Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Rare images of blue whale feeding behavior
Oregon State scientists captured some rare blue whale feeding behavior from a research drone. Whales are the largest creatures on earth, and they get their energy by consuming some of the smallest creatures in the sea. This video shows how they make choices about what's worth eating.
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
U2 "Miss Sarajevo" at the Rose Bowl - May 20, 2017
Video by Gregg Chadwick
U2 "Miss Sarajevo" at the Rose Bowl - May 20, 2017 with powerful visuals commenting on the civil war in Syria. Moving snippet added by Bono at the end with the words at the base of the Statue of Liberty. There were many beautiful musical moments at the Rose Bowl, from Edge's chiming guitar, to Adam Clayton's deep, fat bass, to Larry Mullin's powerful drumming, to an engaged Bono. For much of the evening, U2 performed in front of a giant video screen filled with Corbijn's evocative new imagery, and later filmed tributes to women's rights and the plight of Syrian refugees. As Bono says to Andy Greene in Rolling Stone,
"Let's meet one such immigrant who he wants to turn away from the shore. I commissioned french artist J.R. He didn't have much time to do it. Where are we going to find this girl? He finds her in Zaatari in a camp in Jordan, which I visited with my daughter and [my wife] Ali a year ago. He finds this incredible spirit, Omaima. She talks about America as a dreamland. She closes her eyes and J.R. asks her in another segment of the film we don't broadcast, 'What do you see when you think of America?' She goes, 'Oh, it is a civilized country and they are a good people.' It was just heartbreaking."
A giant banner bearing a photo of Omaima, the young Syrian refugee featured on the large screen, was carried through the crowd during Miss Sarajevo.
"Miss Sarajevo"
U2
Is there a time for keeping your distance
A time to turn your eyes away
Is there a time for keeping your head down
For getting on with your day
Is there a time for kohl and lipstick
A time for curling hair
Is there a time for high street shopping
To find the right dress to wear
Here she comes, oh oh
Heads turn around
Here she comes
To take her crown
Is there a time to run for cover
A time for kiss and tell
Is there a time for different colors
Different names you find it hard to spell
Is there a time for first communion
A time for East Seventeen
Is there a time to turn to Mecca
Is there time to be a beauty queen
Here she come, oh oh
Beauty plays the clown
Here she comes
Surreal in her crown
Dici che il fiume
Trova la via al mare
E come il fiume
Giungerai a me
Oltre i confini
E le terre assetate
Dici che come fiume
Come fiume
L'amore giungerà
L'amore
E non so più pregare
E nell'amore non so più sperare
E quell'amore non so più aspettare
Is there a time for tying ribbons
A time for Christmas trees
Is there a time for laying tables
And the night is set to freeze
The New Colossus
by Emma Lazarus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Full Concert Video by Chrisedge below:
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Happy international day against homophobia, transphobia and biphobia!
Happy IDAHOBIT 2017 !
The international day against homophobia, transphobia and biphobia.
#LoveIsLove
as people join together to take a stand against prejudice. I remember standing outside the White House on the day that Marriage Equality was declared by the Supreme Court and the beauty of that storied house lit up in the colors of the LGBT flag.
as people join together to take a stand against prejudice. I remember standing outside the White House on the day that Marriage Equality was declared by the Supreme Court and the beauty of that storied house lit up in the colors of the LGBT flag. "Today, I ask Canadians and people around the world to fight hatred, honour love, and defend human rights for everyone.” #IDAHOT #loveislove pic.twitter.com/orJMQR5846— CanadianPM (@CanadianPM) May 17, 2017
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Gregg Chadwick Arrivals and Departures (Charlotte to D.C. - June 26, 2015) 48"x36" oil on linen 2015-2016 |
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Giving Back: 38th Annual Venice Family Clinic's Art Walk & Auctions
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Wednesday, May 03, 2017
Jimmy Kimmel Reveals Details of His Son’s Birth & Heart Disease
Watch Kimmel's monologue praising Obamacare & tell your rep to oppose new anti-health care bill → (202) 224-3121. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/05/why-kimmels-obamacare-pitch-worked/525075/?
