Submitted by Orcas Library

The cedar and bark sculptural animals and illustrations of Rivkah Sweedler and Walter Barkas are on display at the Orcas Island Library during the month of July.

On Tuesday, July 10, at 2:30 p.m. at the Orcas Island Library, Sweedler will present a video and slideshow of the story and the artists in action creating the sculptures.

The animals are characters in the children’s book “Wishy Washy’s Wish,” written and illustrated by Barkas and Sweedler.

This art is the result of their 17-year collaboration which occurred on the Key Peninsula. During that time, Sweedler and Barkas participated with their sculptural “critters” in the local schools, Pioneer Days, Longbranch Arts and Music Association and the Olalla Blue Grass Festival.

Their award-winning sculptures have been shown locally and nationally since 1983. They were Washington State Artists in Residence, received an Artist Trust GAP Grant and are included in the book “The 20th Century Americna Folk – Self Taught and Outsider Art.”

This Wishy Washy show was presented at the 1995 Folklife Festival in Seattle. The goal of this environmentally educational story is to pass on an awareness of the wide range of human skills and possibilities.