Artwork copyright Ross Palmer Beecher. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2016.

At A Parade, 1990

Ross Palmer Beecher
(American, born 1957)

Location: Washington State Arts Commission, Olympia

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

The mixed-media collage At A Parade , by artist Ross Palmer Beecher, is made out of embossed and punched tin pieces, aluminum cans of all types, bottle caps, and more. These items are assembled onto a dresser mirror stand which gives the artwork its unique shape. At the bottom of the artwork, there is a painting of a timeless parade. Ross Palmer Beecher describes her work as inspired by folk-art and "the joy of resourcefulness that has become a way of life."

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

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Ross Palmer Beecher is a Seattle-based mixed media artist. Her sculptural artworks are often composed as quilts and constructed of recycled materials. She describes her work as inspired by folk-art and "the joy of resourcefulness that has become a way of life."

Beecher grew up in the Northeast U.S. She studied painting, printmaking, and illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). In 1978, she moved to Seattle and began making traditional quilts to relieve her homesickness for the Northeast. In 1993, Beecher started managing the art therapy program at the Bailey-Boushay House for patients with AIDS in Seattle. She continues to be part of that program and it informs her own art practice. Her artworks are featured in museum collections including the Seattle Art Museum and Portland Art Museum. She received the 2020 Twining Humber Award for lifetime artistic achievement.

You can watch a short video about Beecher's art practice made by the Washington State Arts Commission in 2008 with support from the American Masterworks Program of the National Endowment for the Arts.