Art in Public Places - Evergreen School DistrictThe Evergreen School District in Vancouver, Washington has seen three recent public art installations at local schools that are now part of the State Art Collection. Local art selection committees worked with Washington State Arts Commission staff to select artists from the Public Artist Roster, review artwork proposals, and make final artwork selection decisions.
Once the artists' proposals were accepted, the artists fabricated and installed the artwork, working with Arts Commission and School District staff, a structural engineer, and an architect as required.
Big Bang, by Camano Island artist Jack Archibald, is a representation in stained glass of the Mount St. Helens eruption - and the theory that postulates that the universe contracts until its density becomes explosive - was recently installed in the entry hall of Cascade Middle School.
The artwork spans the entryway of the school and three additional glass panels are installed along a windowed corridor. The elements are made from hand-created, beveled, and commercially-manufactured leaded glass.
David Fichter, of Cambridge Massachusetts, created Orchards in a central corridor at Orchards Elementary.
In his proposal Fichter wrote, "I was drawn to the theme of orchards, both as a historical background for the surrounding community (Clark County was once the plum capital of the world), the name of the school, and a metaphor describing the experience of students." The mural spans a back wall and spills out into adjoining corridors, the ceiling, and up a nearby stairwell.
Aurora, by Seattle artist Etsuko Ichikawa, made up of six flowing aluminum forms, is suspended in the atrium of Covington Middle School.
In her concept proposal Ichikawa wrote, "After spending some time on site and observing activities there, the first image that came to me was of soft drapery forms with many gentle colors, extending higher to the skylight, and reaching to the students in the atrium area. I then immediately thought of the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, which has become the primary inspiration for the concept."
Artwork acquired through Washington State’s Art in Public Places Program becomes part of the State Art Collection - a collection of over 4,600 works of art located at state agencies, public schools, colleges, and universities throughout the state.
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