Artwork copyright Allen Moe. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Allen Moe. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2019.

1:30pm, November 07, 2010, Skagit Bay, 2010

Allen Moe
(American, born 1948)

Location: Peninsula College, Port Angeles

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

1:30pm, November 07, 2010, Skagit Bay is a concrete casting created by artist Allen Moe. He captured the patterns in the sand during low tide where the Skagit River meets the Puget Sound. It is one of two castings taken in the same spot on different days. He notes, "From these castings a scientific investigation could determine details of the wind and weather during the time of formation and even possibly the position of the moon which has influence on the volume of water passing over the sand, which in turn influences the patterns it leaves behind."

Curator Kathleen Garrett selected both castings by Allen Moe as part of a curated collection of artworks for Peninsula College in Port Angeles. The artworks installed in Keegan Hall reflect the Pacific Northwest and the many subjects taught in the building. These include Aquaculture, Physics, Biology, and Information Technology.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Peninsula College.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Allen Moe creates art castings, paintings, and pottery inspired by patterns in nature. He uses naturally-sourced materials mixed with cement or common hardware store materials. The beauty of life is represented in his art. Moe was educated as a biologist.

Moe was born and raised in the Yosemite Valley in California. He received a Bachelor of Art degree in ecology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1970. He lived in Alaska for a decade homesteading and working as a seabird ecologist and Denali National Park Ranger before settling into making art. He has been a full-time working artist for over 40 years, living in Northwestern Washington on the mouth of the Skagit River and nearby Guemes Island.

You can watch a short video about Moe's art practice made by the Washington State Arts Commission in 2008 with support from the American Masterworks Program of the National Endowment for the Arts.