Artwork copyright Ross Palmer Beecher. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Ross Palmer Beecher. Photo courtesy of the artist (detail).

Artwork copyright Ross Palmer Beecher. Photo courtesy of the artist (detail).

Ellensburg Log Cabin Quilt, 2006

Ross Palmer Beecher
American (born 1957)

Location: Ellensburg High School, Ellensburg

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Artist Ross Palmer Beecher notes that "I make traditional quilts and non-traditional quilts out of most anything besides fabric." The design of Ellensburg Log Cabin Quilt is based on a traditional "log cabin" quilt pattern. Beecher and the art selection committee organized a swap meet to gather items and materials to be used in the artwork. These included horseshoes, barn wood, old soda bottles and crates, cattle ear identification tags, a John Deere tractor seat, rodeo gear, and many more local items. The art selection committee also helped Beecher choose sixteen stories to represent Ellensburg, located in Central Washington. Arranged into sixteen square panels, like a traditional quilt, the artwork highlights Ellensburg's agricultural roots, the well-known annual rodeo, Kittitas Indigenous art, historic buildings, and more. Other featured stories featured are about an apartment building that was built when Ellensburg thought they were going to be the state capitol and the "Chimposium" program at Central Washington University where chimpanzees were first taught American Sign Language. The quilt includes embossed copper elements (which are often seen in Beecher's art) and oil paintings of Ellensburg in the center of each quilt square. Ross Palmer Beecher describes her work as inspired by folk-art and "the joy of resourcefulness that has become a way of life."

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

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Ross Palmer Beecher is a Seattle-based mixed media artist. Her sculptural artworks are often composed as quilts and constructed of recycled materials. She describes her work as inspired by folk-art and "the joy of resourcefulness that has become a way of life." Beecher grew up in the Northeast U.S. She studied painting, printmaking, and illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). In 1978, she moved to Seattle and began making traditional quilts to relieve her homesickness for the Northeast. In 1993, Beecher started managing the art therapy program at the Bailey-Boushay House for patients with AIDS in Seattle. She continues to be part of that program and it informs her own art practice. Her artworks are featured in museum collections including the Seattle Art Museum and Portland Art Museum. She received the 2020 Twining Humber Award for lifetime artistic achievement. You can watch a short video about Beecher's art practice made by the Washington State Arts Commission in 2008 with support from the American Masters Program of the National Endowment for the Arts.