Local artist’s work to hang in US Embassy in Bangkok

Joel Washington, local artist and IMU custodian, sat down in the Back Alley, weary from an early morning shift. Though he was tired, he was still excited to talk about what he \nloves: art. \nWashington has recently seen several of his pieces taken from the Indiana State Museum to the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. He also just finished a portrait, commissioned by the IU Art Museum, of James Mumford, a retired African American and African Diaspora Studies professor.\nHis portraits might be his best-known work around town. A painting of jazz musician Wes Montgomery hangs near Sugar & Spice in the IMU and a portrait of Frank Zappa resides in Laughing Planet. \n“Joel is such an important part of Bloomington’s visual arts community,” said Miah Michaelsen, assistant economic development director for the arts for the city of Bloomington. “His portrait work, which is what I think a lot of folks know him for, is strong and vibrant – much like his personality.”\nThe U.S. ambassador to Bangkok saw five of Washington’s pieces he liked at the Indiana State Museum. Washington says the pieces selected were mostly music-oriented, depicting jazz or rock musicians. Although he does not plan to travel to Bangkok any time soon, Washington said he is certainly excited about the exposure.\n“You know everything is so fast that all I could be concerned about is the art getting up there, because that’s a big jump for me as far as my work,” Washington said.\nBelieving strongly in instinct, he said he thinks that if he were meant to go to Thailand, he would do everything to get there, but not making the trip does not bother him. \n“I mean, it’s all exciting one way or another to me, whether I’m there or not,” Washington said. “I thought one thing that’s exciting about it is my work is going to be hanging up with people that inspire me, and I thought that was great.”\nWashington tries to find any time he can throughout the day to work on his art. He finds his time to limited because of his 8-hour work day at \nthe Union. \n“It just keeps me super busy,” he said. \nHe is currently working on new pieces, all different shapes, sizes and concepts. They will be on display at the John Waldron Arts Center \nin September.\nBorn in Indianapolis, Washington has been drawing since he was a child. Before he got into painting, he really wanted to be an animator. It was the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” that inspired him to become an artist. Washington said his own artwork is inspired by artwork from the 1960s, such as the works of Peter Max and Andy Warhol, as well as by comic book artists. He is also inspired by street art and graffiti. Although he doesn’t do graffiti himself, it inspires “bits and pieces of his style,” he said.