Artwork copyright Elizabeth Conner. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2025 (detail).

Artwork copyright Elizabeth Conner. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2025 (detail).

Artwork copyright Elizabeth Conner. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2025 (detail).

Artwork copyright Elizabeth Conner. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2025 (detail).

Artwork copyright Elizabeth Conner. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2025.

Striking the Set, 2024

Elizabeth Conner
American

Location: Department of Transportation - Colman Dock Ferry Terminal, Seattle

About the Artwork

Striking the Set by Elizabeth Conner presents contrasting forms and materials. For this artwork, Conner was interested in how ferry riders experience land, sky, and water. The artwork includes re-purposed and re-contextualized granite elements from Conner’s earlier art installation at 2nd and Yesler streets, in the Pioneer Square neighborhood, several blocks east of Colman Dock in Seattle. 

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Department of Transportation - Ferries.

About the Artist

Movement and change are important aspects of Elizabeth Conner's public and studio art practice. Her work explores how we navigate and understand change in our world. It sparks unexpected thoughts and conversations, to reveal new meanings over time.

Conner grew up in rural upstate New York. Working in a family-owned lumber yard gave her an appreciation for construction and working with contractors, craftspeople, tools, and heavy equipment. She studied French at the Université de Paris Sorbonne in France before earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (1986) at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle and a Master of Fine Arts degree (2005) at Vermont College of Fine Art. She has lived and maintained a studio on Puget Sound since 1986.