Artwork copyright Erik Hall. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission.

Artwork copyright Erik Hall. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Erik Hall. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Flight Planning, 2010

Erik Hall
(American, born 1975)

Location: Canyon Park Junior High, Bothell

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Flight Planning by Erik Hall shows gliding paper airplanes as a symbol for learning. The paper airplanes surround a Sequoia-like tree. The two, large, 8-feet-tall paintings bring you inside the artist's imaginary landscape.

On the right side of the two-part painting, the paper airplanes are blank with possibility and angle upwards. This is what students see first as they walk up the stairs and enter the school or go to the library upstairs. It is autumn in the painting, when the school year starts and the students’ journey begins.

On the left side of the painting, the paper airplanes glide downwards and the papers are filled with writing and knowledge. This is what students see as they walk down the stairs and leave the school or library. This time the landscape is very green and rich, symbolizing the students who are now filled with knowledge at the end of the school year.

The artist Erik Hall asked the local selection committee for Canyon Park Junior High School in Bothell, Western Washington, to share texts that are meaningful to the community. The committee provided poems, quotes, equations, formulas, and more that Hall added to the descending airplanes on the left.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Northshore School District.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Seattle-based artist Erik Hall paints landscapes. He filters reality through memory to creates otherworldly scenes in nature.