By Mari Kanagy, Reporter
Students have likely noticed the construction taking place outside of the main office. The ground has been cleared and filled with gravel in preparation for a new sculpture that will be put in place by mid December.
The sculpture, which will be called “The Ways of Knowing,” was designed and carved by architect and sculptor Robert Leverich, and was fully funded by the Washington State Arts Commission (WSAC). The state government agency provided $200,000 for the project, which means that it is technically a government-owned art piece.
In order to be considered for an art commission, an artist must be on the WSAC’s approved list of artists.
Leverich was chosen by a selection committee made up of six people which included Principal Danny Rock and several island artists and teachers. Leverich also had to be approved by the school board.
The selection committee decided on Leverich in part because of one of his previous art commissions.
“[The commision contained] massive stone forms and a lot of community involvement,” school board member Dan Chasan said. “It seemed like just what we were looking for.”
Leverich was first contacted regarding the sculpture in November 2015. A couple months later, he began planning his designs. In October 2016, his final plan was approved.
It consists of a boulder split into two pieces, with three wavy lines of polished stones extending out horizontally. Each piece is made of Cascade granite.
The sculpture is a metaphor for the “opening and drawing out” of the mind, as Leverich referred to it. The split boulder represents an open mind, and the wavy lines represent “the ways of knowing” or methods of learning.
The sculpture will be accompanied by a plaque, which will read: “To educate is to educe – to draw out, to draw out ways of knowing, being, and navigating in the world that are at once unique to each and common to all.”
The selection committee was involved with overseeing the sculpture’s design.
“The committee had come up with certain criteria [for the sculpture], and one thing was that it should be sort of interactive,” Chasan said. “[The sculpture] is something that people can sit in and sit on, [which] is definitely part of the concept.”
There is no official installation date, but the sculpture will likely be installed over winter break.