And this brings us to Jimmy Kimmel. He, in essence, explained why it is now politically impossible to really repeal Obamacare and why politicians now must accede to the demand for universal coverage, not just theoretical access to health insurance. In an emotional monologue about his infant son’s heart defect, he told the crowd:
We were brought up to believe that we live in the greatest country in the world, but until a few years ago millions and millions of us had no access to health insurance at all. You know, before 2014 if you were born with congenital heart disease like my son was, there was a good chance you’d never be able to get health insurance because you had a preexisting condition. You were born with a preexisting condition and if your parents didn’t have medical insurance you might not live long enough to even get denied because of a preexisting condition. If your baby is going to die and it doesn’t have to, it shouldn’t matter how much money you make.Whatever your party, whatever you believe, whoever you support, we need to make sure that the people who are supposed to represent us, people who are meeting about this right now in Washington, understand that very clearly. Let’s stop with the nonsense. This isn’t football. There are no teams. We are the team. It’s the United States. Don’t let their partisan squabbles divide us on something every decent person wants. We need to take care of each other
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Saturday, April 29, 2017
The Pale Blue Dot - Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey
Important Thoughts on Our Place In the World. Carl Sagan's famous 'The Pale Blue Dot' speech. Featured in the 2014 show 'Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey' Remember there is No Planet B! #ClimateMarch
Friday, April 28, 2017
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Sunday, April 09, 2017
Gregg Chadwick: Revenant by Jeffrey Carlson - July 2014
Gregg Chadwick's "Revenant"
Jeffrey Carlson Reporting Editor, Fine Art Today
Specters from a distant past ‐‐ or perhaps another level of existence ‐‐ people the nostalgic and visionary works of Gregg Chadwick.
Widely recognized for his figure paintings and cityscapes, Gregg Chadwick presents his latest work in an exhibition titled "Revenant," soon to be unveiled at San Francisco's Sandra Lee Gallery. The exhibition opens July 1, and the opening reception will be held July 10, from 5:30‐7:30 p.m.
In viewing Chadwick's paintings, it feels as though we are viewing these people and places through a screen of nostalgic vision. In passages the works are blurred and vague, suggesting forms more than representing them. This lack of definition suggests the uncertainty and vagueness of a lost memory or a fleeting dream; we can picture its shape but are often left grasping at its details.
Chadwick's process, too, encourages reflection on the simultaneously fleeting and lasting nature of life's experiences. In each painting Chadwick creates a kind of palimpsest, layering transparent pigments and painting over the earlier image. In this way the past is built into the paintings themselves.
"Revenant" will remain on display at Sandra Lee Gallery through July 31, where a concurrent exhibition at Sandra Lee Gallery presents paintings by Evri Kwong. To learn more, visit Sandra Lee Gallery online.
This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e‐newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine.
Jeffrey Carlson Reporting Editor, Fine Art Today
Specters from a distant past ‐‐ or perhaps another level of existence ‐‐ people the nostalgic and visionary works of Gregg Chadwick.
Widely recognized for his figure paintings and cityscapes, Gregg Chadwick presents his latest work in an exhibition titled "Revenant," soon to be unveiled at San Francisco's Sandra Lee Gallery. The exhibition opens July 1, and the opening reception will be held July 10, from 5:30‐7:30 p.m.
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Gregg Chadwick, "Salish Sea," 2014, oil on linen, 30 x 24 in. Sandra Lee Gallery |
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Gregg Chadwick, "Calle," 2014, oil on linen, 24 x 18 in. Sandra Lee Gallery |
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Gregg Chadwick, "Revenant," 2014, oil on linen, 24 x 18 in. Sandra Lee Gallery |
Chadwick's process, too, encourages reflection on the simultaneously fleeting and lasting nature of life's experiences. In each painting Chadwick creates a kind of palimpsest, layering transparent pigments and painting over the earlier image. In this way the past is built into the paintings themselves.
