In 2026, Seattle will host six FIFA World Cup matches from June to July. In preparation, both community groups and the Seattle FIFA World Cup Local Organizing Committee (SeattleFWC26) are preparing strategies of mitigating and shaping its potential legacy.
On November 6, the Wing Luke Museum announced a donation from the SeattleFWC26 to support the Chinese American Legacy Artwork Project (CALAP). The sculpture on the waterfront would commemorate the 1886 riot against Chinese immigrants and their subsequent expulsion.
This project, which is fiscally sponsored by the museum, has been in the making for the last 14 years. It began when community leader Bettie Luke, Doug Chin, and other advocates created a governing committee and commissioned artist Stewart Wong. The project is inspired by the artist’s personal experience of racism and the historical connection. He moved here from Hawaii to pursue a degree at the Cornish College of the Arts.
“We relocated here in 1982, and it was a very different experience. It was an eye-opener also, because I experienced a lot of bigotry, name-calling, and even being physically attacked,” Wong said, “That was where [I gained] my awareness about my surroundings—that I’m no longer in the Hawaiian Islands; I’m in a city that was primarily white.”
On one side of the large “X”-shaped sculpture are the three attackers of the 1886 event, with the three Chinese laborers, their victims, on the other side. Above the X is a scale of justice tilted in favor of the mob, according to Wong.
“Utilizing public art as a narrative, I think, is very rewarding, because I try to find meaningful ways of telling a narrative that echoes our personal experiences, informs people, instills conversations,” Wong said. “It’s not just an installation that aesthetically is appealing, but an installation that may raise kind of controversial conversations that encourages people to talk.”
Advisory Committee member Dylan Hartano emphasized the historical connection of the expulsion, which included the violent roundup of hundreds of Chinese immigrants to be deported from the Seattle Waterfront.
“It’s pretty clear that this is not new. They’re attacking immigrants, just like how they’re attacking immigrants back in 1886,” says Hartano. “I don’t think the pattern has changed, and we’re seeing a resurgence of it, so this is a good project to make public.”
The project was chosen after community engagement from SeattleFWC26, and there was no Request for Proposal (RFP) process, according to Chief Legacy Officer Leo Flor.
“After a couple of years of engagement, [the sculpture is] just something that came up over and over and over again as we spoke to members of the community,” said Flor.
The 14-foot steel and bronze sculpture will be located at Alaskan Way South and South Washington Street. CALAP is now halfway to being fully funded, but the completion date has not been announced.
“Relatively early on in this conversation, Wing Luke Museum shared with us that the project wouldn’t be done by the time the World Cup happened,” said Flor. “I almost detected concern in their voice about that. And I said, if we’re truly focused on legacy, it doesn’t matter if it’s done by the World Cup. The point is not when it’s done by. The point is that we use the attention that comes from the World Cup to help get it started.”
According to Flor, SeattleFWC26 is a nonprofit that is not funded by FIFA itself, but by private or foundation donations, such as from the Puyallup Tribe of Indians. The latest report from Candid, a nonprofit filing source, shows an influx of $5.1 million in donations in 2023. However, there is no breakdown of major donor identities.
Some local groups are saying the art donation is not enough to mitigate the effects of the sporting event. On November 22, a coalition of community organizations called Protect Our Pitch 206 hosted a teach-in event to inform attendees about the impact the FIFA World Cup has had on its host cities.
The groups included Be Seattle, CID Coalition, Massage Parlor Organizing Project, Puget Sound Sage, Real Change, Seattle Solidarity Budget, Stop Surveillance City, Stop the Sweeps, and 350 Seattle. Meilani Mandery, who has been part of the CID Coalition since 2019, presented on the potential human rights effects of the event.
“South Africa, Brazil—all of these other places that have hosted mega sports events—had devastating impacts on their communities. That is a part of this legacy,” said Mandery. “Just because it’s not happening at the same level here in Seattle doesn’t mean FIFA doesn’t have blood on their hands.”
They formulated a list of demands surrounding housing, transportation, and climate mitigation. These include increasing the number of public restrooms, implementing free public transportation, and stopping encampment sweeps. One of the demands is also around municipal transparency, which asks the City of Seattle to produce a report on the projected revenue and expenses of the World Cup in the city, as well as the impacts on displacement. Leah Salerno, who is a part of Seattle Solidarity Budget, highlighted the potential for long-term changes the event could bring to the city.
“We recognize that people love football, and it’s really exciting for a lot of people that the World Cup is gonna be here in our backyard, but one of our taglines is, ‘Love the sport; fight the impact,’” Salerno said, “We really hope that people will look at what’s possible, too—with a major sporting event coming to Seattle—and think about what that means in terms of what Seattle could achieve year round for residents.”
As the World Cup matches approach, both local organizing groups and Seattle FIFA will continue to prepare for the impact of one of the largest sporting events to come to the city.
Hong Ta (she/her) is a news writer from South Seattle and grew up going to the CID, specifically in Little Saigon. She graduated from the University of Puget Sound with degrees in Political Science and Spanish. You can read more of her work at thienhongta.com.
