The Washington Foundaton News & Information September/October 2018

DR. JAMES W. W ASHINGTON JR. & MRS. JANIE ROGELLA W ASHINGTON FOUNDATION

Plaza of Heroes 23rd & Est Union Seattle WA 98122 Monday, October 24, 1994 5:00 PM

Dedicated to the memory of Paul and Margaret Bangasser for their tireless commitment to equality, civil rights and justice for all

The Washington Foundation • PO Box 22952 • Seattle WA 98122

Dedicated at Midtown Commons

O O O

CULTURAL ARTS

COMMUNITY & CREATIVITY

NEWS & INFORMATION FROM THE FOUNDATION BOARD Volume 1

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Issue No. 1

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September/October 2018

elcome to the new edition of the Dr. James W. Washington Jr & Mrs. Janie Rogella Washington Foundation newsletter.

Our newsletter, titled News & Information (N & I) is designed to keep our communities in touch with what we are doing and to invite you to grow with us.

We will re-introduce you to James & Janie, share with you some of their favorite people, places, collections and things.

As the new Executive Director, along with the board, we are actively designing and planning interesting and creative programs and activities. We solicit any ideas, information and input that you may have.

We will include in each issue, news relative to the Foundation’s progress, needs, and articles we think may be of interest to you, from local to international and historical.

James Washington Fountain of Triumph

Washington’s Little Free Library

We invite your input Rev. Dr. LaVerne C. Hall

CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS entrusted with discharging the dictates of the Imperatives of James & Janie Washington’s Last Will & Testament . . . .

Thanks to Esther Ervin, international artist and Mr. Harold Lincoln, for our little free library.

Esther created and built the little house and Mr. Lincoln of Linc’s Construction, did the installation. The little free library is registered and is located in the front of the Washington house. Please feel free to come by, take a book(s) and even leave a book(s). It is there for your enjoyment and reading pleasure.

Thanks Esther and Mr. Lincoln for supporting the Washington Foundation.

The Washington Foundation is the home of the following: Back Porch Series * Conversations for Women, About Women and by Women; Conversations are on the last Sunday afternoon monthly, 3 to 5 PM. All women are welcome to these complimentary conversations.

Sojourner Truth Chautauguas . . . Education & Entertainment . . . Scheduled times TBA

Patricia Smith Secretary Mrs. Elma Horton Board Chair

Edwin Morris By-Laws

Jessie Attri

Not pictured: Paris Williams, Jim Yearby, Treasurer & Glen Youngblood

OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER ! KEITH W ILLIAMS, FLYRIGHT PRODUCTIONS

HIS STORY

“Continuing a tradition of professional service with Excellence”

James W. Washington, Jr. Artist, Sculptor, Poet Seeker of Truth

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isionary artist James Winston Washington, Jr. is one of the most celebrated sculptors from the Northwest. He received much acclaim for his sculptures during his long life and now his early paintings are being rediscovered after his death.

Washington’s close friends remember him as an orator, an educator, a poet, and an artist who tried to make visible the connection between spirituality and creativity.

James W. Washington, Jr. migrated to Bremerton, Washington in 1944. Although the state of Washington now claims him, the Mississippi-born artist was actually part of a larger migration of southern blacks seeking war industry work on the West Coast. Once here he set roots in the state working in a variety of government jobs while continuing his artistic pursuits in the evenings and weekends.

Washington’s motivation and confidence is evident in his visit to the Little Gallery in Seattle in 1945 where he met the gallery owner and asked for a show. Impressed with the small painting he brought with him, the owner agreed to show his work and introduced Washington to one of Seattle’s artistic luminaries - Mark Tobey. The older artist, also spiritual in orientation, forged a life-long bond with Washington. Through Tobey, Washington was befriended by many other artists. With Mark Tobey’s encouragement and Washington’s self-confidence led to a successful life in art.

Although he had no formal training in art, Washington appears to have been practicing his craft for a life time. In a 1952 Seattle Times article Washington recalls being in grade school in the south and seeing another boy draw a cowboy. Washington remembers he spent months trying to draw the same picture and from then on his passion was art. Most of his life, Washington worked a nine-to-five job to support himself and his wife Janie. His free time was spent exploring his creativity and allowing the Spirit to speak to him through the stone..

