Occupying the Northwest African American Museum

The Colman School, site of the Northwest African American Museum, has been occupied since Juneteenth by Omari Tahir, Earl Debnam, and others to declare that they are the rightful owners of the property based on a purchase agreement and loan agreement from January 1998, a copy of which they provided to me. Tahir and Debnam were involved in the original occupation in the 1980s and 1990s.

They state that they are the “real museum” with the name of African American Heritage Museum and Cultural Center. They have a report from the Mayor in 1994, that was Norm Rice, outlining the programs for the museum that included a visual arts center, musical center, artist in residence program, intimate performing/workshop space, practice space, instrument library, and a recording studio.

They state that the current museum does not fulfill these intentions and it is not “supporting the community.” They occupied the school for amazing 13 years between 1985 and 1998 during which they created an exhibition of displays of African artifacts that Omari brought from Africa, they “led workshops, held concerts, engaged with youth to be proud of their heritage so they would not turn to the streets.” That was a huge motivation for both their original occupation and their current occupation: as shootings of black youth continue to escalate, their desire to connect to youth through African heritage is remotivating them to continue their campaign.

So what happened to their plan? You may recall that Omari’s son, Wyking, then identified as Kwame, staged an intervention at the opening of the museum to call attention to this project. Apparently the original board had members who opposed the African American and Heritage Museum and Cultural Center as conceived by the occupiers. The group were evicted and all the displays were taken away and never reappeared. Then the building was sold to the Urban League, in spite of the purchase agreement that had been signed.

After many more years, the current Northwest African American Museum opened. I asked the occupiers what the NWAAM response to the occupation had been. The chair of the board called the police to evict them three times, but the program director has, according to their account, been more amenable to listening.

Clearly some new programming is not enough to satisfy the occupiers, but it seems to me to be a starting point as a resolution. Personally, I find that the NWAAM is a positive presence in our community. Their focus has not been music, which is clearly an aspect of the lack of connection to the community in the opinion of the occupiers, ( 5 of 7 parts of their original program concern music). As far as other parts, like a Visual Arts Center, their complaint is the absence of a connection to Africa. But of course we do have the fantastic Seattle Art Museum collection and curator. An artist in residence program is a great idea if they get the funding. The James W. Washington House had an an artist in residence program that was incredibly successful while the funding and direction lasted.

So I am going to simply report on this important event. It needs to be covered, there has been no press on it at all. Underlying the issues here is class conflict, between elites and ordinary people as well as between middle class liberals and radical left politics ( Omari participated in the occupation of Centro de la Raza and Discovery Park with Bernie Whitebear and the Gang of Four). Also there is the legal issue based on the purchase from 1998, that was prevented from being completed.

Museums all over the country are hopefully examining their elitism right now. Black Lives Matter certainly has opened up awareness that ALL museums suffer from elitism, whitism, and lack of connection to ideas for connecting to community in a way that can address mitigating violence, gangs, and drugs in the streets. If Police departments were defunded to provide more money for community, this is one direction it could go.

My good friend Georgia McDade sent me an article outlining how black creatives perform for white audiences, white cultural power structures. That is definitely something to think about here. Is NWAAM partipating in that? I don’t think so. In fact the white power structure of Seattle’s cultural community has not embraced the museum and its programs as anyone can see if you attend a program there. The same is true of the Wing Luke Museum in the International District. Segregation is alive and well in Seattle culture, even as the Central District fights for its identity as a center of black culture in the midst of rapid gentrification. Africatown is resisting this process. So are these occupiers, ironically, as they protest the “gentrified” NWAAM departing from their vision.

Capitol Hill Organized Protest

Capitol Hill Occupied ( now called Organized) Protest is evolving as I write, so this is simply a report that will have to be updated. Everyone heard about the tear gas confrontation from Sunday June 6-7 and the departure of the police from 10th precinct, the “zone” as it was called then. I went down there twice on June 12 and June 17 to document mainly the visual aspect of the protest. While I was there on June 12 I was fortunate to witness an interview between Omari Salisbury and TraeAnna Holiday on what was happening there, what the principles of the protest were, as well as their goals (demands). Omari has been on the ground with his Converge Media since May 29 reporting day by day developments. The link is his morning update show. Here I got caught on camera during the show on June 12. That’s TraeAnna Holiday speaking on the mike.

TraeAnna and Omari were talking about offering an alternative to the news bites of sensationalist mainstream media as citizen journalists. ( All most people know about this protest is the tear gas on the first night).

TraeAnna is an activist as well as host of the morning show on Converge She is a community organizer for the Africatown Community Land Trust that “empowers Black residence by fostering land ownership.” Her emphasis is on the hope for equity and coalition of the like-minded to dismantle the racist system. She spoke of resilience, peace, and community as the guiding principles as well as a community based process for transferring property.

Omari has captured the critical moments in the day to day events there, most dramatically, and featured on Democracy Now, when the police simply left the precinct.

So what do you see if you go there? Here are some images on the street, a giant Black Lives Matter mural: each letter painted by a different artist with photos by my partner Henry Matthews.

This is the most formidable accomplishment, but there is art everywhere. The second most impressive work is the monument to those who died by police violence.

This is the longest list I have seen, although oddly it leaves out Charleena Lyles who died in Seattle. Here is a separate monument to her that I posted on my previous blog on the marches. I listed the names and ages of all the people listed below there. Here they are again. I feel it is important to name their names as often as possible. Yesterday I heard a wonderful poem that took each name as a poetic verse : George FLoyd age 46, Breanna Taylor age 26, Ahmad Aubrey, 25 Eric Garner 43,Michael Brown 18, Tamir Rice 12, Freddie Gray 25, Philando Castille 32, Stephen Clark 25, Trayvon Martin 17, Manuelle Ellis 33, Charlene Lyles 30

So now we will go back to where the street was blocked on 12th and Pine (the barricade is no longer there, it was removed by a nearby resident)

This is what the corner with the police precinct looked like on June 12 and a few days later. Around the corner were the demands on the plywood

1 Defund the Police by 50 per cent 2 Fund Community Restorative Justice, Housing, Healthcare 3 Freedom for all Protestors.

