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Wyeth–what a famous name! Jamie Wyeth is the third generation of painters in his family. We think of them as realists, but as you look at this exhibition of Jamie Wyeth, “Unsettled,” and compare him to his father Andrew (“Christina’s World”), and to his grandfather, N.C. Wyeth (“The Passing of Robin Hood”), we see an eerie, fantastic current in all three.

This exhibition however, foregrounds the supernatural. Two apparently straightforward works like “Bean Boots” or “Cat Bates of Monhegan” become spooky. Is the title meant to distract us as we look at “Bean Boots”? We gradually begin to see the details. First the man wearing bean boots is wearing a large glove for handling falcons, and a falcon looks at him fixedly from a cage. Above his head are numerous animal skulls sporting antlers. Along the left is an oversized pair of pants that seem to resolve into the base of a tree. In the right foreground a tree has two guns hanging off of it. Then there is the lighting which slashes a dark diagonal across the painting. A very strange painting. 

“Cat Bates of Monhegan” gives us a boy standing in contrapposto like a Greek statue, naked from the waist up, next to a fiery furnace with an open door. He looks defiant, as though he actually controls the unruly fire. He is actually burning garbage, apparently, but the open flames may be out of control at any minute.

Several of the paintings have a wild, unruly ocean as in “Spindrift,” with a surging sea coming toward the Wyeth house on a point, or, in “My Mother and the Squall,” the surging waters come almost up to the house as his mother hurries inside. Sometimes enlarged animals or birds overwhelm the scenery, changing it into a bizarre and ominous scene: in “Midsummer Night’s Dusk” the cows’ white faces look like skeletons; in “Hill Girt Farm,” giant pumpkins foreground a blazing fire.

And the birds! In “Wake,” a huge gull flies above a turbulent sea, straight at us (there is another version in which the gull flies over flames). We feel we will shortly be attacked. For anyone who has been dive-bombed by a bird, this painting is very disturbing. In “Snow Owl,” the bird looks at us fixedly: the offbeat subtitle is “Fourteenth in a Suite of Untoward Occurrences on Monhegan Island.” In this painting, as in all his paintings of the sea, the artist has plunged into its turbulence with masterly strokes of paint. 

Anther work in which the artist literally plumbed the depths is “Berg.” Apparently Wyeth actually did fall into the freezing sea, so this close-up view seems to recall that primal experience. Embedded in the iceberg are the imprints of birds as though they are frozen into the ice, but it melts away from the bottom (as icebergs do).  

There are many portraits: a suite of small Kennedy family portraits—clearly the result of close friendship—and two images of Andy Warhol, and Weyth’s grandfather. 

Warhol and Wyeth painted each others portraits in 1976. The exhibition includes two Warhol portraits, one “Andy Warhol in White (Andy Warhol Study),” painted the same year as the collaboration. The carefully studied face stands out from the white loosely painted background which merges with the white of Warhol’s face. In the second, which depicts Warhol standing behind a screen door, the most detailed part of the painting is Warhol’s head. Painted in 2015 it is an homage to a departed friend.

A portrait of Wyeth’s famous grandfather is also a part of the screen door series and an homage. Titled “Apples: Fifth in the Screen Door Series” we see an intimate look at his grandfather as he gathers apples. The background is filled with not-yet gathered apples. His grandfather’s face is lovingly painted. N.C. Wyeth died in 1945 when his car was hit by a train at a railroad crossing, a year before Jamie Wyeth was born.

One of the strangest “portraits” is “Julie on a Swing,” in which a diminutive Julie swings under a huge and threatening tree. She is oblivious to the threat. The strange yellow sky and ground suggest an imminent storm.

Finally, though, the most moving portrait is the homage to his wife, Phyllis Mills, “Spring: the Hanging of The Tree Rocks” (2017). It is clear that the artist wanted to jump into those trees himself. The tree rocks refer to the way that his wife suspended rocks from ropes on branches in order to reach the fruit she was gathering. Nymphs surround her in the trees. The entire frame is filled with growing vines. It speaks to love and life.

