One of Olympia’s most iconic murals, “The Great Wave Off Kanagawa” is soon to be restored and then rededicated to Olympia’s Japanese American community. The restoration work will be completed by local artists in partnership with the Olympia Japanese American Citizens League and Rainbow Community Arts.
Perhaps the most universally recognized of Japanese wood block prints, “The Great Wave” was created by Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai in 1831 as part of a series of 36 views of Mt. Fuji. Shortly after the Childhood’s End building was bought by Joe Tougas and Richenda and Bill Richardson, Tougas asked a group of his friends to help him recreate this image.
This mural was one of the first significant public art pieces created by Tougas. “I basically set it up as a paint-by-numbers outline with each area marked for a specific color of paint,” said Tougas. “It took us about 10 days, gallons of paint and a fair number of evenings at the Rainbow Restaurant to celebrate our progress.”
The results of Tougas’s work with friends has been appreciated for decades. According to Stephanie Johnson, the arts program manager for the City of Olympia, “This mural has remarkable staying power and is one of the few community murals to have lasted more than a decade and certainly the only one to remain in Olympia for nearly 50 years. It continues to be an iconic entrance to downtown from the West, drawing from one of the most recognizable and enduring images in the world.”
Reiko Callner of the Olympia Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League shared the importance of a public touchstone. “We are surrounded by art and mementoes that acknowledge mainstream history. There are, however, few visual representations of the historical and cultural contributions of minorities in the Pacific Northwest. Pike Place Market, for example was largely established by Japanese American farmers, none of whom sell at the Market today. http://www.pikeartproject.org/ As with those farmers, our Japanese forbears who worked in the oyster beds and other foundational businesses in Olympia were scattered, some never to return, by their unjustified incarceration during
World War II. Like the panel art at Pike Market, the dedication of this mural to the Japanese American community helps to counteract that erasure.”
Artist Austin Davis was selected to restore this mural based on his artistic skill, his experience as one of the City’s restorationists and the cultural relevance of being an Asian-American artist himself, “It was really exciting to be asked to restore this amazing artwork. Having grown up nearby, I’ve seen this mural for years. I had my high school senior portrait taken in front of this mural. And now I have the honor of restoring it and working side by side with Joe, who first painted this mural.”
The funder, Rainbow Community Arts Olympia, is slowly expanding to support public artworks after decades of sponsoring the annual Pride Festival events. A Rainbow Community Arts spokesperson said, “We are dedicated to supporting artists of color who work on public art projects that lift up our diverse communities. Rainbow is keen to expand our public arts landscape to celebrate the communities that have often been erased from public view. This and other murals help to bring that diversity back into focus.”
The mural will be rededicated in early September of this year (date and time not yet set) to acknowledge the contributions and perseverance of people of Japanese heritage in the greater Olympia area.
Restoration Sponsors include Rainbow Community Arts, Joe Tougas, Japanese American Citizens League of Olympia.
WHAT
“The Great Wave Off Kanagawa” restoration
WHERE
Childhood’s End Gallery, 222 4th Ave. W, Olympia
WHEN
Restoration to take place summer 2024, restoration rededication planned for early September
LEARN MORE about the history of the Japanese in the Pacific Northwest:
https://densho.org/