Washington Art - James & Janie Washington Foundation

2010-10-07T14:18:00.001-07:00

Seattle Channel Video can be played in Flash Player 9 and up

Artist at Washington Foundation Creates a Spectacle

2010-06-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

During a June 2010 residency at The James and Janie Washington Foundation, artist Garric Simonsen created a project called The Spectacle. The project was inspired by a parade where he saw vendors roaming the crowd with carts selling inflatable novelty toys and balloons. What attracted him to these mobile stores was the effort each vendor put into the presentation of their products. What also interested Simonsen were some unique connections these vendors shared with the business of being a self-promoted artist.

Artists put themselves into the public eye displaying things, trying to be noticed for their ability to produce unique items. Most commonly their art is engaged commercially and in some cases mass-produced to appease high demands from collectors. This project critiques the idea that art is a commodity. It also symbolizes the artist’s ability to withstand public scrutiny, standing as a metaphor that interprets what it’s like to be viewed as a spectacle.

The connections between an artist’s self-promotion and a parade vendor inspired Simonsen. During his one-month residency at the James and Janie Washington Foundation, he created one of these carts and stocked it with his own selection of inflatable novelties. The process began with finding an abandoned shopping cart and getting it back to the studio for modifications. He ordered his products from an online retailer and began outfitting the cart with oversized sunglasses, glow-sticks, balloons shaped like frosty beer mugs, giant crayons, little guitars and even a huge inflatable hammer called the “Big Bopper.” This Saturday, he will set out on a three-mile pilgrimage to the art district in Seattle’s Pioneer Square. Everything on the cart will be given away for free.

The walk will start around 10:00am Saturday, June 19^th from The James and Janie Washington Foundation (1816 26^th Ave.) and continue down Capitol Hill jetting back and forth between Pike and Pine Street eventually landing in Westlake Park around 12:30pm. From Westlake Park the cart will make its way through downtown, landing in Occidental Park in Pioneer Square between 3:30pm-4:30pm. Finally the artist will head up Jackson through the International District and turn north on 23^rd , through the Central District.

The Fountain of Triumph

2010-06-15T13:53:00.000-07:00

As a student of the UW Museum Studies Certificate Program I’ve been volunteering at the James and Janie Washington Foundation for about 2 months. With my program now over, I can’t help but think how lucky I am to have found a practicum at a museum that keeps me constantly inspired by its mission, and excited to keep coming back. As a new student in the museum field, it is endlessly encouraging to be surrounded by motivated artists, to be a small part of Mr. Washington’s beautiful legacy, and to be around Tim Detweiler, executive director, for his constant enthusiasm about his museum and his great stories.

Sitting in the living room of the house, one photograph in particular has been grabbing my attention for the past two weeks. It’s a simple picture of Mr. Washington sitting in front of one of his sculptural fountains located in the Central District neighborhood as traffic and life pass by around him. However simple, the photo strikes me every time I enter the house. I think the photo, as well as Mr. Washington’s expression, says so much about who he was and what his foundation continuously strives to accomplish. The sculpture is on the corner of Union and 23^rd, and was originally made as a meeting place for the community. He sits happily in front of the sculpture with a sweet, and unassuming demeanor.

The community is working to restore the sculpture and to restore the original idea of unity in an ever-changing neighborhood. The beauty and message of struggle and determination that the sculpture still brings to the neighborhood, long after his death, is moving. With the youth programs, exhibit tours, and artist in residency programs, the museum keeps Mr. Washington’s message alive and well and I’ve been honored to be part of it.

Philadelphia sculptures found

2010-05-24T17:13:00.000-07:00

James Washington was commissioned to sculpt six busts of African American heros in 1968. The sculptures were placed in the Rotunda of Achievement at the Freedom Plaza, the first African American owned outdoor mall. The sculptures at the Rotunda of Achievement were vandalized within a month of their installation in 1969. Mr. Washington later said, “That’s the way Philadelphia was in the 60s.” It was as if he expected it to happen.

Later in the 1980s, the sculptures were again vandalized and the management of the Freedom Plaza where the Rotunda was located, decided to take the sculptures off of public display. The Rotunda itself was later raised because it had become a hangout for drug dealers.

I became interested in the whereabouts of the busts when I heard about the story in 2007. I called a friend in Philly and checked public art websites and called several people in the City Government and found no information. An Art Historian, Susan Platt, who was going to the East Coast to do some research swung by the Plaza to look at the sight and ask a few questions. The spot where the Rotunda had sat was now a vacant lot and no one at the Plaza office even remembered the busts. Susan called the one person that the folks at the Plaza thought might know about the history. The woman that she contacted remembered the sculptures and said that they had been stored away and that was all she knew.

