Bryn Barnard’s painting of Armistice Day is among those remembered in “Strait Art,” the posthumously published book by Port Angeles Fine Arts Center curator Jake Seniuk.

Bryn Barnard’s painting of Armistice Day is among those remembered in “Strait Art,” the posthumously published book by Port Angeles Fine Arts Center curator Jake Seniuk.

Decades of art: New book celebrates ‘Upper Left-Hand Corner’

Jake Seniuk’s partner and colleague finish $40,000 project

PORT ANGELES — “And now for something completely different,” Jake Seniuk would say, inviting people to the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center.

He was quoting the “Monty Python” comedy troupe, showing his delight in their humor and their art outside the conventional.

Seniuk’s life — and his shows at the center — unfold in full color in “Strait Art: An Anthology of Exhibitions from the Upper Left-Hand Corner,” his posthumously published, 276-page trip back in time.

Donna James, Seniuk’s partner, and his colleague, Kathleen Moles, completed the book this spring, finishing a $40,000 project.

Paintings, sculpture, photography and mixed-media art by some 50 creators from across and beyond the Pacific Northwest fill the wide pages, reflecting the variety of exhibitions Seniuk brought to Port Angeles.

Famed Seattle painter Alfredo Arreguin is there, as is Tacoma-born glass artist Dale Chihuly. So are the late sculptor Tom Jay of Chimacum, Port Townsend ceramicist Anne Hirondelle, Peninsula College professor Michael Paul Miller and the late photographer Mary Randlett.

From his appointment as director-curator in 1989 to retirement in 2012, Seniuk mounted more than 150 art shows at Port Angeles’ free center, which overlooks the city from 1203 E. Lauridsen Blvd. He worked on “Strait Art” until he died of cancer in 2016.

It was nine years ago that the center hosted “The Art of Contagion,” an exhibition of works by Friday Harbor painter Bryn Barnard.

That show presented an image all too familiar today: A man and woman wearing cloth masks.

Titled “Armistice Day, San Francisco, 11.11.11,” it shows revelers following the end of World War I, mouths and noses covered in the face of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.

Barnard made that painting in 2005, an illustration for his book titled “Outbreak!”

In 2011, when the piece was placed on view in Port Angeles, Seniuk wrote about it in the “On Center” newsletter.

“In the foreground, a couple kisses though their masks, parodying the famous [World War II] photograph of the sailor victory-smooching a nurse in Times Square … But in 1918, the flu virus had not yet been identified and understood,” he noted.

The celebrants didn’t know of the tiny pathogens’ role in changing history.

“Armistice Day” was one among other works reflecting on the scourges of smallpox and AIDS. These paintings, Seniuk wrote, “bring light to invisible powers that operate beyond human control, and remind us how fragile is our place in nature.”

Seniuk also curated exhibitions by local artists; shows highlighting the natural world and installations in Webster’s Woods, the 5-acre park surrounding the center. Some of the works he curated, including Micajah Bienvenu’s “Pi a la Mode,” became part of the permanent outdoor collection.

Events are planned for the park this summer; now and every day of the year, the Webster’s Woods is open to the public from dawn till dusk.

In the meantime, the center’s indoor gallery is closed due to the statewide stay-home order, while the current exhibition, “Earth: An Abstract,” can be viewed at PAFAC.org.

James and Moles had planned public readings of “Strait Art” this spring, but those were postponed. A lecture and readings have been reset for Nov. 5 at both the Port Angeles campus of Peninsula College and at the arts center.

To order a copy of the book and be added to the mailing list for future events, contact Moles at JakeSeniukBookProject@gmail.com. More information also can be found on the publisher’s website, MarrowstonePress.com.

Producing the book was a challenge, both technically and financially, James said.

“We wanted to honor his intent for the book as much as possible,” she said. “Jake’s vision and his voice in our heads kept us going. He literally worked on this right up to his death.”

In the book’s introduction, James and Moles marvel at how Seniuk brought artists, both emerging and established, out to this far-flung frontier.

Seniuk’s own words are found inside the book jacket. The artists he invited to the center showed singular vision and aesthetic variety, he wrote.

And if there was any bias on his part, it was “to represent artists who were a tad out of the mainstream.”

________

Diane Urbani de la Paz, a former features editor for the Peninsula Daily News, is a freelance writer living in Port Townsend.

Rebecca Cummins’ “Simply Smashing” installation stood in the window of the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center and now graces the cover of Jake Seniuk’s book.

Rebecca Cummins’ “Simply Smashing” installation stood in the window of the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center and now graces the cover of Jake Seniuk’s book.

More in Entertainment

Sequim Irrigation Festival royalty, from left, Princess Ashlynn Northaven, Princess Kailah Blake, Princess Sophia Treece and Queen Ariya Goettling stand with their new float that they’ll ride on for 14 parades this year. It was shown to them for the first time on Saturday at 7 Cedars Casino. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Irrigation Festival royalty, crowd find fun in float

Annual kickoff dinner ushers in 129th year for event

Adrianne Harun will finish the 19th Port Townsend Community Read at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Port Townsend Community Read set Saturday

Adrianne Harun will finish the 19th Port Townsend Community… Continue reading

Artist Glo Lamson will host an Open Creative Studio at Northwind Art School at Fort Worden on Sunday. (Diane Urbani/Northwind Art)
Free open creative studio Sunday in Port Townsend

The public is invited to a free Open Creative… Continue reading

Studio Bob to host trashion workshop on Saturday

Christopher Allen will conduct a workshop on trashion from… Continue reading

Troupe de Ville, from left to right, includes Steve Thoreson, Andre Feriante and Eric Fridrich. They will perform on Saturday at Studio Bob in Port Angeles. (Andre Feriante)
Troupe de Ville to perform Saturday at Studio Bob

Andre Feriante with Troupe de Ville will perform at… Continue reading

Tony Furtado trio to perform Saturday at Eaglemount Cidery

The Tony Furtado Trio will perform at 7:30 p.m.… Continue reading

Easter egg hunts set for Saturday

Several local Easter egg hunts are scheduled this weekend. • The Kitchens… Continue reading

Out Loud Story Slam scheduled for Friday

Nessa Goldman and Meredith Vincent will co-host Out Loud Story… Continue reading

Celtic harpist David Michael will perform at Candlelight Concerts on Thursday in Port Townsend.
Celtic harpist to perform at Candlelight Concert series on Thursday

David Michael will perform at the Candlelight Concerts series… Continue reading

From left to right are flutists Mary Ann Hagan, Janet See, Molly Warner, Marty Ronish, Liz Hunter, Nayoung Ham, Carla Lawrence and Miguel Rodé.
Baroque flute concert to be conducted Saturday

Early Music at the Grange will present Flûtes-en-Bois at… Continue reading

Easter egg hunt scheduled

There is an Easter egg hunt scheduled for 3… Continue reading

Leo Yang, a national award-winning youth pianist, will take the stage for a concert at the Field Arts Events Hall in Port Angeles on April 13. (Leo Yang)
Award-winning youth pianist, UW wind ensemble set benefit concert

Leo Yang, a national award-winning youth pianist, will perform… Continue reading