I recently visited the Vancouver, WA public library and came across the Mary Granger Sculpture Garden, a collection of four sculptures on the library property, all created by regional artists.
I’ll share them here as part of Marsha’s Photographing Public Art Challenge (PPAC).
I thought I’d come across a fifth piece of public art, but upon further investigation, it turned out to be a bike rack. Oh, well. Perhaps art is in the eye of the beholder.
For Marsha’s Photographing Public Art Challenge.
I wrote a post last August about the Evergreen Trail at Columbia Springs Environmental Education Center in Vancouver, WA. But I didn’t include photos of the wood carvings that can be found along the trail. These have been carved into still-standing dead trees.
I don’t think I even noticed all of them the last time I was there, but Chules and I went on the trail again this past week, and there they were, just staring at us.
Kind of a fun discovery.
At the halfway point of the Visit Vancouver USA challenge (an app designed to encourage participants to get outdoors and explore the area), my eighth walk took me to the banks of the Columbia River and the Waterfront Renaissance Trail.
Chules and I went early in day to avoid the “heat dome” high temperatures, so we managed to catch a bit of the sunrise pink sky.
We’ve visited this area many times, so we strolled the familiar walkway for about a mile. I always enjoy seeing the art installations, including this sculpture of Ilchee, by artist Eric Jensen.
The sign next to the sculpture tells us that:
“Ilchee, or ‘Moon Woman,’ was the daughter of Chinook Chief Comcomly. Ilchee arrived in the Fort Vancouver area in 1813, where she met and married her father’s successor, Chief Casino. She is depicted gazing west down the Columbia River, toward her family’s ancestral home at Chinook Point on the Washington coast.”
Farther east on the trail is another public art piece titled “Wendy Rose,” by the artists Women Who Weld (Sharon Agnor, Wendy Armstrong, Sumi Wu, Jennifer Corio & Kathy Wilson).
The plaque there states:
“Wendy celebrates the legacy of the women who entered the workforce at the Kaiser Shipyards during World War II. Wearing a bright red polka dot scarf made of glass, Wendy strides across the Bonneville Dam and is surrounded by other local symbols of the era.”
An interesting contrast between Ilchee and Wendy Rose, historically (and artistically) speaking.
So that’s eight site check-ins; seven to go!
Also an entry for the Photographing Public Art Challenge (PPAC) hosted by Marsha and Cee.
What Rhymes with Stanza? 