Note the three planter boxes and the pile of dirt in the foreground. Planting gardens is part of the activity. Here is a view of what Omari calls the “chill” zone on the North side of Cal Anderson Park with more planters.

Speaking of food here is the No Cop CO-OP with lots of donated food from local bakeries and restaurants

And then there are the many protest murals everywhere

I was happy to see this connection to the Gezi uprising in Turkey and the call for freeing Demirtas. Selahattin Demirtaş is a Turkish politician of Zaza Kurdish descent, member of the parliament of Turkey since 2007. He was co-leader of the left-wing pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, serving alongside Figen Yüksekdağ from 2014 to 2018. He has been imprisoned since November 2016.

 

Hugo House is a writers center across the street from the encampment. It used to be an old house here, now it is the first floor of an upscale apartment building.

Then there are the COVID 19 murals I documented in a previous post which have now been graffittied. The artist with green hair here was showing her work. I pointed out to her that she perfectly matched the colors in the mural including the new message.

See below for another update of this mural site on June 22. .

This is an evolving situation as I write. I will add an update once I get the final information about what happened today. Tragically two people were shot. One of them died. I think this is the beginning of the end of the CHOP. Very sad.

Part II

I went back today June 22. We were in search of a totem pole we read about in the Seattle Times,but no one knew anything about it. John T. Williams was a native carver killed by the police in 2010. ( That’s a link to my blogpost about it). His grandson was creating a totem for the CHOP zone according to a photo from the Seattle Times, but it has also vanished from the newspaper! There was a native drum circle in support of CHOP which I didn’t see, so I will add a photo of a BLM Native Drum circle from my first march, see post above.

The mood now is entirely different. I am still depressed by it. The spirit of the confrontation seemed more dispersed, less clear about the purpose of the protest, less protest, more sort of people hanging out and a huge amount of graffitti. But there were more people. There are for sure, more tents. Some BLM people feel this occupation has diverted attention from the main issue, but here it is, front and center, another young black man killed.

The site of the shooting of the young man, Horace Lorenzo Anderson, Jr. had a memorial right in front of the COVID 19 mural that I have documented as it was first installed and its earlier graffiti ( above). Now it has a whole new layer of graffiti. I am not sure this was the actual site of the shooting as it took place outside the CHOP. And Lorenzo was not part of the CHOP either. We still don’t know who the shooter was and there was another shooting last night. Lorenzo had just completed his diploma the day before. Apparently Lorenzo was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, code for a gang confrontation, but he was not part of a gang according to his family.

I will take you through our walk from Broadway and Pine around Cal Anderson Field. The graffitti feels angrier, less skilled, and generally it was defacing everything, rather than suggesting a concentrated political message.

This was clear, but perhaps unrealistic. It is impossible to defund the police by 50 percent over night. “Defund the police” was the former cry and it is crucial to do that! But the process is going to be difficult. Mayor Durkan said she didn’t want to reduce “her officers”. We need to keep on with the pressure, but maybe this street occupation is not the most effective way to achieve the goal.

“Cops aren’t workers” ? Not sure who created this slogan.

You can see the beginning of the giant Black Lives Matters mural here ( see above). The wooden boxes were put up by the City and they have all been covered with art. I was too depressed to carefully document all of them.

On top of the structure was a man on a microphone preaching about Jesus Christ!

This was a really positive place, Decolonization Cafe. The Seattle Times had good coverage of the CHOP today, June 23 with more engagement with the conversations at the Decolonization Cafe as well as in general. The sign reads “1 What are examples of racism overt and systemic in Seattle today? 2How has today’s BLM movment transformed you and your views on racism 3 How is today’s BLM Movement different from past Civil Rights Movements 4 What gives you hope we’ll create lasting change through this movement”

So I didn’t stop and ask myself these questions and I didn’t sit down and talk. Why didn’t I? They are clearly directed to all of us. What are we individually doing to change the systemic racism of our society?

Storme Weber is a well known poet in Seattle “I told a story until it transformed, I sang a song until the melody lifted, rose from dirge and I could feel the grace notes.”

Somehow this misty image seems appropriate as a way to end. We will see what happens next. The city mayor and police chief, after another shooting, are now wanting the police to come back, and the area to be closed overnight. Hopefully, it can peacefully transition. According to the Seattle Times article cited above, many of the organizers agree with that idea.

Aftermath

June 26 the city brought in Seattle Department of Transportation workers to remove the street barriers. The Mayor and Chief of Police also engaged in dialog with the protestors in a nearby AMC Baptist church ( the oldest black church in the city). Converge Media documented it afterward. They are responding to the demands.

July 1 CHOP highlilghts the ongoing problems in this city, racism, police violence, homelessness, lack of services for addicted and people with mental health problems, gang violence. We had another shooting incident on Tuesday, another young black man killed. Of course it was outside CHOP and blamed on them, but actually this is the same issue over and over. Having police there would only have made it worse, and of course we have the gangs operating all over Seattle all the time and the killings are not investigated by the police. Gangs are also a result of lack of opportunity to be constructive members of societ, poor education, all the problems that could be mitigated with more money in the community.

July 1 midday the police have moved in with teargas and rubber bullets. They are already whitewashing the police precinct. Durkan issued an emergency order at 2am. But as Omari said on Converge Media, this is not going to be the end of the story. The issues are still there.

August 12

Our African American Chief of Police Carmen Best has resigned. I find this depressing. The print headline says ” Budget Cuts, disrespect drove her decision.” The City Council approved cuts in the police department and her salary without consulation. 

Intersections in the Chinatown International District: Dim Sum, Seafood and Black Lives Matter

Our unique family-owned businesses in the International District have already suffered from the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic because of the absurd ideas coming from DC. Then came willful acts of destruction following a protest May 29 not by peaceful protestors, but by outsiders.

