Early in the planning and design stages of the new Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center, KeyBank made a commitment to contribute artwork for permanent display at one of Washington states newest and largest meeting facilities. Now more than four years later this commitment has become a reality.
Sited on the west wall of the third floor ballroom level, The Royal Court by Michael Brophy found its new home.
Key appreciates the benefits that art plays in our lives and in our community. We are pleased to be able to make this gift to the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center, said Tom Spilman, president, of KeyBanks South Puget Sound District. Our partnership with the Convention Center is one of several ways that KeyBank gives back to this wonderful Tacoma community.
The Royal Court is a triptych of massive scale that was featured in a solo show, called The Romantic Vision of Michael Brophy at the Tacoma Art Museum. Rock Hushka, curator of Contemporary and Northwest Art at Tacoma Art Museum, organized Brophys first major retrospective and is excited that one of the major pieces from the show will remain in Tacoma permanently.
In this artwork, Brophy draws attention to the dazzling accomplishments of the logging industry by referencing the massive Forestry Pavilion created in 1904 for the Lewis & Clark Centennial, an architectural fantasy of enormous proportions built from unprocessed logs. Flanking the central panel are two portraits of snags (a standing dead tree). This arrangement of the portraits memorializes the giant trees used to build the pavilion. Like the Forestry Pavilion itself, the triptych evokes memories of both the bounty of the ancient forests and the technological thrills of the golden age of the timber industry.
In response to the donation, David Bobo, general manager of the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center said, thanks to the generosity and community spirit of KeyBank, cooperation of Tacoma Art Museum, the Laura Russo Gallery, the Tacoma Arts Commission and the genius of Michael Brophy, we have the perfect piece to round out the permanent art collection for the Convention Center.