A year went by and Susan called the woman at the Plaza to ask if she had found out any more information. The woman was immediately excited when she heard Susans voice on the phone. She said that they had uncoved the sculptures, literally, when workers sarted on a renovation on the old Plaza building a week before. They removed a wall under a staircase and found the six sculptures underneigth.

Susan was able to visit Philadelphia again shortly after the phone conversation and photograph the busts. The faces of one of the sculptures had been painted white and the lips of two others. They are all in good shape otherwise and plans are being discussed to put them perminately on display in the offices of the newly renovated Freedom Plaza.

Io Palmer review

2010-01-21T16:20:00.000-08:00

Io Palmer was a Washington Artist in Residence in Summer 2009.

Io Palmer and Modou Dieng

THE ART GYM AT MARYLHURST UNIVERSITY
BP John Administration Building, 17600 Pacific Highway (Hwy 43),
November 8–December 13

View of “Io Palmer and Modou Dieng,” 2009.From left: Io Palmer, Artstar #4, 2009; Io Palmer,Artstar #3, 2009; Io Palmer, Janitorial Supplies #7, 2009; Io Palmer, Janitorial Supplies #4, 2009.

Io Palmer’s ongoing work Artstars, 2007–, comprises a team of players represented, in absentia, by a collection of white “uniforms” paired with common cleaning tools (mops, brushes, and brooms) that have been radically accessorized with artificial hair, bobby pins, and barrettes, transforming them into radically hirsute tools. The Artstars are Palmer’s Dream Team—heroic amalgamations of the artist’s friends, family members, and sports heroes––and brilliantly synthesize haute couture, feminist art history, professional sports, and domestic servitude.

In the artists’ hands, a plain maid’s smock is sexed up into a flowing linen gown that opens across the gallery floor in a corona of petal-like teardrops. Palmer references labor and women’s work while raising African-American identity politics to glamorous new heights of Jugendstil panache. In one instance, Palmer exhibits a cape made of leather that is covered in bobby pins and patterned after former Detroit Piston Allen Iverson’s cornrows. The piece reads like a chain-mail cuirass lying in wait for its commander.

In the Art Gym’s second gallery, Senegalese artist Modou Dieng exhibits a series of new mixed-media wall works inspired by African cloth, African-American musical history, and sexy Blaxploitation graphics. Dieng works the canvas with a rigorous ease, incorporating vinyl LPs into the work and slathering them with iridescent paint and collage elements. In hello mom, hello dad, 2009, Dieng overlays silk-screened images of Malcolm X with actual albums (and their covers) by Louis Armstrong, Aretha Franklin, and Isaac Hayes. The albums transmit a vibrant, kinetic energy and hark back to Marcel Duchamp’s Rotorelief devices. Yet Dieng takes on the history of the readymade and Pop art with a fresh attitude and finesse.

— Stephanie Snyder

Jen Graves' review

2009-12-06T14:22:00.000-08:00

James Washington Jr.: The Saga

posted by JEN GRAVES on MON, NOV 30, 2009 at 4:06 PM

James Washington Jr. working on his bust of MLK.

What do you say we focus on another black man in Seattle for a while?

Last week, just before Thanksgiving, I met Tim Detweiler at Woodside/Braseth Gallery to walk through The Spirit in the Stone: A Centennial Celebration & Exhibition Honoring James W. Washington, Jr.Detweiler was practically breathless. He talked for a half-hour before I got a word in, and before we even looked at the late Washington's art. The reason why: Detweiler has been buried in a mountain of fascinating stuff for the last year or so, and it's like he traveled to an undiscovered land and must. get. the. stories. out.

The exhibition does a solid job of starting things off for him, and it's a generous act by Woodside/Braseth, considering that much of the work on display is not for sale but instead either owned by the James and Janie Washington Foundation (open by appointment at 1816 26th Avenue) or owned by private collectors.

David, 1958. The mount coil could be a ground wire from a battleship; Washington worked as an electrician for ships in Bremerton for years.

Raw paintings and collages tell the early story.Making of the United Nation Charter, from 1945, shows hands turning to bone and heads to skulls. The charter was supposed to include an expansion of freedoms for African Americans after the war. But it didn't. Four years later, another painting, with thick impasto sections and also collaged newspaper clippings, drew together Washington's brutal Mississippi past with a not-as-different-as-you'd-like Seattle present (he moved to Seattle in 1944). The painting is called Democracy Challenged, and it pictures the Statue of Liberty, her torch's flame going up into a newspaper headline: "Fiery Cross 'K.K.K.' Note Found Near -- Home" beneath "House Defeats Civil-Rights Part of Housing Bill." On the other side of the painting, balancing Lady Liberty on the scales of justice, are three lynched bodies. A headline, also from the Seattle Times, dated Thursday, September 8, 1949, reads, "Mrs. Roosevelt Says: North as Bad as South in Discrimination." In addition to the daily personal debasements Washington had to endure growing up in small-town Mississippi, his father had been "disappeared" after threats from the KKK. Washington Jr. never figured out what happened to Washington Sr., even after putting a couple of Pinkertons on the case later in his life.

