Suspish is a local legend in Eugene. While our kids were growing up, spotting Suspish's work was a running family scavenger hunt. One turned up in Portland, and Michelle even found a Suspish sticker in Eureka, California.

The work is ephemeral by nature. As uncommissioned street art, each piece was part of an ongoing back-and-forth with city officials, which was half the fun of finding them. You'd caught something that wouldn't last. We wanted to give one piece a permanent home. We bought a set of old gym lockers from BRING, a local recycling hub, with the idea of a classic Suspish fish across the front.

We tracked Suspish down through an intermediary. There was interest, but conditions: no one could be home when the work happened. Staying anonymous mattered.

Months went by before we could find a weekend with nobody on the property. No residents, no vineyard crew, nothing scheduled. When it finally lined up, I emailed the intermediary: "everyone will be gone this weekend." No reply. It occurred to me, a little late, that telling a stranger the property would sit empty wasn't the smartest move I'd made. I left the lockers on a pallet in the barn anyway.

We came home Sunday with no idea what was waiting. That evening, heading to the barn for the tractor, I saw the lockers and realized Suspish had come through after all. It felt like Christmas morning when I was a kid. The lockers displayed the signature fish on the front, plus a bonus piece on the back we hadn't asked for. We were thrilled.

The lockers are part of the permanent collection now, untouched for as long as we own the property.

Further Reading
"A (Suspish) Fish Story"