RURAL ART

Shredded Wheat, Mammoth Size

Once the wheat is harvested, the straw that is left is cut, baled, and stacked in the field. 

I like to think of it as sculpture.

RED BARN IN JANUARY

Walla Walla is a rural area, so these are the monuments, sculptures, and art that surround me. 

And as much as I love to travel, it always feels good to come home to this.

  

STANDING WATCH

Public Art in Walla Walla

"Guard Pigeon" by Wayne Chabre is one of many sculptures located in Walla Walla's downtown.

CARNIVAL

Whitman's Public Art

Carnival, by nationally known Pop artist Jim Dine, is one of 20+ sculptures located throughout the Whitman campus. 

This headless abstract version of the classic Venus de Milo was installed in 1997 and stands in a prominent spot across the street from the Administration Building along Boyer Avenue. It is part of a body of sculptural work in which Dine has dramatically reinterpreted one of western culture's most prominent portrayals of feminine beauty. 

Dine used a chainsaw to create the sculpture from the trunk of a tree, and then cast the tree in bronze at the world renowned Walla Walla Foundry.

According to one source, "In all of his depictions of the Venus de Milo . . .the head has been removed. However, all the other compositional components of the original have been retained: the left leg juts forward while the right one receded; drapery covers the legs; the pivoted upper torso is exposed; and the arms remain lost to time."

RED & YELLOW FROG FOOT CHANDELIER

CHIHULY GLASS

I took a different route home tonight after sorting books for AAUW, and was pleasantly surprised by the sight of this luminous glass chandelier hanging in Reed Center on the campus of Whitman College.

 Not one to pass up a good photo op nor a spectacular piece of art, I went inside.

I wasn't disappointed. This two-tiered red and yellow blown glass chandelier is by Dale Chihuly, a world renowned glass artist from Seattle. I learned that the sculpture is a relative newcomer to the campus having been installed just last summer and dedicated in September.

The piece was commissioned and paid for by an anonymous donor. A very generous and beautiful gift, I'd say.

See the video of the dedication of the sculpture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWlEbHKZ5Ig

Read more about Dale Chihuly: http://www.chihuly.com/learn