Artwork copyright Justin Gibbens. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2024.

Artwork copyright Justin Gibbens. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2024.

Artwork copyright Justin Gibbens. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2024.

Artwork copyright Justin Gibbens. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2024.

Artwork copyright Justin Gibbens. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2024.

Artwork copyright Justin Gibbens. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2024.

Artwork copyright Justin Gibbens. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2024.

Artwork copyright Justin Gibbens. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2024.

Artwork copyright Justin Gibbens. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2024.

Artwork copyright Justin Gibbens. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2024.

Artwork copyright Justin Gibbens. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2024.

Rise Up!, 2024

Justin Gibbens
(American, born 1975)

Location: Fife Elementary School, Tacoma

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Rise Up! by Justin Gibbens celebrates the inspirational and aspirational aspects of birds and flight by way of falcon imagery and text. The stylized bird panels suggest origami and kite forms, and vary from realistic to more graphic and stylized birds. They are woven together with a blue ribbon that declares Fife Elementary School's RISE mantra: Responsible, Inclusive, Safe, Empathetic. The ribbons are like rivers, evoking the local Hylebos Creek as well as the winding, stream-like sidewalk in the school's courtyard. The artwork's imagery and symbolism integrates with the school and the community of Fife in Pierce County, Western Washington.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Fife Public Schools.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Justin Gibbens creates subversive zoological artworks. He uses images of non-human animals to “serve as cautionary tales and stand-ins for our anthropocentric selves.”

Gibbens is based in Thorp, Central Washington. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in drawing and painting from Central Washington University in Ellensburg and a Scientific Illustration Certificate from the University of Washington in Seattle. He is also one of the founders of PUNCH, an artist collective (and a former gallery) that focuses on artists from rural Central Washington. When not is his studio, Gibbens spends his time spotting birds and chasing after reptilian inhabitants of the shrub-steppe.