Bunny rabbit, 1965

What's amazing is that Washington started showing his art pretty much as soon as he got to Seattle, and never really stopped. He wasn't the established, university-based, powerhouse figure that Jacob Lawrence was, but he was a constant presence until his death in 2000. And his greatest medium was stone carving. At Woodside/Braseth are several examples of his irresistible animal carvings (they're almost entirely in the round), as well as a self-portrait bas-relief he made in 1976, the same year he made one of Mark Tobey (it was the year Tobey died). This is his only self-portrait in stone.

Detweiler is the first first full-time, permanent director of the foundation—housed at the Washington home and studio, where there are still piles of granite awaiting carving—and he and a small team of helpers have been making discoveries in the archives. They found a letter from Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros inviting him to dinner (he accepted). In the crawl space below the studio they found memos from Washington's work with the Congress of Racial Equality in Seattle in 1960 (they'd demand parity, and if bosses didn't make at least a good-faith effort, they'd picket).

In 1968, Washington was commissioned by Leon Sullivan to do a series of six busts of African Americans for the rotunda of a black-owned mall in Philadelphia. (The picture above shows Washington working on the MLK bust.) The busts were vandalized by whites—actually given white-face—until they were finally removed, and then lost. Until now!

Detweiler and his team (including Susan Platt) called the mall to try to find the busts, and nobody knew where they were, so they started looking. It turns out they'd been hiding for 15 years under a stairwell, some of the white paint still on them. Thanks to Detweiler and the foundation, they've been found. They're staying in (and owned by) the mall in Philadelphia, which is being renovated.

See the show, which also includes a room of works by Washington's friends and contemporaries, before it closes December 12. More images...

Bear cub with food, 1966

Democracy Challenged, 1949

Dorset lamb reclining, 1979

Making of the United Nation Charter, 1945

Self-portrait, 1976

Market in Mexico City, block print, 1953

Entertainment | Review: Washington centennial show traces stages of artist's powerful voice | Seattle Times Newspaper

2009-12-06T14:15:00.000-08:00

Entertainment | Review: Washington centennial show traces stages of artist's powerful voice | Seattle Times Newspaper

A Great Review by Susan Platt

2009-12-06T14:09:00.001-08:00

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2009

Roger Shimomura and other shows

I miss my blog so much, I am really tired of editing my book, so here is a quick entry late on Saturday afternoon.
The Roger Shimomura show "Yellow Terror" at the Wing Luke Museum is a rare opportunity to see the artists collections of racist kitsch juxtaposed to his paintings. The kitsch collections have been given to the Wing Luke Museum, but the really urgent reason to go the show several times is to see the way he brilliantly uses these racist stereotypes in his art. He barely transforms them, except in scale. We can hardly believe how well he does it.

Yellow Terror, the title piece of the exhibition- this is a detail- is a dizzying array of World War II "Japs," crammed against each other, flying through the air, climbing on top of each other At the center is the artist himself calmly self caricaturing himself in the midst of the mass of caricatures. The caricatures sources are all on display next to the paintings, and unbelievably, we find ourselves laughing at Shimomura's humor, at the same time that we know he is deadly serious. Racist stereotyping is so awful, it is hard to believe.
As in Different Citizens, 2009, above, a self portrait next to a Japanese stereotype This is a large painting,three feet by almost four feet. There is Roger on the right, he is an understated quiet person, a distinguished professor. There is the stereotype, the big ears, slanted eyes, big mouth, buck teeth, and the officer on the left. But the point here is not old/new, The point is that the World War II stereotypes are still with us. Everyday, everywhere. That is why he has included a collection of salt and pepper shakers. Racism with your salt.
It permeates, it sits there. Even at the opening, he pointed out an account of a new racist film The Goods, Live Hard Sell Hard" which has a mob beating up a Japanese American. Nothing has really changed except the surface..

Roger's artistic facility with different vocabularies is also astonishingAs seen in the other painting here, American Portrait no 2, 2002, Shimomura can play with tradition Japanese images, straight cartoon, Walt Disney cartoon types, and all arranged in amazing compositions that are far more complex than they appear to be. This composition with its boxes within boxes and the idea of a may different types of stereotypes juxtaposed to the Kibuki actor playing a warrior from Ukiyo e prints ( is this an "authentic" stereotype?), is all by itself worth a long analysis.

I highly recommend Jen Graves article in the Stranger as a great review.