But the day after the destruction volunteers began to show up to clean up the glass, garbage and graffitti and to start shopping to show support. On June 5 artists started arriving and painting on the boarded up store fronts. The idea was sparked by Che Sehyun, executive director of Experience Education who reached out to the art community. He raised 10,000. for supplies in five days ( half came from Home Depot for paint) and over 100 artists have signed up. Here is the original call by Che

Che on the left in the yellow shirt. Che is an amazing video artist. Wyking Garrett speaking, leads Africatown, which is fighting gentrification in the Central District, where I live ( as one of the less wealthy wave of gentrifiers from 25 years ago) and Bruce Lee in the background banner.

Last Sunday there was a set of performances by artists to celebrate the project.

Mural by June Sekiguchi with partner Richard Reynolds, on Phnom Penh noodle house on Jackson. June spoke at the program about how the owner of the noodle store survived genocide in Cambodia forty years ago.

This market had one of the most beautiful murals of all. See below

Did you know that Bing cherries were first cultimated in 1875 by Ah Bing in the Pacific North West? Note the mural on the right paired with it, watering flowers in the grave yard of some of those who have died from Police Violence: George Floyd, Shaun Fuhr, Charleena Lyles Mamel Ellis, Bryonna Taylor, Che Taylor, Philando Castille, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Ezell Ford, Michael Brown, Eric Repson, Bethany Jean, Walter Scott ( and the list continues)

This is the type of intersections that I only saw in the ID. BLM plus Indigenous rights. Here are two details “Native Lives Matter”

Jade Garden. Amazing noodle murals

The murals didn’t pull any punches in many cases. In other cases they honored the store or restaurant.

The two above by Kari Sa Morikawa on Vital Tea. According to the Asian Weekly, she is an “amateur” artist. Who would know.

This and the next are by Mari Shibuya with VK Signs. I particularly like their paintings. They did a beautiful mural on Capitol Hill. But it is in the Occupied Zone so it has been graffittied. I will post it on my next blog post about the Capital Hill Occupied Protest.

Above and below, the next group are by Andy Panda and a team of six artists, one of the most beautiful groups in the ID.

Hidden Figures stars.

The rain says “Systemic Discrimination, Police Brutality, Redlining, Gentrification, Mass Incarceration, Racism, Voter Suppression ” these two above and one below by Ellen Granstrom with a team of four artists.

Some were encouraging as in the COVID 19 murals

I just found out the name of this artist, Larsie “Firebird” Freeman. Her mural was in the Seattle Times.

This artist “Barely Awake Kalee” was also on Capitol Hill. “I hope you know you’re the world, you are so special to me….” and other positive statements. Subtle change to simply feeling better by including the black arms on the right?

Carol Rashawnna a beautiful nurturing image

These Bush Hotel Murals look like a story of Asian Americans: in this one a child is being taught to farm. The back story on Japanese incarceration is that the Japanese farmers had created a group of farms that produced amazing produce. They were the founding farmers of our famous Pike Place Market ( there is a mural dedicated to them there). When they were sent off to be incarcerated during World War II, their land was mostly taken away by white people. Some people say that was one of the motivations for making them leave. Then when they lived in the desert in a camp, they made that place fertile also, and white farmers took that land over when they left.

In this one he brings some food to his grandfather

In this one he leads his grandfather into Hing Hay Park. @devonmidorisour, Devon Hale.

This is a reference to Uncle Bob Santos, the famous international district activist and part of the “gang of four” Seattle civil rights activists Bernie Whitebear, Larry Gossett and Roberto Maestas, a model of interracial friendship and organizing during the 1960s to the present. Only Gossett is still alive. He has made amazing contributions here also.

Santos grew up in Chinatown, the son of Filipinos. He was fundamental to saving the International District .From 1972 to1989, Santos served as Executive Director of the International District Improvement Association

I don’t have a lot of information about the next murals, but they suggest the dazzling variety of styles in the murals, as well as the intersection of Black Lives Matter with the themes requested by the restaurants, groceries, Chinese medicine stores and martial arts establishments of the ID.

Bruce Lee and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar by Shara and Joseph Lee and Dozfy (Patrick Nguyen). these two legendary actors appeared together in a movie set in Hong Kong titled “Game of Death.”

On this Brazilian Martial Arts Center many different artists participated. Some had never painted a mural before. The one in the center is by an artist who spoke at the celebration. I can’t read his name here, but hopefully coming soon!

These murals are on the Viet Wah grocery Store. Like so many of the stores in the International District, it is a wonderland of mysterious dried fruits, as well as so many kinds of fish and vegetables.

The woman are wonderful, painted by several different artists!

Black Lives Matter fist and a yin/yang symbol, probably unique to the ID!. I ordered lunch from the Fortuna. There are dozens of restaurants to discover in this area. Prepare to be hungry if you go to see the murals!

Kendra Azarai and her daughters on the Iron Steak restaurant.

as well as on this doctor’s office.

Sydney Pertl with her amazing lobster and crab. She learned some Chinese Calligraphy to be able to write here in Chinese!

Here is Patrick Nguyen (Dozfy) He is part of every mural cycle I have recorded in Seattle. Great artist.

Taken together, this project stood out for its diversity of artists and intersections of themes. It also introduced me to more of the small shops and groceries of the ID. I can’t wait to go back soon. Please support these businesses by going for a look at the murals and stopping for a bite to eat. They are all open!

Seattle after George Floyd Murder: Protest, Anger, Marches, Occupation

We have had a 180 turn in mood in the last two weeks, as a result of the murder of George Floyd. I am now seeing the anger about racism and police violence leading to demands to defund the police, whereas before we were “all in this together” to stay home ( which of course also laid bare racism, as privileged people, predominantly white, stayed home, and people of color went to work for minimum wage and risked their lives.) Even as we march, more black men are murdered. Here is the most recent Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta. We can see on the video the terrible training , the excess arms, the hostility .

Huge amounts of new visual imagery has emerged in the streets and on the walls of Seattle some of it actually on top of Covid murals documented in my three previous posts. The city has turned inside out.. Art and personal expressions are everywhere, not confined to galleries or trained practitioners.

We have had enormous protest marches almost daily. Many of them have been to and from downtown, well covered in the Seattle Times. Here is one excellent article by Naomi Ishisaka whom I saw at the “We Want to Live” March right after she had this front page story. Naomi is normally a once a week columnist on Monday. I asked her if she was paid triple for this two page article and she said no. ( Is that discrimination at the Times?).

