Port Angeles Fine Art Center
Open Air Exhibitions
"Under the Canopy" Open Air Exhibition
Summertide Art Installations 2023
Every summer we welcome new art into the Webster's Woods Sculpture Park. This year 7 artists shared their vision for the exhibition "Under the Canopy".
Wintertide Light Art Installations 2023...coming soon!
Star Gazer
Steve Belz
Western Red Cedar, 2023 | Price: $4,500
stevebelz.com
The artist says: "Sky Gazer’s organic form invites the viewer to recline and look at the sky. In this relaxed position I hope that the person will experience their surroundings from a less common perspective and investigate and connect with different sights, sounds, and smells from the environment around them."
Fox
Greg Neal
Welded Stainless Steel, 2023
gregsculpture.com
The artist says: "Within the woods, we share our existence with other creatures both big and small. I’ve chosen to portray a fox in the Under the Canopy exhibit as an animal known for its playfulness, cunning and mischief: inviting viewers to leap into the wild."
Compass
Tracy Beals
Copper Wire, Plum Branches, Bottle Caps, 2023
The artist says: "'Compass' juxtaposes natural and fabricated objects, and plays with the idea of direction. Looking through you might ponder where to go from here?"
Nest
Jessica Bruning and Nathan Shields
Fallen cedar branches, ceramic and metal elements, 2023
The artist says: "We sought to present a dialogue concerning the roles of nature and creativity within the Webster's Woods setting and beyond."
Slices of Bubbles
Carlos Inclán Oseguera
Dichronic Film, handheld mirrors, woods, primer paint, screws, steel cable, narrow spot luminaries, photo sensor and motion sensor, 2023
The artist says: "The work relies on interference and narrow band optical filtration. White light impinges on dichroic material positioned against a backdrop, colors are created through selective transmission and reflection. It works like an oil slick or a soap bubble, without pigment. It can evoke something as elusive as an Aurora Borealis or as quotidian as sunrise and sunset in our atmosphere. Did you know that on Mars midday skies are red and sunrise and sunset are blueish-purple?"
Sčtə́ŋxwən Mákw̕ aʔ
Anthony May
Upcycled Tree Trunk, 2023
The artist says: "The title Sčtə́ŋxʷən Mák̕ʷaʔ (shCH-t(uh)-ng-whuhn mah-QU-ah-) comes from words used in Klallam languages. It translates roughly as: Earth/Land Grave. This place-marker of sculpture responds to modern dilemmas where we collectively sever our ties to nature in favor of artificial realities. My sculpture respects and honors Native American ancestors and their spiritual connections with the land. The history and language of Coast Salish groups which celebrated relationships with the land is all but lost. Those inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest recognized unmeasurable value in the connections between humans and nature. Without reconnecting the formative relations our brothers and sisters held with nature, the present and future of humanity will become lost in the death of Earth and land that supports the existence of all life."
Selected sculptures from 2022's exhibition, "New Growth"
Ember
Karen Sixkiller
Steel & Bronze, 2022
www.karensixkiller.com
The artist says: "Water Spider is a character from Cherokee legends.
Although small and "insignificant" she managed to bring fire to the people when none of the other animals could by walking across the water and putting an ember in the clay pot on her back. She personifies the importance of the small or weak to do great things and change the world."
Sixkiller is a Tsalagi (Cherokee) name denoting heritage in one of the warrior clans.
Rock Star
Jude Stigler
Environmental Installation, 2022
The artist says: "I have previously created stone, wood, and other found object sculptures organically in the environment without any expectation of permanence except through photographs.
Rock Star is my first exploration of creating a more permanent installation. The sculpture also personifies “Growth” in the way the star motif seems to burst and grow out from the surrounding rocks."