Monday, May 28, 2007

Rich Art's Art Yard in Centralia, Washington

Southwest Washington is full of weirdos and cranks.

Maybe there's something in the water. They all used to live near Trojan Nuclear Power Plant on the Oregon side of the Columbia. I remember going on school field trips here as a kid. We were taught that nuclear power was "clean, safe, and efficient."

It's now decommissioned and the cooling tower is gone, but the whole operation was just up this little road, off Highway 30.

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OK, onto I-5 now. At milepost 62 in Washington, you pass the ugly-ass Gospodor Monument Park, a local weirdo's "elaborate tribute to Mother Teresa, Native Americans and victims of the Holocaust."

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A bit farther north in Chehalis, Al Hamilton, the cranky Uncle Sam billboard guy, is complaining about something or other.

"Is Virginia Tech an 'unarmed victim zone'?"

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And up in Centralia, wonderful weirdo Rich Art continues to fill his yard with sculptures made out of styrofoam packing material and other found objects.

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He tells us he likes to keep his yard open for visitors from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend because it's a goal he's set for himself.

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At this point, I got the feeling that Rich Art was a Robert Crumb fan.

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Creche.

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OK, need to get back on the road again. A couple more shots of Centralia.

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Then farmland.

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have never seen Rich Art before. Those photos are amazing! I am definitely due for a road trip to eastern WA. His place looks like a cross between Sanford and Son and Dr. Seuss.

lisa said...

Wow...that's some strange "art"! Thanks for bringing up Robert Crumb-I used to read my sister's "Fritz the Cat" comics when I was a kid, and I felt cool for reading something so "adult".

chuck b. said...

God, bless the freaks man.

God bless the freaks, man.

Anonymous said...

i've visited him , my parents moved up there in '97.the people of this town do not embrace him. to them the uncle sam billboard is far more artistic.
sad.. it's the only thing interesting about the place.and very cool in general. according to my mom "everyone would like to see SOMETHING happen to THAT place heheh" and they wonder why i won't move up there....