Realizations
and the Family of Walter Anderson
have been struck by tragedy. Katrina wasn't kind to us. Most of the family
homes along Shearwater
drive were destroyed. The building we use to print our blockprints, and most
of the blockprints that we use to make the prints were destroyed. We will
rebuild and replace the blockprints when we can, but for now we are only selling
those prints that we have left in stock. Read more about what happened to
Shearwater in an essay by
John Anderson, or in news stories by NPR,
the Washington
Post and the Seattle
Post.
Most importantly, the vault where the family stored all of our original Walter Anderson work and paintings was breached. 90% of the original artwork inside was submerged in saltwater, covered in mud, and battered about. For weeks family members and volunteers (special thanks to Don, Joy, & Dennis) have toiled 20 hours a day at the Ocean Springs Community Center, trying to save what's left. Thanks to their extraordinary efforts, the urgent work has been done. All of the drawing, watercolors, and prints that survived have been seperated, dried, and cataloged. At this point, we've reached the limit of what we can do.
There
are hundreds of peices of artwork left, and each one needs to be evaluated,
treated, and cleaned by a professional conservator. The family will
do whatever is necessary to preserve this work. But we've lost our homes,
we've lost our livelihood, and this is expensive work. What's more, time is
short. The longer each peice of work goes without attention, the less we'll
be able to save.
A 'Walter Anderson Art Conservation Fund' has been established
for the preservation and promotion of Walter Anderson work damaged
by Katrina. This fund supercedes the initial WIA disaster relief
recovery fund that was kindly organized by Kimberly Parker.
Because the art is held in trust by a private family, your direct
contributions aren't tax deductible at this time. However, you
can make tax deductible donations to the "Gulf Coast Community
Foundation", and earmark those contributions for the Walter
Anderson art recovery effort. Instructions are below.
