Artwork copyright Rick Bartow. Photo courtesy of the artist, 1986.

Artwork copyright Rick Bartow. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2023.

Artwork copyright Rick Bartow. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2023.

Elk Dancer, 1984

Rick Bartow
American Wiyot

Location: Washington State University, Pullman

About the Artwork

Native American Wiyot artist Rick Bartow's Elk Dancer represents an interaction between human and animal figures. Bartow used gestural brush strokes to show movement and form.

This artwork is part of Beyond Blue Mountains, a collection that was curated by late Tlingit (Native Alaskan) artist Jim Schoppert. It presents the work of Native American artists of diverse heritage, ideas, materials, and styles. The collection takes an in-depth look at the artists’ unique voices and interpretations of tradition.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Washington State University.

About the Artist

Celebrated Native American artist Rick Bartow (Wiyot, 1946-2016) is known for his expressive artworks about transformation, spiritual figures, and self-portraits. He often contrasted the physical and spiritual existence, showing figures in transformation between the human and animal worlds. He is an important leader in contemporary Native American art.

Bartow was born and lived most of his life on the Oregon coast in Newport. He graduated from Western Oregon State College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Secondary Art Education in 1969. He was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in the Vietnam War from 1969–1971 as a teletype operator, returning home with post-traumatic stress disorder. Bartow was also a life-long musician and songwriter, and an enrolled member of the Mad River Band of Wiyot Indians (Northern California). His art can be found in over a hundred collections and museums. A pair of monumental sculptures by Bartow stand outside of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C.