Artwork copyright Mary Randlett. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Island Wave, 1990

Mary Randlett
American (born 1924, died 2019)

Location: Fairhaven Middle School, Bellingham

About the Artwork

Island Wave was taken by photographer Mary Randlett while riding an early morning ferry to the San Juan Islands. Randlett described how she as a photographer must "develop an eye to see in an instant a beautiful photograph from many many choices."

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

About the Artist

Photographer Mary Randlett (1924-2019) created iconic compositions focused on the prominent figures, landscape and architecture of the Pacific Northwest. She is well known for her portraiture of the artists that comprised the "Northwest School" movement of the 1930s and 40s. Over forty national institutions hold her work in their collections. These include the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C, and the University of Washington in Seattle. She received the Artist Trust Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001.