Street Roots • July 14-20, 2017
News
Page 7
Dale Washington's home
The artist’s exhibit chronicles his
journey in finding home in Portland
rt is woven through Dale Washington’s speech, his eyes and
his outlook.
A
, “Art is the way we handle ourselves impecably as human
beings,” he said. “It’s how we talk, it’s how we take care of our
family, it’s how we handle ourselves.
“It’s called love. This work here is all about these beautiful
places.”
Those beautiful places are homeless services, dining halls,
rescue missions, the streets of Portland. They are the anchor
pieces in his exhibit, “Finding Home: The Portland Years,” now
showing at the Art Reach Gallery at First Congregational UCC.
The exhibit will remain open for viewing through July 28.
A foster child, Washington grew up on the south side of Chicago.
As an adult, he studied art and worked in advertising, essentially to
support his artistic pursuits. His resume lists Chicago Public
Schools and the Artist Resources in Teaching
program at the Hyde Park Art Center among
his credentials. Five years ago, tired of what
he called the negative energy of Chicago, and
with the support of his family, he made the
move the Portland.
Washington arrived on an Amtrak train,
stayed in a motel for a short period, and
eventually became homeless, reduced to
sleeping under a bridge. He had a run-in with
the law and spent two months in the
Multnomah County Jail, went through
counseling and took advantage of social service programs. He
knew nothing of homelessness until he arrived in Portland, he said.
Working with Central City Concern, this year he got a home.
And through it all he was making art - drawing on the love he saw
in the people and places he visited. Washington would sit in the
back pews of the chapel at St. Andre Bessette because he enjoyed
the sound of the harpist, and there he would draw.
“I did 25,000 peices in 5 years,” he said. “That’s out of love of
knowing of where I was at and what I had to walk through to do
them.”
Among his work are images of the community gathered for a
meal at The Blanchet House and sunsets from his year working on
the Blanchet Farm near Carlton. The farm supplies food for The
Blanchet House which serves meals to people experiencing
homelessness. Washington’s style is abstract, working in pastels,
watercolors, brush and ink.
“My statement of purpose has always been that the power of
creation is the act of doing,” Washington said.
Top, “The Holiday Dinner. ” Above, “The Farmers’Market. ” Below left, “Sunset: Farm Series ” inspired by his year
Washington wants people to leave the exhibit knowing that the
working on the Blanchet Farm near Carlton. Below right, a scene from Potluck in the Park, a Sunday, public meal
people in this city care, and when he needed them, they were
provided at no cost to people experiencing homelessness.
there. He gets emotional talking about it.
“It’s just life,” he said. “It happens all over the world.”
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