James Fitzgerald along with his wife, Margaret Tomkins were among the most innovative modern artists active in the Pacific Northwest. He produced works for various WPA art programs in Colorado, Washington state and California. He traveled to Mexico where he studied mural painting under Jose Clemente Orozco.

Fitzgerald and Tompkins shared a studio in Seattle, later on Lopez Island. A devastating fire destroyed their home studio in 1959, after which Fitzgerald worked primarily in sculpture for the rest of his career. Fitzgerald created several bronze fountain sculptures in Washington, including his famed “Fountain of the Northwest” for the 1962 World’s Fair, now the Seattle Center.

Fitzgerald’s work is included in the permanent collections of the Seattle Art Museum, The Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, the Tacoma Art Museum, the Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, WA, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, the University of Maryland Art Gallery, and several others.