I have been to two of the protests, “We Want to Live” on June 7 starting in Othello Park and the “March of Silence” on June 12 starting in Judkins Park. The first one was very large, with lots of families, all ages, ethnicities, the second one was huge, in the pouring rain, and perhaps fewer families because the next day was a march for children which unfortunately I missed. I took lots of photographs of the marchers. The most moving event for me was standing in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. It was an incredibly long time. Incomprehensible, tragic, heartbreaking.

But also moving was when the entire crowd of thousands began to move in absolute silence. It was a river of silent bodies.

I will first focus on the two marches for imagery. In the next posts, I will talk about the amazing International District murals and the transformation of Capital Hill to the “Capital Hill Occupied Protest”

The “We Want to Live March” had small posters with that mantra that could be filled in with a person’s name, as well as photographs of many people killed by the police.

When I first arrived I saw this sign. It is so moving. It was one of the repeated statements of the march. It matched the larger theme focusing on youth.”We want to Live”

There were definitely over a thousand people there and many different signs, but the emphasis was on “we Want to Live”. Youth led the march holding a huge banner with the statement “We Want to Live”. I was looking for intersections of all the racial groups. “Black Lives Matters” encompasses all people of color. Here is an image sponsored by La Resistencia for example. The detention system was breeding despair and destruction of families before the pandemic, now it is killing people. Call Inslee to shut down the detention center and free all the detainees. THey are not criminals. Follow the link for instructions.

Latinos for Black Lives in the March.

Black Lives Matter Native American Drummers. Hopefully I will learn how to post my video of this.

Pasifika for Black Lives

And families with children

“Why Do You See Me as a Crime?”

I am sorry I cut off the slogan held by the young man kneeling, but you know what it says.

And then there were many many other people who care enough to create this long people’s outpouring of words protesting police violence

The second march I went to was the “March of Silence”, already described above.Organized by Black Lives Matter King County, it was much larger than the “We want to Live March,” because it was on the day of the national strike June 12th. I will post a few images from it. It is not possible to convey how moving it was to stand in a crowd of thousands who were all silent both during the moments honoring George Floyd’s death and in the march itself.

South Asians for Black Lives

And it was pouring rain which seemed so appropriate to our silence in honor of all of these people brutalized and killed by the police.

This final image is actually from the Capital Hill Occupied Protest, but it gives names and ages and some of the people who have been murdered. Since “Say their Names” is one of the signs repeated on every march, I include it here. This is the only sign I saw with the ages of the people killed. At the top is Charleena Lyles, killed in Seattle in her apartment, mother of four.

Below are the names and ages of George FLoyd age 46, Breanna Taylor age 26, Ahmad Aubrey, 25 Eric Garner 43,Michael Brown 18, Tamir Rice 12, Freddie Gray 25, Philando Castille 32, Stephen Clark 25, Trayvon Martin 17, Manuelle Ellis 33, Charlene Lyles 30

Covid 19 murals in Seattle: Ballard

This is the only series of photos that I didn’ t take myself. Ballard seems far from where I live. So I asked around and put together these images. Thanks to Jeff Hou and Sean Yale. But of course they are not in any particular sequence and Ballard seems to have the least online presence of these three neighborhoods. If there was no signature visible I left it blank. Maybe someone will let me know who did the unidentified murals.

COVID 19 murals in Seattle: Pioneer Square

Pioneer Square has many many murals. I photographed a few of them and then discovered there is a walking tour which identifies a lot more of them. They are sponsored by the Alliance for Pioneer Square and Pioneer Square Business Improvement Association. In the case of the Globe Bookstore, the owner reached out to a specific artist, Sam Day ( whom I just discovered does the great cartoons in Real Change).

That may be true for other artists as well. According to one person I spoke with, many of these artists work in Pioneer Square and they are being paid a lot to make these paintings. That is interesting. I have not asked any of the artists I have met what they are paid, but I know there was a go fund me page for some of them.

What is terrific is that we are seeing art all over the place. Anyone can go out and enjoy these paintings as you start to move outside your neighborhood. Ballard is coming next, and Georgetown! .

Where I could find the artist I have added it. I will just present them as I saw them ( keeping in mind that I missed a lot, so look at the walking tour for more information and imagery). You will see the wildly contrasting styles of the artists. Below is the Buttick MFG Co with its huge mural by Jonathan Wakuda and Wakuda Studios stretching around the corner.

COVID 19 mural art on Capital Hill May 2020

This is an introductory essay on the mural art in Seattle that is filling the boarded up windows of so many stores. I need to do a lot more research on the artists and the sponsors, but here I will simply post the murals I saw yesterday. I spoke with one artist Tara Velan who was working on a mural as I spoke to her, and I spoke to one sponsor, Oddfellows Hall, who explained that they put out a call and paid the artists.

More to Come. Here are the murals. They range from subtle work to pop, from highly trained to graffitti. As a person who has written about mural art in the 1930s and 1960s, the first era inspired by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Jose Clemente Orozco, the three great Mexican muralists, the second era partially by Judy Baca, who studied with Siqueiros, it is clear we are in a new era today.

The artists draw from many directions, but there is no larger political message/ philosophy that I saw. No anti capitalism or references to the failures of the government, or underlying issues. The murals are of course on the windows of stores, but they are small businesses in grave danger of disappearing, so a larger message seems possible, but perhaps not what these stores want. Perhaps when I venture down to Pioneer Square, I will see a different story.

On the other hand, collectively they create a strong message of solidarity that we all can benefit from at this moment, even though few people are actually walking on the street. I have simply put up all the murals I saw as I walked down the street, no editing, no curating! You will see how many different styles appear. And our current pandemic has its own iconography such as”Tiger King.” which will be available for future art historians to puzzle over.

The New Deal Era and Today: Some comparisons

Recently references to the New Deal programs that provided federal assistance to painters, photographers ( Dorothea Lange being the most famous), and theater ( the shut down of Hallie Flanigan’s radical Theater Program), abound in our press these days, as the Corona Virus devastates the arts and the creative sphere. Even the conservative commentator David Brooks was suggesting a federal service work program for youth starting in the fall.

