What a great opportunity to participate by volunteering to help the amazing group at Paper Whale to set up the Noisy Waters Festival in Bellingham, Washington this past weekend. The Lummi word Xwot’qom (similar to Whatcom) ~ translates to noisy or roaring waters to describe the priorly existent Whatcom Creek waterfalls that flowed with ruckus sound and salmon decades earlier. Although a few jokes were made due to the rain that came down on Friday morning as we set up & opening blessing was shared, the sun graced us on Saturday & Sunday, encouraging local Northwesterners to emerge and attend this inspirational event.
The festival, hosted by non-profit group, Paper Whale, created an intimate, enclosed space down near the Bellingham Bay with 8 mural contest artists and at least that many Indigeversal Collective artists working on a panel that was installed the day after the festival on a neighboring building to the festival site. I had the pleasure of speaking personally with at least half of the mural artists, gaining inspiration, ideas, and forming connections that may spark future collaborations here in Olympia. Kaplan Bunce, founder of Indigeversal Collective, will be visiting briefly in the coming week, creating a potential opportunity to connect. Erica Rosendale, the festival’s first mural winner, will soon move to Portland, just a short drive down the I-5 Corridor, and we shared our mutual passion for painting endangered species. Emily Ding from Los Angeles modeled her fabulous splattered hightops covered in paint from her previous 4 mural pieces. Eddie Chaffer, who runs an artist mural event in Grand Rapids, Michigan, partners with ecologists to depict endangered species in their native habitats. Their project, Pleasant Peninsula, could easily inspire a similar vision for the Olympic Peninsula- our namesake too!
Posted here is the beginning of the Festival & artists murals…check out the bike tour & completed murals in future posts!
