Daddy Long Legs on the Armory — Marlin Peterson, Seattle
Marlin Peterson · two giant harvestmen painted flat on a roof, 2012, repainted 2023 · Seattle Center Armory, seen from the Space Needle
Photo via a Facebook photo page linked by Street Art Utopia on 10 September 2012; the post credits the artwork to Marlin Peterson and does not name the photographer · camera date 30 August 2012 (file metadata). Full photograph shown; resized for display.
From the Space Needle’s observation deck, two daddy longlegs seem to stride across the roof of the Seattle Center Armory, shadows and all. They are flat paint. Marlin Peterson, a 3-D mural artist and science illustrator, painted them in August 2012 with a grant from Artist Trust. Seattle Center lists the work as repainted in 2023, and a travel blog showed it from the Needle in June 2025. KNKX · Seattle Center Checked
5 things to know
- Made for one viewpointSeattle Center says the illusion can only be seen from the Space Needle Observation Deck. Scientific American’s art blog made the same point in 2012. Seattle Center · Scientific American Checked
- Harvestmen, not spidersThe two figures are a male and a female harvestman (order Opiliones). Seattle Center says the more colorful one, closer to Climate Pledge Arena, is the male. Colossal corrected its own 2012 post on the same point. Seattle Center · Colossal · KNKX Checked
- A roof instead of a wallPeterson looked for a big wall and found no takers, so he turned to roofs and found the Armory on Google Earth. KNKX · Colossal Checked
- Models for the shadowsHe built wire-and-wood models, photographed them at the site to get the shadows, and combined the pictures in Photoshop before painting. KNKX · Seattle Center Checked
- Peterson’s own tallyAccording to his rundown, posted by KNKX: about 12 trips up the Needle, about 6 gallons of house paint in about 7 colors, about 15 four-inch rollers and about two weeks of rolling. The widest span between leg tips is 100 feet. KNKX · Artist Trust Reported
Check-in guide
- 📍
- On the roof of the Seattle Center Armory, in the Seattle Center grounds below the Space Needle (Seattle Center, KNKX) Checked
- 👀
- It is meant to be seen from above: Seattle Center says the only angle is from the Space Needle Observation Deck (Seattle Center).
- 🧭
- The Maps button searches for the Seattle Center Armory. Over-view gives the roof as 47.621500, -122.350861 (Over-view).
Sightings
- 201230 Aug
Photo above, camera date
- 20127 Sep
KNKX: seen from the Needle
- 201210 Sep
Colossal
- 201222 Sep
Scientific American blog
- 201212 Oct
Laughing Squid
- 20257 Jun
Travel blog photo from the Needle
The green stamp is the camera date in the photo at the top of this page (30 August 2012); it links to that photo. Amber stamps are publication dates: KNKX (7 September 2012), Colossal (10 September 2012), Scientific American’s art blog (22 September 2012), Laughing Squid (12 October 2012) and a travel blog post of 7 June 2025 with a photo captioned “Daddy Long Legs”, taken from the Space Needle Observation Deck, the newest dated sighting and the basis of the stamp at the top. Seattle Center’s public-art list says the mural was repainted in 2023, but the page is not dated, so it has no stamp.
On the record
How two 60-foot arachnids came to life on a Seattle roof
“In general I think arachnids don’t really get the love that insects do in the world.”
Marlin Peterson, interviewed by Jake Ellison, on why he chose daddy longlegs.
Enormous Daddy Long-Legs Overtake the Seattle Center Armory
“An agreement was reached with the Seattle Center Armory (formerly the Center House)”
The 2012 report, later updated to say the animals are harvestmen, not spiders.
Daddy Long Legs on the Armory
“The harvestmen and their shadows are just 2-dimensional flat-sheened paint, but looking down from the Space Needle on a sunny day gives doubts to some onlookers that they indeed might be sculptures.”
The campus’s own entry for the work, which also gives “2012 (repainted 2023)”.