Susan Noyes Platt

Susan Noyes Platt writes for local, national, and international publications and her website, www.artandpoliticsnow.com.

“Jamie Wyeth: Unsettled” is on view Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. through October 5 at Frye Art Museum, located at 704 Terry Avenue in Seattle, Washington. For more information, visit www.fryemuseum.org. 

The Seattle-based painter/sculptor James W. Washington, Jr. held a central place in the renowned “Northwest School,” but he remains an overlooked figure. This summer’s exhibition at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (BIMA) raises Washington’s profile, and deepens our appreciation of his gifts. “James W. Washington, Jr.: Many Hats, One Spirit” runs through September 15th, and you don’t want to miss this show. 

“Many Hats” is a many-sided retrospective. BIMA’s chief curator Greg Robinson, in collaboration with the Dr. James W. Washington, Jr. & Mrs. Janie Rogella Washington Foundation, has assembled a fascinating selection of the artist’s drawings, paintings, and sculptures from all phases of his career. But it’s two other dimensions of the show that make it sing.

First, the exhibit includes pieces by 25 contemporary artists who have held residencies at the Foundation. Some engage Washington’s main themes—civil rights, spirituality, the life cycle—while others provide literal or figurative portraits of the artist. This exchange between past and present is beautifully moderated, and honors Washington’s living legacy 25 years after his passing. 

Second, the artist’s personal effects appear throughout the show. Furnishings from James and Janie Washington’s Seattle home occupy BIMA’s upper atrium where the exhibit begins. The stately chairs, the grandfather clock, the hat-stand adorned with (yes) many hats all evoke the personality behind the art. The sculpting tools he designed for himself are on view, as are books from his personal library—nods to Washington’s resourceful and autodidactic nature. 

Entering the main gallery, you can turn to follow the outer walls where art from the Artists-in-Residence appear: these pieces end to be large, colorful, and assertive. Or you can go straight to the center of the floor to enjoy Washington’s work, which, in contrast, has a contemplative feel. His paintings and drawings have a cool quiet gravity overall; his sculptures are mostly unobtrusive, monochromatic, modestly-sized, gently-rounded. 

You can do some good bird-watching here, noting the many bird figures that Washington loved to depict. Most are shown in self-effacing postures, some are even wounded and gathered inward as if unwilling to emerge from the stone. 

Washington’s works are not presented in chronological order, or grouped by theme or by medium. The arrangement is more free-form than that, leaving each viewer to find their own connections. (Washington believed deeply in self-directedness and would approve.) Drawings from the 1940s hang beside granite carvings from the 1980s. African artifacts and semi-abstract sculptures share space. Paintings of busy Chicago streets and other urbanscapes hang above an artful construction of metal, wood, and leather straps—a mechanism Washington built for show-repair. This curatorial mosaic supports the show’s “One Spirit” theme: he felt that any good piece—a well-made shoe, a loose watercolor, the sandstone bust of a politicalleader—manifests a universal spiritual force.

In 1951, he traveled to Mexico City to meet artist Diego Rivera. Near the Teotihuacán  pyramids,  he found a small volcanic rock on the roadside. He was drawn to it, or it to him, and brought the rock home. It sat untouched for years, until the day he transformed the stone into “Little Boy of Athens.” This was Washington’s first stone sculpture, and with that he went all in on this new practice. He had taught himself to draw and to paint, and now he taught himself to shape stone. The disarming simplicity of “Little Boy of Athens” (1956) led eventually to the finely-wrought “Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya” (1982), and to public art commissions weighing up to 6 tons.

In the 1940s, Washington befriended Mark Tobey, and under his influence learned to fully embrace his own impulses. He sought to “reveal the spirituality of matter.” He opened his work to the esoteric imagery and symbology that seemed numinous to him (much in the same way he intuited the potential of the rock in Mexico). Icons from Christian and African sources came into play, as well as symbols from Freemasonry. Imagery from nature also came to the fore as he matured—eggs and fish and the ever-recurring birds, even monkeys and woodchucks. These figures from the animal world may be taken as Washington’s shorthand for the spiritual force that animates all of humanity, all of creation. One spirit, many forms. 

