Before reaching the Skagit River on West Gates Street in Mount Vernon, visitors will encounter one of the city’s more recent public art installations: a 20-foot story pole envisioned by Skagit Valley artist Jay Bowen.
An Upper Skagit tribal member, Bowen is among the region’s most prolific and well-respected multidisciplinary artists. His artistic interests include not just sculpture but painting, fine jewelry, poetry (he has recently compiled a book of 400 poems) and even glass blowing.
Regardless of medium, however, his creations shares a commonality: Each one is “meant to be touched.”
Last month I visited Bowen at his home in nearby La Conner. This residence also functions as a gallery space and was recently awarded the 2024 Best Art Gallery by Best of the Best: Skagit. While Bowen previously occupied four previous gallery spaces in the area, he’s been working out of this location for the past four years.
The main room serves as a gallery and features several luminous oil paintings of various sizes. Two side rooms, adjacent to the gallery space, have been converted to fully-functional jewelry and painting studios. I was one of several visitors that day as Bowen practices Native medicine, and also mentors other Western science-based health practitioners in the area.
Bowen was born and raised in the Skagit Valley and his artistic interest led him to Western Washington University, Institute of American Indian Arts and Rhode Island School of Design. In his studio, he focuses primarily on fine gold jewelry and oil painting.
His painting style is self-described as contemporary Native. Bowen added that, while you can stretch this type of art a long ways, “there is a point you can’t go beyond. There are certain rules you just can’t break.” He believes that his paintings are a “working piece of medicine” that bring healing and “protection to the homes and the people inside of it.”
Inspired by the work and misunderstood life of Vincent van Gogh, Bowen’s work melds the material with the ethereal while bringing heritage and healing to the forefront. In his gallery space, a recently completed 5-by-4-foot painting, depicting a bear and raven “spirit helper” consulting on a medical issue as explained by the artist, was figured prominently. His vibrant brush strokes and bold colors, combined with traditional imagery, convey a powerful feeling of cooperation and resilience.
Bowen has offered his art and presence to many local and regional organizations, including Skagit Poetry Festival Foundation and Helping Hands Food Bank, where, in 2023, he contributed his paintings and poetry alongside former Seattle Mariner Jay Buhner to raise money to fight hunger at the organization’s fundraising event at the Heritage Flight Museum in Burlington. More recently, Bowen has become a member of Earth Creative, a national collective of artists founded in 2020, with the mission to mitigate climate change through the arts.
In April, Bowen was co-author on a paper titled “Earth at risk: An urgent call to end the age of destruction and forge a just and sustainable future” in PNAS Nexus which explores climate change-related issues, from extinction to habitat degradation. Bowen was invited to review and contribute to the article — which focuses on pathways towards global sustainability — by one of the co-authors, Phoebe Barnard, affiliate professor at University of Washington-Bothell.
Bowen’s artwork is featured in the article, and he is quoted in the article as saying “We are all Indigenous to this Earth. We are one family.”
But the Mount Vernon story pole, entitled “Spirits of our Valley” (also named “Valley of our Spirits” by the City of Mount Vernon), is among Bowen’s largest — and most impactful — creations. After three years of design work and collaboration with artists Milo White and Lin McJunkin, the pole was dedicated April 2018. In June of this year, a sign made by local business Meyer Sign was installed to commemorate the piece, with text in both Lushootseed and English.
The sign was a 2024 Leadership Skagit (a program of the Economic Development Alliance of Skagit County) team project and was created in consultation with Upper Skagit Elders.
“The sculpture is full of beauty and meaning, and it has become a pivotal part of Mount Vernon’s downtown landscape,” said Mount Vernon Mayor Peter Donovan. “It is a monument to our collective hope for healing, unity and community. A reminder that all of our residents — from Indigenous people groups, to new people — are an essential part of what makes this city so phenomenal.”
Atop the 20-foot sculpture is an eagle, welcoming the visitors to the riverfront area. “A hand is visible on each wing; one representing the New People and one representing the Native People,” according to a City of Mount Vernon’s webpage. The steel column is filled with river rocks from the adjacent Skagit River and is decorated with salmon, otter, raven and bear made out of metal and adorned with colorful glass.
Reflecting on the piece, Bowen mentioned he often visits the story pole he designed — sometimes bringing others in need of solace with him. “It’s a really important piece,” he said, “in terms of the consciousness of the valley and healing social risks.”
Jessica Gigot is a poet and writing coach. She lives on a little sheep farm in the Skagit Valley. See her work at jessicagigot.com.