A very important aspect of your pre-needs arrangements is telling and writing your story your way.

Let us at MB Daniel help you document your story now. James and janie Washington wrote their story their way. You are invited to visit us at www.mbdaniel.com for all your needs including floral arrangements, At Need, Obituaries, Veterans, Grief Support, and Pre-Planning.

Micah Daniel, Proprietor . . . . . apostlemicah@mbdaniel.com

ART IN SPECIAL PLACES

VISION OF THE WASHINGTONS’ Through the art, philosophy, and life stories of Dr. and Mrs. Washington, the Foundation endeavors to illuminate the bond between creativity and spirituality by emphasizing the universal wholeness seeking expression through everything.

This wholeness, synonymous with what we mean when we say God, has the power to bring stone to life. # # #

Depository for his collections - art and books A setting [the home, studio, and gardens] where one can grow beyond the book, spiritually and artistically A desire to share his legacy with the public

Our bodies are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in us. It is that Spirit, if we possess it, [that] we can inject into subject media and make it live. Herein lies the universality of art and the universality of life itself.. . . .

James W. Washington, Jr.

Seattle Sheraton Hotel P Downtown Seattle

HIGHLIGHTING STAFF O CHARLES PARRISH

We share this month, a poet that both James and Janie admired . . .

Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) Born in West Africa, Phillis Wheatley was kidnaped and sold into slavery at the age of seven or eight and transported to North America, where she was purchased by the Wheatley family of Boston. They taught her to read and write and encouraged her when they realized her talent for poetry.

Mr. Parrish, part time staff at the Washington Foundation is also a local artist, sketching and sculpting are his forte.

He has performed as an all-around helping hand at the Washington Foundation for five years. It is befitting that he is able to use Dr. Washington’s studio to do some of his creative work.

Mr. Parrish’s most recent exhibit was sponsored by the Seattle Art Museum and the Seattle Housing Authority, June 6 - 29, 2018. It was installed at the Yesler Terrace Community Center and featured the work of other Yesler Terrace residents and partners.

With the publication of her Poems on various subjects, Religious and Moral in 1773, she became the first professional African-American woman poet and the first African-American woman to be published. As the Revolution gained strength, she began writing poetry to support independence. She sent a copy of her poem “To His Excellency, George Washington,” written in 1775, to General Washington in 1776. Impressed, he invited her to his camp, where she read for the future president of the United States.

Other exhibits include the Dr. James W. Washington Jr & Mrs. Janie Rogella Washington Annual Garden Parties and the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle’s former Annual Art Shows.

The Washington Foundation is pleased and fortunate to have Mr. Charles Parrish as a staff member, making use of Dr. Washington’s studio on a regular basis.

CURRENT ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

You are invited to a Reception/Sale of some of the new works of these two artists.

Sunday Afternoon September 30,2018 3 PM to 5 PM at the Historic Washington Studio 1816 26th Avenue Seattle Washington Ursula Stuart Afro-Peruvian Folk Art & Culture Masks and amulets inspired by ancient indigenous artifacts

Toshi Anderson Dramatic meets Minimalism Long Beach California meets the Pacific Northwest with brass, silver and some faceted stone, meshing past and current environments.

Published in 1997, The poem, Cycle of Life is included and was written to explain the Fountain of Triumph featured on the cover of Poems of Life.

Life is the truest cycle that ever will be.

A symbol of this is the salmon’s return from the sea.

As the salmon starts back on its physical trend to complete the cycle where life began.

So it is with blacks of the racial trend on the American scene who has struggled like the salmon to reach his or her pinnacle of life and the free spirit again.

This is the goal of the African-American women and men: to pass on to their offspring the energy in their body and recycle their physical remains in Mother Earth to be used again.

Poems of Life can be purchased for $10.00 from the Washington Foundation. Contributions for the Fountain of Triumph restoration can be sent to the Washington Foundation, PO Box 22952, Seattle WA 98122.

