Artwork copyright Michele Gutlove. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Richard Breshears.

Artwork copyright Michele Gutlove. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Richard Breshears.

Artwork copyright Michele Gutlove. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Richard Breshears.

Artwork copyright Michele Gutlove. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Richard Breshears.

Artwork copyright Michele Gutlove. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Richard Breshears.

Artwork copyright Michele Gutlove. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Richard Breshears.

Artwork copyright Michele Gutlove. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Richard Breshears.

Artwork copyright Michele Gutlove. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Richard Breshears.

Artwork copyright Michele Gutlove. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Richard Breshears.

Tributaries, 2019

Michele Gutlove
(American, born 1958)

Location: Jefferson Elementary, Richland

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Michele Gutlove’s Tributaries is a two-part, site-specific installation that represents birds, fish, and the Snake, Yakima, and Columbia Rivers of the Richland area in Southeastern Washington. Gutlove notes how "Birds and fish dance in the light above and below the surfaces of rivers." The elements are made of dichroic glass which contains multiple colors that change depending on light and the viewer's position. The birds are belted kingfishers and American kestrels, and the fish are steelhead and white sturgeon. Tributaries is attached to the wall and hanging in the main stairwell of Jefferson Elementary.

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

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Michele Gutlove is a glass artist and architect. She has been working with glass for over twenty years. In her own words: “I discovered glass fusing and my watercolor painting morphed into three-dimensional transparent sculptures… Molten glass, fluidly dynamic then solidly permanent, allows layering of textures with a full spectrum palette, as opaque as obsidian, as transparent as air, or as reflective as a lake.”
Gutlove earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree (1983) from the University of Oregon and a Master of Architecture and Structural Engineering degree from Arizona State University.