The Star - News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area

Lucinda Parker, a Portland artist who has been selected to create art for the new school, will be here next Sunday, Monday and part of Tuesday.

Parker, an abstract painter, was selected from among several artists who were recommended by the Washington State Art Commission to a local committee in charge of the project. The art project will total up to $75,000, under a state requirement that art be placed in new public buildings.

While here, Parker will meet with school officials, drive the area, visit museums, and generally get a feel of the area before she begins sketching ideas for the art project.

She will visit one of teacher Lori Adkins’ art classes as part of her visit.

The local art selection group is made up of Nate Piturachsatit, Shelley Black, Adkins, Lisa Carlson and Susan Duclos.

When reporting to the school board on the selection of Parker, Piturachsatit said it was his hope that the artist would develop several pieces for display throughout the building.

One critic stated that Parker’s paintings show “her concerns are formal yet her pictures open up, like Chinese landscapes ever juxtaposing crags and rivers, to philosophical ruminations about permanence and change.”

Parker has done many public projects in California, Oregon and Washington.

In addition to Parker’s art work, Virgil “Smoker” Marchand will develop a piece of his sculptured metal art for someplace at the front of the building.