On the subject of opposing racism, a different perspective is offered by the James Washington House exhibition of artists who have had residencies there which is currently on view at the Pratt Gallery. The opening itself was a delight. Tim Detweiller has brilliantly brought together a wonderful mix of artists from different backgrounds, all of them making provocative work inspired by the studio and left -behind materials of the sculptor James Washington. In this installation shot you see Joe Max Emmenger well- known Seattle artist next to Charles Parrish work known only to some communities.This is Daniel Minter's work New Path Revealed. It is a subtle work, a broom, with beading and a silk shower cap like top that becomes a ceramic okra plant. In the background are prints of various African American figures in traditional types of work.
Then there is the wooden sculpture by Romson Bustillo called A spell to remember or forget. Bustillo is a brilliant artist and community activist. He is from Mindanao, Philippines. He draws on abstract patterns from textiles here, and other sources to create evocative pieces that contain magical energy.
Esther Ervin's Pipe Dreams is self contained, elegant, and dreamlike. Ervin is an artist with a subtle sensuality that plays out in different media. At the James Washington House she worked with the wax thread on spools from old recording devices.
Other artists in the exhibition included Marita Dingus, and Jite Agbro, but I am out of time for now.
The point is that each of these artists is approaching the inspiration of James Washington from their own perspectives and different backgrounds. And the opening was a truly mixed group of artists and audience. Bravo James Washington Foundation.

Labels: Esther Ervin, James Washington Foundation, Joe Max Emminger, Roger Shimomura, Romson Bustillo

James Washington Jr. - spiritual matter - Another Bouncing Ball

2009-12-06T14:00:00.001-08:00

James Washington Jr. - spiritual matter - Another Bouncing Ball

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100th Birthday Celebration

2009-11-16T19:27:00.000-08:00

James W. Washington, Jr. 100th Birthday Celebration. A wonderful, intimate evening.

Daniel Minter

2009-10-26T12:55:00.000-07:00

Daniel Minter

2009-10-26T12:29:00.000-07:00

2009-10-16T11:07:00.000-07:00

2009-10-13T10:30:00.000-07:00

City Wide 100th Birthday Celebration of Artist James W. Washington, Jr.

The James and Janie Washington Foundation will take part in a citywide 100th birthday celebration of James Washington. Mr. Washington moved to Seattle in 1944 from the Deep South. Upon reaching the Northwest, he began to use his artwork to express his social concerns and devoted his entire life to representing the African American community through public service. His work is included in major collections around the country including the Smithsonian, the Whitney, SFMOMA and the Seattle Art Museum.

After his passing in 2000, his legacy is carried on by the James and Janie Washington Foundation through community programs and exhibitions. The Foundation is located in the artist’s historic home and studio in the Central District of Seattle. It is a cultural center that serves as an educational tool, an artist’s refuge, and a historic landmark. It is a forward-looking institution based on the life of an African American pioneer in the visual arts and social justice.

This year, Mr. Washington would have turned 100 years old and the Foundation is celebrating his contributions to the Seattle Community with events and exhibitions throughout the city.

There are several institutions that have partnered with the Foundation to commemorate the life and legacy of Mr. Washington.

Sunday Afternoon Celebration at Mount Zion Baptist Chur ch

Where: 1634 19th Avenue, Seattle, WA
When: November 1, 2009

Exhibition at Pratt Fine Arts Center

Continuing the Legacy, an exhibition showcasing work from recipients of the James & Janie Washington Foundation Artist-in-Residence Program, including Jite Agbro, Romson Bustillo, Marita Dingus, Joe Max Emminger, Daniel Minter and Esther Ervin.
Where: Pratt Gallery at Tashiro Kaplan Studios,
306 S Washington St, Suite 102, Seattle
When: November 5 - 27, 2009
Opening: First Thursday, November 5, 6 - 8pm
Gallery Hours: Fridays and Saturdays, 12 - 5pm and by appointment

100th Birthday Celebration– party, entertainment, and art

Where: The Ruins, 570 Roy Street, Seattle, WA 98109
When: November 8, 2009, 6 pm
Contact the Foundation for tickets: 206-709-4241

Woodside/Braseth Gallery

James W. Washington, Jr: Looking Back
Where: 2101 9th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98121
When: November 12, 6pm

The James & Janie Washington Foundation

Discovering the Spirit in the Stone – A dynamic permanent exhibition about art, Social Justice and the African American migration, set in the context of Mr. and Mrs. Washington’s historic home.
Where: 1816 26th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122
Opening: November 12, 2009
Gallery Hours: Monday-Friday 12-4 and by appointment

Contact: Tim Detweiler @ 709-4241 or tdetweiler@jameswashington.org

Io Palmer's Work in Steel

2009-08-11T15:19:00.000-07:00

Here is one of the drawings that Io Palmer brought with her when she came to the James & Janie Washington Foundation. The drawings from her notebook guided her as she began the process of making the work. Here is a page on her website that describes a bit about her time here.

