A Visual Feast

A Visual Feast revels in the abundance of the summer harvest in the Pacific Northwest. These summer months bring weeks of warmth and sunshine that spur the growth and ripening of the natural resources surrounding us. It is a time to celebrate the bounty of our earth and reflect on the importance of the harvest to all living communities.

Now is the time when berries reach peak ripeness and are ready to be picked, gathered in hand woven cedar bark or spruce root baskets in preparation for the darker, wetter months to come. Contemporary artists continue to recognize these baskets and their cultural importance by upholding ancestral weaving traditions, as well as realizing them in contemporary mediums, like blown glass.

Native communities since time immemorial have also relied on healthy salmon populations to feed and support themselves. In the summer, mature salmon make the arduous journey from the salty ocean to the freshwater rivers, where they swim against the strong currents and make their way back to the very spots in the local creeks to spawn a new generation of salmon–salmon that will ultimately come to make the very same journey in an important and continual cycle of life. This exhibit features salmon in many iterations, including a school of blown glass salmon as well as glass anchors representing the traditional stone carved Lummi Sxwo’le anchors that were key to the sustainable practice of reefnet fishing.

Please enjoy these selected works that celebrate the summer harvest and its role in supporting life on our precious earth.

Exhibition Dates: