Artwork copyright Lawney Reyes. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Lawney Reyes. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Lawney Reyes. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Killer Whale, 1981

Lawney Reyes
(American | Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation | Sinixt, born 1937)

Location: Maywood Hills Elementary, Bothell

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Artist Lawney Reyes created Killer Whale as part of a series of bronze sculptures that interpret Northwest Coast images, designs, and symbols.

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

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Lawney Reyes (Sinixt) is a celebrated Native American sculptor, designer, curator, and memoir writer based in Seattle. His writing and sculpture draw great influence from his Sinixt culture, part of the Colville Confederation of Tribes of Northeastern Washington.
Reyes grew up on the Colville Indian Reservation in Northeastern Washington and in Grand Coulee, Central Washington. He attended an Indian boarding school in Oregon for two years. Reyes started studying at the University of Washington in Seattle in 1952. Two years later, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and spent 18 months in Germany. He traveled around Europe and was influenced by its art and architecture. He used the G.I. Bill to finish his degree in interior design in 1959. He has worked as an interior designer, art curator, and artist since then. He co-designed the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center in Seattle in the 1970s. He was honored with a Washington State Governor's Arts Award in 1971.