These oil paintings tell the story at the library

Originally published Saturday, January 29, 2000

By REGINA HACKETT
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

In 1975, the young, African American painter Eddie Ray Walker delivered to the Sojourner Truth/Frederick Douglass branch of the Seattle Public Library in the Central Area two massive paintings that honor the library's namesakes.

He created them as part of his job as artist-in-residence for the city. Twenty-five years later, his portraits still capture the eye and the imagination at the library on the northeast corner of 23rd and Yesler Way.

Librarian Valerie Garrett-Turner said besides being beautiful, the paintings draw attention to these figures from American history, each born a slave and rising to become leaders of the abolitionist movement.

"Kids come in here all the time, look up and say, 'Who is that?' " she said. "It's a great teaching opportunity. I like them because of their size and color and style. The colors just pop right out at you, and the style is so warm. I'm surprised a young man painted them, because you can tell he really understood how a life's story gets carved into a person's face."

Painted in oils, each portrait brings its subject to life in a dual

way. There's a massive head of the subject accompanied by a smaller, full-scale figure in action: Douglass' lionlike head beside Douglass leading the charge with his orator's wit; Truth's worn face and Truth in her full body resting after getting off a really good line. She peers out at viewers, smiling slightly, confident she has demolished her foes.

The colors are generous, flickering in small daubs across the vast expanse, adding up to monumental figurative studies. "These paintings are part of our community," Garrett-Turner said. "People ask if they'll

still be here after we remodel. They're glad to hear the answer is 'yes.' "