Artwork copyright Layne Goldsmith. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Helping hand, 1987

Layne Goldsmith
American (born 1950)

Location: Brouillet Elementary School, Puyallup

About the Artwork

'Helping Hand' is a felted wool textile piece by artist Layne Goldsmith. The map background is derived from imagery of Central America. It is combined with imagery of a hand and a spiral, to explore symbolism that connects, as the artist notes, "Tibetan religious art, cartography, global politics, and Jungian psychology."

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

About the Artist

Textile artist Layne Goldsmith is professor of art at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she has taught since 1983. She earned her Master of Fine Arts degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan in 1979.