Rachel, Bronze pig statue at Pike Place Market, Seattle, US
Rachel is a bronze pig sculpture positioned at the main entrance of Pike Place Market and functions as the market's iconic symbol. The artwork rests on a concrete base and serves a dual purpose as both a decorative piece and an operational donation receptacle for the public.
Rachel was dedicated on August 17, 1986, Pike Place Market's 79th birthday, and was paid for by a gift from Fratelli's Ice Cream. Sculptor Georgia Gerber modeled the bronze pig on a sow named Rachel from Whidbey Island, the 1985 Island County prize-winner. On February 5, 2011, a taxicab knocked the sculpture off its concrete base, cracking its left ear; Gerber repaired it at her Whidbey Island studio, and it returned to the market on March 18, 2011.
Rachel is a working piggy bank: coins dropped through the slot on her head go to the Pike Place Market Foundation, which uses them to fund the market's social services. A nearby plaque states that deposits benefit local human service organizations. Donations came to about $9,000 a year in 2006 and around $20,000 in 2018.
Rachel stands on the sidewalk at Pike Place Market, with bronze pig footprints set into the pavement leading to the sculpture. The 550-pound bronze figure sits on a concrete base and has a money slot on top of its head. A plaque nearby records the gift from Fratelli's Ice Cream that made the piggy bank possible.
Rachel was knocked off her concrete base by a taxicab on February 5, 2011, cracking her left ear and denting her side. Sculptor Georgia Gerber repaired her at her Whidbey Island studio, and the pig returned to Pike Place Market on March 18, 2011, after touring Seattle landmarks in a vintage farm truck.
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