Artwork copyright Gayle Bard. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Gayle Bard. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Gayle Bard. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Gayle Bard. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Gayle Bard. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Gayle Bard. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Gayle Bard. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Gayle Bard. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Gayle Bard. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Gayle Bard. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Gayle Bard. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Untitled, 1990

Gayle Bard
American (born 1936)

Location: Franklin High School, Seattle

About the Artwork

Commenting on time and tradition, artist Gayle Bard created a variety of relief sculptures of students' faces, figures, and objects. The artwork was inspired by the history of Franklin High School, which opened in 1911 in Seattle's Mount Baker neighborhood. In the school's lobby, Bard included a reference to Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, as well as a writer, scientist, and inventor) after whom the school was named. She rescued one of the school's three original clocks and used it in the sculpture. One figure is setting her watch to the clock, and there are several references to time in the sculptures. Students were used as models for the sculptures' body casts. Bard notes, "All of the figures create the impression of emerging or receding into the school building, like ghosts who linger on throughout time and history." The artwork celebrates the continuity of collective memories and identities shared by Franklin students.

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

About the Artist

Northwest artist Gayle Bard creates realist landscape paintings and three-dimensional works, synthesized into what the artist calls "painterly installations." She lives and works on Bainbridge Island, on Puget Sound, Western Washington.