Since 1982, Marvin Oliver’s “Big Bird” carving has graced the presence of students passing from classroom to classroom at Yelm High School, watching over them like an older sibling. 

This summer, art conservationists are hoping to begin the process of breathing new life into the 16-foot-long, 8-foot-high cedar plat that currently hangs outside of the commons area in hopes of preserving its creator’s legacy and inspiring future generations. 

Conservationists and collectionists with the Washington State Arts Commission dropped by the high school Thursday morning, Aug. 13, in an attempt to safely take down the structure. 

Heightened from a scissor lift about 25 feet off the ground, Conservation Manager Adam Fah and Collections Technician Jared Moore got to work on removing the dozen or so metal pegs that keep the piece up. 

Collections Manager Janae Huber looked on while Claire Dean, a conservator with Dean and Associates Conservation Services, managed the team’s work. 

“For me, this is prioritizing an artist that is significant to our region,” Huber said. “He’s influenced generations of students. He was an exceptional artist, but also an exceptional teacher of native arts and those traditions.” 

Marvin Oliver, who died last year age 73 while fighting pancreatic cancer, was a native contemporary artist who became one of the most well known regional sculptors and printmakers, according to an in memoriam post published by the University of Washington.

According to an obituary published by The Seattle Times, Oliver — who was also the first Native American instructor at UW — played a huge role in influencing the development and recognition of Native American fine art throughout his 40-year career. 

A member of the Quinault Indian Tribe who spent much of his early life between the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and the Bay Area, Oliver’s interest in art developed from creating replicas of billboards he saw around San Francisco, according to a HistoryLink article. 

Late in life, Oliver was known by many as a master of trades when it came to the various forms of art and its expression. 

“The variety of work he made is really something else,” Huber said. 

“Big Bird” is seen as one of his earlier works, Huber said. 

Due to the scarce documentation on its condition, how it was installed and its composition, Huber said she and her colleagues drove into Yelm with more questions than answers. 

The big question Thursday, as Fah and Moore fiddled with the piece, was what was keeping the segments of cedar together and, if they pulled the piece off the school, would it come off as a single segment? 

If the latter proved true, that would require more manpower and tools than were available, Huber said. 

The idea to restore the piece first started with Yelm High School Principal John Johnson. He initially noticed the decaying art piece more than a year ago after some students approached him. 

“I talked with some kids and they said, Is there any way we can restore this as native art?’” Johnson recalled. 

Johnson was eventually able to get in contact with the State Arts Commission and plans were made to have the department come look at the piece.

In its 38 years of existence, “Big Bird” has never once had conservation work performed on it. 

The piece was originally commissioned for the high school in 1979, and Oliver was paid $8,100 for his work. This was paid through a state-mandated public arts building fee. 

Once the work is finished, Johnson said they plan on installing it inside and away from the weather. 

“Even though Marvin was not a Nisqually Tribal member, just having that element of culture on our campus is important,” Johnson said. “It’s a representation of our school, our community.” 

“Big Bird” is not the only piece of public art installation hosted at Yelm Community Schools — the district has 10 other pieces, two of which are Oliver’s creations. They include “Raven Who Stole the Sun,” installed in 1979 at YHS, and “Raven’s Friend,” installed in 1996 at Mill Pond Elementary, according to the Art in Public Places Program. 

Huber said the district’s initiative to preserve its public art is admirable. “I feel like knowing this matters to a local community is important to us,” she said. 

The Man Behind

The Work 

Nearly two hours into the process of taking down “Big Bird,” collectionists and conservationists with the State Arts Commission ran into a problem. 

They realized the piece more likely than not will come down as a single segment. 

Johnson called Chris Hansen, facilities director with the district, to see if either he or the former facilities director knew how the district installed the piece after the 2006 remodel of the high school. 

With little to no records on the old art installation, the team started making assessments. It’s likely they don’t have the machinery to take the segment off in a safe and secure manner. 

David Franklin, 48, consulted with Dean, Moore and Fah about what to do next. 

With scruffy hair and some grey in his beard, Franklin held his bounded sketchbook underneath one of his arms. The hope of the day was that “Big Bird” would be coming home with Franklin, who lives in Indianola, Kitsap County. 

“I have to move my skateboard ramps is what I have to do,” Franklin joked. “It’ll be a good excuse to clean and move things around.” 

Franklin will be leading the hands-on conservation efforts of “Big Bird” once it gets moved to his art studio. Alongside Dean, who will be recording the effort, Franklin will be performing much of the carving and recoloring of the piece with the guidance of Oliver’s widow. 

A Denver transplant, Franklin met Oliver sometime in the mid-1990s after moving to the Pacific Northwest to look for work as an airplane mechanic at Boeing. The two met by chance in Ketchikan, Alaska, and developed a long lasting friendship that continued until Oliver’s death. 

“It’s going to be weird having this in my studio,” Franklin said. “Marvin was very warm and positive … Really, my role in all this is to channel something in my friend.” 

While attending school to be an aircraft mechanic in his 20s, Franklin got into art through a spray paint collective he used to run with. 

“It was like a knitting circle, but with alcohol,” he said. 

He learned about Oliver’s work upon arriving in Washington state, where his love for the wilderness meshed well with his desire to submerge himself in the local arts. 

Franklin left his ideations of working for Boeing soon after his arrival. 

“They laid off like 20,000 people when I moved here,” he said. “And you don’t want me repairing your airplane. You want me working on your Marvin Oliver’s … In Colorado, native culture is pretty eradicated.” 

Franklin describes Oliver’s work as colorful, joyful and groundbreaking — akin to the person he knew and grew close to over 20-plus years. 

Oliver was also an excellent teacher, said Franklin, who had the chance to substitute-teach his classes at the UW. He was all about educating the next generation of artists and being his students’ biggest cheerleader, Franklin said. 

“Marvin had a way of living life to the fullest, and it really is emotional ‘cause I really did love Marvin. A lot of these artists are not fun,” Franklin said. 

That joy continued throughout his battle with pancreatic cancer too, according to Franklin. 

“Artists tend to knock each other down, and Marvin was the exact opposite,” he said. 

Workers with the State Arts Commission weren’t able to get Marvin Oliver’s “Big Bird” down from Yelm High School on Thursday, Huber wrote in a follow-up email. 

“After further investigation, we verified that the panels are held together by metal plates,” she wrote. “The artwork will have to be removed as a single piece, which will require greater people-power and a more complex plan. Of particular issue is the fact that the plates hold(ing) the artwork together are not reliably structural.” 

The removal process will also likely require an additional form of support, Huber wrote. The team will work on a plan over the coming weeks to bring it down.