Artwork copyright Jack McLarty. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Jack McLarty. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Floating World, 1976-77

Jack McLarty
(American, born 1919, died 2011)

Location: Helen Haller Elementary School, Sequim

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Late artist Jack McLarty created Floating World based on sketches he made visiting a swimming pool on the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon. He notes, "The large (older) outdoor pool is often full of people of all ages. Rubber air mattresses and inner tubes and beach balls are of all colors. The 'floaters' look like beautiful and strange creatures with colored wings and bright, patterned bodies. They enjoy this world so bright and smooth and warm because it is so different from the world outside the swimming pool."

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

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Oregon artist Jack McLarty (1919-2011) created surreal paintings and prints. Born in Seattle, he was raised in Portland, Oregon, where he lived most of his life. He studied at the Portland Museum Art School (now the Pacific Northwest College of Art) and the American Artists School in New York City, returning to Portland in 1942. From 1947 until his retirement in 1981, he taught art at the Portland Museum School. He and his wife Barbara Lever established Image Gallery in 1961. They exhibited work by contemporary Pacific Northwest, Native Alaskan, and Mexican artists until 1986. His work is collected by the Portland Art Museum and Seattle Art Museum, among others.