ping Pong PlazaMerck-RosettaSeattleWashington2004
Beckoning CisternGrowing Vine StreetSeattleWashington2003
Mobius BandPuget Sound Environmental Learning CenterBainbridge IslandWashington2002
PortalWashington State UniversityPullmanWashington2001
Water Glass & Water TableEllington CondominiumSeattleWashington2001
MomentHarbor StepsSeattleWashington2000
Brush with IlluminationFalse CreekVancouverBritish Columbia, Canadaupdated 2009
Parapet RelayUniversity of Washington/Tacoma CampusTacomaWashington1997
King Street GardensAlexandriaVirginia1997Collaboration with Laura Sindell, Mark Spitzer, Becca Hanson
Offering Hat, Drinking Cup and Illuminated BoatKansas City Public Health FacilityKansas CityMissouri1997
Fenceline Artifact and Prairie WagonDenver International AirportDenverColorado1994
Exchanger FountainAnaheim Redevelopment AgencyAnaheimCalifornia1993
Host AnalogOregon Convention CenterPortlandOregon1991
Seattle George MonumentSeattle Convention CenterSeattleWashington1989