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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spokane artist, killed by tree, remembered for generosity, ‘animal-loving free spirit’

Her neighbors on West 14th Avenue will remember artist Lea Anne Scott for the great open houses she hosted at her studio, the garden she grew and the neighborhood animals she doted on.

Scott, also known as LeaAnne Scott Lake, lost her life late Tuesday afternoon when the windstorm was just beginning to accelerate. The top snapped off a tall pine in Scott’s backyard at 14th and Walnut Street and came crashing down, striking Scott and taking out power lines and a fence.

Neighbor Tamie King, who’s a teacher at Jefferson Elementary School, came home to a street full of emergency vehicles.

“It was much later that I put two and two together and realized what had happened,” said King, who’s been Scott’s neighbor since Scott moved in in 2002.

King said Scott restored her older home beautifully and mostly by herself.

“The house was a mess when she bought it, but she put it back together,” King said. “I just can’t believe this happened.”

Scott recently was hired by her old friend Jim Shrock, who owns Earthworks Recycling. Shrock said he met Scott at Eastern Washington University where they took art classes in the mid-1990s.

“This is very sad. She was an honest person and I was looking forward to working with her for a long time,” Shrock said. “What a good soul she was.”

Scott grew up in Newport, Rhode Island. She moved to Port Townsend, Washington, before relocating to Spokane in 1992. She held a Bachelor of Arts in studio art and history from Gonzaga University and has made more than 15 public sculptures across the United States. Many of the public art projects were created with her ex-husband Tom Askman, an art professor at Eastern Washington University.

For the last many years, Scott did most of her art in the garage studio behind her house. There she created cement sculptures – heads, full figures and bowls, accented by sprigs, twigs and cones – inspired by nature.

“I connected with nature at a deep spiritual level as a child,” Scott told The Spokesman-Review in 2011. “I was not concerned with conformity and therefore developed in my own way.”

Former director of the Spokane Arts Commission and local artist Karen Mobley lived near Scott for many years.

“She was a very generous friend to people in need,” Mobley said. “She was always very helpful to other artists, a willing and resourceful person,” Mobley said.

She said Scott and local artist Shani Marchant submitted a proposal for public art for the proposed University District pedestrian bridge.

“If the bridge is built, that art will be there,” Mobley said.

On Wednesday morning, neighbors gathered and shared stories about tracking down Scott’s backyard chickens when they occasionally got loose, and about how she had nursed a crow chick back to good health. Neighbor Sam Weber said the crow was nearly tame and would sometimes land on Scott’s shoulder.

Lisa Brown, chancellor of Washington State University Spokane, lives just across the street from Scott said her son was friends with Scott’s son and that she often commiserated with Scott about raking leaves and gardening.

“She was a creative, animal-loving free spirit,” Brown said.