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Gregg Chadwick, "The Station Agent," 2014, oil on linen, 40 x 40 in. Sandra Lee Gallery |
Gregg Chadwick, "Deerhead Diner," 2014, oil on linen, 24 x 36 in.
Sandra Lee Gallery
Sandra Lee Gallery
"Revenant" will remain on display at Sandra Lee Gallery through July 31, where a concurrent exhibition at Sandra Lee Gallery presents paintings by Evri Kwong. To learn more, visit Sandra Lee Gallery online.
This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e‐newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine.
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Gregg Chadwick, "Mulholland Blue," 2014, oil on linen, 24 x 30 in. Sandra Lee Gallery |
Gregg Chadwick and Painting Time by Jeffrey Carlson - March 2013
Gregg Chadwick and Painting Time
Jeffrey Carlson Reporting Contributing Editor, Fine Art Today
March 2013
In a new solo exhibition, California artist Gregg Chadwick ambitiously explores the boundaries of time and of representational painting.
The Time Between, a show of recent paintings by Gregg Chadwick, is now on view at Sandra Lee Gallery in San Francisco.
In these paintings Chadwick works lightly and suggestively, as if in the haze of a fragmented vision. Some figures are located in recognizable time and space, like three young women who stroll an open road, one texting and another snooping. In other works the subject is far more enigmatic, the spaces indeterminate, and the figures distorted or mirrored.
The conceptual foundation for Chadwick’s recent work comes from a study of time as perceived by the ancient Greeks, who categorized it in two distinct ways. Chronos denoted sequential time, measurable in units, whereas kairos conveyed the significance of a moment and was qualitative in nature. A kairos was indeterminate in length and potentially great in importance, as in “an appointed time.”
Chadwick’s stated intention with his works on time is to “break down the illusions of linear time passing and expose the coexistence of past, present and future.”
The artist’s conceptual vision neatly dovetails with the goals of the broader contemporary realist art movement. Chadwick paints scenes that are representational yet imaginative; they are, at one and the same time, rooted in tangible existence and removed from it. His figures are real and unreal. Engaged in everyday activities or detached from their surroundings, we see them as women and men of the world and as specters of superhuman existence.
Based in Santa Monica, where he paints in an old airplane hangar, Chadwick has shown at galleries and museums nationally and internationally. He earned his BFA from UCLA and his MFA from NYU. Chadwick has held notable solo exhibitions at the Manifesta Maastricht Gallery (Maastricht, Netherlands), AD Space 2000 (Tokyo, Japan), and the Lisa Coscino Gallery (Pacific Grove, California), and he has participated in group shows at the Sandra Lee Gallery, Arena 1 Gallery (Santa Monica, California), and the Arts Club of Washington (Washington, D.C.).
Chadwick writes a blog, Speed of Life, in which he examines art’s intersection with society. He also frequently posts recently completed work to his Flickr account, which can be viewed here.
The Time Between will be on view through March 30, 2013.
An opening reception will be held the evening of March 7, from 5:30‐7:30 p.m. Sandra Lee Gallery is located at 251 Post Street, Suite 310, in San Francisco.
For more information, visit www.greggchadwick.com and http://sandraleegallery.com.
This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a new weekly e‐newsletter from Fine Art
Connoisseur magazine.
Filed Under :
Locations : California, Milano, Monica, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Tokyo, Washington, D.c. People : Gregg Chadwick, Painting Time
Jeffrey Carlson Reporting Contributing Editor, Fine Art Today
March 2013
In a new solo exhibition, California artist Gregg Chadwick ambitiously explores the boundaries of time and of representational painting.
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Gregg Chadwick, "Grand Central," oil on canvas, 36 x 48 in. |
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Gregg Chadwick, “Il Poeta di Milano,” oil on canvas, 24 x 18 in. |
The Time Between, a show of recent paintings by Gregg Chadwick, is now on view at Sandra Lee Gallery in San Francisco.
