Washington House Residency: week 1

I’m just finishing my first week here at the James Washington House and I’m finding that I’m blissfully lost in the archives and studio space.  I’m splitting my time between the studio, where I’ve begun to experiment with Mr. Washington’s collection of Edison voicewriters alongside my own arsenal of digital tools, and the archives in the basement of their home, where room after room is brimming with books, objects, images and everything else imaginable.  While I’m ostensibly doing “research” towards the creation of new work, I am finding myself completely caught up in the rich narrative of the Washington’s lives, their amazing collection of artwork, artifacts and books and, well…perhaps I should explain a bit more explicitly…

The Washington’s, Janie and James, bought their home in Seattle’s Central District in 1945.  Mr. Washington went on to become a very well know and much celebrated and collected artist, as well as civil rights activist.  Their house and garden includes a three story studio near the back of the property that was built to Mr. Washington’s specifications in 1965.  During their lifetimes they conceived of a Foundation that would include an artist residency in their home as well as a museum and archive dedicated to their life and work.

A glimpse at Mr. Washington’s extensive library including books centuries old.  He frequently underlined and starred passages that captured his interest, with three stars being the highest.

A few glimpses at the levity found in the archives; a stone fragment removed from Mr. Washington’s cheek and a dry quip about Morris Graves and Governor Evans in a letter from the seventies.