Created by: Chloe Campbell, Anika Boda and Annika Melgard.

Photo Credits: Chloe Campbell

History/ Info of Original Piece: (Rainforest by James Fitzgerald)

James Fitzgerald was a known vital artist in the pacific northwest, with an intent to show the beauty and uniqueness of the pacific northwest through a bronze tree like sculpture. Although, his talent is clearly shown in sculptures like this, it didn’t end there. James was also known for his teaching and painting artistry. He completed his education at the University of Washington and earned his degree in architecture. University of Washington being one of the places he taught, including Kansas city Art institute and was the director of Spokane Art Center. Fitzgerald used bronze, oil paint, tempera, and the mixed media to create his pieces. In which he was known for mod sculpture and surreal sea painting. Along his side was his wife, Margaret Tomkins, who was also one of the most innovative modern artists active in the pacific northwest. Both James and Margaret speak of his work with Thomas Hart Benton with his work with the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) in an interview. Specifically in the interview he talks about how he was working on depicting the landscape of the west and how the early studies of nature have bearing abstractions of our western landscape, in which he was using bronze currently in that piece.

At the time Fitzgerald made and installed Rainforest, America was post WWII  and the Vietnam war was on the horizon, making for a brief phase of reconstruction. Although it is unknown whether the war had an influence on Fitzgerald’s piece, the metal materials used to construct the tree-like structure could be interpreted as a symbol for all the metal machinery used during WWII, and his way to make life from that. Rainforest could also be a representation of beauty and serenity after a time of destruction and death. In 2008, a plaque dedicated Rainforest to all WWII veterans by the Ted E. Gary family so it is known that the artist was influenced by the war in some way (James). Along with that Fitzgerald was also simply influenced by the Northwest and all of his time spent near Seattle.

Artist Statement 

James Fitzgerald, being from the Pacific Northwest, created art influenced by his surroundings, clearly shown in his piece Rainforest. As an omaj to this we digitally deconstructed the sculpture and replaced it in a photo that captures Fitzgerald’s inspiration from the greenery and dampness of the Northwest. When hiking near Glacier we found and took a photo of scenery along the Nooksack River surrounded by an impressive overarching forest. Not only was it an ideal representation of the Pacific Northwest, but we also could imagine Rainforest residing naturally there. Using Photoshop, we placed the main tree structure in the river due to its similarity of the pool the statue stands in on campus. Like a fountain, the Nooksack River is constantly flowing and bringing in fresh water, creating sounds and the ambiance of tranquility. Our main purpose for this project was to place the sculpture in a relatable atmosphere where its main features can correlate to the environment that it’s trying to mimic in the sculpture itself.  In all, our piece captures our local environment and Fitzgerald’s origin of work. We mirrored his original intent of showing the beauty and uniqueness of the piece of work and its relation to the Pacific Northwest.