Not peace. Not prosperity.
These were the leitmotifs of 2002, which the island artists and arts organizations reflected – and reflected upon.
Many arts events throughout the year seemed geared to endorse peace, partly in response to Sept. 11, 2001.
The year opened with Frank Kitamoto and Kim and Ela Esterberg receiving the 2002 Island Treasure Awards. Honoring a champion of minority history and agents of international friendship seemed particularly appropriate in light of 9/11’s tragic events, organizers said.
The Hiroshima Flame Interfaith Pilgrimage – carrying a flame lit from the embers of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima – departed from Suquamish and Bainbridge in January, the first leg of a five-month walk to the East Coast, to promote peace and the elimination of nuclear weapons.
Voyager Montessori Elementary School students planted an eight-foot “Peace Pole” on school grounds on Earth Day.
Hubert G. Locke, dean and professor emeritus of the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington, spoke on race and diversity for the Bainbridge Library Speakers Forum on Jan. 13.
Leading anthropologist Dr. Sidney Mintz discussed our nation’s impact on the global food industry, as part of Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council’s “Food For Thought” inquiry.
The notion of promoting community and peace through free and open discussion got a boost from weekly “Conversation Cafes” at Pegasus Coffee House. Imported to the island from Seattle by Kat Gjovik, the conversations covered a broad range of topics.
Islander David Chard designated April 7 as “World Forgiveness Day 2002” to help others experience forgiveness.
As the anniversary of the terrorist attacks last year on the Pentagon and World Trade Center approached, many island groups held arts events to remember and honor the victims:
The Bainbridge Chorale and the Bainbridge Orchestra participated in the Rolling Requiem, one of more than 80 performances of Mozart’s “Requiem” held worldwide. Art and poetry, including a large quilt commemorating victims, were on view during a community ceremony at city hall.
On Bainbridge in particular,
the bombings and their aftermath – attacks on American Muslims, the government’s detention of men of Middle Eastern descent – resonated with the events of World War II, when Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps. Visitors to the Historical Society’s museum watched “After Silence,” a videotape of islander Frank Kitamoto’s first-hand account of camp life.
In February, a new National Park Service traveling exhibit on the internment – including images of Bainbridge residents of Japanese descent on a truck bound for the Manzanar camp – was previewed on the island, 60 years to the day after the exclusion order was signed.
A constant reminder of the need for peace in the Middle East were the Women in Black, who began a weekly Friday evening vigil at the corner of 305 and Winslow Way.
In October, discussion of the Middle East sharpened when the Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council sponsored a four-part program exploring the complicated and tragic conflict. The presentations provoked accusations from a few of bias.
As the year drew to a close, and war with Iraq seemed possible, art presentations with a theme of peace acquired new resonance. “Metaphors of Peace,” a celebration of peace expressed through the arts, was held Dec. 15. Storytellers, poets, essayists, visual artists, dancers and two choirs joined in a seasonal celebration, but peace was the bottom line.
As the year 2002 wore on,
preoccupation with the approaching anniversary of Sept. 11 began to give way to the perhaps-impending war in Iraq.
Meanwhile, concerns over the sluggish economy in the state and the nation as a whole continued to grow.
The downturn was keenly felt by artists and artist organizations. As attendance, sales and patronage fell, they responded by cutting programs and staff, as each group was forced to adopt survival strategies and look for sources of revenue.
Bainbridge Performing Arts director Joanne Ellis stepped down, replaced by former businessman and amateur thespian Per Sherwin – part of widespread changes in structure and programming advocated by the BPA board.
Bainbridge Arts and Crafts relinquished half its downtown gallery space to cut costs.
The cancellation of the annual Auction for the Arts – a fund-raiser jointly sponsored by BPA, BAC, BIAHC and Bainbridge Music and Arts, and benefitting the groups in the six figures – was yet another blow.
Despite all the challenges,
there were many bright moments and laudable accomplishments.
The founders of the Puget Sound Environmental Learning Center – redubbed IslandWood – briefly resembled modern-day Medicis; the September opening of the environmental education center prominently featured art, hand-made furniture and architectural detailing by local artisans.
And young artists made gains. A record number of works were entered at the Arts Walk competition last spring, and Bainbridge High School students’ photos represented nearly a quarter of the 36 winning works selected from some 3,500 submissions to the Washington State High School Photography Competition.
Ongoing arts programs continued strong. The superb Library Speakers Forum featured both artists and scholars, including former islander and PBS documentary filmmaker Nichole Newnham. Celluloid Bainbridge – the island’s home-grown film fest – let movie addicts binge.
The Bainbridge Island Arts Education Consortium – an alliance of the schools, island arts organizations and businesses funded by the Washington State Arts Commission – continued to bring the arts to island elementary schools; in one workshop, composer David Paul Mesler and Wilkes fourth-graders created a choral work that was performed by the Bainbridge Chorale in its spring concert.
New programs debuted.
Nikki Vick and Dave Guterson and a core team of writers launched “Field’s End,” a writing program associated with Bainbridge Public Library to serve experienced and emerging writers of both fiction and non-fiction.
And there were other bright moments.
The Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council, assisted by generous donations from the Rotary Club and Paper Products, purchased a theater-capacity Boxlight 9600 video projector for community use.
Maggie Smith’s “Water Quilt,” the 264-tile public art project for the Don Nakata Memorial Pool, was installed and celebrated at a September dedication.
After several years of fund-raising by Darden Burns, a new Yamaha grand piano arrived at Bainbridge Commons in October. And new galleries opened doors, including Art Soup, The Island Gallery, Gallery Fraga, and, just in time for the holidays, BAC, TOO!
Both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate passed a bill sponsored by Rep. Jay Inslee (D-1st District) directing the National Park Service to study adding the site of the former Eagledale Ferry Dock to the National Park system. In 1942, the dock was the nation’s first point of departure for Japanese-Americans to internment camps. Bainbridge’s Japanese American Community and the Bainbridge Island/NorthKitsap Interfaith Council have developed plans for a memorial on the site.
The year closed on an especially felicitous note, with United States poet laureate Billy Collins’ December reading to an audience of more than 1,500 at the Bainbridge High School gym.
But the codicil to a somber year was the announcement last week of a proposed 39 percent cut to the Washington State Arts Commission budget, a reduction that would cut deep into Bainbridge programs.
As the country appears to move toward war, and the economy continues down a rocky road, it may be a propitious moment to reflect on the need for art.