In these paintings Chadwick works lightly and suggestively, as if in the haze of a fragmented vision. Some figures are located in recognizable time and space, like three young women who stroll an open road, one texting and another snooping. In other works the subject is far more enigmatic, the spaces indeterminate, and the figures distorted or mirrored.
The conceptual foundation for Chadwick’s recent work comes from a study of time as perceived by the ancient Greeks, who categorized it in two distinct ways. Chronos denoted sequential time, measurable in units, whereas kairos conveyed the significance of a moment and was qualitative in nature. A kairos was indeterminate in length and potentially great in importance, as in “an appointed time.”
Chadwick’s stated intention with his works on time is to “break down the illusions of linear time passing and expose the coexistence of past, present and future.”
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Gregg Chadwick, “I Canti (The Cantos),” oil on linen, 80 x 60 in. |
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Gregg Chadwick, “The Time Between,” oil on canvas, 24 x 18 in. |
The artist’s conceptual vision neatly dovetails with the goals of the broader contemporary realist art movement. Chadwick paints scenes that are representational yet imaginative; they are, at one and the same time, rooted in tangible existence and removed from it. His figures are real and unreal. Engaged in everyday activities or detached from their surroundings, we see them as women and men of the world and as specters of superhuman existence.
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Gregg Chadwick, “Three Secrets,” oil on canvas, 30 x 24 in. |
Based in Santa Monica, where he paints in an old airplane hangar, Chadwick has shown at galleries and museums nationally and internationally. He earned his BFA from UCLA and his MFA from NYU. Chadwick has held notable solo exhibitions at the Manifesta Maastricht Gallery (Maastricht, Netherlands), AD Space 2000 (Tokyo, Japan), and the Lisa Coscino Gallery (Pacific Grove, California), and he has participated in group shows at the Sandra Lee Gallery, Arena 1 Gallery (Santa Monica, California), and the Arts Club of Washington (Washington, D.C.).
Chadwick writes a blog, Speed of Life, in which he examines art’s intersection with society. He also frequently posts recently completed work to his Flickr account, which can be viewed here.
The Time Between will be on view through March 30, 2013.
An opening reception will be held the evening of March 7, from 5:30‐7:30 p.m. Sandra Lee Gallery is located at 251 Post Street, Suite 310, in San Francisco.
For more information, visit www.greggchadwick.com and http://sandraleegallery.com.
This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a new weekly e‐newsletter from Fine Art
Connoisseur magazine.
Filed Under :
Locations : California, Milano, Monica, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Tokyo, Washington, D.c. People : Gregg Chadwick, Painting Time
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Gregg Chadwick, “Proserpina,” oil on canvas, 48 x 36 in. |
Saturday, April 01, 2017
Gilbert Baker's Rainbow Flag at MOMA
.@MuseumModernArt @curiousoctopus installing the flag designed by #GilbertBaker, which is part of MoMA's collection thanks to @michellemfisher's efforts. pic.twitter.com/IIxNh2lWrB— Gretchen Scott (@gretchen_scott) April 1, 2017
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Gilbert Baker, heading the Stockholm Pride Parade in 2003, pieced together the first rainbow flags in 1978. He described himself as the “gay Betsy Ross.”
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Thursday, March 30, 2017
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Saturday, March 18, 2017
TODAY: Gregg Chadwick: A Retrospective Look at the 11th Annual Santa Monica Airport Artwalk
by Gregg Chadwick
* Today - a special look at my paintings and monotypes at the Santa Monica Art Studios on March 18, 2017 from 12-5 pm as part of the 11th Annual Santa Monica Airport Artwalk.
Many of my paintings are inspired by poetry, history, and literature. When I lived in San Francisco and often on return visits, Lawrence Ferlinghetti's bookstore City Lights beckoned. A few years ago with my great friend Phil Cousineau on a book tour for our joint effort The Painted Word, we were able to stand together in a packed upper room at City Lights and express our deep admiration for Ferlinghetti's inspiration. My painting The City Drifts (San Francisco) seems to carry the feelings we all felt in the bookstore that night. Ferlinghetti's poem The Changing Light (see below) embodies that wistful moment.