Many forms, and many artists, too! The Foundation’s residency program is one way it helps foster creative expression. A few artists in the show are familiar names, like Esther Ervin, Marita Dingus, and Joe Max Emminger; others are newer on the scene or based outside the region. Mentioned here are just two highlights from this treasure trove of contributions: Ervin’s “Bondage” is an intricate piece with beautiful symmetry and patterning; it also documents a horrific chapter of our history.  Ervin shows that one thing art can do is confront and unsettle. But art can also uplift, as with Christen Mattix’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” This wall-assemblage is like a grid-based portrait—think Chuck Close, except with hymnals forming the grid, some painted so that the grid resolves (as you step back from the wall) into a portrait of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It’s certain that James W. Washington, Jr. would endorse these two pieces, and a couple dozen others assembled here under his auspices.

Tom McDonald

Tom McDonald is a writer and musician living on Bainbridge Island, Washington.

“James Washington, Jr.: Many Hats, One Spirit” is on view daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m., through September 15 at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, located at 550 Winslow Way East on Bainbridge Island, Washington.“The Living Legacy of James W. Washington, Jr.” panel discussion with Q + A is on September 7, 3:30 p.m. at BIMA Auditorium.

In October 2025, Art’s Alive! in La Conner, Washington, celebrates its 40th anniversary—a significant milestone for any institution or art event, especially for one that is based in a small community. It is evident with this anniversary that Art’s Alive!, an exhibition and series of art programs, has tapped into a subject and a mission that the local community is passionate about, so much so that they continue to return year after year for four decades. The event started as a fundraiser for the Valley Museum of Art (now the Museum of Northwest Art), but it is now organized by the La Conner Art Foundation, which is also a nonprofit organization. Running from Friday, October 24 through Monday, October 27, visitors can enjoy multiple exhibitions and art demonstrations around the town of La Conner. 

In a conversation with Sheila Johnson, the president of the Board of Directors of the La Conner Art Foundation, it  became clear that the organization is dedicated to both artists and education. When an artwork sells at Art’s Alive!, artists receive a 60% commission while the remaining 40% is dedicated nearly in its entirety to scholarships for high school seniors and college students. The event this year takes place in Maple Hall, as it has been for many years, but Johnson also emphasized that there are art demonstrations taking place all over town. But this year is also a special year, and the exhibition  includes 180 artworks created by around 90 different artists. The exhibition is divided into three sections: Legends (artists who have participated in Art’s Alive! in the past), Invitational (artists new to participating), and the Open Show which features artists living in the La Conner School District. In summary, the exhibition this year is larger and more expansive than any other. 

The foundation and its selection committee watch artists year-round and then decide on artists to invite for participation in the exhibition. This year, the committee has also partnered with several art galleries to show the work of certain artists. For example, Allie High’s “Short-eared Owl” is included courtesy of Stonington Gallery. This collaboration allows Art’s Alive! to include artists with gallery representation while also supporting the mission of the event and foundation. High’s work is included in the Invitational portion of the exhibit, alongside other artists like Kathleen Faulkner, Ee Lin Lee, and Leo E. Osborne. This year there isn’t necessarily a theme for the Invitational; these are all artists who inspire the committee and have a connection to the Pacific Northwest. One aspect of this portion of the exhibition is the variety of materials and mediums represented, including paintings, pastels, weavings, ceramics, and more. One oil painting that stands out is Andy Eccleshall’s “Timeless,” which features a barn with the daylight shining through the open doors. The scene is so familiar in Skagit County that it almost mimics looking out a window to a common landscape in the valley. 

Similarly, Art’s Alive! has partnered with several local galleries to exhibit work in the “Legends” gallery, which includes artists from past Art’s Alive! exhibits in the 1980s through to 2024. It is truly a delight to see work by artists like John Simon, Paul Havas, Meg Holgate, Thomas Stream, and Georgia Gerber in a gallery together. The “Legends” portion of the show is an interesting snapshot of artistic themes and trends throughout the past decades. Adding to this point, donors receive a poster from the 1987 edition of Art’s Alive! which features a painting of a sunflower by Richard Gilkey. It is worth pointing out that this is in some ways a unique opportunity to see and acquire work by artists with connections to the “Northwest School” while also supporting living artists working nearby. 

