Artwork copyright John Wehrle. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2020.

Artwork copyright John Wehrle. Photo courtesy of the artist (detail), 2020.

Artwork copyright John Wehrle. Photo courtesy of the artist (detail), 2020.

Borderline, 2020

John Wehrle
(American, born 1941)

Location: Blaine High School, Blaine

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Artist John Wehrle’s Borderline mural for Blaine High School includes local scenery, animals, and history around the central image of the Peace Arch monument. The city of Blaine is on the U.S.-Canadian border and the Peace Arch was built in 1914 to honor one hundred years of open border. The school refers to themselves as the “Borderites” and has a scale model of the Arch on its school grounds. The mural also represents the area’s commercial fishing industries of salmon and crabs, a variety of people and boats from local history (including local Scott Gomez who played ice hockey in the NHL), the local Lummi peoples, and Mount Baker in the background.

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

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Richmond, California-based artist John Wehrle creates work in several mediums. He is best known for his murals and site-specific installations. He states that he “attempts to create artworks that expand beyond the frame, and ideally convey the underlying mystery of the thing viewed.”
Wehrle grew up in Texas. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at Texas Tech University, where he was a cartoonist for the student newspaper. Wehrle joined the U.S. Army and was the leader of the first “combat artist” team sent to cover the Vietnam War in 1966. His "war” paintings are in the permanent collection of the National Museum of the United States Army in Virginia. He went on to earn his Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting and Printmaking at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.