Client: Fort Worden

Overview

Fort Words is a public art installation created to celebrate the unique character and historic significance of Fort Worden State Park, in Port Townsend WA.

This temporary installation consists of a series of quotes drawn from local oral histories, collections of historic texts, and public testimonials — to increase community appreciation and awareness of richness of the historic sites.

Goals

Aaron Asis developed these temporary installations to give voice to these battery sites and share stories of the Forts dynamic history with park visitors.

“…there is a magical energy here and each installation shares a different story related to these old bunkers for people to discover, contemplate, and photograph. It’s like a trail of breadcrumbs, shown as stencils on the walls to inspire curiosity and encourage exploration different facets of the fort for people to discover, contemplate, and photograph.”

This collection of quotes (23 in all) are scattered throughout each of the decommissioned battery sites, like a trail of breadcrumbs, shown in a stencil style text, which hope to inspire explorations, inspire curiosity, and increase our collective appreciation for this extraordinary historic treasure.

Process

Fort Words was developed in collaboration with Centrum with content support from Jefferson County Historical Society, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, and the Coast Auxiliary Museum. Special project support was provided from the Fort Worden Public Development Authority and the Friends of Fort Worden, with fabrication support from Ignition Arts, funding support from the Port Townsend Arts Commission, and permitting support from Washington State Parks.