Rainbringer, (sculpture).

Rainbringer, (sculpture).

Jacobrown, Craig, sculptor.

Rainbringer, (sculpture).

Commissioned 1990. Dedicated Nov. 4, 1990.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: cedar and aluminum, painted; Base: concrete.

Sculpture: approx. 16 x 12 x 15 ft.; Each base: approx. 1 x 24 x 33 1/2 in.

An abstract sculpture consisting of three cedar beams arranged in a tripod, each leg anchored on a concrete pad. The outward-facing sides have aluminum panels. The cedar beams are painted and carved with Native American motifs that reflect the importance of water to the island and its residents. The full water cycle --rain, groundwater, and sea water are represented through a Thunderbird image. Rainbringer is a Kwigwis, or Thunderbird in the Kwakwala language, and local stories portray the Thunderbird as creating the sound of thunder when flapping its wings, and lightning when blinking its eyes, leaving rain in its wake. The traditional style two-dimensional black design painted and carved on the Thunderbird's tail and wings depicts killer whales, which represent the depths of the sea. The secondary red designs depicting salmon, the salmon held in the Thunderbird's talons, represent ground water and rivers where salmon dwell.

Mythology -- American Indian -- Thunderbird

Ethnic -- Indian

Homage -- Seaweed, Henry

Animal -- Fish -- Salmon

Allegory -- Element -- Water

Abstract -- Geometric

Outdoor Sculpture -- Washington -- Bainbridge Island

Administered by Bainbridge Island Arts & Humanities Council, Public Art Committee, 261 Madison Avenue South, Bainbridge Island, Washington 98110

Located Corner of Madison Avenue & High School Road, Bainbridge Island, Washington

The sculpture was the first project funded through the city's One Percent for Public Art Project. A nearby plaque reads: "Rainbringer. Dedicated to Chief Henry Seaweed of the Thunderbird Clan. Craig Jacobrown Sculptor. November 4, 1990. City of Winslow, First 1 Per Cent for Art Project. Sam Granato, Mayor."

Treated 2000 October. Art Conservation Services (Seattle, WA). Treatment report on file with owner.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Washington survey, 1995.

SOS Assessment Award, 1999.

SOS Conservation Treatment Award, 1999.

SOS Conservation Notification Report, 2001.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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