We are delighted to announce that artists Timothy White Eagle and Laura C. Wright were selected to create artwork, which stimulates curiosity and raises awareness of the largely invisible Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) system. The artwork will connect to the King County Wastewater Treatment Division’s West Duwamish Wet Weather Storage Facility located in West Seattle.

Timothy White Eagle, visual and performance artist, has worked extensively in the past two decades exploring Native American, Pagan, and other earth-based Spiritual practices. He is a mixed-race Indigenous American, born in Tucson, AZ. He graduated from University of Utah with a BFA in Theater, worked in Seattle, made art, and operated a performance art/coffee house performance venue, “the Coffee Messiah” in the late 1990s. He spent his 20s exploring performance-based art and began a mentor/protege relationship with a Shoshone-Metis teacher, Clyde Hall in 1995. Around that same time, he began helping to craft personal and community rituals within his Spiritual circles.

In 2006 he began collaborating with photographer Adrain Chesser. Their work together has been displayed and published nationally and internationally. In 2014 he and Adrain released their book, “The Return”. Timothy collaborated and toured with Mac Arthur Genius award winner, Taylor Mac on his Pulitzer Prize-nominated work, “A 24 Decade History of Music”.

Timothy White Eagle crafts objects, photographs, performances, and spaces, and has presented his art and performances on three continents. He was the recipient of the Western Arts Alliance/Advancing Indigenous Performance Launch Pad award in 2019, as well as a Seattle City Artist award in 2020. His recent work in Seattle includes Songs for the Standing Still People, an immersive installation at King Street Station commissioned for the yəhaw̓ exhibition at King Street Station in 2019, an Artist Residency at Town Hall Seattle in 2021, and Revival, an immersive theater and installation work in collaboration with The Violet Triangle at On The Boards in 2022.

Laura C. Wright is an artist and educator exploring communication through the intersections of fiber arts, digital technology, visual media, and participatory practices to amplify stories and histories that go unrecognized in our landscape. This work manifests as site-specific installations, interactive projects, and community-based programming responding to issues relevant to the people and locations in which she works. Her artistic practice is defined by a desire to develop new pedagogical models for supporting creativity and empowerment on a grassroots level.

She is the founder of community-based filmmaking project, the Georgetown Super 8 Festival and has worked with numerous communities throughout the Duwamish River Valley over the past 20+ years. With decades of experience facilitating community art projects, she has passion and sensitivity for inclusiveness and acknowledgement of specific community needs.

Since 2015, Laura has rowed with the Duwamish Rowing Club, allowing her to experience the valley with a different perspective and appreciation. Her interest in evolving landscapes has led to a curiosity for exploring healing plants as a source of dye for textiles, as well as use of these textiles for exploring aspects of healing.

Laura received her BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago, MFA in Fiber Arts from the University of Washington, and a second MFA from the UCSC Digital Arts and New Media program. The combination of these studies has led to a greater range of understanding from traditional tools to the language of communication in the digital age.

Each artist will consider the theme “End of the Line” to create temporary artwork with community in the Duwamish Valley. Considering the West Duwamish Wet Weather Storage Facility, the selected artists will be asked to take into account the theme, inspired by the place the built system meets bodies of water, and guided by the CSO Art Master Plan developed by artist team Sans façon (Charles Blanc and Tristan Surtees). In the coming months, artists from the CSO Cohort 1 (Susan Robb, Erik Carlson – Area C, and Don Wilkison) will share work with the public, so stay tuned!