Art’s Alive! is a longstanding art program in Skagit County with a deep history of supporting the local artistic community. The exhibition opens at 1 p.m. on Friday, October 24 at Maple Hall, with the opening event starting at 5 p.m. This is an exciting opportunity to meet the artists while enjoying food and beverages in a beautiful environment. The events continue through the weekend, and visitors are welcome to vote on their People’s Choice selection. At the time of writing this feature, the award is still to be announced. Art’s Alive! closes at 4 p.m. on Monday, October 27. October can be a delightful time to visit Skagit County since many of the pumpkin patches are open and the weather can be beautiful. 

Chloé Dye Sherpe

Chloé Dye Sherpe is an art professional and curator based in Washington State. Art’s Alive! Invitational & Open Fine Art Show is on view at Maple Hall, located at 104 Commercial Street, Edmonds, Washington from Friday, October 24, 1-8 p.m.; Saturday, October 25, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, October 26, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Monday, October 27, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Visit www.ArtsAliveLaConner.com. 

On June 12, 150 people gathered at the beloved San Juan Island Museum of Art (SJIMA) to celebrate the opening of “Shapeshifters—Northwest Coast Indigenous Art,” an exhibition detailing four key artistic styles of Indigenous peoples living along the Northwest coast. The large group of attendees included several internationally celebrated artists who are included in the exhibition, alongside locals and museum supporters eager to learn more about Indigenous art through the exhibition. Guest curator Lee Brooks, a local gallerist, centers the exhibition around the story of Raven, a popular figure in Northwest coast art.  Brooks stated that Raven was selected to be a focal point of the exhibition because “He transforms to meet life’s challenges and shapeshifts to create new solutions for today’s dilemmas.” The resulting exhibition both delights and educates visitors by bringing together important artists employing four different styles in an effort to educate and connect.

SJIMA is located about six blocks from the ferry terminal in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. The museum has exhibited work by Indigenous artists previously and most of its permanent collection is work by Indigenous artists, but this exhibition has a different geographical focus than those previously hosted by the museum. In a conversation soon after the exhibit opened, Assistant 
Director Wendy Smith relayed that “Shapeshifters” has had an incredible impact on members of the local community who are eager to learn more and support the artists included in the show. “Shapeshifters” includes over fifty artworks, eighteen of which come from the museum’s permanent collection, by some of the most renowned Northwest Coast artists. The list includes Susan Point, Dan Friday, Rande Cook, Greg Colfax, and many others.

One impressive element of this exhibition is the scale. Not only the number of artworks, but also the geographic range and size of the artwork. Upon entering the gallery, visitors see a large red cedar sculpture with copper and acrylic paint by Tom Hunt. Titled “Sun,” the sculpture includes a face with seven wooden rays extending outward. Hunt (Kwakwaka’wakw) was born in Victoria, B.C. and trained or apprenticed with many family members, including his father, uncle, and grandfather—certainly maintaining a tradition of familial artistic legacy. Similarly, Susan Point (Musqueam) speaks about learning her art form from her family members as well, and the exhibition includes her beautiful serigraph, “Symphony of Butterflies.” Point is also from British Columbia and has been an influential figure in the Coast Salish artistic community.    

As mentioned, this exhibition explores four artistic styles that are represented in different areas of the Northwest coast region. Moving further south from where Hunt and Point learned their style and methods, “Shapeshifters” brings the work of Greg Colfax, a Makah artist who grew up in Neah Bay, Washington State. Colfax’s red cedar “Canoe Mask” is one of several masks included in the 
exhibition. Colfax is well known for both his large scale and smaller carvings, in addition to conserving older artwork carved by other artists. The red cedar face of “Canoe Mask” is highlighted with cedar bark around the edges to represent hair, and the mouth of the figure is open to evoke action and agency.

