Perched above the road and waterway in the University and Fremont Bridge towers, two artists spent four months thinking about their surroundings and creating graphic novel works inspired by the location and their experiences. The artworks created during this residency are beautiful, meaningful and vibrate with resonance to the iconic and unique Bridge tower locations.

Roger Fernandes, the artist in residence at the Fremont Bridge, created the graphic novel “Change of Worlds: The Fremont Bridge Cycle”. Roger Fernandes is an artist and writer, storyteller and educator. As a member of the Lower Elwha S’Klallam Tribe of Washington State, he has also been a practicing professional artist for well over 40 years, working in graphic design and the traditional Coast Salish art. Roger was born in the city of Seattle and has a deep sense of the “spirit” of the city and how it has morphed over the past 20 years or so. The Ship Canal, to Roger, has always represented a clear delineation of “white” North Seattle and the much more racially diverse South Seattle. To cross the bridge was oftentimes more challenging than we modern urban folk might recognize. This is a wonderful opportunity to weave all these elements together.

ET Russian, with the residency located at the University Bridge, created a 28-page mini-comic, “The Canal Was Cut”. ET Russian notes that their work is shaped by the cultural experience of being human. With 20+ years of experience making comics, while simultaneously exploring the cultural aspects of disability and chronic illness, ET is interested in the intersection: multi-sensory art. In this residency ET explored the elements of air, water, wind and earth, human relationship to spirits, nature and animals, themes of living and dying, colonization and landowning, decompressing from work, and dreams.

Join the artists as they share more about their artwork and the experiences on Thursday, April 8, 7pm. The event will begin with opening remarks by Jose Alaniz and ARTS Staff Maija McKnight, and questions submitted by the audience will be answered at the end of the prepared presentation. Printed copies of each of the graphic novels will be available at a future date, and individuals that register for this workshop will get first notice of availability.

This online event will be recorded and be available on the Office of Arts and Culture YouTube site.

This event will be live captioned and have ASL translation.

Learn more about this program here: https://artbeat.seattle.gov/2021/03/24/artists-in-residence-bridge-graphic-novel/