By SOPHIE BONOMI
Editor
KINGSTON — From local artist and Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe member Jeffrey Veregge comes the largest piece he’s ever created — a 5- by 90-foot mural for Kingston High School, spanning the back wall of the library.
Immediately following the Native Graduates Honoring Ceremony on May 31 at the high school gymnasium, the mural unveiling was celebrated by students, staff members and community as they gathered in the library to see Veregge’s latest work.
Commissioned by the school last fall, Veregge worked with KHS students and Native students to capture the design elements important to them. The mural includes a seascape under a setting sun, all encompassing a vibrant color palate incorporating Salish design.
This mural, made possible in part by a grant from Port Madison Enterprises, is Veregge’s largest work to date. It was installed earlier that day.
Sonia Barry, associate director of Learning Support Programs, spoke at the unveiling.
“We started this process back in November with the Kingston High School ASB,” she said. “Though this, Jeffery Veregge created his largest mural ever, the most beautiful artwork I’ve ever seen at any school. It’s a walk in both world’s — both academically and through our Native culture.”
It was an emotional celebration and community members listened to the sounds of the Port Gamble S’Klallam drummers as they sang to bless the mural and thank Veregge. The artist was equally touched.
“It’s an honor to be here,” he said. “Growing up, I loved the library. It’s an honor to have my work here. This is huge, it’s the biggest thing I’ve ever worked on.”
He described his process working with the ASB and the Native students of Kingston High School. He explained the artistic process as they decided what elements to include.
“We had a good synergy going on, but originally they wanted to have the Vikings walk the plank,” he said, in reference to the school’s crosstown rivals.
Although they scrapped that idea, they collaborated to include Native culture as well as the overall culture of the Pacific Northwest. The mural, which includes buccaneers (a nod to the school’s mascot), depicts a large body of water under a setting sun overlooking the Seattle skyline and Mount Rainier. Ships, located at different vantage points, represent the different classes at the school, sailing off into the distance.
“With this large space, I wanted to think about movement and color,” Veregge said. “The line work here is not only representative of water, but it also subconsciously pulls the eye in and out. We topped it all off with a quote from Chief Seattle.”
His first thoughts when commissioned to create such a massive piece — “excited and scared.”
“There’s a process for creating a book or a magazine,” he said. “Here, just building something this big presented problems. Dimensions, color matching, and uniformity are key. In the water scene with yellow and greens, to see these real colors was really exciting for me. It’s not just nature. It’s a blending of artistic elements.”
The main message he hopes students will get from this art piece?
“Anything is possible,” he said.
Veregge, a 1992 graduate of North Kitsap High School and an honor graduate of the Seattle Art Institute, studied for a short time under Tsimshian master carver David Boxley, learning the basics of Salish formline design. He was raised near Kingston and is also of Suquamish and Duwamish ancestry.
After 10 years at Masterworks, working his way from intern to lead designer/studio manager, Veregge stepped out on his own to follow his passion. He is now a professional comic book artist for Marvel Entertainment, IDW Comics and Valient Comics.
He has worked on more than 15 titles and 50 books in the past two years. He has won several awards for his work, including placing in the Top 100 Comic Book Covers of 2014 by IGN and the Best Comic Book Covers of September 2014 by Paste magazine.
His work is included in permanent collections at Yale University, The Burke Museum at the University of Washington, Emerald Queen Casino and Washington State History Museum, among others.
“Kids see a Native artist doing pirates — I wouldn’t have guessed at all I’d do this sort of art,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter where you come from. If you have a dream and you see it through, you can do anything. Everything and anything is possible. Dreams are meant to be reality — let the passion be your guide.”