The Changing Light
by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
The changing light
at San Francisco
is none of your East Coast light
none of your
pearly light of Paris
The light of San Francisco
is a sea light
an island light
And the light of fog
blanketing the hills
drifting in at night
through the Golden Gate
to lie on the city at dawn
And then the halcyon late mornings
after the fog burns off
and the sun paints white houses
with the sea light of Greece
with sharp clean shadows
making the town look like
it had just been painted
But the wind comes up at four o'clock
sweeping the hills
And then the veil of light of early evening
And then another scrim
when the new night fog
floats in
And in that vale of light
the city drifts
anchorless upon the ocean
"The Changing Light" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, from How to Paint Sunlight. © New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2001.
* Today - a special look at my paintings and monotypes at the Santa Monica Art Studios on March 18, 2017 from 12-5 pm as part of the 11th Annual Santa Monica Airport Artwalk.
Featuring A Balance of Shadows from my 2004 solo exhibition in San Francisco and an overview of my artwork from 1999-2017, my studio will be a time capsule for one day.
Many of the artworks on view have been loaned from private collections and are rarely on public view. In addition, a choice selection of paintings and monotypes will be available for purchase.
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Gregg Chadwick The City Drifts (San Francisco) 18"x14" oil on linen 1999 from San Francisco solo exhibition - A History of Light 1999 |
The Changing Light
by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
The changing light
at San Francisco
is none of your East Coast light
none of your
pearly light of Paris
The light of San Francisco
is a sea light
an island light
And the light of fog
blanketing the hills
drifting in at night
through the Golden Gate
to lie on the city at dawn
And then the halcyon late mornings
after the fog burns off
and the sun paints white houses
with the sea light of Greece
with sharp clean shadows
making the town look like
it had just been painted
But the wind comes up at four o'clock
sweeping the hills
And then the veil of light of early evening
And then another scrim
when the new night fog
floats in
And in that vale of light
the city drifts
anchorless upon the ocean
"The Changing Light" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, from How to Paint Sunlight. © New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2001.
Copies of my brother Kent Chadwick’s wonderfully detailed book on my art will also be available for purchase.
A Balance of Shadows: Gregg Chadwick's Paintings
Hardcover – February 6, 2016
E-book Version
Also, I am happy to announce that I have designed a line of clothing and accessories based around my paintings for VIDA fashion.
Apparel and Accessories Available Online at VIDA
Hope to see you there!
SATURDAY, MARCH 18, 2017
12-5 PM
Studio #15
Santa Monica Art Studios
3026 Airport Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Free parking outside the hangar.
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
You Are Invited: Gregg Chadwick- A Retrospective Look - Sat, March 18, 2017
by Gregg Chadwick
I am excited to invite you to a special look at my paintings and monotypes at the Santa Monica Art Studios on March 18, 2017 from 12-5 pm as part of the 11th Annual Santa Monica Airport Artwalk.
Featuring A Balance of Shadows from my 2004 solo exhibition in San Francisco and an overview of my artwork from 1999-2017, my studio will be a time capsule for one day.
Many of the artworks on view have been loaned from private collections and are rarely on public view. In addition, a choice selection of paintings and monotypes will be available for purchase.
Copies of my brother Kent Chadwick’s wonderfully detailed book on my art will also be available for purchase.
A Balance of Shadows: Gregg Chadwick's Paintings
Hardcover – February 6, 2016
E-book Version
Also, I am happy to announce that I have designed a line of clothing and accessories based around my paintings for VIDA fashion.
Apparel and Accessories Available Online at VIDA
Hope to see you there!