The exhibition includes a wide range of materials amongst the many artworks. This article has already mentioned wood carvings and serigraphs, but it is also important to note Dan Friday (Lummi) and his blown glass “Sxwo’le Reefnet Anchor.” Bringing all of these methods, materials, and styles together underscores the fact that Indigenous art includes dynamic conversations on important social issues, observations about environmental concerns, and can include a discussion about traditional styles and contemporary methods.

Throughout the summer, the museum hosts artist talks to further explore the artwork, themes, and messages involved in the exhibition. More information about these events is posted on the museum’s website. The artwork is on display until September 15, so there is plenty of time for visitors to see the show and explore all the beauty that San Juan Island has to offer. If you have never visited the island, it is a ferry ride away from Anacortes, Washington. Since the ferry landing is located in the town, it may not be necessary to bring a vehicle. Summer is the perfect time to enjoy the beauty of the Puget Sound with a ferry ride to Friday Harbor in order to visit this exhibition. 

Chloé Dye Sherpe

Chloé Dye Sherpe is an art professional and curator based in Washington State.

“Shapeshifters” exhibition is on view through September 15 at the San Juan Islands Museum of Art, located at 540 Spring Street in Friday Harbor, Washington. Museum hours are Friday through Monday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit www.sjima.org.

Port Townsend’s Northwind Art brings the celebrated Outsider artist Chuck Iffland right inside its walls this summer—quite a trick! The show consists of biomorphic works in stone, wood, and metal that Iffland creates at his Mad Monkey sculpture park and studio in Chimicum, just south of Port Townsend. The one-man show is called “Echoes, Memories, and Curiosities.” Bring your own curiosity though, because these are layered and enigmatic works.

The term “outsider artist” often seems not simply inadequate (no label is ever adequate) but exactly backwards: artists tagged “outsider” are usually the ones most possessed of an inner vision, a private world. But after chatting with Iffland, who embraces the outsider tag with a mix of pride and shrugging self-acceptance, I can see how the handle makes sense. The “white walls” (his term for art galleries) are fairly distasteful to him; the formalities required to participate in the formal art world exhaust his patience; and don’t get him started on the digitization of every single step required to play the game. He’s no Luddite or recluse, he just prefers his own path, which is to display his artwork outside of officially-sanctioned spaces, literally placing them outside in the open air.

Which brings us to another way the “outsider artist” moniker works: Iffland is often outside gardening on the wooded five-acre spread he owns with his wife, the film-maker Lynn Wegenka. Deer sleep in the fields and tend to their fawns among the strange scarecrows and other sculpted figures—works that Iffland creates in this or that old shed or barn on the property. His pieces are meant to interact with the sun, the rain, the cracking cold. How they become weathered and even disfigured is part of the draw.

Rarely is nature itself Iffland’s inspiration, though. He is more about archeology, history, and adventuresome world travel. If his figurative work seems akin to the carvings and totems of ancient peoples, and somewhat distant from the 21st century (or even the 20th century), it’s because of those passions.

Iffland and Wegenka decamped from Seattle in the 1990s, and bought a small cabin above Chimicum Creek. Their Seattle cohorts explained they were nuts to abandon the city’s thriving arts scene for some remote unheard of outpost. But Iffland could see the bulldozers coming for his studio in an industrial section of town (probably now an Amazon tower). Iffland and Wegenka pursued their visions in the secluded valley, keeping a distance even from Port Townsend’s art circles. The idea of the sculpture park (which he calls his “roadside attraction”) presented occasions to get to know the neighbors and larger community, and to spread the word about what he was up to and capable of. In the surrounding woods, he could find plenty of source materials for his art-making.

Iffland has always admired the Northwind Art space, and he teamed with its new Executive Director Martha Worthley, an artist in her own right, to map out the show. He senses the time is right for “Echoes, Memories, and Curiosities.” When Covid curtailed Iffland’s travel plans his productivity in the studio soared. He let memories of pre-pandemic hikes be his guide. He found himself working at a smaller scale than in the past. He concedes it’s a matter of aging: dealing with slabs of wood, sheets of metal, and unwieldy stone is a younger artist’s game. On the plus side, his newer more modest-sized pieces are easier for the public to bring home—and it is important to Iffland to find the pieces good homes. It’s what artists live for, he says.

