They supported the message.

The mechanics of it, not as much.

The Port Townsend Arts Commission struggled to come to an agreement over a quickly evolving request for public funding for street art to acknowledge “Black Lives Matter” in time for last Friday’s Juneteenth holiday.

The idea for street art quickly percolated to the city council last week after a wide swath of residents called for
Port Townsend’s permission to paint Black Lives Matter on Water Street in time for the June 19 Freedom March through downtown in recognition of Juneteenth.

While the city council unanimously supported the idea, it left the proposal to supporters of a potential street mural, and city staff, to figure out.

CITY FUNDING SOUGHT

With many supporters asking the city to pay for materials for the mural, the proposal was promptly passed along to the Arts Commission.

Last week, and with a number of new members on board since its last meeting in March, commissioners tried to sort out what exactly was being proposed for funding.

The art itself? An event, where the community would come together to create it in downtown’s historic district? 

Other questions quickly arose. Permanent or temporary? Chalk or paint? And the cost?

Supporters of a street mural in downtown Port Townsend first submitted an application for arts funding for $2,500 to pay for the creation of what they said would be temporary chalk artwork with the words “Black Lives Matter.” 

The arts commission held a special meeting last Wednesday to talk about the funding request, and soon learned that the price tag for the grassroots art project had dropped significantly.

Suzanne Carlson and Teddy LaChappelle, the pair spearheading the project, said a new estimate put the cost of the street art at $468.

“We just needed to get a number on paper,” Carlson told art commissioners of the $2,500 figure at the June 17 meeting.

“We should be able to pull this off with $500 or less,” she added.

Though the temporary street art was expected to be completed using chalk, the pair said water-based paint would be used instead.

The artwork can be washed off, LaChappelle added. If not, it is expected to last one to three months.

Supporters of the artwork also said they are hoping to create a permanent piece of art on a building somewhere in Port Townsend in the future.

Though all supported the concept, some on the commission were concerned about the rushed nature of the proposal.

ALARMING ‘NEWS FLASH’

Arts Commissioner Simon Lynge read a letter signed by Black, Indigenous and people of color in Jefferson County (BIPOC). The letter pointedly asked how the idea for a Black Lives Matter street mural came about: “We want you to know that this is a news flash for many of us in the BIPOC community.”

“Is the art project a permanent installation? If not, what message are you sending by creating something that inevitably goes away? We believe a permanent art piece will illustrate a commitment to re-envisioning the culture of inclusivity in this town. To have this piece organized, designed and executed by its BIPOC community, with support and allyship of its white community, is a demonstrable first step on that path and not an empty symbolic gesture.”

The art project needed to include more members of the BIPOC community, the letter continued, rather than just several members.

The letter also raised concerns about the quick timing for the art project.

“Besides demonstrating your solidarity and white allyship, pushing to get this done for Juneteenth seems more like a push for a perfect photo-op and use of hashtags rather than having conversations with the BIPOC community that is here about how we feel we want to be supported and represented,” the letter said. “We find ourselves not fully included in something that feels not fully ours, but definitely should be.”

LaChappelle said the proposal was intended to be a show of solidarity, and not a photo op. The rushed nature of the project was strictly to have it done by the start of last Friday’s march.

“There was no intention to leave out anything. The ball was rolling,” LaChappelle said.

Even so, Lynge said proper consideration takes time.

“In this time and with subjects like this, to me it’s very important that there is time around it. Because it is so sensitive for people of color and the nature of this is very rushed and I understand the reason for that,” Lynge said.

“And while I support it, I think that it’s important in the future to consider having time around things like this, because we’re talking about hundreds of years of oppression that we’re trying to dismantle. And it just takes time,” he said.

Lynge said he understood the desire for healing in the community.

“And while I agree with that, I’m not sure that we’re there yet. We are not yet at a point of healing. We are still unpacking things,” he added. “We’re still discovering and unmasking a lot.”

“I want white people to know that it feels a little bit like steamrolling to me, as a Brown person,” Lynge said.

Lynge noted that white people are used to things being possible for them, while for Black and Brown people, less so.

“So when an initiative like this get pushed very hard through ... it feels white,” he said.

SUPPORT NOT UNANIMOUS

Carlson said she had spoken to the local chapter of Black Lives Matter, and there was support for the project.

If the city did not want to provide funding to get it done, she said the BLM chapter would pay for the artwork.

Though the project was not perfect in its conception, Lynge said, he added that it was a first step in the right direction.

At the close of their nearly 90-minute session, the commission voted 5-2 to fund the project. Commissioners Dan Groussman and Julie Johnson were the dissenting votes.

“Approving a large gathering of people during a pandemic doesn’t sit well with me,” Groussman said before the vote.