SATURDAY, MARCH 18, 2017
12-5 PM
Studio #15
Santa Monica Art Studios
3026 Airport Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Free parking outside the hangar.
More on Gregg Chadwick at www.greggchadwick.com
Thursday, March 02, 2017
Sunday, February 26, 2017
New York Times: Oscars Ad
The New York Times Just Released This EPIC Anti-Trump Ad To Air At The Oscars pic.twitter.com/OTm1r9FtUr— RogelioGarcia Lawyer (@LawyerRogelio) February 26, 2017
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
From Standing Rock to Salish Sea: Protect the Water
by Gregg Chadwick
Today as the trump administration and its henchmen are about to overrun the water protectors at Standing Rock, I am moved to repost this post from July. My thoughts are with the Standing Rock protesters today. They've defended land and water bravely. Today at 2pm they will be overrun. Last night many of their tents and structures were burned in defiance. We must continue to resist. Thank you🙏🏽 to all those who protect the water and thus our nation. #NoDAPL
Two years ago on a technicolor blue day, I stood on the deck of the Wenatchee ferry cutting through the choppy sea from Seattle to Bainbridge Island. The vessel was named for the Wenatchi people who originally lived in the shadow of the Columbia and Wenatchee Rivers in Eastern Washington State. We are riding on a ship of memory.
In the Yakama language, wenatchi means "river flowing from canyon." The Wenatchee River was home to a vibrant salmon run prior to the damming of the Columbia River which impeded the salmon's journey. Like the fish, the Wenatchi tribe was also blocked from its ancestral waterways as the US government rounded up the Native Americans in Washington State and collected them in reservations far from their native lands.
I often think about the rivers, lakes, towns and cities we have named after the original Americans. The absence of most of their culture in our increasingly mini-malled landscape points to the brutal erasure of Indian tribes across the United States. The dominant culture in America seems to continually romanticize, while at the same time ostracize, the rich history of Native Americans. The writer Sherman Alexie will have none of that, thank you. Alexie grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington before graduating from Washington State University. Alexie is a major player in contemporary writing. His well-received novels, Reservation Blues and Indian Killer helped pave the way for his foray into film with Smoke Signals and The Business of Fancydancing. Alexie writes with courage about his experiences as an Indian in a white culture. Alexie also writes, as Andrea Vogt in Washington State Magazine reported, with "brutal honesty-some might even say disdain-about ignorance, alcoholism, and other problems on the rez."
For Alexie and other Native American activists ignoring the problems exacerbated by systemic racism in the US is out of the question. With that in mind, for over 20 years an annual inter-tribal Canoe Journey has been held on the Salish Sea. The Salish Sea is a 6,500 square mile ecosystem consisting of the Puget Sound Basin (US) and the Georgia Basin (Canada).
Canoe Journey 2016, Paddle to Nisqually, continues the inter-tribal celebration and annual gathering of Northwest indigenous nations. The website for Paddle to Nisqually goes into great detail about the history and significance of the event:
The theme for this years Canoe Journey is "Don't Forget the Water" in honor of the Nisqually Tribe's Mountain story.
The Nisqually Tribe finds hope in the annual canoe journey and its focus on community building:
In my painting Salish Sea, who is the rider on the bow of this ship of memory?
Gregg Chadwick's Salish Sea was on exhibit at Saatchi Art through September 29, 2016 in the group exhibition Cross Currents.
Today as the trump administration and its henchmen are about to overrun the water protectors at Standing Rock, I am moved to repost this post from July. My thoughts are with the Standing Rock protesters today. They've defended land and water bravely. Today at 2pm they will be overrun. Last night many of their tents and structures were burned in defiance. We must continue to resist. Thank you🙏🏽 to all those who protect the water and thus our nation. #NoDAPL
I often think about the rivers, lakes, towns and cities we have named after the original Americans. The absence of most of their culture in our increasingly mini-malled landscape points to the brutal erasure of Indian tribes across the United States. The dominant culture in America seems to continually romanticize, while at the same time ostracize, the rich history of Native Americans.
