April 5, 2008 Anyone looking at the faces already knows Ms Kelley is a gifted maker of images - so let me get straight to the point: Bellingham, Washington, is on the I-5, on the Bay of Bellingham at the opening of Puget Sound, 20 miles south of the Canadian border. Its population is 70,000, & it's the Whatcom Co… Read more

April 5, 2008 Anyone looking at the faces already knows Ms Kelley is a gifted maker of images - so let me get straight to the point: Bellingham, Washington, is on the I-5, on the Bay of Bellingham at the opening of Puget Sound, 20 miles south of the Canadian border. Its population is 70,000, & it's the Whatcom County seat, population 140,000. In countable ways, it is the best small city on the western U.S. coast. Briefly, it is a big city in miniature size. It has a skid row - 3 blocks long. It is the home of Western Washington University. Mark Twain wrote stories & had drinks with his friend, Grover Cleveland, in the historic district, Fairhaven, which is much as it was in the 1890s. The downtown section of the city is substantial & remarkably friendly. It's egalitarian - one finds the homeless & the poor, young & old side by side with everyone else, & they share their coffee houses, bakery sweets, news, shops & conversation. The police happily greet the street people by name. Scholars of urban communities have a concept known as 'Sense of Place.' It is unusual for a city to be self aware, concerned with its aging beauty, its traditions, its role in the larger scheme of things, knowledgeable of its history, determinedly trying to preserve what has been best about itself while at the same time building new variations upon its venerable forms. Bellingham people refer to themselves endearingly as 'Bellinghamsters.' Bellinghamsters possess a strong sense of place. For instance, the only chain store in the whole of downtown is a Starbucks, opened about 2 years ago despite energetic opposition. If one likes to explore cuisine, there are about 30 very good privately owned restaurants - most with full bar - & the food is splendid & greatly varied. Ms Kelley's project, Faces of Bellingham, has at this writing only 84 faces. But look at them! Wonderful people! Self aware, but with little if any preposterous hubris or ridiculous vanity! Open! Friendly! Ready to talk, share opinions & ideas, stop for a cup of coffee if asked, & above all - trusting! Now that it's started, it is obvious that Faces of Bellingham was a necessary historic record of this uncommon town & its visibly free citizens. I hope the project grows. I hope everyone gets his or her face in it. And I hope the world comes to see it. It would be very good for the nation in this difficult & troubled time. Sincerely, Robin ###