The Supervisors

The Supervisors, 2024
Painted Steel

The Supervisors feature endangered, threatened, and at-risk species paired with rare botanical motifs from the unique and varied habitats throughout Washington where they once thrived. The design aesthetic is inspired by Plateau Pictorial Beadwork adapted to emphasize bold graphic silhouettes that balance realistic, recognizable organic forms with the abstract qualities which are a part of regional symbolic and pictographic traditions. Organized by biome, the compositions center our mountain, maritime, prairie, and shrub steppe habitats. The artwork is intended to re-center the land, habitats, and species of this place and to recognize the intrinsic value of the life forms we share the state with. We are in relationship with all life and these vulnerable beings have been given a place of recognition and honor at the threshold- but also a special vantage point, as they peer into the conference and work rooms. Their gaze is a reminder of the legacy of our actions and offers symbolic oversight of how we carry on into a shared future

Commissioned by the Washington State Arts Commission in partnership with the Department of Enterprise Services.

Newhouse Building, State Capitol Campus, Olympia, WA.

MARITME NW

  • Salmon
  • Tufted Puffin 
  • Pinto Abalone
  • Pink Sand-Verbena
  • Yellow Bog Sedge
  • Erect Pygmy-Weed

MOUNTAIN NE

  • Fisher
  • Woodland Caribou
  • Larch Mountain Salamander
  • Monkeyflower
  • Crested Shield-Fern
  • Skinny Moonwort

SHRUB STEPPE SE

  • Pygmy Rabbit
  • Upland Sandpiper
  • Northern Leopard Frog 
  • Great Basin Gilia
  • Piper’s Daisy
  • Whited Milk-Vetch

PRAIRIE SW

  • Streaked Horned Lark
  • Mazama Pocket Gopher 
  • Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly
  • Golden Paintbrush
  • Kincaid’s Sulfur Lupine
  • Thin-Leaved Peavine