Today May 7 is the day that Roosevelt launched the Works Progress Administration. The Art Programs actually began much earlier, immediately after his inauguration in 1933. The government began to develop a program with an hourly wage to ensure the survival of artists. They followed on several years of fragmented private programs that helped the artists: one early program was organized by the College Art Association.

But these govenrment programs did not happen spontaneously. Government support was the result of the artists forceful demonstrations and their self proclaimed identity as unemployed workers, affiliated with powerful unions. Artists’s confrontational tactics led the government to see them as a force to be contained. Since artists identified with workers, the government could justify supporting them as workers.

Harry Hopkins was a social worker whom Roosevelt hired to direct the entire WPA program. He believed in art programs.

In my book Art and Politics in the 1930s, Modernism, Marxism, Americanism, I discuss the political positions of the cultural environment in those days , as suggested in the title. As today, there were great disagreements between the left and the right. There were pro Nazi rallies, refusal of boats filled with desperate Jewish refugees, and fear of Soviet policies on the one hand, and Communists and Socialists on the other hand. Translated into today’s terms, we have White Supremacists and some deeply right wing Republicans on the one hand, and Bernie Sanders followers and believers in socialist principles on the other.

Official Communism as in joining the party was not widespread among artists, because they didn’t like to be told what to do, but some artists did become deeply involved as seen in the radical left newspaper New Masses.

With widespread unemployment, artists and writers joined forces with striking workers. They believed in collective action, in supporting those who were suffering.

Wiliam Gropper depicted the miners living conditions and their conflicts, .

He and Walter Quirt, among others, participated and recorded the World War I veterans asking for food as they marched to Washington in 1932.

Other artists went through the South and photographed victims of the Dust Bowl ( Ben and Bernarda Shahn were the earliest to drive into the South) and of course Dorothea Lange’s famous photo is in this category although with different sponsorship, the Farm Security Administration.

Paul Strand made films that explained why there was a Dust Bowl, such as The Plow that Broke the Plain.

Radical writers, theater producers, actors, and even musicans all joined in the cause of protesting injustice.

They banded together in the Artists Union and the Popular Front as well as the American Artists’ Congress, which brought together a wide political spectrum of artists and writers. Left to right above: Heywood Broun (radical journalist), George Biddle, Stuart Davis, Julia Codesido ( from Peru), Lewis Mumford ( at podium), Margaret Bourke-White, Rockwell Kent, Jose Clemente Orozco, paul Manshi, Peter Blume, Aaron Douglas.

That first federal program was called the Public Works of Art Project. It was the first art program to directly utilize one million in relief funds out of 400 million allocated for relief for workers. through the Treasury Department. Edward Bruce was the tireless planner : Here is one official description: “During its short 5-month life in 1933-34, the PWAP employed 3,749 artists, who created 15,663 works of art.  These works included 7 Navajo blankets, 9 bas reliefs, 42 frescoes, 99 carvings, 314 drawings, 647 sculptures, 1,076 etchings, and 3,821 oil paintings.  Such works of art decorated public schools, orphanages, public libraries, and “practically every type of public building.”  Museums sought and displayed the work, and many Americans were “made familiar for the first time with the contemporary art of their own country…”

A little over $1.3 million was spent on the project (about $23 million in 2015 dollars), with nearly $1.2 million going towards the artists’ paychecks”

But this program failed to reach many people. It stumbled on the idea of “quality.” The advisory committee was drawn from museum directors, all men with one exception, Juliana Force of the Whitney Museum. It only funded established artists.

Edward Bruce went on to lead the Treasury Section of Fine Arts which created murals for Post Offices and Federal buildings. At the end of the decade he sponsored the 48 states competition . But as everyone knows, these were not exactly radical. They were tied to the “American Scene”

Often artists sent out to rural areas had to negotiate with the people on what to represent or fatten up their farmers!

A new relief program began in the summer of 1935: Federal Project Number One, included theater, music and writing as well as visual arts. Directed by Holger Cahill ( born in Iceland! ) from 1935 – 1943, he was committed to what he called “cultural democracy”. As I say in my book Art and Politics in the 1930s in my chapter on Cahill: ” Cahill could sell his program to bureaucrats on one day and to a small- town mayor on the next. He could drink tea and play poker, charming both millionaires and Marxists. He spent much of his time as administrator on trains, promoting the art program in small towns across the country. ”

Cahill was immersed in the philosophy of John Dewey and Thorstein Veblen, he believed in the beauty of folk art, the art of everyday life, but he wanted to sponsor a wide range of styles and subject matter.

Here is another quote from my book:

“In August 1935, armed with nostalgic Americanism, Deweyan pragmatism, some Marxism, and a lot of populism, Cahill joined the New Deal bureaucracy. He was anxious to bridge the gap between the creative artist and the government bureaucracy. Recognizing that the support of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Hopkins was crucial, Cahill adopted New Deal rhetoric in his speeches as often as possible. Late in his own life, Cahill paid tribute to Roosevelt: ‘At a time when it looked like our civilization couldn’t afford itself, [President Roosevelt] had the courage to establish the greatest art program in this nation’s history.’ “

Indeed Eleanor was crucial to obtaining ongoing support for the program and manipulating which department funded it, thus keeping it going longer.

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This crucial tribute to the Roosevelts stands out in contrast to our current atmosphere in the government of greed, self serving political maneuvering, and philistinism.

According to one manual, the Federal Art Project for visual artists included mural painting; easel painting,oils,water colors, drawings, graphic arts; sculpture; applied arts, posters, signs, arts and crafts- metal work, decorative wood carving, ceramics, weaving, photography; lectures, criticism, research, pamphlets and monographs on various phases of American art; circulating exhibitions of art; art teaching; drafting, charts, maps, models, stage design, and restoration. Based on his fervent desire to make the art world more democratic, Cahill promoted two programs that do not appear on this list: the Index of American Design and the Community Art Centers. The first supported the preservation of design, the second took art into communities that had not even seen art much less produced it before particularly in the South and West.

