Artwork copyright Nancy Halbrooks. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Mourning Doves, 1998

Nancy Halbrooks
(American, born 1953)

Location: Cedar River Middle School, Maple Valley

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Mourning Doves is part of artist Nancy Halbrooks' body of paintings that depict birds. She created this piece during her first year in Ohio after living in Seattle for over twenty years. She notes, "I find that the visual arrangements the birds make --the patterns of shape and space --wonderful metaphors for connection and community. I have found in Ohio a similar sense of community and connection, a strong sense of family and ethnic diversity."

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Tahoma School District.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Ohio-based artist Nancy Halbrooks creates figurative and abstract oil paintings, drawings, and prints. Many of her artworks feature imagery of birds and explore themes of endurance, adaptation, and community. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Indiana University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Washington in Seattle in 1977. She lived in Seattle for 22 years during the 1980s and 90s.