Media Contact: Leanne Ingle, 360-704-4508; email: lingle@timberland.lib.wa.us.

Celebrate the new mural, Chehalis at the Tidewater, at the Montesano Timberland Library (W.H. Abel Memorial Library) from noon to 2 p.m., Tuesday, February 18. Erik Sandgren, noted Northwest painter and printmaker, created the mural and will give a talk with slides at noon. The unveiling of the mural will be at 12:45 p.m. and the reception will follow. The Friends of the W.H. Abel Memorial Library made the painting possible and are sponsoring this presentation.

The mural presents and interprets the Chehalis River as fundamental to Montesano area wildlife, culture and history. "I wanted to do a painting…that brings our attention back to the river. Without the river, Montesano would not be here at all," said Sandgren in his artist statement." The painting reflects Montesano as a transition zone between coastal and inland ecosystems and cultures, said Sandgren.

"There are many kinds of truth in this painting. Perhaps the biggest one is how everything is flowing into everything else. In the world of this painting, everything is in the process of becoming something else," stated Sandgren. Birds and seals, trees and sternwheelers, fishermen and pioneer homes—all are connected by the river. And across the entire landscape is a salmon.

Sandgren has received numerous awards and grants for his artwork. His works are exhibited extensively and collected throughout the world. He earned a Master’s of Fine Arts degree from Cornell University and studied further at Dartmouth College and in the United Kingdom. Sandgren is currently on sabbatical from his post as art instructor at Grays Harbor College.

For more information, people may call the Montesano Timberland Library at (360) 249-4211.