SEPTEMBER ACTIVITIES ! WASHINGTON FOUNDATION Praises Orji Washington Young Laureate 2018 NAACP ACT-SO Gold Medalist Writer & Performer Invites the community to a Special Spoken Word Performance Saturday Afternoon P September 22, 2018 3 PM to 5 PM Washington Studio 1816 26th Avenue Seattle WA Refreshments

ZOSER DUNBAR Washington Young Laureate 2018 NAACP ACT-SO Gold Medalist Writer & Performer Invites the community to a Special Musical Performance Sunday Afternoon P September 23, 2018 3 PM to 5 PM Washington Studio 1816 26th Avenue Seattle WA Refreshments

THANKS TO OUR 2018 SUPPORTERS Toshi Anderson Jessie Attri The Beleford Family Katharine Bullitt Micah Daniel Sarah J. E. Dean Ray Deardorf Gloria Dunbar Shirley M. Gilford Nyra & Thomas Gray LaVerne C. Hall Doris Hickman Barney & Norbeta Hilliard Debra Hillsman Elma Horton Sayumi Irey Ronald E. Johnson Harold Lincoln Linc’s General Contractors Roberta Longworthy Daniel & Charlesetta McDowell, Jr. Patricia McFarland Edwin Morris Joseph G. Nabbefeld Salamah O’Brien Charles Parrish Carolyn Riley-Payne Merlin Rainwater Christine Reed Adele Reynolds Cedric Saulter Elie Smith Wanda Smith Felicha Soimis Yvonne T. Starks Monica Street Callie Vassall Colleen Walls Julia L. Welch Paris Williams Virginia Wyman Wyman Youth Trust Jimmy Yearby Glen & Angela Youngblood ORGANIZATIONAL/CORPORATE SUPPORT Lake Union Partners Quick Communications 4Culture Historic Central Area Arts & Cultural District Seattle Office of Arts & Culture

James W. Washington, Jr. & Mrs. Janie Rogella Washington Foundation An Artistic Experience where Creativity meets Community The Washington Foundation is seeking Board members. Individuals with a passion for art, the preservation and presentations of Black history, excellent communication skills, a knowledge of community and community-based organizations. Must be willing and able to commit to at least eight hours a month for a three-year term of unpaid service to the Washington Foundation and the community.

Dr. James W. Washington was a noted artist, sculptor, and poet. He and Mrs. Janie Rogella Washington both died in 2000, leaving their entire estate, including art, books, house, garden, and other artifacts to the Foundation they established in 1997 prior to their deaths. They left explicit instructions in their Last Will as to the management, preservation, and presentation of the gift of their Life and Legacy to their community.

The house was designated a Seattle Historical Landmark in 1992. On Sunday, May 27, 2018, 3:00 PM, the Historic Central Area Arts & Cultural District officially designated the house as the first of 12 Cultural Historic Sites in Seattle.

If interested in additional information relative to this announcement or information on the Washingtons, please contact the Washington Foundation office at 206-709-4241. We are a working board.

A SPECIAL INVITATION . . . Please join our growing list of 2018 contributors. Yes, your contributions are tax deductible. They will allow the Washington Foundation to broaden our community outreach and collaborations . . . they will help us continue our Washington Young Laureates Program, restoration of the Fountain of Triumph, expand the Artist in Residence Program, restoration of the backyard greenhouse and front and back landscaping. We also have a plan whereby you can design your own Personal Contributions Plan . . . Just give us a call at 206-704-4241

2018 Washington Young Laureates & Seattle NAACP ACT-SO Gold Medalists

Jayden Beleford Opera

Zoser Dunbar Musician

Praises Orji Dramatic Orator

ColeJohn Tonnes Photographer

For Information, questions, comments, and contributions contact Dr. James W. Washington Jr & Mrs. Janie Rogella Washington Foundation (The Washington Foundation) 1816 26th Avenue P PO Box 22952 P Seattle WA 98122 206 P 709-4241 P Jwwfoundation@gmail.com P www.jameswashingtonculturalcenter.org facebook P James and Janie Washington Cultural Center