Mysterious guerilla art project makes its triumphant return, this time with Spokane’s blessing – and sturdier brackets

A mysterious guerrilla art installation that fascinated Peaceful Valley residents before it was removed in December by city officials has returned to its concrete perch, this time with the blessing of the mayor.

Holding stationary about 20 feet up in the air, the creation dubbed Polly Valentine rides vertically up a concrete column looming over the Clarke Avenue cul-de-sac, strapped to a support for the Maple Street Bridge with steel brackets.

Polly is a mannequin, donned with a scarf, skirt and helmet, her basket full of wildflowers, which showed up sometime around Halloween, her wheels at the time snuggly strapped to the column with a rope and steel cables. She held steady above the heads of passersby for at least seven weeks before being removed by city officials.

In December, city Public Works Communications Manager Kirstin Davis wrote it was the city’s position at the time that “it is not appropriate for the public to alter or attach things to City infrastructure, facilities, or equipment without prior planning and approval,” adding that crews had removed the “unauthorized display.”

Neighbors, disappointed by Polly’s removal, pushed for her return. Councilwoman Kitty Klitzke, who had seen the mannequin while walking in the area, was sworn in for her first term in January and began to hear from those neighbors.

“I was walking through that area a lot and was really sad to see it come down,” Klitzke said Tuesday. “There’s an element of freedom to riding your bike, and even though she was kind of comical, she was also very joyful.”

Klitzke worked with Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown, who also took office in January and agreed that the installation should be returned and officially mounted on the column.

In collaboration with Spokane Arts and various city departments, Polly was reintroduced to Peaceful Valley, where she is again on display with a sturdier bracket mount. Brown biked down to the neighborhood Tuesday evening to celebrate the return alongside two of the mayor’s grandchildren and a handful of community members.

“Due to the great work of the neighborhood, city departments and Spokane Arts, (Polly) was repaired and restored,” Brown said to the applause of a few dozen neighborhood residents and their children who gathered in front of the mannequin and shared snacks and conversation.

The identity of the artist, known as “Bikesy” in a nod to guerilla artist Banksy, is a widely known secret among the neighborhood residents, who declined to share that information with The Spokesman-Review.

Bikesy is suspected to be behind the blue bike placed improbably on top of a concrete pylon in the middle of the Spokane River near People’s Park, located on the far edge of the Peaceful Valley neighborhood and mystifying passersby since summer 2022.

Spokane Arts’ role in the handoff facilitated the artist’s continued anonymity, Brown said Tuesday.

Klitzke said she understood the city’s earlier concern over liability and the potential hazard of Polly or other guerilla art projects, but believed that, if done in a safe and harmless way, they helped define the community.

“You see something every time you look around, and it just adds to the artistic element of the neighborhood,” Klitzke said. “Things like that, they say that people who care are nearby.”