Iron Artist Competition

2009-08-08T21:47:00.000-07:00

This year at the Iron Artist Competition the James & Janie Washington Foundation sent its best people. Artists Esther Ervin, Romson Bustillo and Marita Dingus made us very proud. They won the critics award and brought home first prize, $200. They promptly donated the prize money to the Foundation. Aren't they great?

This was a huge competition... 23 teams representing many non-profits near and far.

Romson and Esther celebrate while purple and blue haired angels applaud...

Romson consoles the other artist teams.

Iron Artist Competition Rules:

All materials will be provided by Tacoma Art Museum and unveiled at the beginning of the event. A list of acceptable supplies that you may bring with you to the Iron Artist Challenge will be provided upon registration. The Iron Artist Challege will begin at 6 pm and last for 60 minutes. Judging will take place after the contest, during the fashion show.

The materials to be used will be presented at the beginning of the event, meaning everyone will have exactly the same 60 minutes to plan and execute his or her piece. Each piece must be wearable and ready to wear by a live model that will display the work on the catwalk during the fashion show. At the end of the allotted time, the artwork will be handed in, finished or not, to be judged by our panel. The panel of judges will meet to select the winning pieces during the fashion show, while the artists are given a post-event interview by the host.

nice photo

2009-08-03T20:07:00.000-07:00

Photographer James Harnois has been taking pictures at the James & Janie Washington Foundation for the past couple weeks. Here is a pleasant picture of the house that James Washington bought in 1944.

Io Palmer Bends Steel

2009-07-28T08:36:00.000-07:00

The new Artist in Residence at the James & Janie Washington Foundation, Io Palmer, is bending steel and she likes it. Palmer's newest series of sculptures incorporate steel. This is a new material for the artist.

The new sculptures will combine handmade dresses and metal structures meant to represent abstracted and elongated bustles. The sculptures are on wheels and will be incorporated into a performance piece that will be staged sometime later this year.

Teen Neighborhood Sculpture Tours

2009-07-22T12:42:00.000-07:00

The Seattle Art Museum's Design Your Hood students came to the Washington House & Studio last week. This Thursday a group from the Wing Luke Museum, named YouthCAN, will tour the Foundation. This is all part of a Neighborhood Tour that the Foundation created to highlight some of James Washington's public sculpture that is located in the Central District.

The students walk through the streets of the CD from piece to piece following a map. Information on a worksheet gives them history of the community and art. They finish up at the Washington House & Studio for a tour and lunch.

James Washington standing next to his sculpture, My Testimony in Stone, in 1981.

Channel 7 show filmed at the Foundation

2009-06-23T16:05:00.000-07:00

Deborah Horne hosted the show KIRO InColor from the Washington house and studio on Monday. KIRO InColor is a public affairs show about the diversity of the Pacific Northwest. The show has been honored with four Emmy awards and received national recognition. Since 1994, the show has explored issues important to the Northwest, specifically the region's minority communities. The series profiles a variety of fascinating people from artists to activists.

Ms. Horne interviewed Tim Detweiler, the Foundation's Executive Director, about James and Janie Washington and their role in the Central District. She also explored the property, narrating from the front porch, garden and the house and studio.

The show aires on Sunday, July 12th at 5:30. Don't miss it.

Joe and his Dog

2009-06-16T16:24:00.000-07:00

Joe Max Emminger, Resident Artist Spring 2009, wrote us a nice note about his time in the Washington Studio. Joe often brought his dog Lily along for company.

James Washington had a dog named Shemp and it seemed that Lily was always looking to find him...

Joe's Letter:

James Washington House Thoughts

Joe Max Emminger

Spring 2009

I had a residency at the James Washington House for a month in spring 2009.

Mr. Washington was still there too. His garden is there, and his tools, his studio and his books. His clothes are in the closet, and the little bed he slept on for 50 years is still there. It was like he just stepped out for a cup of coffee and I stepped in.

It was a privilege to be there in the very same studio where he had worked for so many years. I am a painter and I don’t know much about sculpture. I tried something new at Washington House. Everyone was helpful and as a result I made four pieces of sculpture that I like. I started in a new direction.

Thank-you for the opportunity – it was wonderful.

Sincerely,

Joe Max Emmiger

Joe

Lily

Artist in Residence 2009-2010

2009-06-09T09:29:00.000-07:00

This year the Foundation put out a call to artists throughout Washington State. We asked artists to propose a project that they would like to accomplish during their one month residency.

We received a $5,000 gift from Artist Trust to host three artists from the State at James Washington's home and studio.

The Foundation awarded the residencies to three artists from Pullman, Washington. There will be more on these talented folks in the coming weeks...

