‘The Long Look’ is a life sized bronze deer sculpture created by Brad Rude. It’s located in the Centennial Viewpoint Park up on top of West Hill in Auburn, Washington and gazes southeast over the Auburn Valley at Mount Rainier.
It was originally cast in 1992, but fell victim to vandals two years ago and was recast and reinstalled in the park in late 2013. I love my stops here at this little park. It’s one of my favorite views of Mount Rainier. ‘The Long Look’ is a beautiful piece and everytime I am here I can’t help but contemplate what the deer might be thinking as it looks over the valley. Is it peering into the future or maybe remembering what once was? Perhaps both...
Ironically the sculpture is just across the street from the Mountain View Cemetery where markers date back to 1880. It was established here on the hill in November of 1890 after several floods at the original location near downtown Auburn, on the valley floor.
Brad Rude, born in Montana, has lived in Walla Walla, Washington for many years. He and his art have a deep connection to the Pacific Northwest. I’ve never met him in person but I have seen and appreciate several of his pieces at Microsoft in Redmond, the Woodland Park Zoo and the Nordstrom Store in Seattle. Also the ‘Motion of Life’ on Whidbey Island, ‘The Navigators’ in Spokane, and the ‘TriMet WES Commuter Rail Interactivators’ at five Portland, Oregon rail stations.
Personally, I really like Brad’s ability to deliver sublime beauty and an eloquence through simple means. Much of his public art work is about creatures, like deer, lions, dogs, and horses in a human setting in which the surrounding conditions are joyful, in transition, and sometimes uncertain.
This little park on the West Hill is the perfect setting for ‘The Long Look’. I’ve lived most of my life in this area and for many decades I've witnessed many amazing changes in the Auburn Valley. As a kid it was all farms, now it’s a major transportation corridor of light industry and warehouses. Many of the Puget Sound Region’s largest businesses use this valley as their major distribution hub.
Brad Rude, to me, is akin with another favorite artist, Rich Beyer, now deceased. Of course they aren’t the same, both very unique, yet both very representative of a Pacific Northwest sensibility. They share similar traits and a kind of parallel way of looking at the profundity of everyday life and the dichotomy of global futures juxtaposed with unhomogenized quaint local historical perspectives.
For more... check out Brad's work at: Brad Rude and a few previous posts I did about Rich Beyer at: Donkey Run Away and Art on the Avenues.
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