Homeless Art City Hall Exhibit Shows Messages Of Hope And Hopelessness

The posters made an innocent request in some of the shadiest of places in town - under bridges, in squatters’ camps, in shelters.

Make art, and show it to everyone.

More than 100 of Spokane’s homeless responded.

Rebeckah Cockrell did, while living in a shelter for battered transient women. She bought supplies with her last $50, and turned a plain wood door into a lush tribute to female fertility.

An anonymous heroin addict did, painting an emaciated man suffocating to death. His friends don’t know if he’s still alive.

Diane Hanson did, to forget the embarrassment of losing her home and moving her kids into a tent.

A dozen homeless kids did, painting masks. Some are glittery carnival masks; others are streaked with tears.

Their art, along with a documentary photo collection on homelessness, is on display during January at City Hall’s Chase Art Gallery.

The display is the result of a unique collaboration between the Spokane Arts Commission and the Spokane Homeless Coalition.

Together, they plastered posters across town, calling for work from current or former homeless people. One request drew 20 transients for an art session and free pizza in Peaceful Valley.

The result - some of it exotic, some of it shocking, much of it of professional quality - is intended to remind the comfortable that those in discomfort are not so different from themselves.

“If you talk to the general public, Spokane doesn’t have a homeless issue. It’s single guys under the bridge,” said Bob Peeler, homeless coordinator for Spokane Neighborhood Action Program. “Here, we’re putting a face on the homeless.”

More than 1,720 families and individuals requested help from homeless shelters between Sept. 1 and Nov. 31, according to city officials.

A rising number of the families - about 40 percent - are working, said Peeler. Crowded shelters for families must regularly turn people away.

Research shows people become transient because of drug or alcohol dependency, domestic violence, or health problems.

“The stories can be hard to hear,” said Ralph Busch, exhibit coordinator for the Spokane Arts Commission.

Cockrell became homeless when she left an alcoholic boyfriend. He used to hit her, to toss dishes at her in a rage.

One day, as he was leaving for an appointment, she packed him a big lunch and kissed him goodbye. The minute he left, she packed, drained her savings for a used car and ran to a shelter.

A social worker offered her the canvas of a door. She drew a pregnant woman carrying a baby; both wear halos.

“I think when she’s pregnant, she’s closest to God,” said Cockrell. The door’s price tag is $1,700, but she’d trade it for a car.

Hanson became homeless because of a surprise eviction. She was a Gonzaga University graduate student and single mother living on student loans and child support.

Other houses were too expensive, and landlords were hesitant to rent to a big family, she said.

In June 1995, she moved her four kids to a camp at Deer Lake. She hung wind chimes to make it homey.

“I was devastated,” she said. “You think you can always provide shelter, food to your kids. No matter what way I turned, I felt like nothing I did was good enough.”

She eventually found subsidized housing, but got sick when she thought about moving her kids into a tent. So she escaped to art, drawing an elegant self-portrait of her pregnant belly.

She’s now a Vista volunteer in Hillyard, helping the poor. She paints in rare spare moments; she stayed up until 5 a.m. Sunday on a new project.

The work is therapeutic, say social workers.

“It gives them a chance to give a release, a release for the pent-up anger and frustration,” Peeler said. “It also gives a chance to give back, to feel their own value. When you’re down, sometimes you lose that value.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 4 Photos (2 Color)

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: City Hall Exhibit The art exhibit “Putting a Face on Homelessness” can be seen Jan. 5-30 at the Chase Art Gallery in City Hall, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. All artists are or were homeless in Spokane. The exhibit is free. Some works are for sale; proceeds benefit the artists.