Island Water Quilt

“Island Water Quilt,” is a ceramic tile mural by island artist Maggie Smith.  This public art work is displayed in the Bainbridge Island Aquatic Center at the Nakata Memorial Pool.  It’s been a fixture on the wall near the diving board since 2002.

Bainbridge artist Maggie Smith created this handmade ceramic tile mural for an interior wall of the new Don Nakata Memorial Pool. The mural is approximately 12’ high x 22’ wide, centered on the large west wall of the pool.

The mural, called “Water Quilt” is composed of a large, bold “wave” pattern taken from traditional quilting. Triangles of glazed clay in blues, white and complementary colors replace the fabric pieces. The fifteen colors in the pool’s palette of glazes are custom colors, mixed in the artist’s studio. Along the base of the mural there is an abstracted section of the Bainbridge Island shoreline.

Smith, born in New Hampshire, has lived on Bainbridge Island since 1986. She trained as a ceramic sculptor with an MFA from Indiana State University and  she moved to the Seattle area in 1978. Her past public art work includes ceramic murals in Alaska, Washington and Virginia, and tiled benches for an art park in Maryland.