Io Palmer

Garric Simonsen

Nickolus Meisel

Northwest African American Museum's Brian Carter

2009-06-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

This is a great article about Northwest African American Museum's Brian Carter. Brian has done a great job at the Museum. His energy makes the Museum Hum.

University of Washington Alumni News

2009 Newsletter

2009-05-22T13:26:00.001-07:00

James Washington Sculpture Tour

2009-05-19T16:39:00.000-07:00

The James & Janie Washington Foundation has created a walking/driving tour of Public Sculpture by James Washington. The map covers the Central District in Seattle.

It starts at the Odessa Brown Children's Clinic and ends at the Washington House.

It can also be found on Google Maps.

The Art and Life of James Washington, Jr: An Evening of Music and Discussion

2009-05-15T13:51:00.000-07:00

James Washington, Jr. and Martin Luther King Jr., 1954

On Wednesday, May 20, 7:30 to 9:00 PM, at The Valley School, 309 31^st Ave. East, the life and art of local artist James B. Washington, Jr. will be the subject of an evening of music and conversation. Tim Detweiler, Director of the James and Janie B. Washington Foundation, will show examples of Washington’s work and discuss his life and activism in our community.

Seattle jazz saxophonist and composer Steve Griggs will perform original compositions including two of Washington’s poems he has set to music for the occasion. Griggs writes for and performs with Milo Petersen’s Jazz Disciples.

The public is invited to join the Greater Madison Valley Community at our evening event. For information about CCC@MLK, please see the website: mlkcommunitycenter.org.

Celebrate Janie Washington

2009-05-13T19:41:00.000-07:00

The James & Janie Washington Foundation

cordially invites you to an

hors d’oeuvres reception.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

5:30 o’clock until 8:00 o’clock p.m.

Mount Zion Baptist Church

1634 19th Avenue

Seattle

rsvp: (206) 709-4241 or

tdetweiler@jameswashington.org

Please read Mary Henry's great article about Mrs. Washington on History Link.

WPA art in the Washington Collection

2009-05-11T14:08:00.000-07:00

Henry Louis Freund

1905 – 1999

James Washington met Henry Freund in 1943 at Camp Robinson in Little Rock, Arkansas. They became good friends and exhibited in two art shows together at the base.

Freund was drafted into WWII and served as a conscientious objector. He spent his time in the Army painting murals to help illiterate troops understand what they would experience in basic training.

During the WPA, Freund painted murals in Post Offices in Florida, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Missouri. He also traveled through the Ozark Mountains capturing the vanishing culture of the rural areas. He was famous for his American Genre paintings.

Two new Artists

2009-05-01T16:19:00.001-07:00

The James & Janie Washington Foundation is happy to have two new Artists in Residence. Esther Ervin and Romson Bustillo are starting their residencies at the same time.

Esther Ervin is a dedicated working artist who

currently uses the gourd as her primary sculptural

medium. She has recently finished an Artist in Residency and the Pathways Scholarship at Pratt Fine Arts Center, where she has learned to work with metals. Her aesthetic is grounded in the use of multiple media.

Ms. Ervin has a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from

California State University at Long Beach and a

Bachelors Degree (BS) in Biology from the University of

California at Irvine.

Her work in the local arts community includes

being curator at Festival Sundiata Art Exhibits and serving as an On Site Evaluator for 4Culture. She was the curator for the Art Gallery at South Seattle Community College for four years.

Romson Bustillo returns to the foundation after nearly a year of travel in Central American and Spain. He will be working with the Foundation staff to develop a Youth Workshop in printmaking and Social Awareness.

Romson Regarde Bustillo was born on the island of Mindanao in Cagayan de Oro City, the Philippines. He moved to the US when he was a young boy. He grew up in Columbia City in the south part of Seattle.

His work is represented in private and public collections nationally and internationally, including ArtCol Trust, the Washington State Art Commission, and the Wing Luke Asian Museum. He has been an artist in residence and instructor for Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle, the Seattle Art Museum, and an NEA supported Artist in Residence for the Tacoma Art Museum.

Joe Max Emminger, Resident Artist

2009-04-10T13:38:00.000-07:00

Seattle Artist Joe Max Emminger is wrapping up a productive month in the Washington Studio. Joe has been working on a series of wood sculptures.

One of the most interesting aspects of the Artist in Residence program at the James & Janie Washington Foundation is the possibility, space and time that the studio offers. Every artist who has come through the program so far has been able to try something new.

Joe is represented in Seattle, Washington by the Grover/Thurston Gallery, in Portland, Oregon by the Alysia Duckler Gallery and in Austin, Texas by Yard Dog.

James W. Washington, Jr.'s Hometown

2009-04-07T15:01:00.000-07:00

James Washington was born in Gloster, Mississippi in 1909. That is the year after this picture was taken. The unknown photographer took this photo from the railroad tracks toward the white side of town. The population, of under 500 citizens, was very segregated.

