Georgia Gerber’s sculptures are familiar public landmarks in the Pacific Northwest.
Her life-size bronzes of animals and people are on view in such high-profile places as Seattle’s Pike Place Market, where Rachel the bronze pig has reigned as a giant piggy bank and a symbol of the market for nearly 20 years.
Locally, the Whidbey Island artist’s work can be seen at libraries in Freeland, Mukilteo, Mountlake Terrace and Marysville and at the Everett Public Library and on the Edmonds waterfront.
Now downtown Everett is about to get its own Georgia Gerber statue, a gift to the city from the Greater Everett Community Foundation.
The work, which consists of three dancing girls, a young boy with his dog and a squirrel, is scheduled to be installed Tuesday on Colby Avenue in front of Coastal Community Bank, which is located at 2817 Colby Ave.
The sculpture was commissioned and financed through an anonymous donor in support of public art, according to Glenda Anderson of the foundation. The gift includes an endowment to provide for future upkeep of the sculpture, she said.
An unveiling ceremony and reception are scheduled for 10 a.m. Aug. 8.
SAM news: Susan Wawetkin Bedal was the last traditional basket maker of the Sauk tribe from Darrington. Until her death in 1947 she created finely woven baskets for food gathering and storage and as gifts. The baskets are prized for their workmanship and beauty and because, unlike a lot of Northwest Coast art, the maker and her history are known.
Nine of her baskets, done in coiling, plaiting and twining techniques, have been donated to the Seattle Art Museum. The baskets were given by Bedal to her daughters, Edith Bedal and Jean Fish Bedal. Their transfer to SAM has been approved by the Sauk-Suiattle tribe.
When the baskets go on display in 2007 at SAM, they will be accompanied by a biography of Bedal as well as recollections by family and tribal members.
The museum has also announced the gift of a major collection of 105 studio art glass works donated by Jon and Mary Shirley. The Shirleys are longtime patrons of Pilchuck Glass School.
Sixty-two African masks have been given to the museum by Simon Ottenberg, professor emeritus from the department of anthropology at the University of Washington.
The museum will close next year to undergo a major expansion. When the 118,000-square-foot first phase of that expansion opens in 2007, the museum will have nearly 70 percent more exhibition space. With the increased space, the museum is actively adding to its permanent holdings.
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