This site explores the art of Ryan Henry Ward (Henry). It's also a love letter to Ballard, the area where I now live, and to Seattle, the city where I grew up. I first became interested in Henry's work two years ago, when my husband and I moved to Ballard. To the east of our building was an older building that housed an auto repair business, Axis Automotive.  A whimsical, bold mural graced the entire wall, starring two fat, dreamy looking pink and purple polka dotted walruses gazing adoringly at one another.  The trippy walrus duo immediately brought to mind the Beatles song, Octopus' Garden. Like the song, the walruses made me happy.

To the south of the auto shop was an older apartment building. Yes, the police patrolled the area around the apartment building late at night and not all was savory. Even so, the shop and ragtag apartment building next to it were living proof that old school, middle-class Ballard was alive and well.

Unfortunately, the land use permit signs and fences were a harbinger of worse things to come. Things were not looking good for the building or Henry's trippy walruses, but I was hoping for the best. Maybe they'd just knock down the apartment building and not the auto shop with the mural? Maybe they'd knock everything down but the wall with the mural and build around it, just like they built around Edith Macefield's old house? I drove my husband nuts with my daily speculation, and it did no good. In the end, they knocked everything down, walruses and all.

A Monolith with "Mews," Named After an Enigmatic Norse God

Almost two years later, in place of the walruses, auto shop and ragtag apartment building is a spanking new high-end monolithic apartment complex named after a somewhat enigmatic Norse god. According to the developer's website, the complex boasts "architecture inspired by a geode" and "a multitude of resident amenities," including "a lush green mews." The starting rent for an eight-month lease on a 505 square-foot studio as of October 2015? $1,472.

Somewhere between the mews and cost of the studio, my brain just exploded. Can artists such as Henry afford that kind of monthly outlay? Teachers? Construction workers? Baristas? What are mews, and who needs them anyway? This is Ballard. 

A Balance to Be Achieved

What's happening to our Ballard? Seattle? We know what's happening, but it would be simplistic to say that all the change is bad. I have to admit, I enjoy having a mouth-watering array of restaurants nearby, a salon and great places to shop. As long as they keep Hattie's, the Syttende Mai parade, Golden Gardens, the Locks, and all the shipyards and other industrial businesses that power Ballard and make it what it is: A melting pot of dock workers, retailers, hipsters, tourists, seniors, and everyday folks just getting by. Or, a few kind VIPs from the Syttende Mai celebration, who let you take their photo while they're stopped for coffee.

It's tempting to want to turn back the hands of time and retreat to an arbitrary, desired set point in the past. Because while I like some of the new restaurants and shops that have sprung up in the past two years, I'd really like for those two walruses across the street to magically reappear and for the new monolith to have been a bad dream. Since I can't make that happen, the next best thing is to be more informed now and do what I can to help make a difference moving forward. Baby steps. This site is a first step.

I'm not going to pretend that this site is subjective. It has opinions. Also, stories, pictures, video clips and suggested things to do (small things, baby steps). Agree or not with the opinions, check out the stories, try one of the suggestions. Most of all, enjoy.

I'd like to thank the following people for their generous time and insight:

Ryan Henry Ward (Henry), public artist and raison d'etre for this site

Alex Share (Axis Automotive), good friend of Henry's, owns Axis Automotive and the walrus mural that inspired this site

Patrick Files (Sloop Tavern), owner of the Sloop, a friendly home-away-from home for artists and others

Alex Stonehill, artist in residence at the University of Washington, provider of invaluable feedback

Josh Majchrzak, gallerist and artist at Artifact Gallery, who was generous in letting me shoot as much video as I wanted during the opening of "I Still Myth You"