A fresh focus is on woodblock and linoleum prints. The printing is all by hand—no press involved. If ink splatters into the space around the image, so be it. He’s aware these marks can turn away certain buyers, but for Iffland they lend individuality to a print in a limited edition. The move from a sketch to a print is just the beginning, though. Iffland also uses the carved blocks to transfer the image into/onto a thin copper sheet. He applies elixirs to the copper (hot sauce—preferably Sriracha—is involved here) until intriguing colors emerge.

Now a final iteration of the image takes place—another echo or memory of the initial drawing. Iffland transfers the image to a steel plate about ¼-inch thick, and uses a plasma-cutter to carve out the negative space within the design.

These prints and their metallic echoes occupy the left side of the gallery space, balancing the “curiosities” along the opposite wall. (In the center sits a small army of figures to confront you as you enter the gallery.) At least a few of the “curiosities” arise from what Iffland calls “walkabouts in the borderlands”—meaning pre-pandemic hikes along the U.S. and Mexico border. In the desert Iffland encountered “signposts” that migrants use for wayfinding in that dangerous terrain. The signals are improvised, coded, and highly adaptive. In that precarious borderland surveilled by hostile forces, knowing how to read these marks and symbols means not just staying on track but staying alive. It is not surprising that Iffland the outsider artist would be engaged by these narratives, but you’ll find the form of expression surprising and curious indeed.

Tom McDonald

Tom McDonald is a writer and musician living on Bainbridge Island, Washington.

“Echoes, Memories, and Curiosities: The Art of Chuck Iffland” is on view Thursday through Monday, from July 10 through August 25 at Northwind Art, located at 701 Water Street in Port Townsend, Washington. For more information, www.northwindart.org.

During the weekend of August 23-24, Iffland’s sculpture park is on the Port Townsend & Surrounding Areas Studio Tour. The Raw Art Collective partners with Northwind Art to host the free, self-guided public tour, and you’ll find details at www.rawartcollective.org.

The 51^st Seattle International Film Festival opened with a bang on May 15 with seats full of local film lovers and visitors from around the world. Inundated with an enthusiastic audience, SIFF reminded all there of the importance of broadening one's Reel Word by seeing films made in other countries.

Seeing movies can be a great way to grow your perspective and understand what is affecting the world around you. SIFF wants to highlight this and encourage you to witness what is happening through all genres, including action, comedy, drama, horror, romance, science fiction, and animation.

The opening night featured Four Mothers, co-written by Irish brothers, Darren and Colin Thornton, and directed by Darren. The film is a wonderful heartfelt comedy about a man, Edward, an up-and-coming novelist, taking care of his elderly mother, and suddenly three more mothers.

We follow Edward through his stressful journey caring for his mother, Alma, whose life we learn mirrors his own. Both of these characters are doing the best they can, with their bravest faces on. It isn’t until they have three surprising house guests that they are thrown out of their comfort zones and forced to be vulnerable in a whole new way.

This is a laugh-out-loud, witty, emotional movie that reminds you of the love for your grandmother, mother, and all of the strong women in your life. While this movie will appeal to all kinds of audiences, queer men and their moms will find its story especially engaging and personally meaningful.

While Four Mothers was shown only for the SIFF Opening Night, this is a film worth following. Colin Thornton, attended the screening and encouraged everyone to review and keep track of the film on Letterboxd and IMDb. This is a must-see film, and deserves to be widely-accessible on all viewing platforms. Spreading the word can help in reaching that goal.

SIFF runs until May 25. There are so many amazing movies in all genres and for all audiences. As you enter SIFF’s Reel World your perspective on life is strengthened. This is an opportunity to come together as a community and see what’s going on outside of Seattle's bubble. Tickets are limited, so please buy your tickets now at https://www.siff.net/festival/passes-and-tickets. Looking forward to seeing you there.

Alden Perrine

Alden Perrine is a recent graduate from Washington State University. She is headed towards Vancouver Film School for their Writing in Film program next year. Alden is passionate about film and cannot wait to get started.

