Update on our meeting with Barbara Thomas

We met with Barbara Earl Thomas, local artist and curator of NAAM. Eddie Walker presented the community mural concept and the idea of covering the entire wall (much bigger than what Ms. Thomas and I originally discussed). She reacted positively to the proposal and said that the concept was in line with the goals of NAAM and the Urban League. She also liked that the community is being proactive in engaging with the museum and investing in it. We got to hear some exciting plans for the exhibits. It sounds like the museum will be a community oriented, educational and a dynamic place.

Barbara did express concern with the ambition of our scope, given the current budget of $7,200 and time frame (the goal is to have the mural up by mid-January, 2008). She suggested that we do the mural in three parts and focus on one section first. Then we can raise more money and do the other two sections. We were happy that she was open to the whole wall idea concept and agreed that it would be a good strategy to do the mural in parts. Barbara underscored that we would, through her participation, keep the Urban League abreast of all the details and make sure that they are on board with the community's plans for future installments of the mural.

The next steps are to figure out how the mural will be attached to the wall. We need to talk with the architects about this. Also, Mr. Walker will determine the proposed dimensions and scope of content of the first section to be completed. Those specifications will be shared and approved by the Colman Community and the Colman project through Barbara Thomas.

Community Mural Meeting Notes

Mr. Walker presented the mural design for feedback. He talked about the general concept, which has evolved some since the last meeting. The mural imagery will still radiate from the center with a focus on the Colman school and the Colman/Judkins community. The next section will cover the local protests, marches and activism for civil rights. Then the third stage will cover the pioneer history and the daily lives of the people in the area. Across the whole mural, there will be larger portraits of community leaders and in between the spaces, everyday people. The background will be made up of Pacific Northwest foliage. The colors will go from yellow to orange to purple to blue to green radiating from the yellow center. Another layer will be text in various languages and of community narratives mixed into the mural and on the sides.

We had a discussion about who should be depicted on the mural. Over history, the CD has been a multicultural place, but there has been a lot of leadership by the Black community members in the civil rights movement and community organizing. Also for a large period and most recently the area has been predominantly African American. So, we agreed that there should be a predominance of African American imagery to reflect the Black presence in the CD and the mural placement by NAAM. It will also have multicultural imagery to represent the multicultural history of CD and the interconnected experiences of people in the area.
Some folks remembered Mr. Desmoni, for example. He was from Sicily and sold liquor to after-hours clubs. People in the neighborhood bought homemade Sicilian liquor from him. One meeting participant said that she still has his wine barrels in her basement. Several folks remembered the Jewish family that owned a store in the neighborhood and would sell things to neighbors on credit.

Some suggestions were made to look through the Black Heritage Society images (which we have already done once). Mr. Walker plans to search for more images at MOHAI. People talked about the Madrona beach (the only beach where African Americans were allowed to swim at one point). One of the meeting participants, Stephanie, said that there is a photograph of her grandmother in a bathing suit, likely at Madrona beach in the Black Heritage collection. She will try to retrieve it. There was also a discussion about how none of the major grocery stores wanted to open a branch in the neighborhood. There was community organizing, Nina Harding and others fought to get the land abatement and to develop the Promenade into an area with stores. Before that there was nowhere close to do grocery shopping except for the Black Front, which was a small store.

There was also discussion about how much of the unpleasant past to represent in the mural. In our interviews, we found that people tended to tell stories of discrimination (like the one about beach segregation and big stores ignoring the n'hood) as well as positive stories of community pride and collaboration. We debated about the merits of painting a romanticized depiction of the neighborhood vs. a realistic and not always happy one. It seems that a balance of all types of stories should be told, pleasant and some unpleasant.

Eddie’s concept covers the whole wall and we will try to get permission from NAAM to do that. At this point, they have only committed to a contained mural, but Eddie and I are meeting with Barbara Thomas tomorrow and we will try to explain the concept to her and see what the possibilities are.

Other ideas for the mural were to create a children’s coloring book (addition to Chalice's last meeting idea of having an informational brochure) and Reggie pointed out that the mural can become a destination spot where people come from other places to look at it and to learn about the area history.

