Artwork copyright Mark Fessler. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Mark Fessler. Photo courtesy of the artist (detail).

Channel, 2006

Mark Fessler
American (born 1951)

Location: White Center Heights Elementary, Seattle

About the Artwork

Artist Mark Fessler took his inspiration for Channel from the idea of way-finding. He created a sculpture that imitates marine navigation markers and lighthouses around the world. The White Center Heights Elementary School art selection committee stressed the idea of “finding one's way and navigating space” and the cultural heritage of the diverse student body. Fessler researched navigational markers globally and historically. He found a basic shape that is repeated on coasts and islands all over the world. Channel marks the main entrance at White Center Heights Elementary School in South Seattle. The sculpture is a way-marker as well as a way-stop created by the low granite bench forms.

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

About the Artist

Mark Fessler creates sculptures from a variety of materials. He began carving wood with his grandfather. He taught himself to carve stone and cast metals. He is based on Whidbey Island, Northwestern Washington.
Fessler received a Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture from Southern Illinois University. He has taught at the University of Tennessee, Portland School of Art in Portland, Maine, and at Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle. He has co-founded the artist-run gallery spaces Project Space in Eugene, Oregon and 200 East in Knoxville, Tennessee.