REVIEW BAINBRIDGE ISLAND
FRIDAY, July 25, 2014 | Vol. 114, No. 30 | WWW.BAINBRIDGEREVIEW.COM | 75¢
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND LAND TRUST
25th ANNIVERSARY
WORKING TOGETHER TO PROTECT THE ISLAND’S NATURAL RESOURCES A SUPPLEMENT OF THE BAINBRIDGE ISLAND REVIEW
INSIDE: LAND TRUST’S 25TH
SMP opponents rally for lawsuit
A very special show at SAM
Critics also mull recall election or seceding from island government BY CECILIA GARZA Bainbridge Island Review
Luciano Marano | Bainbridge Island Review
Bainbridge Island Special Needs Foundation program director Bryana Deits helps Simon Shaffer put the finishing touches on one of the 15 fused glass self portraits that BISNF will display at the Seattle Art Museum starting next week. The portraits, such as the one pictured below, were made with the assistance and instruction of Gregg Mesmer and Diane Bonciolini of Mesolini Glass Studio.
Bainbridge Island Special Needs Foundation artists show self-portraits in Seattle BY LUCIANO MARANO Bainbridge Island Review
Why do humans create art? For what reason did our ancestors — who were plenty busy hunting, gathering and trying not to get eaten by giant Saber-toothed cats and whatnot — make the time to draw on cave walls and carve intricate showpieces out of stone? While modern man may have the luxury of time and freedom to create pretty things, that was clearly not always the case. The desire to create art has withstood terrible wars, bar-
barous dictatorships, natural disasters and, in fact, these events often foster a greater quality of creation. The truth is, when you strip away
the ideas that surround art — the auctions, galleries, fame, scrutiny, hype and academic analysis — humans create art because it makes them feel good. One particular exhibit demonstrates this, one of the most basic tenants of humanity, better than most. Beginning Friday, Aug. 1, the Community Corridor Gallery on the first floor of the Seattle Art Museum will showcase 15 self-portraits made out of fused glass by the clients of the TURN TO ARTISTS | A13
Opponents of the long-debated but recentlyapproved updated Shoreline Master Program packed the Waterfront Community Center Tuesday to discuss their next plan of attack: sue the city. Led by Gary Tripp and Linda Young of the Bainbridge-based nonprofit property rights group Bainbridge Defense Fund, the discussion centered on what the potential consequences of the SMP could be for shoreline property owners. Young warned the crowd that although some doubt the city will be as aggressive as feared on enforcing the new regulations that cover shoreline development, the potential still exists for abuse. “Whenever the government has the power to do something, it always ends up doing it,” she said. Young said shoreline property owners may face hassles when trying to get permits for bulkheads and docks, and also claimed that no scientific work was done by the city or the state Department of Ecology to prove that the
current 50-foot buffers on shoreline properties were inadequate to protect the environment. She also said that the SMP will phase out existing homes that don’t meet the new standards, and warned the state may take the house keys away from property owners.
“We’ve tried everything else. Now is the time for litigation.” Linda Young Opponent of new Bainbridge SMP
“The way they do it (phase out), is if you leave your house unoccupied for 12 months, they take away your right to use that house again,” Young said. Critics of the city’s updated SMP said a legal challenge to the new rules was the only way to get them changed. “We’ve tried everything else. Now is the time for litigation,” Young said. With Young’s words still in the air, Tripp introduced Richard Stephens, the TURN TO SMP | A29