Artwork copyright Erik Hall. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission.

Artwork copyright Erik Hall. Photo courtesy of the artist (detail).

Artwork copyright Erik Hall. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Erik Hall. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Erik Hall. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission.

What Grows Here, 2013

Erik Hall
American (born 1975)

Location: Connell Elementary School, Connell

About the Artwork

Using landscape as metaphor, Erik Hall's three-panel painting What Grows Here represents the educational journey of students during their time at Connell Elementary in Central Washington. Each panel narrates a different period in the students' development. The first panel shows a wheat field, which is a common sight around Connell. The field is made of countless individual stalks that all grow from the same earth, like a community that is made of many different individuals. The second panel shows a road with books and a soccer ball. It illustrates the importance of both physical and mental education. The final panel shows a twisted tree that climbs to an out-of-sight destination, representing an unknown future. Hall included this text on the artwork's plaque: "I imagined you as a strand of wheat. You were born here; a component of this landscape. You will get tall and leave this place. Your work is to nourish the world, but how will be up to you."

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

About the Artist

Seattle-based artist Erik Hall paints landscapes. He filters reality through memory to creates otherworldly scenes in nature.