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Columbia River Gorge BIG ART Outdoor Gallery
In its sixth exhibit, the Hood River BIG ART Outdoor Gallery consists of 18 sculptures on loan from artists, and nine permanent sculptures. Through a competitive process, artists are selected to exhibit their sculptures around the downtown Hood River area for a period of about two (2) years.
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2024-2026 Sculptures
1. Two Sides to Every Story
Ed McCarthy
Renton, WA
Ed McCarthy is a sculptor living and working in Washington state. His abstract metal sculptures are influenced by built and natural environments, as well as the human figure. Often colorful and whimsical, many of his works emanate from simple geometric forms. His sculptures can be seen in several public installations around the Puget Sound.
Sponsor: Infinite Graphix
Site: 1103 12th Street
$7,500
2. Lacunae
Catherine Daley
Windsor, CA
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Catherine Daley is an interdisciplinary artist who enjoys combining non-traditional materials into her artworks. Nature is a source of inspiration for Catherine while her deep background in photography as a former photojournalist informs her artwork in capturing the effects of light. She is a board member for the Pacific Rim Sculptors Group, a chapter for the International Sculpture Center.
Sponsor: Columbia River Insurance
Site: 606 State Street
$9,800
3. Future commissioned artwork
Sponsored by Hood River Taqueria
Hood River, OR
4. In the Meadow Where She Lay
Jen Fuller
Portland, OR
Jen Fuller is a glass artist living and working in Portland, Oregon. Her work explores the interplay of light, form, and transparency, drawing inspiration from the natural world and the quiet intricacies of everyday life. Often ethereal and organic in appearance, her sculptures highlight the delicate yet resilient nature of glass as a medium. Fuller’s installations have been featured in both public and private spaces throughout the Pacific Northwest, where they invite viewers to pause, reflect, and reconnect with their surroundings.
Sponsor: Doppio Coffee and Henry & Nan Fischer
Site: 310 Oak Street
$12,000
5. Meditation Throne
Jenny Ellsworth
Portland, OR
Jenny Ellsworth is a self-taught sculptor and metalworker based in the Portland, Oregon area. She discovered her passion for welding in 2004 while working in a metal fabrication shop. Captivated by the sparks and power of the welding torch, she began reimagining discarded steel bits destined for scrap, transforming them into vibrant, organic sculptures .
Themes of rebirth and transformation pulse through Jenny’s work. She draws deep inspiration from nature—organic shapes, Fibonacci patterns, egg symbolism—and combines that with an adventurous reuse of materials. Her creations often echo the resilience and balance inherent in the natural world.
Sponsor: Thread Creative
Site: 212 2nd Street
$8,500
6. Manifest
Benn Stover
Benn Stover is an Oregon-based sculptor creating bold, abstract works that merge geometric structure with organic flow. Trained in industrial design and shaped by time in a fabrication shop, he transforms stainless steel and corten into sculptures that hold presence, invite reflection, and carry a lasting sense of energy.
Sponsor: City of Hood River
Site: 650 Portway Avenue
$22,200
7. Circle Bench
CJ Rench
Hood River, OR
Originally from Illinois, CJ Rench is a self-taught industrial engineer and designer. He creates large scale abstract metal sculpture for both public and private collections. His work has been exhibited in Palo Alto, Colorado Springs, Napa, Orlando, Denver and Aspen to name only a few. CJ recently completed a skate park installation jointly commissioned by the Seattle Parks and Recreation and Red Bull that explores the intersection of art, athleticism and imagination.
Sponsors: Dickinson & Pickhardt Families and
Reed & Reed
Site: 400 Portway Avenue - West
$16,500
8. Perch
Mike Suri
Portland, OR
Mike Suri was born and raised in the California Bay Area and began sculpting directly in metal and other materials at the age of 16. Since moving to Portland, Oregon, in the late 1990’s Mike has established a design and fabrication business focused on executing commissions and speculative works large and small, public and private. His works can be found throughout the region.
Sponsor: Jane Duncombe & Jay Sherrerd
Site: 400 Portway Avenue - East
$28,000
9. Remembering Lee
MacRae Wylde & Mark Nilsson
Hood River, OR
Hailing from Boston, MacRae Wylde attended Colorado College, School at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, College of Santa Fe, International School of Art in Umbria, Italy and the Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building. Fascinated by architecture, engineering and construction, MacRae has been building sculptures since a child. With recycled steel from locale structures, he develops bold statements reflecting community and the environment.
Sponsor: Port of Hood River
Site: 2nd & Riverside Drive
$16,000
11. Big River Woman
Lillian Pitt
The bronze sculpture, on loan from local art collector David Radcliffe, pays tribute to Pitt’s Pacific Northwest Native American heritage. Her art honors the history and legends of her people. Those familiar with Pitt’s work may recognize, in the sculpture’s face, some design similarities to “She Who Watches,” a well-known ancient Columbia River petroglyph.
In loving memory of David Radcliffe
Site: 101 North First Street
NFS
12. Egg Timer
Rodger Squirrell
Hood River, OR
Rodger has honed his skill as a metal craftsman and evolved his artistic vision for over 40 years. He’s also a beloved teacher in the Northwest. He is intrigued by how metal can be organic or very geometric depending on how it emerges from the scrap yard. "Sometimes the life you give a sculpture is not the life you intended. You’re working in a kind of unknown realm. You have to work slowly and hope that something great emerges. You can only predict things to a certain level. That’s the whole mystery.”
Sponsor: Art of Community
300 E. Port Drive
13. Columbia Gorge Morning
Cathleen Rehfeld
Hood River, OR
Cathleen Rehfeld is one of the premiere landscape, figurative and still-life painters of the region and sells her work internationally. She completed her BFA from the University of Texas at Austin and attended Gage Academy. Cathleen has studied with several well-known masters and now instructs throughout the Pacific Northwest. Cathleen is the founder of the annual Pacific Northwest Plein Air Event, Columbia Gorge Arts & Culture Alliance and a former long-time board member of the Columbia Center for the Arts. Her work is shown locally at the 301 Gallery.
Sponsor: Tokki Art Supply
Site: 300 E. Port Marina Drive
NFS
Permanent Sculptures
Silver Crackle Fossil
Lin McJunkin & Milo White
Conway, WA
Seattle-born metal sculptor Milo White and San Francisco-native glass artist Lin McJunkin formed a collaborative team 8 years ago to create work that integrates their aesthetic and technical strengths. The intricate cut-outs in Milo’s layered metal structures, filled with Lin’s colorful cast glass, invite interplay with natural and artificial light. The effect of human behavior on our environment is often a focus of their work.
Sponsor: Columbia River Insurance
Site: 606 State Street
$18,000
