Artwork copyright Roger Feldman. Photo courtesy of the artist, by Garrett Hanson.

Artwork copyright Roger Feldman. Photo courtesy of the artist, by Garrett Hanson.

Artwork copyright Roger Feldman. Photo courtesy of the artist, by Garrett Hanson.

Artwork copyright Roger Feldman. Photo courtesy of the artist, by Garrett Hanson (detail).

Artwork copyright Roger Feldman. Photo courtesy of the artist, by Garrett Hanson.

HopeGate, 2019

Roger Feldman
(American, born 1949)

Location: Marysville-Pilchuck High School, Marysville

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Roger Feldman’s HopeGate sculpture is inspired by the 12,000-year history of Indigenous Peoples in Northwest Washington. The salmon-colored organic and geometric walls join to create a passageway toward a hopeful future. The passageway symbolizes the educational process and the high school journey.

Feldman notes that "As a student moves through this passageway, they are moving forward to the point of an arrow of concrete...pointing due West. In 19th and 20th-century American literature and public consciousness, the West has consistently represented the unknown, the frontier, opportunity, and hope."

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

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Seattle-based sculptor Roger Feldman creates large-scale artworks that involve human interaction and movement. They invite the sensory participation of the viewer through vision, sound, and touch. He notes, "The overarching interest throughout has been an underlying fascination with the spiritual. The work continues to ask: 'What is this intangible reality?'"
Feldman graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Art Education in 1972. He received a Master of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture from Claremont Graduate University in Southern California in 1977. He has taught art at Seattle Pacific University since 2000.