An era long gone but not forgotten

He's burly, wears flannel, has an ax in one hand and a full-grown tree in the other, and he stands taller than Mount Rainier.

The logger dominating Jean Cory Beall's 315-square-foot mosaic on the Capitol Campus captures the artwork's contradiction: It's most notable as a period piece, but not everyone wants to celebrate the era it represents.

"The imagery is really powerful, and it's timely. If someone were to be telling a story about what our lives are like today in Washington state, this would not be it," said Janae Huber, collections manager for the Washington State Arts Commission.

The historic artwork champions atomic power, aviation, logging, shipyards, hydroelectric dams, wildlife, rivers and agriculture in 180,000 hand-cut pieces of glass and stone. Its future is in doubt as the General Administration Building — an office building that also captures the heyday of can-do Americanism — is scheduled to be demolished in a little more than a year.

"It's not something that can be wedged into the corner," Huber said, studying in the mosaic in the lobby of the General Administration Building. "You can tell (Beall) designed it for the space. It speaks to the room."

But the sheer force with which Beall preserved this image of postwar Washington makes her work slightly controversial.

Dave Grenier walks by the piece every day as a communications consultant at Washington State Patrol headquarters.

"You've got the white male in center. He's larger than the mountain. Almost every element in here is under the control of man. The rivers are dammed," Grenier said, pointing to the logs floating down stream, the ducks on a collision course with a squadron of jets.

"It's man's domination and use of the natural world," he said, noting a mural created today would focus on the state's environmental riches, like the salmon leaping on the Washington quarter.

"The bias for us would be completely different," he said.

The 11-foot-by-32-foot mosaic came up in a recent meeting of the Capitol Campus Design Advisory Committee, which was considering progress on the Heritage Center and Executive Office Building.

The two projects, which will cost a combined $221 million, will take the place of the 1954 General Administration Building. The Heritage Center, in particular, will be public, with museum and educational space.

Lawmakers on the committee said they expected the mosaic to be moved out of the old building and into the Heritage Center. But that isn't the plan yet, as architects are still finalizing plans and did not carve out a space specifically for the Beall mosaic.

"I would call that a 'wow,' " Sen. Karen Fraser, a Thurston County Democrat on the committee, said of the mosaic's unsettled status.

The group ultimately resolved that the mosaic must be preserved, but where it goes hasn't been determined.

"One of the questions is how much is it going to cost ... to take it out. That's an issue," said Rachel Valencia, spokeswoman for the Department of General Administration.

"And there is the question of how it was built," she added. "Can we take it away from the wall without damaging it?"

Legislators did set aside $392,000 for historic preservation in the demolition project, but if more is required, it could be a tough sell to lawmakers, who now are facing a $3.2 billion shortfall in the next budget.

Time is a factor. The locations of things like storage rooms, restrooms and the gift shop in the Heritage Center will have to be settled before the end of the year, said Assistant Secretary of State Steve Excell, a leader in the project.

That includes deciding whether there's a wall available for Beall's mosaic, he said, adding, "Everyone agrees it's a work of art that should be saved, and everyone agrees it should be on display somewhere where the public can see it."

But that public display could be far from the Capitol Campus, possibly in the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma, which has expressed interest in the mosaic.

"I wasn't able to fully support that, because while I think the State History Museum in Tacoma in many ways would be a wonderful place for it, my job is to take care of the Capitol's collection," said Marygrace Jennings, cultural resources manager for General Administration.

Beall stands out as one of only a few female artists to contribute to the large collection of art around the domed Capitol, which includes bronze statues, a valuable abstract painting, murals, the Tivoli Fountain and many other works, she said.

"It was designed to be here, and I'd like to see it stay here," she said.

Ideally, the mosaic will remain available to the public, in a state office building, and on the Capitol Campus, she said.

Wherever it is displayed, the mosaic should probably have an explanation of its themes nearby, so younger viewers can understand the symbolism and significance, Jennings added.

And she likes the logger.

"I think that he is central," she said. "He's the custodian, the caretaker."