Rick Bartow

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Cedar Mill Pole, 1997
Cedar Mill Pole, 1997

Rick Bartow (born 1946 in Newport, Oregon) is a Native American artist, affiliated with the Wiyot and Yurok tribes of Northern California. He works with sculpture, print, etching, ceramics, mixed media, and painting.[1]

[edit] Life and work

Rick Bartow attended Southern Oregon University and Western Oregon University, graduating in 1969 with a degree in secondary art education. He then spent 13 months in Vietnam as a teletype operator and as a musician in a military hospital, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star.[2][3]

His work can be found in several museum collections including the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Arts in Indianapolis, IN, the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, the Hallie Ford Museum of Art in Salem, OR, the Heard Museum in Phoenix, AZ, the de Saisset Museum[4] and the Portland Art Museum.[5] In 2003 his works were exhibited at the George Gustav Heye Center, a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian in New York City.[6]

His carving The Cedar Mill Pole was displayed in the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden at the White House in 1997; it had been designated one of the most highly-regarded Native American public sculptures in the country.[7][8] The pole was partially inspired by Bartow's work with the Maori artist John Bevan Ford. Presented as a gift to the Portland, Oregon metropolitan community from Oregon's Washington County and the Oregon College of Art & Craft, it was intended to help heal the controversy that surrounded a urban development project. The 26-foot-tall carving was created using one of the giant cedars that were removed for a road project.[9]

As influences, Bartow cites Marc Chagall, Francis Bacon, Odilon Redon, and Horst Janssen, in addition to his Native American heritage and his work with the Maori. These artists also worked expressionistically with human and animal forms.[2]

Bartow is also a musician and singer with his own band; he plays the guitar and bongos.[1][2]

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ a b Suzanne J. Crawford, Dennis F. Kelley (2005). American Indian Religious Traditions: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, 43. 
  2. ^ a b c Tears and Rain. Oregon Historical Quarterly. Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
  3. ^ artandwriting.org
  4. ^ scu.edu
  5. ^ portlandartmuseum
  6. ^ Rick Bartow. National Public Radio (2003-04-18). Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
  7. ^ The Arts Subject of Public Conversation at the Museum of TTU. Texas Tech University (2003-09-10). Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
  8. ^ Washington County, Oregon Updates. Washington County (Oregon) (1997-11-24). Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
  9. ^ The Cedar Mill Pole - R.E. Bartow. The White House. Retrieved on 2008-04-27.

[edit] External links