Untitled Totem Pole

Last updated
Untitled Totem Pole
Standing - panoramio.jpg
The totem pole in 2010
Untitled Totem Pole
Artist
  • James Bender
  • Marvin Oliver
Year1984 (1984)
Location Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Coordinates 47°36′37″N122°20′39″W / 47.610142°N 122.344136°W / 47.610142; -122.344136
The totem in Victor Steinbrueck Park, 2006 Seattle Steinbrueck Park - B.jpg
The totem in Victor Steinbrueck Park, 2006

Untitled Totem Pole (also known as simply Untitled or Totem Pole) is a 1984 cedar totem pole created by James Bender and Marvin Oliver, installed in Seattle's Victor Steinbrueck Park, in the U.S. state of Washington. [1]

Contents

Description and history

Oliver and Bender designed the 50-foot (15 m) totem based on Haida imagery, and Bender carved the sculpture. [2] The top of the totem depicts a raven holding a Salish spinning whorl. Below the raven are human figures, a killer whale with a protruding dorsal fin, another smaller raven, and a bear holding a hawk. The pole is mounted on a concrete base and supported by a steel beam. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Totem pole</span> Monumental carvings by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest

Totem poles are monumental carvings found in western Canada and the northwestern United States. They are a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually made from large trees, mostly western red cedar, by First Nations and Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast including northern Northwest Coast Haida, Tlingit, and Tsimshian communities in Southeast Alaska and British Columbia, Kwakwaka'wakw and Nuu-chah-nulth communities in southern British Columbia, and the Coast Salish communities in Washington and British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Museum of Anthropology at UBC</span> Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, Canada

The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) campus in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada displays world arts and cultures, in particular works by First Nations of the Pacific Northwest. As well as being a major tourist destination, MOA is a research and teaching museum, where UBC courses in art, anthropology, archaeology, conservation, and museum studies are given. MOA houses close to 50,000 ethnographic objects, as well as 535,000 archaeological objects in its building alone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pioneer Square, Seattle</span> United States historic place

Pioneer Square is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of Downtown Seattle, Washington, US. It was once the heart of the city: Seattle's founders settled there in 1852, following a brief six-month settlement at Alki Point on the far side of Elliott Bay. The early structures in the neighborhood were mostly wooden, and nearly all burned in the Great Seattle Fire of 1889. By the end of 1890, dozens of brick and stone buildings had been erected in their stead; to this day, the architectural character of the neighborhood derives from these late 19th century buildings, mostly examples of Richardsonian Romanesque.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Steinbrueck Park</span> Park in Seattle

Victor Steinbrueck Park is a 0.8 acre park in Downtown Seattle, Washington, United States, located just northwest of Pike Place Market overlooking Elliott Bay. Named for the Seattle-based architect Victor Steinbrueck, it is positioned between Western Avenue and the Alaskan Way Viaduct at the foot of Virginia Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Steinbrueck</span> American architect

Victor Eugene Steinbrueck was an American architect, best known for his efforts to preserve Seattle's Pioneer Square and Pike Place Market. He authored several books and was also a University of Washington faculty member.

Freda Diesing was a Haida woman of the Sadsugohilanes Clan, one of very few female carvers of Northwest Coast totem poles and a member of the Council of the Haida Nation of British Columbia, Canada. Her Haida name is Skil Kew Wat, meaning "magical little woman."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olympic Sculpture Park</span>

The Olympic Sculpture Park, created and operated by the Seattle Art Museum (SAM), is a public park with modern and contemporary sculpture in downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. The park, which opened January 20, 2007, consists of a 9-acre (36,000 m2) outdoor sculpture museum, an indoor pavilion, and a beach on Puget Sound. It is situated in Belltown at the northern end of the Central Waterfront and the southern end of Myrtle Edwards Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northwest Coast art</span>

Northwest Coast art is the term commonly applied to a style of art created primarily by artists from Tlingit, Haida, Heiltsuk, Nuxalk, Tsimshian, Kwakwaka'wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth and other First Nations and Native American tribes of the Northwest Coast of North America, from pre-European-contact times up to the present.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mungo Martin</span>

Chief Mungo Martin or Nakapenkem, Datsa, was an important figure in Northwest Coast style art, specifically that of the Kwakwaka'wakw Aboriginal people who live in the area of British Columbia and Vancouver Island. He was a major contributor to Kwakwaka'wakw art, especially in the realm of wood sculpture and painting. He was also known as a singer and songwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellen Neel</span>

Ellen Neel (1916–1966) was a Kwakwakaʼwakw artist woodcarver and is the first woman known to have professionally carved totem poles. She came from Alert Bay, British Columbia, and her work is in public collections throughout the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transformation mask</span> Type of mask

A transformation mask, also known as an opening mask, is a type of mask used by indigenous people of the Northwest Coast and Alaska in ritual dances. These masks usually depict an outer, animal visage, which the performer can open by pulling a string to reveal an inner human face carved in wood to symbolize the wearer moving from the natural world to a supernatural realm. Northwest coast peoples generally use them in potlatches to illustrate myths, while they are used by Alaska natives for shamanic rituals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Hart (artist)</span> Canadian sculptor

James Hart is a Canadian and Haida artist and a chief of the Haida Nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pioneer Square totem pole</span> Historic totem pole in Seattle, Washington, U.S.

The Pioneer Square totem pole, also referred to as the Seattle totem pole and historically as the Chief-of-All-Women pole, is a Tlingit totem pole located in Pioneer Square in downtown Seattle, Washington.

<i>Farmers Pole</i> Totem pole in Seattle, Washington, U.S.

Farmer's Pole is a 1984 cedar totem pole designed by Quinault artist Marvin Oliver, carved by artist James Bender and commissioned by architect Victor Steinbrueck, installed in Seattle's Victor Steinbrueck Park, in the U.S. state of Washington.

Marvin Oliver (1946–2019) was an Indigenous American artist and professor. He mainly focused on contemporary sculpture and printmaking. Oliver used his Quinault and Isleta-Pueblo heritage as an influence for his art, but he also took inspiration from Coast Salish traditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Paul</span> Totem pole carver

Tim Paul is a member of the Hesquiaht tribe from the Nuu-Chah-Nulth first nation. He is a master carver from Esperanza Inlet British Columbia. He was the senior carver at the Royal British Columbia Museum until 1992 when he left to oversee an indigenous education program for the Port Alberni school board on Vancouver Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewell James</span> Lummi Nation wood carver, activist

Jewell James is a Lummi Nation master carver of totem poles, author, and an environmental activist. He is a descendant of Chief Seattle.

Barry Wilson is a Haisla artist from British Columbia who specialises in carving and jewellery.

<i>Seattle Center Totem</i> 1970 totem pole in Seattle, Washington, U.S.

The Seattle Center Totem is a 1970 totem pole carved by Duane Pasco, Victor Mowatt, and Earl Muldon, installed at Seattle Center in the U.S. state of Washington. The 30-foot-tall totem depicts a hawk, a bear holding a salmon, a raven, and a killer whale. The work was funded by the Seattle Arts Commission.

References

  1. "Weekly Art Hit: 'Untitled Totem Pole' by James Bender and Marvin Oliver, 'Farmer's Pole' by James Bender and Victor Steinbrueck". artbeat.seattle.gov. 28 June 2013. Archived from the original on 2019-02-19. Retrieved 2019-02-18.
  2. 1 2 "Untitled, (sculpture)". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on February 19, 2019. Retrieved February 18, 2019.