The Community Art Centers reached out specifically to African Americans and included the famous Harlem Art Center, the source of support for so many later to be famous African American aritsts. In the South it bowed to larger forces of racism and set up two separate art centers for Blacks and Whites, but again, many artists began careers there that would later become famous.

Other New Deal programs reached out to Indigenous artists many of whom also became well known. The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 completely changed federal policy toward Natives. In addition to many legal changes, the New Deal supported work for natives as well as art in the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1935. Jennifer McLerran’s points out its strenghts and weaknesses ( particularly in emphasizing a nostalgic reference to the past, a characteristic of the New Deal as a whole).

So when today we speak of a new New Deal in anything, art, health, climate, we have to recognize the huge gulf between the liberals and progressives of the Roosevelt administration and our current moment, the divisive gap in our country encouraged by the present administration, is in stark contrast to the efforts to serve the people, to bring people together and to help them survive in the 1930s.

The radical actions of the artists in the early years of the decades before the Roosevelt administration began served as a catapult for the desire to support artists. We need such a catapult from the artists write now, to project into the NEXT ADMINISTRATION. In Italy the artists are organizing.

Hopefully the artists here can do that also.

Some Public Art in the Central District: Jimi Hendrix Park and the Shadow Wall

Scott Murase with Murase Associates designed the recently completed Shadow Wall sculpture in the Jimi Hendrix Park. The same firm beautifully designed the whole park to loosely suggest a guitar.  

From the entrance at 2400 S Massachusetts Ave, the Hendrix signature on the wall leads us on a purple (now faded to blue) swirling path inscribed with the poetic words of two Hendrix songs “Angel” and “Little Wing.” The beautiful words remind us that Hendrix was a poet as well as an extraordinary musician.

The lyrics continue:

“She stayed with me just long enough to rescue me And she told me a story yesterday about the sweet love between the moon and the deep blue sea. And then she spread her wings high over me.

“She said she’s going to come back tomorrow and I said fly on my sweet angel, fly on through the sky. Fly on my sweet angel tomorrow I’m gonna be by your side. Sure enough this morning comes to me silver wing silhouette against a child’s sunrise And my angel, she said to me, today is the day for you to rise. Take my hand, your’re gonna be my man You’re gonna rise

And she took me high over yonder

And I said fly on my sweet angel Fly through the sky Fly on through the sky Fly on my sweet angel. Forever I will be on your side. ( 1967)

Here you see the original purple sent to me courtesy of Scott Murase.

Horizontal strips provide a succinct biography of Hendrix’s amazing life from humble beginnings in the Central District to world-wide fame.

For example one strip states: The original Jimi Hendrix Experience disbanded in June 1969. On August 18, 1969, Jimi’s new ensemble group Gypsy Sun and Rainbows headlined Woodstock Art and Music Fair in upstate New York, where Jimi delivered unforgettable rendition of “Star Spangled Banner.”

The path leads to the large red butterfly that hangs over the seating area, intended for performance and community gatherings.

A portrait of Jimi Hendrix dominates the newly installed Shadow Wall. From that focus it swirls out with a perforated steel curtain that creates vibrant shadows, including silhouette cut outs of the musician.

Appropriate to the incredibly innovative Hendrix, it transforms a static memorial sculpture into a vibrant space filled with rhythms  that echo and fold back on themselves as we walk through it. The patterns in the shadows suggest swelling music. Hendrix came from great poverty and emotional challenges in his youth, but his staggering musical talent on the guitar led him to world wide fame.

“Climate Change Alert through Arctic Aesthetics” by Jean Bundy, Art Critic based in Anchorage Alaska

This paper was presented in the International Art Critics Association session at the College Art Association February 2020 Jean Bundy is the Climate Change Envoy for AICA-INTERNATIONAL

Introduction

In the Eighteenth Century Captain Cook era, when exploration and desired acquisition of the Pacific Northwest was mapped and illustrated, it became evident that these locations had abundant flora, fauna, and minerals. Encountering the Indigenous, who were often abused, was a resource for survival, scientific research, and financial gain, which continued through the Russian takeover, the Alaska purchase, 1867 and yes, through Statehood, 1959.

In the Twenty-First Century, Alaska Natives and other Arctic aboriginals are finally being appreciated for stewardship of their lands and acute awareness of Bush Climate Change. Explorers/scientists and tourists venture to the 49^th state, not to claim territory, but to paint, photograph, wilderness adventure, and observe/document the Arctic with cameras/instrumentation unimaginable to Cook.

Alaska’s changing environment has been obvious to all residents for the past several decades. Increased forest fires, die-offs of: Salmon, Murres, and Seals, bug infested trees, and toxic algae, are evident in urban areas as well.

Lack of snow and melting glaciers impact Bush living as seacoast towns are eroding, and icepacks needed for safely hunting sea mammals are shrinking. Increasing amounts of CO₂ found in the ocean are also leaching out of the ground as tundra melts, witnessed by rising/falling Pingos.  

These are humongous problems that can’t be solved without cooperation from governments willing to shell out large sums of cash while putting their countries on energy diets and adopting more user-friendly recycling and pollution programs. 

So, does educating the public to the rapidly melting Arctic through aesthetic visualization do any good? And are there ironic silver linings found within Global Warming such as: longer growing seasons, anthropological discoveries, Arctic communities benefitting from installation of fiber-optic cables because of the surfacing Northwest Passage?

The Christies’ Symposium, June 11, 2019, stressed that “art brings the invisible to our attention.” So why not use this phenomenon to extend Heidegger’s definition of ‘Being’ by cleaning up the living Earth?

Aesthetic narratives, that steamroll Captain Cook’s or Averill Harriman’s masculine adventuresome fantasies, get replaced by gender-neutral themes: oceanic pollution, sea ice melt, coastal erosion, and respect for Indigenous populations.

Six artists working across the Arctic possess different backgrounds which culminate in multiple perspectives, making art to heighten awareness of Climate Change, thus heralding the aesthetic importance of the North.

