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It’s still Jimothy summer in Seattle. The short-spined raccoon has captured the hearts and minds of people in the Emerald City—and well beyond. One way folks are rooting for the local legend is by creating incredible art inspired by his unusually round body and overall good vibe. But Seattle is taking it even farther; the city made an official proclamation of “Jimothy Summer” and held an accompanying art contest to celebrate.
Jimothy was first discovered in Ballard, a Seattle neighborhood in the northwest area of the city. While now a pin on the global map as the heart of Jimothy country, it also features Bergen Place Park, a small, triangular-shaped area situated at the entrance to the neighborhood’s year-round farmers’ market. It’s here that Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck made the proclamation and where the contest was held to hundreds of spectators.
Seattleites showed up with Jimothy portraits done in a multitude of media. There were drawings and paintings, and even a piñata version of the raccoon that contained a single shot of liquor. Rinck showed every piece of art, including two works that would eventually be crowned the winners of the contest: a painting by Kayla Carabes featuring a larger-than-life Jimothy next to the iconic Space Needle, and a stained glass window of Saint Jimothy by Virginia McFadden, done in the style of the Hot Rat Summer mosaic that captivated the city in 2025.
Carabes stayed up all night painting her winning piece. “My dad always showed me big Godzilla movies, with these huge monsters, and I was thinking about how big Jimothy is,” Carabes told The Seattle Times. “I wanted to capture just how big he is in the Seattle community and also just get all of the landmarks.”
The Emerald City is home to tech giant Amazon, but it’s also a quirky place if you know where to look. “Whether it’s putting cream cheese on our hot dogs or gum on the wall, or having a giant statue of a troll or a giant statue of Lenin, having a hot rat mosaic in a park or having a disabled raccoon in your backyard,” Rinck shared with the crowd, “these are the things that make us Seattle and I could not be more proud.”
The winning Jimothy art will be on display in Seattle City Hall.
Jimothy the raccoon has captured the hearts and minds of people around the world for his unusually round shape. (He has a shortened spine, which causes the hunch in his back.)
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It’s still Jimothy summer in Seattle. The city made an official proclamation of “Jimothy Summer” and held an accompanying art contest to celebrate.
View this post on Instagram
Seattleites showed up with Jimothy portraits done in a multitude of media. There were drawings and paintings, and even a piñata version of the raccoon that contained a single shot of liquor.
View this post on Instagram
Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck showed every piece of art, including two works that would eventually be crowned the winners of the contest.
View this post on Instagram
The two winners were: Kayla Carabes, who created a painting featuring a larger-than-life Jimothy next to the iconic Space Needle, and Virginia McFadden, who made a stained glass window of Saint Jimothy.
View this post on Instagram
The winning Jimothy art will be on display in Seattle City Hall.
View this post on Instagram
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