For most attendees, this weekend will be just another fun Fall Arts Walk in downtown Olympia. For me, this is a significant and meaningful moment that I’ve been looking forward to since last winter.
When I was notified that I had been selected to create artwork for the festival promotion for the second time, I found myself reflecting on what this means to me. The first time I had the honor of making an artwork for the cover was in 2007, following my graduation from the business readiness program held by Enterprise for Equity. That was my official launch, when I decided to take a leap and try to turn my creativity into a career.
That was 16.5 years ago, and so much has happened since then. I started as Cosmic Blue Monkey, a “recycled artist”, selling my arts and crafts made from reclaimed materials at festivals, bazaars, and a couple of galleries. In 2010, I decided to focus on mosaic and become proficient with architectural installations, and I changed my business name to JK Mosaic. In 2012, I realized I wanted to stop making portable artwork and put all of my energy toward site-specific mosaic commissions. In the meantime, I had also discovered community mosaic and wanted to add participatory projects into my practice. So much has happened between that 2007 cover and this one, I saw it as an opportunity to showcase my growth and progress.
This August was also the 35th anniversary of my move to Olympia at age 18. I had always felt drawn to the West Coast; to mountains and the ocean and the unique cultural atmosphere of this area. I spent a year getting my residency and saving money, then became a student at The Evergreen State College. After I graduated, I was given the opportunity to co-own a small restaurant downtown, which is now the New Moon Cafe. I’ve lived out of the area for periods of time, but Olympia has always felt like home for me. Even though I’ve been living 40 minutes from town for the past 21 years, I still consider Olympia to be my community.
My idea for the 2023 Arts Walk cover was to depict an iconic autumn Olympia scene. I had taken a photo at Capital Lake in October 2018 that I loved and I thought it would be interesting to recreate the scene in mosaic. I started work on the 24″ x 24″ piece during a residency at Centrum in Port Townsend in January, and I finished it in late April. (I was working on a public art project at the same time.) Also during that residency, I was starting to formulate a crazy idea to facilitate a community project centered around a figure emerging from a chrysalis, spreading their colorful butterfly wings, surrounded by butterflies all made through community engagement. My plan was to begin fabrication during Spring Arts Walk in April, holding hands-on events through summer, wrapping up in time to dedicate the mural at Fall Arts Walk. I didn’t have a budget, but I was granted fiscal sponsorship by an umbrella organization and I launched a crowdfunding campaign. I didn’t have a wall, but Anna Schlecht located and secured the perfect wall on the back of Lloyd’s Automotive.
And as you know, the mural has been a huge success with about 325 butterflies from near and far filling the wall. We’ll have a little dedication on Saturday at noon. I’ll have the actual mosaic featured on the guide cover on display at Hot Toddy, along with a few other pieces and a little slideshow of my commissions. (Hot Toddy is at 410 Capital Way and was my host in 2007 when I had the first cover.)
I look forward to celebrating all of this during the upcoming Arts Walk festival, so please come find me at Hot Toddy and/or join me on Saturday for the dedication!
