Town gets new sculpture

A modern Renaissance Man has gifted La Conner its newest work of outdoor art.

George Drake has been a politician, professor, soldier and peace activist. But that’s just part of the Bellingham man’s lengthy resume.

He is also a champion of public sculpture.

Along with his wife, Mary Ann, Drake has donated some 30 pieces for display in various cities and towns.

La Conner was added to the list last Thursday.

Drake donated “Conical Consonance 3,” fashioned from Corten steel by Oak Harbor abstract sculptor Richard Nash, and installed in the early afternoon at the top of the Benton Street stairway amid as much fanfare as the COVID-19 pandemic will allow.

Mayor Ramon Hayes, Town Councilmember John Leaver, and La Conner Arts Commissioners were among those who gathered in unseasonably chilly conditions to see the sculpture and its pedestal with an embedded commemorative plaque put in place.

“This is tremendous, it’s very much appreciated,” Hayes said of Nash’s creation, which in keeping with his signature style is visually engaging and can clearly be seen from both First and Second streets.

Drake and Nash attended, though the former tried to keep a low profile.

“I really didn’t want my name on the plaque,” said Drake, “but he (Nash) convinced me.”

Drake in no way can maintain any lasting anonymity. His life is little short of legendary.

Upon his high school graduation, Drake took $180 and bicycled from New Jersey en route to South America. Drake ended up in Panama with 13 bucks and no bike, a memory he shared with Leaver – also an avid cyclist – as the Nash sculpture was prepared for mounting.

Drake later served in the Korean War, a grim experience marked by the stench of death and bitter cold winters that instilled in him a lifelong passion for global peace and support for the plight of orphaned children.

As a sociology professor at Western Washington University, Drake launched a successful campaign for a seat on the Bellingham City Council, a period in his life he also related to Leaver and others.

The common thread though his varied careers has been Drake’s devotion to public art, which he said defines communities.

Nash’s “Conical Consonance 3” certainly does that. It honors late La Conner residents Clayton James and Barbara Straker James, key figures in establishing what came to be known as the “Northwest School” of art here.

“It really speaks to the ideals of the community and adds to its quality,” Hayes said. “It’s one of those things that you happen upon while walking around the town and contributes to what La Conner is about.”

So, too, is the Bob Patterson panoramic mural of La Conner, recently donated to the Town. During installation of “Conical Consonance 3,” Town Administrator Scott Thomas polled Arts Commission members and received a consensus to place the colorful four-paneled, 20-foot image on the balcony level of Maple Hall for maximum public exposure.

Hayes said the fact that Patterson invested about 700 hours on the project speaks volumes. That time commitment is reflected in Patterson’s attention to detail, he said.

“That mural,” Hayes said, “is definitely representative of the town. It’s a wonderful snapshot in time from 2014.”

Much as “Conical Consonance 3” is now a part of the La Conner landscape.