Memorials

Ron Floyd memorial Fountain

The Port Angeles Fine Arts Center has a sparkling new addition to welcome visitors. A sculptural fountain has been installed in the keyhole courtyard of the historic Webster House that has served as the Olympic Peninsula’s art museum since 1986.

Generously gifted to the Center by PAFAC Trustee, Jane Floyd, the fountain is a permanent memorial honoring her husband of 37 years, Ron Floyd, who passed away last summer. The fountain will be officially accepted this Saturday, May 2 at 2 pm in a courtyard dedication ceremony that is open to the public.

The fountain was designed and sculpted by Port Hadlock artist, David Eisenhour, whose work has been seen in a number of shows at the Center, most notably last summer in a two-person exhibition with Kristin Tollefson. Significantly that was the last exhibition Ron Floyd, a long-time PAFAC fan, supporter and volunteer, was able to see at his beloved Center.

A native Port Angelean who led an active outdoor lifestyle on both land and water, Floyd returned to the area in his retirement years to relish the area’s natural beauty.

Eisenhour’s design, titled “Watershed Notes,” honors both the man and the landscape that invigorated him with multiple bronze elements mounted on glacial boulders to create an ensemble that evokes the Olympic environment with imagery and sound. Three bronze leaves, each with a four-foot span, are naturalistically rendered as stepped planes over which water percolates and cascades.

The crenulated texture of a maple leaf, the stiff expanse of a salal leaf and the fan-like form of an ancient ginkgo leaf (a shape dear to Ron, who used it again and again in the exquisite jewelry for which he was known) provide opportunities for the water to pool and reflect, while at the same time discharging many rivulets that splash with sparkling timbres in the sound chamber formed by the parabolic sweep of the Webster House.

The marine environment (Ron was an avid kayaker) enters the mix in the form of ten super realistic bronze barnacles and limpids that cling to the boulders and conjure a tide pool. Eisenhour’s mastery of patinas evokes a high degree of naturalism while creating a harmonious mood through colors integrated with the natural setting.

“This exquisite sculpture brings a feeling of balance and completion back to the courtyard, aptly taking the place of the magnificent madrona that graced the courtyard for decades but had to be removed when it succumbed to disease,” observed PAFAC director Jake Seniuk. “David’s design intones many symbolic and spiritual chords that are so in tune with this place, its history, its setting and those who enjoy and support it. What a beautiful and perfect legacy!”

The bronze leaves were cast at the prestigious Walla Walla Fine Arts Foundry in Walla Walla, Washington and the marine creatures were cast at the Valley Foundry in Joseph, Oregon. “Augmenting Jane’s core funding for the project were additional memorial gifts by more than forty of Ron’s devoted friends and PAFAC patrons, a fitting testament to the light that this bright and gentle man inspired in so many,” reflected Seniuk with an emotional catch in his voice.