Artwork copyright Gregg Schlanger. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2021.

Artwork copyright Gregg Schlanger. Photo courtesy of North Thurston High School, 2021 (detail).

Artwork copyright Gregg Schlanger. Photo courtesy of North Thurston High School, 2021 (detail).

Artwork copyright Gregg Schlanger. Photo courtesy of North Thurston High School, 2021 (detail).

Artwork copyright Gregg Schlanger. Photo courtesy of North Thurston High School, 2021.

Artwork copyright Gregg Schlanger. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2021.

Artwork copyright Gregg Schlanger. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2021.

Artwork copyright Gregg Schlanger. Photo courtesy of North Thurston High School, 2021.

Artwork copyright Gregg Schlanger. Photo courtesy of North Thurston High School, 2021.

Artwork copyright Gregg Schlanger. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2021.

We Are..., 2021

Gregg Schlanger
(American)

Location: North Thurston High School, Lacey

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

We Are... by Gregg Schlanger uses colored glass and text from students to represent the diversity of the student body at North Thurston High School in Lacey, Western Washington. The artwork also references the school’s original gym. It was a barrel-shaped building and the top arc of the end walls were filled with glass squares of different colors. A single fingerprint image is printed across the glass panels. In the words of the artist, the fingerprint "represents the individual as well as the shared image of the collective. ‘We are more alike than different’.” The glass panels also include text from students who responded to the prompt, “I am…”. Viewers bring themselves into the artwork as they respond to and interpret the artwork.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with North Thurston Public Schools.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Artist Gregg Schlanger creates art installations and community-oriented public art. He uses art to explore how to create a better “sense of place” that leads to a respect for that place and the environment. He believes this can happen through community involvement and educational projects while creating the art.
Schlanger has served as a professor of art in the Department of Art + Design at Central Washington University in Ellensburg since 2011. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Boise State University in Idaho in 1987 and his Master of Fine Arts degree from Northern Illinois University in 1989.