Aubrey Birdwell

City After Midnight evokes a landmark that never truly existed. The original sign, which once spelled “Lee & Eastes,” stood near the corner of Airport Way and Lander. For decades, its glowing letters silently bore witness to countless late-night walks and bike rides between Georgetown and Seattle.

By scrambling and reconfiguring the original letters—and fabricating both a new “T” and a custom raceway to mount the revised spelling—the piece emerges as both restoration and reinvention. It honors the sign’s history while transforming it into something imagined yet tangible.

Created in collaboration with neon artist and designer Yale Wolf, the work was exhibited during Bumbershoot 2025 as part of the Vanishing Seattle exhibition entitled My City’s Filthy at A/NT Gallery.