For more information about Seattle International Film Festival, visit https://www.siff.net/festival.

Don’t miss the extraordinary exhibition “Power of the Presses” at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art until June 8. A selection from the Cynthia Sears collection of 3,500 artists’ books (one of the largest in the country) curated by Catherine Alice Michaelis, it features 33 printmaking methods. But it also emphasizes a wide range of content from environmental to political. The role of the press in building community is the main theme. As the curator explained, she chose works that “shared a voice of community or personal, intimate expression — in a way that gathers community. The press as a tool for sharing voice. Pieces had to be personal in some way. I also looked for an example of every printmaking method that was in the glossary.”

Surprisingly, in the center of the gallery, we see an offset printing press. Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. was there the day I went, printing posters for anyone that stopped by. Behind him a wall of broadsides by a range of artists featured such direct statements as “Stop Voter Suppression,” “Peace,” “Breathe,” “I ain’t afraid to live in a world of trans people I am afraid to live in a world without them,” and “Without Song Each Day Would Be A Century.”

Mare Blocker, a pioneering role model for the artists’ books community, created an “altar/throne” made of books. When I was there she sat in that throne reading excerpts from her stories and from “My Beloved Community Dictionary.” Her focus, as described by the curator, is “how creativity can lead to self-discovery and the healing power that printing offers.”

The multiple prints on one wall engage community through Partners in Print. Collectively called “Words of Courage,” some of these were selected from poems written at Seattle Children’s Hospital through the Seattle Children’s Poet in Residence program. For example, an eleven-year-old patient titled her poem “Cured.” In the last verse she says, “I hope to close the door on being bald and self-conscious. I hope to open the door to having soft hazel curls hiding my ears and neck.”

The pages in Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.’s poem book “Riddle ma riddle as I suppose: riddles from the Sea Islands of South Carolina” unfold one by one in different directions, ultimately forming large squares. The artist told me the riddles are based on local secrets and lore so we can’t answer them.

Shana Agid’s letterpress print book features text pointing at various places in Manhattan with the provocative title “Call a Wrecking Ball to Make a Window.” The map plots the intersections of Agid’s own history with that of the famous activist/artist/writer David Wojnarowicz, who died of AIDS in 1992. Agid is making sure that queer voices persist in the face of ongoing threats.

Another approach to the book is Ben Blount’s “Africans in America: A Short History.” The book features many blank pages and then we come to a date in which something significant happened for African Americans. The book is open to 1964, the year the Civil Rights Act was passed “prohibiting discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion, or national origins.”

Delita Martin uses multiple techniques to create “This Side of Night,” a huge book with lavish images and text: “My black woman body created a world under the moon…where black birds gather, their bodies shimmer a blue black, wings moving to the ancient rhythms of time, over and over, all at once around me, their bodies weight, stretched long on this side of night.”

Martin is both magical and vividly present on these large pages.

Another sizable book that uses multiple techniques is by Robbin Ami Silverberg and Kim Berman, “RE—A Tale of Two Cities,” the cities being New York and Johannesburg, with text like “reclaim, retrieve, recover, reuse, recycle…”

“Ten Years in Uzbekistan,” originally designed by Alexander Rodchenko, was discovered in an archive. David King, a historian of Russian photography, found it with the faces blacked out as people fell out of favor. David King and Ken Campbell re-presented the book with letterpress printed over half-tone photographs. The result is a haunting way to honor these people, whose names and biographies remain present in the text.

The pioneering role of Cynthia Sears in collecting artists’ books, combined with the diverse selection by curator Catherine Alice Michaelis, highlights the museum’s inclusive approach to acquisition, and its openness to a wide range of printing techniques, subject matters, and formats, from simple broadsides to books that unfold. This exhibit is an exciting revelation of the democratic and community-building power of print.

Susan Noyes Platt
Susan Noyes Platt writes for local, national, and international publications and her website, www.artandpoliticsnow.com.

“Power of the Presses” is on view through June 8 at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, located at 550 Winslow Way East, on Bainbridge Island, Washington. Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For further information, visit www.biartmuseum.org.