Existing comment:
Rick Bartow (1946-2016)
Wiyot
Oregon
We Were Always Here, 2012
Old-growth Western red cedar, Port Orford cedar, old-growth Douglas fir, oak, maple, stain, sealer
Commissioned from the artist 2011 (26/8852)
In creating these two poles from a single old-growth cedar tree, artist Rick Bartow has drawn on the patterns and symbols from his Northern California Native heritage. These include Bear's conscientious and protective role as a healer and Raven's playful and sometimes comical acts that shaped the world and human society. The pole bases' horizontal pattern references the changing tides of Oregon mudfloats and symbolizes the flow of knowledge and inheritance--in Bartow's words, "the movement down to generations or up through the generations... like little waves." |