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Meet the Artists in Residence: Bridge Graphic Novel

by on March 24, 2021
Black ink drawing of a bear standing on a Fremont street, holding a large salmon in its mouth. Below: Homecoming.
Page from Change of Worlds by Roger Fernandes
Blue marker drawing above Lake Washington, motor boats and kayaks leave ripples and wakes in the water. Above the buildings, trees and distant mountains, more salmon clouds float.
Page from The Canal Was Cut by E.T. Russian

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.   

On April 8, 2021, the artists shared more about their artwork and experiences in a virtual presentation. Opening remarks were given by Jose Alaniz and ARTS staff Maija McKnight. 

Printed copies of each of the graphic novels will be available at a future date, and individuals that registered for this workshop will get first notice of availability.  

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. 

Cover of Roger's work: The Fremont Bridge Tower with the neon art of Petrosinella with her long hair, a bear holding a salmon in its mouth, an Indigenous person in bright winter clothes and a yellow smiley face mask. In the water below, spirits swim.
Left page: City of Seattle logo: This project was funded with Seattle Department of Transportation % for Art funds. Administered by the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture. 2021. Right page: drawing of a bear on the street with a large salmon in its mouth. "Homecoming"
Left page: The Fremont Bridge in Seattle, Washington was completed and opened in 1917. It was considered a real engineering marvel, using a double-leaf bascule drawbridge mechanism to open the span. The bridge is set over the Lake Washington Ship Canal, itself, a man-made water passage that connects Puget Sound and Lake Washington. Due to its low 30 foot vessel clearance, the Fremont Bridge is one of the most frequently opened bridges in America. Once again, human ingenuity and engineering built a metal construction that has tamed nature and allowed ships and commerce to travel freely along the artificial waterway. Modern technology allowed us to improve upon nature. In 1918, the Spanish flu swept the world and the United States suffered over 670,000 deaths due to pandemic. The bear runs through Fremont holding the salmon, past The Troll, the statues waiting for the bus, and looks down at a rower on the canal. From the Bridge Tower, a man with glasses looks out: "A bear?!!" The bear passes by, goes down the stairs below the bridge.
Left page: panels of buildings, rabbits near a brick wall. The bear stops outside the large tent of an unhoused person. Right page: a man peers out of the tent and the bear brings the salmon inside. The man makes the Native gesture with arms raised, palms towards his face. Last panel looks like a carving of the bear, man and salmon together with rays radiating around them.
Left page: Petrosinella. Panels show the Fremont Bridge and a single masked person crossing. The neon artwork of Petrosinella looks down from one of the Bridge Tower windows. Right page: an Indigenous person wearing a smiley face mask says to the person walking: "Hey man. Tell you the story this neon art is based on. It'll take 5 minutes, tops. And I'm a Professional storyteller. You don't like the story, it's free. Reply: Sounds cool. I got 5 minutes and 2 bucks. It's Rapunzel right?" The storyteller says:" It's actually an older version called Petrosinella. I like it better." "Okay, I'm listening." Closing their eyes, the Indigenous gestures with their hands: "Once upon a time..."
The story of Petrosinella in text across two pages. Drawings of a hand reaching for a bundle of herbs and a woman holding her baby.
The story continues in text across two pages. Drawings of a long braid held by a hand, and Petrosinella in a high window with a young man reaching for her braid.
The story continues in text across 2 pages. Drawing of a woman with two babies and two birds above. The storyteller and the pedestrian .
Left page: Homecoming 2. The Aurora Bridge was completed in 1932. It spans directly above the Lake Washington Ship Canal and the Fremont Bridge. During the first 50 years of its existence, more than 230 people committed suicide by jumping over the short railing of the bridge, into the water below and sometimes crashing onto the ground. Even after piecing together the stories of those lost souls who jumped, there are many questions that are unanswered as to how that final decision was made. Perhaps a plan, perhaps on impulse. In 2011, by public demand, an 8 foot suicide prevention fence was built as a barrier to stop people from leaving for the span. It has proven to be successful. Panels: the bridge and a solitary man walking under, then along the top on an empty sidewalk. Right page: he looks over the railing at the water and the mountains, down at the Fremont Bridge, and steps onto the railing.
Left page: panels show the man jumping into the water below, crow flies close by to his hand. The water below has salmon swimming. Right page: full image of the man landing in the water, his spirit floats above him. Below, the salmon swim carrying spirits within.
On the left: a full page image of the man floating in dark water. His spirit joins other spirits carried by a salmon. On the right: many salmon with the spirits swim together. The last panel shows the river going to the mountains, salmon running, spirits rising into the air.
Roger Fernandes is a native American artist, storyteller, and educator. He is a member of the lower Elwha S'Klallam Tribe of Western Washington and was born and raised in the city of Seattle. He started his art career at the age of six, plagiarizing and copying artists like Joe Kubert and Mort Drucker, making his own comic books. In his graphic novel works, he seeks to join traditional Coast Salish myths and legends and a modern world. He believes that the mythic stories told by all cultures inform and teach a human to human story level and since we are all still humans, these tellings can still do their powerful work.

