Alki Elementary's historic mural in need of TLC

A West Seattle elementary school hopes to restore a rare cedar mural that was created during the Great Depression. The carved panels depict the arrival of Seattle's white pioneers, while paying tribute to the area's indigenous residents.

Patricia McLean, principal of Alki Elementary, and a half-dozen parents removed the bas-relief (pronounced bah-ri-LEAF) — about 10 feet long and almost 3 feet high — in early October before painting the school's lobby. To uncover its origins, McLean e-mailed Roger van Oosten, a national expert on art produced under President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal programs.

Van Oosten, who was familiar with the mural, wrote back: "It is one of the most culturally important works of art in this city and a beautiful representation of the aspirations of a generation of artists and people."

The relief, which was carved on white Alaska cedar, is one of only three murals in the Northwest that were produced by the Public Works Art Project, the nation's first federally funded arts project, van Oosten said. It's the only one he knows of that was sculpted instead of painted. The public-arts project preceded Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration, which gave unemployed artists a means to express themselves in art, music and theater.

GREG GILBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES All agree the rare, 70-year-old cedar mural desperately needs a professional restoration.

A restoration expert from the Smithsonian Institution has agreed to evaluate the mural, said Eleanor Toews, Seattle Public Schools' archivist. In the 70 years since Marion "Ivan" Kelez carved its five panels, the piece has survived earthquakes, oily fingers and custodians' cleaning agents. Everyone agrees it desperately needs a face-lift.

"The point is for it to be restored to its former beauty and then appreciated for both the power of its history and its meaningfulness," McLean said.

She and Toews are trying to raise the thousands of dollars needed for the restoration. The project could help students learn about the art restorer's job and the history of the era in which the artist created it.

Little is known about Kelez, who was born in 1907 and is now deceased. About 15 years ago, van Oosten met Kelez, then living in Renton, to discuss the Alki bas-relief. It was an encounter van Oosten recalls well.

Kelez wore a gray suit on his slender frame, his white hair was cut short, and he spoke in an erudite manner, van Oosten said. Asked whom he most admired in art, Kelez told van Oosten, "I never admired anyone. I respected the great Renaissance painters. Those were the books that I looked at."

Want to help? To donate to Alki Elementary School's effort to restore a rare cedar mural, contact the school at 206-252-9050. Address: 3010 59th Ave. S.W., Seattle WA 98116.

The panels of his bas-relief express a similar regard for Seattle's forefathers: The central, or third, panel depicts the historic landing of Arthur Denny's party on Nov. 13, 1851. Anxious mothers clutch their babies. White men, including one leaning on his rifle, smile hopefully as they look to the land. Off to the side, but in the foreground, is a lone Indian, eyes downcast, holding a fish on a line. The first panel contains a quote from Roberta Frye Watt, the granddaughter of Arthur Denny: "Surely, we owe these pioneers — those pilgrims of ours a debt of gratitude. Oh, speak not lightly, the word 'pioneer' but gratefully, lovingly, reverently."

The last panel contains a quote attributed to Chief Seattle of the Suquamish and Duwamish tribes: "When your children's children think themselves alone in the field, the store, the shop, upon the highway, or in the silence of the pathless woods, they will not be alone. At night when the streets of your cities and villages are silent and you think them deserted, they will still throng with the returning hosts that once filled them and still love this beautiful land. The white man will never be alone."

The Treaty of Point Elliot in 1855 promised the Duwamish Tribe fishing rights and land — but the federal government never honored it. The tribe still struggles to gain federal recognition. This month marks the 150th anniversary of the signing of the treaty. Kelez's mural, by quoting Watt and Chief Seattle, appears to be a rare recognition in the 1930s of the unsavory aspects of the historic landing.

And by prominently featuring women and an Indian, said van Oosten, "He's calling attention to two groups of people that are affected or maybe overlooked, and he's bringing them forward."

Sanjay Bhatt: 206-464-3103 or sbhatt@seattletimes.com