1: Ásthildur Jónsdóttir (Iceland) ‘Arctic Aesthetics, 2019’

Jónsdóttir hand stitched/painted the Eight countries that reside in the Arctic Circle, saying she wanted to be “involved with issues concerning the ecology of the planet….[and to encourage engagement] in the beauty of the Arctic, both physically and psychologically.” Her art moves beyond craft morphing into fine art, overlaying the essence of ancient artifacts upon contemporary art making. Jónsdóttir’s piece was displayed at the Second Arctic Arts Conference, Rovaniemi, Finland, June 2019, while a similar photographic map was projected at the First Arctic Art conference, Harstad Norway June 2017.

Most maps are shown from the vantage point of the equator where notable historic travel, transportation and colonial entrepreneurship occurred. Looking at the world from the top down, disorients, but ultimately creates a greater sensitivity about this region and its importance to the rest of the Globe, in light of accelerated melting.

Referencing Alaska, beginning with Russian colonization, and continuing under US ownership, white Settlers came and established towns and businesses without recognizing the historical rights of Indigenous populations. The Alaska Natives Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) 1971  resolved aboriginal land rights by transferring 40 million acres of land to about 200 corporations in which Alaska Natives are shareholders. Because the corporations are businesses and not governments, ongoing disputes between Native villages and the Federal/State agencies continue.

Scandinavia’s history, like Alaska’s, is about white Settlers/entrepreneurs disrupting the semi-nomadic Sámi ancient traditions. Like Alaska Natives, Sámi view land as a borrowed gift/resource for hunting and fishing and don’t conceive of land as Western ownership/real estate.  In the late Nineteenth Century, the Norwegian government began appropriating Sámi lands which were resource rich and economically viable. Sámi were ordered to assimilate into Norwegian culture and language; children were sent to state run boarding schools like Alaska Native children.

In 1987, the Norwegian government gave Sámi their own parliament, with other Scandinavian Sámi parliaments also established. But many feel this attempt to re-establish/recognize Sámi governance is window dressing. For example, governments cull Sámi reindeer herds, rationalizing there are too many per acre. In reality, grazing lands are more remunerative developed for natural resources.

It has always been perceived that the North can’t think for itself.  There is the “North” created by outsiders, which often overtakes insider “North.” The intent of recent Arctic Arts Summits is to visualize cultural similarities between Arctic countries which are experiencing similar political and environmental frustrations.

However, attitudes are changing as Indigenous groups are becoming appreciated for their acute understanding of Nature’s harmonies/balances, as they strive to be guardians of all things land/sea related. The outside world still has the stronger hold on mineral rights as well as control of hunting and fishing. However, Tourism has become a new resource for Arctic prosperity, with Indigenous art the preferred commodity sold.

Sadly, fake Sámi and Alaska Native art is also popular. Many residing in the North feel there are too many tourists, too many cruise ships, polluting/eroding natural surroundings.

Finding an Arctic voice, which appreciates the beauty of landscape/wildlife, while coping with Twenty-First century development, continues to challenge ancient Indigenous ways, and now the impact of Global Warming. Can there ever be a balance between development and the environment?  Exhibiting aesthetic objectivity helps imagine solutions.

2: Brian Adams (Iñupiaq) photographer, ‘Kivalina Sea Wall, 2007’

Adams’ photograph seeks humanity beneath the surface. Kivalina is an island of four hundred Iñupiaq residents in the Northwest Arctic Borough, which is slowly returning to the sea. Residents hunt the Bowhead whale, which becomes harder as ice packs grow thinner. Before missionaries were sent to Alaska and imposed Western ideas of stationary communities upon Natives, seasonal relocation to inland fish camps was the norm.

Disruption becomes a much bigger deal when towns with buildings, bureaucracies, and communication systems are permanent places. Boxes and sandbags are a temporary fix to the reality that endangered villages will eventually have to move and at great expense.

3: Marek Ranis (Poland/USA), associate professor at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte ‘Faith, 2017’

Ranis’ Faith (2017), a transparent digital print of an inverted oil rig superimposed against an Arctic sunrise/sunset, situated in a window, mimics stained glass, suggesting sacred venues of contemplation and rejuvenation. Ranis positions this handsome machine, center stage, like the image of a saint in a cathedral window.  This upside down rig allows viewers to pause and contemplate mechanisms that extract needed oil, providing Norway with wealth and social services, but also the possibility of an environmental disaster.

However, the gorgeous landscape behind the rig, produced by the sun’s energy, can also generate devastation without man’s assistance. The sunrise/sunset becomes a metaphor for considering frictions between increased mineral exploration, and Sámi reindeer herders lobbying to preserve needed pasture lands.  The Arctic tug between preserving raw beauty and harnessing nature for profit continues throughout all communities.

In Alaska the debate about whether to allow copper mining near Bristol Bay, home to commercial and recreational Salmon fishing, continues with the conundrum that providing jobs to Indigenous locals, who can’t rely on total subsistence, may pose environmental consequences if a mine were to leach toxins. Harkening back to early Twentieth Century ‘Heideggerian’ discussions on the potency of the machine age, then fast forward to the Twenty-First century with its sophisticated automation, has progress been made when it comes to utilizing technology safely/efficiently and at what expense to the environment?

4: Geir Tore Holm (Norwegian), ‘Fughetta, 2014’

Holm’s Fughetta (2014), are reindeer carcasses soaked in resin and electrified, resembling The Human Body Exhibition.  Holm, who lives on a farm, is reconfiguring reindeer, the livelihood and sustenance of the Sámi, as a surreal chandelier or butchered meat hanging/aging in a cooler. By isolating reindeer from grazing sites, viewers are forced to think about Nature that can quickly be refigured into a heartless commodity.

Is it proper for the Norwegian government to cull Sámi herds, so the real estate can be developed? Perhaps further Climate Change will make what seems unnatural, the taken-for-granted norm. Fughetta is also reminiscent of compositional Fugues which have multiple voices. Fughetta suggests musical rhythms, as the reindeer remains swing from a ceiling. Pendulum motions suggest hangings too, and the tug of war between environmental groups and mining companies.

