Artwork copyright Adam McIsaac. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Adam McIsaac. Photo courtesy of the artist (detail).

Navigator, 2006

Adam McIsaac
American (born 1972)

Location: Columbia Valley Elementary, Vancouver

About the Artwork

Navigator was created by non-Native artist Adam McIsaac for Columbia Valley Elementary in Vancouver, Southwestern Washington. McIsaac was inspired by the two-hundred-year anniversary of Lewis and Clark's westward expedition from Missouri to the Pacific Ocean in southern Washington State, and back again (1803-1806). He also had a theme of navigation in mind. This sculpture is carved from an 1,100-year-old western redcedar tree. 

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

About the Artist

Adam McIsaac creates carved wooden sculptures, as well as paintings and prints. He is a non-Native artist, and he studied under the non-Native artist Duane Pasco, who has made the study of Indigenous artistic traditions of the Northwest Coast his life’s work. McIsaac uses carving tools and materials based on Indigenous Northwest Coast carving traditions. He continues to learn about these traditions by working with local Indigenous communities, with a focus on the artistic traditions of the Columbia River tribes. McIsaac lives and works in La Center, on the Columbia River in Southwestern Washington.