E.T. Russian, the artist in residence at the University Bridge, created the work The Canal Was Cut a 28-page mini-comic. With 20+ years of experience making comics, while simultaneously exploring the cultural aspects of disability and chronic illness, ET is interested in the intersection of 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.  

Cover for E.T.'s work: square marker drawing in blues of the University Bridge. Above, clouds in the shape of a salmon, and words formed out of the clouds: The Canal Was Cut. By E.T. Russian
Hand written text in blue: I grew up in a place with a lot of bridges. I always wondered why each drawbridge had two towers. One was for the operator, but what was the other one for? Apparently the City wondered the same thing. They turned the towers into art residencies.
Blue marker drawing of an aerial view of the University Bridge. Boats and kayaks cross under from Lake Union to Lake Washington, I-5 above it all, the cityscape, Space Needle and mountain in the distance.
Blue marker drawing of a person with long hair in a ponytail sitting at a computer and wearing a headset. Next to their monitor is a bottle of hand sanitizer and a box of tissue or rubber gloves. Someone in a wheelchair with a mouth control attachment is speaking on a laptop: COVID's hard.
Blue hand written text: As essential workers in a hospital, we do the work of healing. That doesn't always mean people go back to the way they were before. "Can you hear me?" I ask when we connect through a screen. You tell me about your dad's cancer, your mom's dementia and your neck pain.
Blue marker drawing of the same person with a long ponytail now sitting in their vehicle. They're hunched over, eyes clenched, something in their hands. A phone? A face mask hangs from their rear view mirror.
Blue hand written text: Making art during a pandemic is like trying to wring water from a stone. I feel like something that landed with a thud.
Blue hand written text: They wave at me. And I wave back.
Blue marker drawing of a person wearing a face mask inside the bridge tower. They wave to somebody on the sidewalk below with long hair who's wearing a warm hat.
Excerpt from “The Bridge Was Cut” by E.T. Russian, 2021 University Bridge artist-in-residence
Blue hand written text: It feels like.
Blue marker drawing: a close up of the person waving back on the sidewalk. Even under their face mask, you can feel the friendliness in their expression. They're wearing a scarf, head tillted up as they wave.
Blue marker drawing from inside the bridge tower, looking down on the sidewalk below. A person with a hat, jacket and backpack stands at the rail and looks down at the water. Boats, house boats and buildings in the near distance.
Blue hand written text: Take a moment to tune in. Turn towards. To listen.
Blue marker drawing of a small island in the water. Evergreens are on it and the surrounding land masses in the distance. The sky is clear.
Blue hand written text: I live in South Seattle where Pritchard Island is no longer an island because Lake Washington dropped 9 feet in depth when the land was cut by developers.
Blue marker drawing of water gushing through a gap in the land. It flows lower as people with tools stand on either side of the gap.
Blue hand written text: The cutting of the Lake Washington Ship Canal forever changed the lakes, the Black River, the spawning of the salmon.
Blue marker drawing of a map of the Seattle region with a simple compass rose on the left. The Ship Canal is pointed out with a label and arrow as it cuts across the land. Shaded areas of the map indicate where Black and Asian residents lived in 1950's Seattle. They are all south of the Ship Canal.
Blue hand written text: The Ship Canal is a landmark of red lining in Seattle, of racial discrimination in land and home owning. This bridge is built on that chasm.
Blue hand written text: During my residency, a new park opened on the waterfront near the bridge. They moved a police station to build it. Took out the bulkhead and sloped soil down into the lake waters. An effort to rebuild the shoreline. Can a shoreline be repaired? Like a relationship can be repaired? How do we arrive for the harm we've caused.
Blue ink drawing of the University Bridge span opened so a tall boat can move underneath. In the sky above are clouds, including one shaped like a giant salmon.
Blue marker drawing above Lake Washington, motor boats and kayaks leave ripples and wakes in the water. Above the buildings, trees and distant mountains, more salmon clouds float.
Blue hand written text: Soar fish. Swim high above over your waters. Do you recognize them?
Blue hand written text: Dive bird. Float under surface, beneath your skies. Sing a song of home.
Blue marker drawing from the water. A motor boat speeds to pass under the closed birdge span, leaving a large wake. A water bird (goose? or duck?) flies behind the boat.
Blue marker drawing of the bird inside an air bubble, wings open. Smaller bubbles surround it, along with water below and clouds above.
Blue hand written text: when we reflect on a place and recognize its beauty, we are called to care for it.
Blue hand written text: This comic was made on the unceded ancestral land of the first people of Seattle, the Suwamish – a people that are still here today. Thank you to Genevieve, Freddie, Clio, Chelsea, all the University Bridge operators, the City of Seattle Office of Arts 7 Culture and Department of Transportation for your support on this project and to the land, waters and sky for the gift of being and learning here. Printed by Paper Press Punch, 2021.

This unique opportunity of providing space in the bridge towers to creatives has been a program since 2016 and has hosted visual artists, poets, musicians, lighting artists, and now comics artists to use the historic bridge locations as inspiration for the creation of new work. This residency ran from September – December 2020.

Funded by SDOT’s 1% for Art Funds and administered by the Office of Arts & Culture.

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