5: Allison Akootchook Warden (Iñupiaq) and Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit) video, ‘Envoy, 2016’

Warden, known for choreographed rap, and Sitka filmmaker Galanin, produced the video Envoy (2016). One segment shows a Polar Bear frantically pacing in a not so politically correct ‘Natural History’ concrete space. Until recently, zoos kept animals confined as specimens, giving little thought to their environmental needs.

The Polar Bear has become the poster child for Global Warming as Arctic sea ice, the bear’s habitat, is melting. Ironically, zoos may be the only places Polar Bears will exist, hopefully better than the one pictured. 

In Warden’s footage the matted bear who resides alone in a concrete jungle represents environmental carelessness at its worst, as well as man’s lack of foresight. Although, not the cuddly creatures appearing in Disney footage, or Coke commercials, Polar Bears deserve saving.

6: James Temte (Northern Cheyenne) adjunct professor at Alaska Pacific University, ‘THINK NEXT OVER NOW, 2019’

Temte’s outdoor billboard-esque photograph is made of large plastic tessellations, picturing a pre-teen standing in a field, clasping a handful of dirt/vegetation. The youth could be male or female of any ethnicity. This young person is wearing a logoed t-shirt and warm-up jacket that is also gender-less. Hair is shoulder length with bangs—any kid’s cut.

Some of the background squares have deliberately been omitted, creating black emptiness, suggesting what life might be like when Climate Change erases the Earth, as we know it. Since this is a parking area, ‘handicap’ signs not only couldn’t be removed, they become part of the composition. One of the ‘handicap’ signs fetched up on the breast pocket of the youth’s track suit and looks like the garment came with that label.

This entire piece becomes a narrative for Global Warming, with the ‘every-youth’ cradling a piece of Earth. Yes, we are ‘handicapped’ as we begin to figure out how to balance productivity with cleansing the environment. Each word of ‘THINK NEXT OVER NOW,’ executed in different fonts, makes a statement, becoming contemplative verbiage hanging over the youth, landscape, and all of us.

Driving by Temte’s mural forces Anchorage residents, who are going about their daily routines, to consider Climate Change—subtleties override being scolded. Global Warming has been happening/accelerating/ignored since the Industrial Revolution and can’t be fixed ASAP, which really depresses teens like the one depicted in this mural.

Of note: mysterious dust was found in late Nineteen Century Greenland, by Swedish explorer Erik Nordenskiöld, finally identified as coal, blown North from the Industrial Revolution of Europe and North America (Hatfield 174,175).  

According to Temte, “I see a need for including art specifically public art in the climate change conversation. As a scientist I know that data collection is important to track the impacts occurring in the arctic however, looking at an excel spreadsheet of data points may not be as compelling as seeing our stories depicted in murals across our communities. The language of art can connect with everyone from children to our elders. The more that  communities can come together and agree that actions need to be taken and that we are all a part of the solution the more ground we can make on addressing and potentially slowing the effects of climate change.”  Like all things social and political, change doesn’t occur until a panic button is visualized, and hopefully pushed.

Conclusion

At Christie’sSeminar, New York City, June 11, 2019, it was agreed that Global Warming was complicated and shouting at people to reduce Carbon Footprints fails.

According to a wall label at the Arktikum Museum, Rovaniemi, Finland, “The world is becoming increasingly connected, through shared social, environmental, cultural and economic challenges, requiring different forms of transnational knowledge and solutions.” 

Last April’s Notre Dame fire proved art is the greatest metaphor for Globalism. On Place Jean Paul II, a plethora of ethnicities stood, prayed and cried, while millions worldwide watched on electronic media, as fire fighters saved most of the structure. Instantly monies poured in from all parts of the Globe, because people worldwide want to feel a part of rebuilding a monument which has endured the historical dichotomy: suffering and euphoria. Fire didn’t care about cultural divides; it just enjoyed melting lead and smoldering centuries old wood into charcoal.

Art promotes the invisible through visual dialogue, museum or neighborhood involvement, and self-awareness of belonging to place. Artists with a sincere investment in the Earth are not only stewards, but beacons for the mess that needs cleaning-up.

Photographs by David Bundy except Brian Adams (Iñupiaq) photographer, ‘Kivalina Sea Wall,

Bibliography Most information was gleaned from reportage at the First Arctic Arts Conference, Harstad, Norway, June, 2017 and the Second Arctic Arts Conference Rovaniemi, Finland, June, 2019, which became online articles (www.anchoragepress.com) and an AICA-International 51^st Congress, Taiwan, Fall 2018, presentation.

Papers by Jean Bundy

Arctic Environmental Challenges Through Virtuality, is available through AICA-INT (AICA Taiwan Congress, November 14-21 2018)

ART SLEUTH: Norway’s Arctic Arts Summit (July 4, 2017)

ART SLEUTH: Norway’s Arctic Arts Summit — part 2 (July 11, 2017)

The Sleuth Takes Arctic Art to Taiwan –Part 1 (December 5, 2018)

Alaska Native Artists Help ‘Make the North Great Again (June 24, 2019)

James Temte’s Outdoor Mural — It’s Not Outsider Art (November 4, 2019)

Temte, James. “Re: Jean Bundy for the Anchorage Press.” Message to the author. October 30, 2019. E-mail

Books: Quoted or Consulted

Fringe, edited by Maria Huhmarniemi, ISBN: 978-052-337-156-9; Pdf ISBN: 978-952-337-157-6

What is the Imagined North? Daniel Chartier, Arctic Arts Summit, 2018, ISBN: 978-2-923385-25-9

Arctic Pocket Book,Artikum Service Ltd.2017, Finland, ISBN: 978-952-938576-8

Heidegger, Martin. Being and Time,translated by Joan Stambaugh. State University of New York Press, Albany, 2010

——The Question Concerning Technology, translated by William Lovitt.Harper and Row, New York, 1977

McAleer, John and Nigel Rigby.Captain Cook and the Pacific.Yale University Press, New Haven, 2017

Jamail, Dahr. The End of Ice.The New Press, New York, 2019

Hatfield, Philip. Lines in the Ice. Philip Hatfield, McGill-Queen’s University Press, Montreal, 2016

Adams, Brian. I AM ALASKAN.University of Alaska Press, Fairbanks, 2013