Reporter staff

Lin Rebolini McJunkin’s Riparian Totem – a fused glass and steel sculpture – recently was installed near the Auburn Justice Center on East Main Street.

McJunkin’s work was the People’s Choice Award winner from the Downtown Sculpture Gallery contest. Votes were collected to determine the award.

The artwork was purchased and permanently sited adjacent to the center, adding to the City’s public art collection.

As an artist and science educator, McJunkin utilizes the heat of her commitment, as well as that of her kilns and torches, to sculpt recycled glass and metal into work that celebrates and advocates for the health of our planet and its inhabitants.

Three strands of metal grass form the framework for McJunkin’s seven-foot tall sculpture. They are each divided into three or four sections, with kiln-carved glass interpretations of Native American Coast Salish designs depicting items important to Auburn’s distant and recent history, including: eagle feathers for the aircraft industry, hops and berries, the Green and White Rivers, fish, and a surprise shape for the dairy industry.