June 26, 2008
‘John Brown’: Jacob Lawrence’s dramatic series in residence in Allen Library for five years
A special work by artist Jacob Lawrence arrived at the University this week, but it won’t be found in a gallery. The Legend of John Brown, a series of 22 prints chronicling the life and death of the 19th century abolitionist, has been hung in the fourth floor study area of Allen Library. It will remain there for five years as a loan from the Washington State Arts Commission’s Art in Public Places Program.
The John Brown series began life as original gouache paintings in 1941; they were produced in print form in 1977. The series begins with Brown’s decision to become an activist, depicts his violent struggle to liberate slaves and ends with his capture, conviction and execution after staging a raid on the U.S. Armory and Arsenal at Harper’s Ferry.
The work comes to the University after a long odyssey. It was purchased in the 1990s by the arts commission for the Legislative Building in Olympia, but the building was slated for a remodel, so the work was never hung. Then the Nisqually earthquake hit, and work on the building proceeded afterward, but still the artwork was not hung. By the time Janae Huber was hired as collections manager for the Art in Public Places Program three and a half years ago, John Brown had been in storage for several years, and she set about finding it a home.
“I looked at the Legislative Building and I struggled to see how this work could fit in there,” Huber said. “The walls are mostly marble, and what isn’t marble is plaster. There aren’t enough contiguous walls for 22 prints except for corridors in the basement, which has no appeal.”
Huber felt bad that she had a masterwork on her hands that no one was getting to see, so she put aside the question of a permanent home for a time and applied to the National Endowment of the Arts’ American Masters Program for funds to tour the work. The grant was funded, and the Western States Arts Federation supplied additional money for interpretive materials.
So in 2006 The Legend of John Brown toured to Columbia Basin College in Pasco and Archer Gallery in Vancouver, Wash., which is on the campus of Clark College. And after the NEA renewed the grant for a second year, it went on to the South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia and Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon.
Peggy Weiss, who coordinates the art program at Harborview, managed those tours. “The tours were really great experiences,” she said. “We reached tons of community members and the lectures that were offered in conjunction with the exhibits were well attended. So it was a super positive experience.”
But finding a permanent home for the work remained a problem. “There aren’t grand spaces constructed in public life anymore,” Weiss said. “It’s very hard to site a piece of public art that’s bigger than 60″ x 60,” and collectively these pieces are larger than that.”
Not only is John Brown large, but it also contains images that UW Art Coordinator Kurt Kiefer describes as “not sweet and pretty.” Brown, he said, remains a controversial figure because of his violent methods, and that shows in the work.
Huber said, “This series has content that is meaningful and challenging to the viewer. I felt it needed a place where the viewer would be contemplative.”
She thought of the state’s universities, and immediately gravitated to the UW because artist Lawrence had taught here for 15 years. But finding a space on campus was a challenge too. Galleries were out because their exhibits change regularly, and anyway, as a public art project, the work is meant to be seen by people who didn’t necessarily set out to see art.
“We have miles of corridors in our buildings, but most of them are not secure,” Kiefer said.
In the end, the library seemed to offer a good combination of being a contemplative space that is open to the public, but with good security. “These are works on paper and we need to be careful about preservation, but at the same time we need to make them accessible,” Huber said.
The Legend of John Brown can be seen any time the library is open. All the images can be previewed on http://www.arts.wa.gov/public-art/legend-of-john-brown/flashweb/Jacob%20Lawrence.html. Kiefer said there will be programs in connection with the exhibit, but they are being put off until fall, when there are more people on campus.
When the five-year loan period is up, the arts commission and the University will consider whether to keep the work here permanently, Huber said.
