Chalk Drawings: A Series

Initially, over a year ago, I was talking to one of the Vital Climbing managers and expressing my curiosity about their artist space. Have there ever been writers who display here? At the time, I was a member of the climbing gym. Every month-or-so I stopped above the steps to view and appreciate the variety of visual artists and photographers who showcase at this location. The artist space is small, a section of brick wall at the entry of their gym. Lights above the posted art highlights the works as climbers walk up and down the stairs. It's so fun to identify people I had chatted with as climbers, and later recognize them as fellow creators. But, I never saw writing as a form of art here, only photos and prints (mainly of mountains, sunsets, and other climber-related adventures). And so my conversation with a Vital manager, which began with curiosity, ended with me putting my name on a 12-month waitlist to reserve my spot on Vital's artist wall. I wanted to show writing could be visually appealing. Realizing this big opportunity, and intending to spend time creating new and polished pieces, I tucked my confirmation email from Vital into my archived folder until I was ready to begin working on this project. Flash forward about 6 months, at the end of August 2019, I began to formulate a plan to build this opportunity into my senior capstone project. And so, I slowly began researching--collecting bits from my own journals and practice, as well as reading up on moments and conversations going on in the outdoors community. This project is a five-piece solo exhibition of my written work. I attempted to portray and process my own perspectives, as a white woman, around topics like climbing, outdoors accessibility, and land contestation. My gallery was displayed at Vital Climbing Gym in downtown Bellingham for the months of January and February 2020.