Artwork copyright Jim Ball. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission.

Artwork copyright Jim Ball. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2020.

Multnomah Falls, 1985

Jim Ball
English (born 1942, died 2020)

Location: Aspire Middle School for the Performing Arts, Lacey

About the Artwork

Multnomah Falls is part of artist Jim Ball's long-term project documenting waterfalls. This photograph features rich textural detail of the landscape surrounding Multnomah Falls, located in the Columbia River Gorge. It is the tallest waterfall in Oregon, with water dropping in two steps for a total height of 620 feet. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with North Thurston Public Schools.

About the Artist

Jim Ball (1942-2020) was a Seattle-based photographer. Born in Eugene, Oregon, he taught himself to process film and make photographic prints. Ball studied at San Francisco State University, and he moved to Seattle in 1975, where he worked as a photojournalist. He also taught at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle from 1976 to 1984.