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Justice is Served: Celebrating the People Who Work For a Change
Justice is Served: Celebrating the People Who Work For a Change
Justice is Served: Celebrating the People Who Work For a Change

Justice is Served: Celebrating the People Who Work For a Change

Artist Deborah Lawrence
MediumAcrylic, collage and varnish on recycled tin trays
Dimensions36 x 96 x 1 1/2 in. (91.4 x 243.8 x 3.8 cm)
ClassificationsMixed Media
Credit LineCity of Seattle Department of Finance and Administrative Services (formerly Executive Services Department) 1% for Art funds
Description: Seven recycled tin trays depicting four heroic citizens of Seattle and the region.

Artist Statement: In Justice Is Served: Celebrating the People Who Work for Change, I wanted to address the subject of community service in the name of justice.  Each artwork portrays a Seattle citizen whose heroic example has made a positive and lasting impact on the community.  I chose to commemorate these individuals (Roberta Byrd Barr, Hazel Wolfe, Velma Veloria and Bernie Whitebear) because I was moved and inspired by their stories: they brought light to previously obscure corners of the human drama, working to raise consciousness and awareness inside and outside their respective communities.  Using a combination of paint and collage, I have worked to integrate pictures and text into compositions that serve my dual purpose of storytelling and embellishment. The recycled tin trays--which were once used for another kind of service--remind me of a bygone era, when a woman or man might have led a life narrowly defined by domestic service, bondage, or slavery.  As it happens, many people around the globe continue to experience subjugation and domination.  As an artist, I can’t make pretty pictures without thinking about that.

Tend and Befriend Utopia Tray
Deborah Lawrence
2007
New World Order
Deborah Lawrence
1994
Nature/ Void/ Civilization
Deborah Lawrence
1996
Hard Hat Heroes
Deborah Lawrence
2000-10
Ancestors
Vivian Linder
2006
Kyak
Tom Anderson
2011
Ex-Patriot
Ross Palmer Beecher
Hershey's Chocolate Quilt
Ross Palmer Beecher
1986
Rainbow Quilt
Ross Palmer Beecher
1994
Golden Futures
Erin Shigaki
2021