Turtle Island Puget Sound

Turtle Island Puget Sound – Mark Twain Stevenson

About the Art
At the entrance of the Des Moines Library, visitors are greeted by Turtle Island, Puget Sound, a six-foot-long bronze turtle that invites you to take a closer look. Careful observers will see that its back is not a typical turtle shell but a detailed carved map. Artist Mark Twain Stevenson incorporated satellite imagery to create an intricate, topographical representation of the Puget Sound region—its land, waterways, and mountain ranges—etched across the turtle’s back. When it rains, water pools in the recessed areas to mimic the flow and shape of the Sound. The turtle, a common figure in creation stories across cultures, symbolizes the Earth being carried through time. Commissioned by Friends of the Des Moines Library and gifted to the King County Library System, the piece is a local treasure merging myth and ecology.

About the Artist

Mark Twain Stevenson’s sculptures appear in public installations across Washington, Oregon, Utah, Colorado, as well as internationally in Norway and Greenland. His works often fuse geological accuracy with mythological and cultural symbolism, creating layered narratives in sculptural form. A graduate of Oregon State University, Stevenson has worked extensively in bronze, spending years as a foundryman at Riverdog Fine Art Foundry in Chimacum, WA, and the Walla Walla Fine Art Foundry. His middle name is a nod to his mother’s profession as a librarian.

Artist Website