Artwork copyright D. Maxwell Helppie. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Red Sailboat, 1994

D. Maxwell Helppie
American (born 1926, died 2012)

Location: Sunnyside Elementary, Pullman

About the Artwork

Artist Maxwell Helppie created the painting Red Sailboat to celebrate nature and human existence. The vibrant mountain landscape is based on Washington's Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges. The tree image symbolizes the "Tree of Life". The road leading to the red sailboat at the edge of the river suggests our life's journey. Helppie asked the viewer to "notice it is moving out of the painting, but we really don't know the destination. The abstracted fields in the foreground show us how fortunate we are to have the wonderful fertile earth to sustain us. The mountains in the background joyfully point to the infinity of the sky and universe about us." The "Tree of Life" connects all forms of creation, and it is a story found in many cultures all around the world.

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

About the Artist

Helppie grew up in the Detroit area. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps after high school from 1944 to 1947 and in the Army of Occupation in Germany. In 1951, he earned a Bachelors degree in art education with teaching credentials from Eastern Michigan University. In the 1950s, Helppie moved to Washington and taught arts and crafts at Lynnwood Junior High School and worked the afternoon shift at Boeing, where he was as an Inspector and Planner. In 1971, he earned a Master of Education degree in pyschology and counseling from the University of Washington in Seattle. He also taught business courses at Edmonds Community College for thirteen years. Helppie lived, worked, and made art in the Whidbey Island area for over thirty years.