People, institutions and places that were mentioned
Agnes and Corky Kirshner who raised 11 kids from 1950
Floyd Standifer, the musician
Eddie Rye
Larry Gossett
Aaron Dixon
Black Panthers
The crew who occupied Colman School (Elmer, Amari, etc)
Facts, Medium (Black newspapers)
Masonics
Our Lady Mt. Virgin
Promenade (the struggle to get land abatement and to gain economic empowerement)
I90 struggle (struggle to keep homes)
Liberty Bank
Black Front (AA grocery store)

Concerns raised
How to represent the abstract concepts in a powerful way?
The mural imagery should "speak" to people, tell complex and diverse stories but at the same time not be too chaotic.
How to visually represent the narratives, such as ones of economic empowerment that people have discussed?
How to express community pride visually?
How to represent the struggles and hardships?
Can it be done in 3 months and with the funding that we have?

MURAL MEETING

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16 at 6pm
DOUGLAS -TRUTH LIBRARY
2300 E. Yesler Way, 98122

Please join us for an open community discussion about the Mural.

Artist Eddie Walker will present his design for your feedback. Come voice your opinion and be a part of this historic mural.

For more information contact Irina

Upload a flier and pass it on:
Mural Meeting.PDF

Image on the left is by Eddie Walker

October 2 -- Community Meeting

Colman neighbors met at the Central Area Senior Center on October 2 to discuss the community mural. Artist Eddie Walker presented his ideas for the mural concept.

Community members provided some feedback and other ideas for the mural. For example, some people suggested that the mural should have an educational component, such as an accompanying brochure that will explain the events depicted in the mural. Caroline contributed her skills as an architect and drew the mural wall to scale.

Eddie described the mural concept which involves three thematic layers that will radiate from the center. These themes have emerged from the interviews and archival research:

1) History of the Colman School building

2) Struggles of the Colman/Judkins neighborhood

3) Everyday life of the Central District

The edges of the mural will blend the depictions of local community life with the greater Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.


Colman building itself, surrounded by its history (students, principal, school boycott, closure, take-over, etc.), will be the central imagery of the mural.

Beyond the layer of Colman School history, images will radiate outward from the historic building into the second layer, which will depict the struggles of the communities that surround the Colman building. For example, there will be images of Judkins Rejected, the marches and the neighborhood organizing.

The third and the outer layer of imagery will depict everyday life in the community, such as church life, sports, picnics, socializing, families, etc.

In addition to the three layers (History, Struggles and Everyday Life) the mural will have two more elements. One element is a layer of text that is directly taken from the stories that people have contributed to the mural. The other element will be a layer made up of stencils that will be applied by community members once the mural is mounted.

At this point, we need to continue to gather stories from neighbors. A number of people have volunteered to be interviewed and if anyone has a story to contribute or would like to volunteer to do some interviews, please email Irina at irinag@u.washington.edu

Our next meeting will take place at the Douglas Truth Library on October 16th at 6pm. Please join us to review Eddie's design and to provide further feedback.

Community Mural Meeting

Tuesday, October 2 at 6pm
At the Central Area Senior Center (500 30th Ave S.)

We will be meeting with artist Eddie Walker to provide feedback about his initial design for the CD History Mural. The mural is scheduled to be done by Jan 21, 2008 and will be placed on the retaining wall on 23rd Ave. S. (near Massachusetts) in front of the future Northwest African American Museum.

If you know neighbors who might not be on email and you wouldn't mind printing a few fliers to spread the word, I am attaching a flier (click here and it will upload). There are actually two per page, just cut along the line and pass it on! Thank you!!!

See you on Tuesday. There will be snacks to munch on. All Purpose Pizza has donated a couple of pizzas for the meeting.

For more information contact Irina Gendelman by phone: (206) 328-5823 or leave a comment here.

Meeting with the Artist

Neighbors discuss ideas for the mural with artist Eddie Walker (in blue hat).

Eddie came by to pick up the materials that we have been collecting. Amy B., Caroline, Diane, Eddie, Giorgia, Kate, Meg, Scott, Vince, and Irina shared the stories, photos and other research collected from the neighborhood.

The mural meeting doubled as a garage sale.

You can see the Colman school behind Vince.