Artwork copyright Nicole Pietrantoni. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Nicole Pietrantoni. Photo courtesy of the curator, Cozette Phillips, 2021.

Artwork copyright Nicole Pietrantoni. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Yakima Valley Photography, 2021.

Artwork copyright Nicole Pietrantoni. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Yakima Valley Photography, 2021 (detail).

Artwork copyright Nicole Pietrantoni. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Yakima Valley Photography, 2021.

Sunset Strips, 2016

Nicole Pietrantoni
American (born 1981)

Location: Ridgeview Elementary, Yakima

About the Artwork

Nicole Pietrantoni’s Sunset Strips is an inkjet-printed, large-scale book-art installation that asks you to consider the images versus the format. It questions the tradition of landscape photography and the tension between beautiful images of nature and the threat of environmental change. Pietrantoni notes, “Rather than a fixed site or single image, the fragmented columns, pages, and text engage nature as an accumulation of processes, perceptions, and narratives – a dynamic and shifting site open for perpetual interpretation.” This artwork is part of a curated collection by Cozette Phillips in April 2021 at Ridgeview Elementary, in Yakima, Central Washington. Phillips worked with the local art selection committee, who wanted art that reflects their farming communities, their relationship with nature, and the largely Hispanic student body. The artworks are soothing and peaceful for a community that works hard.

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

About the Artist

Nicole Pietrantoni creates artists’ books, installations, and works on paper. Her work explores our complex relationship with nature.
Pietrantoni earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in printmaking from the University of Iowa. She is an Associate Professor of Art at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Southeastern Washington, where she lives.