The facts
- Artist
- Marlin Peterson (Seattle Center, KNKX, Colossal, Laughing Squid, Artist Trust) Checked
- Name
- Seattle Center lists it as “Daddy Long Legs on the Armory” (Seattle Center); Artist Trust’s grantee page lists the work as “Harvestmen” (Artist Trust) Conflicting. We use Seattle Center’s name.
- Shows
- Two harvestmen (Opiliones), a male and a female, with painted cast shadows (Seattle Center, KNKX) Checked
- Painted
- August 2012 (KNKX, Over-view) Checked. Over a five-week period, with about two weeks of painting, according to KNKX (KNKX) Reported
- Repainted
- 2023, according to Seattle Center (Seattle Center) Reported
- Funding
- An Artist Trust Grants for Artist Projects (GAP) award (KNKX, Artist Trust) Checked. $1,500, according to KNKX (KNKX) Reported
- Size
- Widest span between leg tips 100 feet (KNKX, Artist Trust) Checked. KNKX describes each animal as “60-plus-foot” (KNKX) Reported
- Place
- Roof of the Seattle Center Armory, Seattle, Washington (Seattle Center, KNKX, Colossal) Checked
- Our photo
- Camera date 30 August 2012 (file metadata). Street Art Utopia published it on 10 September 2012 linked to a Facebook photo page, crediting the artwork to Marlin Peterson; the photographer is not named (Street Art Utopia) Unconfirmed
- Status
- Seen June 2025: a travel blog post of 7 June 2025 shows the mural from the Space Needle Observation Deck (Bo Mackison) Reported. Seattle Center’s public-art list, read on 14 October 2026, still lists the work (Seattle Center).
Related
- On Street Art Utopia: Only in America (14 Photos) (14 October 2026), Daddy Long Legs – In Seattle, USA (10 September 2012) and 8 American Murals Worth the Detour (21 July 2026).
- More art on the same campus. Seattle Center public art
All sources (9)
This work
- Seattle Center: Public Art, undated list read on 14 October 2026. “Daddy Long Legs on the Armory”, Marlin Peterson, “2012 (repainted 2023)”, Armory Roof; harvestmen, male and female; viewing angle from the Space Needle Observation Deck.
- KNKX: “How two 60-foot arachnids came to life on a Seattle roof”, by Jake Ellison, 7 September 2012. Five weeks in August; $1,500 GAP grant from Artist Trust; how the roof was found; models and shadows; Peterson quotes.
- KNKX: “Video update: The making of two giant arachnids at Seattle Center”, by Jake Ellison, 28 September 2012. Widest span 100 feet; Peterson’s rundown of trips, paint, rollers and time. Same outlet as above.
- Colossal: “Enormous Daddy Long-Legs Overtake the Seattle Center Armory”, 10 September 2012. Agreement with the Seattle Center Armory; trompe l’oeil; correction that they are harvestmen.
- Scientific American (Symbiartic blog): “SciArt of the Day: Arach-attack!”, by Kalliopi Monoyios, 22 September 2012. Two opiliones atop the Armory, best seen from the Space Needle observation deck.
- Laughing Squid: “Enormous 3D Daddy Longlegs Mural Under Seattle’s Space Needle”, 12 October 2012. Trompe l’oeil by Marlin Peterson on the roof of the armory building; photos and video via Peterson.
- Artist Trust: Marlin Peterson, grantee page, undated. Grants for Artist Projects 2011; “Harvestmen, paint, Seattle Center Armory roof, 100ft long, 2012.”
- Over-view: “Seattle Spiders”, undated aerial image page. Painted in August 2012 through an Artist Trust grant; coordinates 47.621500, -122.350861.
Later sightings
- Bo Mackison: “Walking Seattle Center–Art is Everywhere!”, 7 June 2025. Photo captioned “Daddy Long Legs” from the Space Needle Observation Deck; “painted in 2012 and repainted in 2023.”
Artwork File · Last checked 14 October 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files