WIP · World in Pocket

Bell Circles II, Sapporo Friendship Bell

Portland, United States of America

Bell Circles II, Sapporo Friendship Bell

Bell Circles II, also known as Sapporo Friendship Bell and part of the sound installation by composer Robert Coburn called Bell and Wind Environment (along with Korean Temple Bell), is an outdoor bronze bell by an unknown Japanese artist, housed in a brick and granite pagoda outside the Oregon Conve

ntion Center in Portland, Oregon, United States. The temple bell was presented by the people of Portland's sister city Sapporo, Japan and dedicated in February 1990. It cost $59,000 and was funded through the Convention Center's One Percent for Art program and by private donors. According to the Smithsonian Institution, some residents raised concerns about the bell's religious symbolism and its placement outside a public building. It was surveyed and considered "treatment needed" by the Smithsonian's "Save Outdoor Sculpture!" program in July 1993.

Listen to the audio guide for Bell Circles II, Sapporo Friendship Bell Free on WIP — starts by itself when you arrive, even with the screen off

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