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Gregg Chadwick Salish Sea 30"x24" oil on linen 2014 |
Two years ago on a technicolor blue day, I stood on the deck of the Wenatchee ferry cutting through the choppy sea from Seattle to Bainbridge Island. The vessel was named for the Wenatchi people who originally lived in the shadow of the Columbia and Wenatchee Rivers in Eastern Washington State. We are riding on a ship of memory.
In the Yakama language, wenatchi means "river flowing from canyon." The Wenatchee River was home to a vibrant salmon run prior to the damming of the Columbia River which impeded the salmon's journey. Like the fish, the Wenatchi tribe was also blocked from its ancestral waterways as the US government rounded up the Native Americans in Washington State and collected them in reservations far from their native lands.
I often think about the rivers, lakes, towns and cities we have named after the original Americans. The absence of most of their culture in our increasingly mini-malled landscape points to the brutal erasure of Indian tribes across the United States. The dominant culture in America seems to continually romanticize, while at the same time ostracize, the rich history of Native Americans. The writer Sherman Alexie will have none of that, thank you. Alexie grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington before graduating from Washington State University. Alexie is a major player in contemporary writing. His well-received novels, Reservation Blues and Indian Killer helped pave the way for his foray into film with Smoke Signals and The Business of Fancydancing. Alexie writes with courage about his experiences as an Indian in a white culture. Alexie also writes, as Andrea Vogt in Washington State Magazine reported, with "brutal honesty-some might even say disdain-about ignorance, alcoholism, and other problems on the rez."
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| The Business of Fancydancing leads Gene Tagaban (Aristotle Joseph), Michelle St. John (Agnes Roth), and Evan Adams (Seymour Polatkin), with writer/director Sherman Alexie.photo by Lance Muresan Courtesy Washington State Magazine |
Canoe Journey 2016, Paddle to Nisqually, continues the inter-tribal celebration and annual gathering of Northwest indigenous nations. The website for Paddle to Nisqually goes into great detail about the history and significance of the event:
"Canoe Journey gatherings are rich in meaning and cultural significance. Canoe families travel great distances as their ancestors did and participating in the journey requires physical and spiritual discipline. At each stop, canoe families follow certain protocols, they ask for permission to come ashore, often in their native languages. At night in longhouses there is gifting, honoring and the sharing of traditional prayers, drumming, songs and dances. Meals, including evening dinners of traditional foods, are provided by the host nations.When Europeans began exploring the region, the tribes were used to meeting and welcoming strangers who arrived by boat. Sadly, the Europeans did not understand the hospitality culture of the coastal tribes as the tribes were displaced over the next two centuries. The canoe culture, as practiced by the Native American tribes of the Pacific Northwest, had all but disappeared until the Canoe Journey events began to grow in the 90’s. Techniques of canoe making and use had largely vanished and fewer and fewer tribal people knew how to pull a traditional canoe. Now...a new tradition is well into the making and a cultural resurgence is underway."
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The Salish Sea is a 6,500 square mile ecosystem consisting of the Puget Sound Basin (US) and the Georgia Basin (Canada).
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The Nisqually Tribe finds hope in the annual canoe journey and its focus on community building:
"The Nisqually River Council’s Nisqually Watershed Stewardship Plan (NWSP) recognizes that community wellness is a key component of creating a sustainable watershed. We embrace the people who live in the Nisqually watershed, their sense of identity and responsibility that has existed for generations. Strong communities require, among other things, access to the arts and high community health indicators. Paddle to Nisqually represents a unique opportunity to highlight the many efforts the Nisqually Tribe makes to promote community wellness, including a culture free of drugs and alcohol, access to traditional and healthy foods, and close ties to Nisqually heritage."Looking back now on that day on the ferry, I see things through the veil of my painting and the complicated history of the region. There is an accumulation of memories gathered in this Salish Sea as the Wenatchee ferry carries its passengers towards their destination. How many canoes over the centuries have traversed this same path?
In my painting Salish Sea, who is the rider on the bow of this ship of memory?
Gregg Chadwick's Salish Sea was on exhibit at Saatchi Art through September 29, 2016 in the group exhibition Cross Currents.
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