Sharks, I’m trying to secure $5,000 or more in order to buy a severed head.

This summer the Pacific Science Center in Seattle closed and dissembled the exhibit Dinosaurs: A Journey Through Time, and they are now auctioning off the remaining pieces of this historic display, including the head of an animatronic Triceratops that stood proudly for decades within the exhibit for the enjoyment of PacSci guests of all ages. Simply put, I want us to win the auction for this decapitated Dino and restore it as a public art piece for the enjoyment of Seattleites for years to come.

But what’s the point?

Seattle is a city which has seen a mind-numbing amount of change over the last thirty years, and I think there’s a lot of anxiety among people who have lived here for a long time that the city is quickly losing any character it has left. I for one think this is still a lovely, freaky little city with a lot of cool history, and starting this project is a “no one’s coming to save us so we have to save ourselves” attempt to get people thinking about the many ways in which we can carve the identity of this place back into its bones.

If you grew up here you like me might’ve had the experience of stopping in your tracks during a field trip or family outing and staring up at one of these dinosaurs, and you might’ve thought in that moment, “oh my god, they were here but now I’m here and I’m looking at these things we made to remember them, and oh wow how cool is that for me to think about I’m seven.” I figure, why let an artifact of that experience go to waste in some animatronic collector’s storage unit or die a slow death as a conversation piece in a Hunt’s Point mansion mudroom?? Let’s take those experiences and give them back to the next generation! I mean god knows they’re gonna need something to keep them going, why not stuff like this?

So how do we do this?

At the time of this writing, the winning bid for the triceratops head is $1,200, but with a week of bidding left it’s sure to go up. If we can raise $5,000, I feel that we’ll be in a safe place to secure the triceratops head for the people of Seattle. I am working to find fabricators to build a display for the Dino, prop specialists to assess if it needs any maintenance or restoration, and a public space to host said display once it’s ready for its debut, but I think if we’re able to win the auction for less than the money we raise or if, god forbid, we lose (no thank you), ALL DONATIONS/REMAINDERS* WILL BE RETURNED!!!

I’m not a guy who really does stuff like this a lot so the dream would be to find more likeminded individuals to team up with and make this dream happen as a community. I want to do this transparently, fairly, and overall the right way. Also I know money is tight right now, so if you’re able to give even a little that’s great, but if you’re interested in canvassing or phone banking or you have other ideas for pulling this off I mean it takes all types, let’s talk!

THE DINOSAURS DO NOT HAVE TO DISAPPEAR JUST BECAUSE THEY’RE ALL DEAD!!! SEATTLE DESERVES TO KEEP ITS HISTORY!!!

I think we can absolutely build something beautiful here. Let’s do this!!!