Mr. Washington said of Gloster, "Within the confines of Gloster proper there was a sawmill. We had a big sawmill, the Gloster Lumber Company. It was owned by F. A. Anderson. Most of the men and some of the women were employed there. It was almost a company town.

However, people did farm, but not in Gloster. They were like four or five miles out; they’d farm and they brought their produce to town. But then we had other places to work. There was an oil mill and compress, and things like that. Pickle factory, where they made pickles. The people grew cucumbers and they had pickle vats, big vats, where they pickled pickles. (laughs) That’s a good, combination, pickled pickles!" — 1987 Smithsonian Interview by Paul Karlstrom

James Washington, Gwen Knight & Jacob Lawrence

2009-04-06T08:27:00.000-07:00

These three important artist were good friends. Their friendship started when Mr. Washington visited New York City in the early 1950s. He made a point of visiting Jacob Lawrence during his week long stay in the East Coast metropolis.

They kept in touch by mail until Lawrence and Knight moved to Seattle in 1971.

In honor of artists Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence, the Seattle Art Museum created the Gwendolyn Knight and Jacob Lawrence Gallery in the newly expanded downtown museum. Upon her death, Gwen Knight bequeathed to the museum a portraitbust of Gwen by Augusta Savage and other items from their Seattle home and funded a fellowship for African-American art and artists.

Titus Kaphar is the first artist to be awarded the Gwendolyn Knight and Jacob Lawrence fellowship. The Yale painter received $10,000 and a exhibit in the gallery. The 31 year old contemporary artist paints beautiful reproductions of paintings from the 18th and 19th century, cuts them up and skillfully rearranges the pieces to make comments about race and social position.

Librarians Volunteer at Foundation

2009-03-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

Two wonderful Librarians, Randi Mason and Vicki Ruskin, have volunteered to organize James W. Washington's collection of books. The Washington Library has significant holdings by African American authors. The books span from the Civil War to the Harlem Renaissance to the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements.

Color, by Countee Cullen is a good example.

Countee Cullen was born in New York City in 1903. He was raised in a Methodist parsonage. He attended De Witt Clinton High School in New York and began writing poetry at the age of fourteen. In 1922, Cullen entered New York University. His poems were published in The Crisis, under the leadership of W. E. B. Du Bois, and Opportunity, a magazine of the National Urban League. In 1923, Harper published his first volume of verse, Color, and he was admitted to Harvard University where he completed a master's degree.

Artist in Residence Jite Agbro

2009-03-25T15:21:00.000-07:00

Jite Agbro was a Washington Artist in Resident during the coldest part of the winter. She trudged through the snow, built fires in the wood stove and had to work extra hard to warm up her bee's wax at the beginning of each visit. Jite has been working on a series of work in encaustic and silkscreen, an unusual combination, with beautiful results. Her work features scientific schematics, words, letters and bianary sequences of penny sized holes.

See some of the new work that she created in the Washington Studio at her web site, jiteagbro.com

Photo by Hayley Young

Daniel Minter's Stone Sculptures

2009-03-23T07:50:00.000-07:00

Daniel Minter, our first artist in residence, has posted photos of a few of the stone sculptures he made during his residency back in March 2008. Daniel chose stones from James Washington's back yard to carve. These where stones that Mr. Washington had picked up from around the state to use at a later time. We call these piles of stones, Mr. Washington's bone yard. Daniel also used Washington's tools to make these sculptures.

Judges to Pick Artists for 2009

2009-03-21T18:10:00.001-07:00

Panelists form the local art community will pick from applicants for this years Washington Call to Artists next week. Local artists and educators Larry Calkins, Terri Rau and art historian and writer Susan Platt will choose six artists. The panel will select three for the King County residencies and three for the State residencies.

Look for the results in early April.

James Washington article in Seattle Magazine

2009-02-25T12:45:00.000-08:00

James Washington was featured in Seattle Magazine this month. A short biography and a full page picture appeared in the February addition of the glossy, urban chronicle. The photo shows Mr. Washington carving his 1969 bust of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Seattle Magazine's article Touchstone

Marita Dingus featured by Seattle PI

2009-02-25T12:32:00.000-08:00

Artist in Residence, Marita Dingus, was featured in an article by P-I art critic.

Regina Hackett wrote a warm entry to her blog Art to Go about Marita Dingus working at the Washington Studio.

Photo by Hayley Young

Since the closing of the Seattle PI, Regina Hackett's new blog is at Artsjournal.com

Artist in Residence Charles Parrish featured on Seattle Channel

2009-02-12T20:56:00.000-08:00

Marita Dingus makes shoes at the Washington Foundation

2009-02-12T20:41:00.000-08:00

The James & Janie Washington Foundation is pleased to announce that Marita Dingus is currently the Artist in Residence at the Washington House. During her residency, Dingus is making shoes using some of the tools Mr. Washington used during his time as a shoemaker for the Army during WWII.

