Artwork copyright Richard C. Elliott. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2016.

Artwork copyright Richard C. Elliott. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2023.

Artwork copyright Richard C. Elliott. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2023.

Cycle of the Sun - Study IV, 1988

Richard C. Elliott
(American, born 1945, died 2008)

Location: Washington State School for the Blind, Vancouver

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Artist Dick Elliott created Cycle of the Sun - Study IV as a study for a series of nine reflector panels that were originally installed on the outside of the Henry Art Gallery, on the University of Washington campus in Seattle. The complex patterns of reflectors were based on the exterior brickwork of the 1926 building.

This artwork was re-sited to the Washington State School for the Blind's LIFTT Residence in 2023. In consideration of some residents having various levels of sight, Elliott’s reflector art offers a colorful visual experience and a tactile exploration of the geometric design.

This artwork is part of a curated collection by Gregg Schlanger in October 2023 for the Washington State School for the Blind in Vancouver. The local Art Selection Committee wanted artworks that anyone can approach and fully experience and understand via more than just sight. Gregg Schlanger selected artworks that have a tactile experience.

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

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Richard C. "Dick" Elliott (1945-2008) is known for his large installations created with industrial highway reflectors. His art uses light, color, and radiant geometric patterns to explore the variations of light and interactions between colors. He called it "painting with light" and described how "I was driving the county highways and noticing that these little specks of light would come up out of nowhere, they would get really intense, and then disappear... And I discovered that they were reflectors!" Most of Elliott's work and life was based in Ellensburg, Central Washington, and he was an important contributor to its visual arts community.

Born in Portland, Oregon, Dick Elliott earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Central Washington University in Ellensburg in 1971. He joined the AmeriCorps VISTA program and served in an Alaska Native community (1966-67), and with the Makah Tribe in Neah Bay, Washington (1968-69) -- these years were very important to him. In the 1980s, he began to explore primary colors and light-active materials. By 1987, he decided to focus on the reflector as his medium of choice. During the 1990s and 2000s, Elliott received over twenty public art commissions, including at the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle, and in Times Square, New York City. During the last year of his life while he was physically limited by pancreatic cancer, he created computer-generated prints using thousands of colors and geometric designs. In 2007, Elliott was honored with a Washington State Governor's Arts and Heritage Award and the national "Recognition for Innovation in Public Art" award from Americans for the Arts.