Inaugural AIR - Daniel Minter

2008-11-05T09:36:00.000-08:00

Daniel Minter, James & Janie Washington Foundation's first Artist in Resident, has made a big impression on the program and Seattle. He was incredibly productive, both as an artist and as an ambassador of the Foundation. He reached out and engaged regular folks from the city and involved the local artistic community. Through a well attended art talk at the Northwest African American Museum he was able to give great voice to his and our endeavors at the Washington Studio.

Here's a link to a blog entry by one of the great friends of the Foundation, Dr. Susan Platt...

Art and Politics

Ross Day - Tribute to James Washington

2008-10-22T10:44:00.000-07:00

In a beautiful article about Northwest woodworker Ross Day there is a meaningful tribute to James W. Washington, Jr. Ross Day is an accomplished craftsman who designs and builds furniture on commission for home owners with refined taste.

During his early years growing up, Day worked at "dead-end jobs, paycheck jobs." While reading the Seattle Times one Sunday morning in the 1970s, he came upon a profile of James Washington. The sculptures featured caught his eye. Reading further he was struck by Washington's deep and probing statements about talent and potential.

Please follow the link to the blog entry in WOODWORK, a national publication for "all woodworkers."

Romson Bustillo

2008-10-14T16:18:00.000-07:00

Romson Bustillo is creating art in the Washington Studio. He is producing beautiful mixed medium works out of paper and has finished a site specific installation entitled, To Make Hard Soft. On October 14th he will be leaving for Nicaragua, Chile and later Barcelona to collect ideas for future artwork.

Gathering Support for the Artist-In-Residence Program

2008-10-02T12:26:00.000-07:00

Supported by a grant from the Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation, the Washington Foundation started in Artist in Residence Program in Spring, 2008. The artists who participate in the program will reflect Dr. Washington's strong belief in the healing and transcending value of art in the human spirit. They will live and work in the Washington house and studio, bringing new artwork to life and interacting with the Seattle community. This programming will include mentoring, lectures, open studios and workshops which will serve to inspire and add meaning to our lives.

Washington Art - James & Janie Washington Foundation

Artist at Washington Foundation Creates a Spectacle

The Fountain of Triumph

Philadelphia sculptures found

Io Palmer review

Io Palmer and Modou Dieng

THE ART GYM AT MARYLHURST UNIVERSITYBP John Administration Building, 17600 Pacific Highway (Hwy 43), November 8–December 13

— Stephanie Snyder

Jen Graves' review

James Washington Jr.: The Saga

posted by JEN GRAVES on MON, NOV 30, 2009 at 4:06 PM

Entertainment | Review: Washington centennial show traces stages of artist's powerful voice | Seattle Times Newspaper

A Great Review by Susan Platt

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2009

Roger Shimomura and other shows

James Washington Jr. - spiritual matter - Another Bouncing Ball

100th Birthday Celebration

Daniel Minter

Daniel Minter

City Wide 100th Birthday Celebration of Artist James W. Washington, Jr.

Sunday Afternoon Celebration at Mount Zion Baptist Church

Exhibition at Pratt Fine Arts Center

100th Birthday Celebration– party, entertainment, and art

Woodside/Braseth Gallery

The James & Janie Washington Foundation

Io Palmer's Work in Steel

Iron Artist Competition

nice photo

Io Palmer Bends Steel

Teen Neighborhood Sculpture Tours

Channel 7 show filmed at the Foundation

Joe and his Dog

Artist in Residence 2009-2010

Northwest African American Museum's Brian Carter

2009 Newsletter

James Washington Sculpture Tour

The Art and Life of James Washington, Jr: An Evening of Music and Discussion

Celebrate Janie Washington

WPA art in the Washington Collection

Two new Artists

Joe Max Emminger, Resident Artist

James W. Washington, Jr.'s Hometown

James Washington, Gwen Knight & Jacob Lawrence

Librarians Volunteer at Foundation

Artist in Residence Jite Agbro

Daniel Minter's Stone Sculptures

Judges to Pick Artists for 2009

James Washington article in Seattle Magazine

Marita Dingus featured by Seattle PI

Artist in Residence Charles Parrish featured on Seattle Channel

Marita Dingus makes shoes at the Washington Foundation

Inaugural AIR - Daniel Minter

Ross Day - Tribute to James Washington

Romson Bustillo

Gathering Support for the Artist-In-Residence Program

THE ART GYM AT MARYLHURST UNIVERSITY
BP John Administration Building, 17600 Pacific Highway (Hwy 43),
November 8–December 13

Sunday Afternoon Celebration at Mount Zion Baptist Chur ch