James Washington is born in Gloster, Mississippi, son of Reverend and Mrs. James W. Washington. His mother encourages his creative talents and he begins painting and drawing in his early teens by studying techniques from home study courses, books and observation.

1927

Hired as a deckhand on the Mississippi riverboat Steamer Control, beginning three decades of civilian employment by the U.S. Government. Gains a variety of vocational skills with the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

1934-36

U.S. Federal Government introduces the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

1938

Government consultants select Washington to teach for WPA at Baptist Academy in Vicksburg, Mississippi.  Completes painting Mount Heredon Baptist Church.
His first exhibition of paintings at Vicksburg YMCA, along with other artists supported by WPA

1941

Moves to Little Rock, Arkansas where his mother is already living.
Works in the Army’s orthopedic division at Camp Joseph T. Robinson making adjustments for shoes.Meets and observes artist Harry Louis Freund, who is stationed there.

1943

Exhibition at Ninth Street USO Club in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Marries Janie Rogella Miller on March 29th.

1944-45

Transfers to Washington State as a civilian journeyman electrician for the Bremerton Naval Shipyard. Completes painting The Making of the United Nations Charter and Keeper of the Park.
Exhibits at Frederick and Nelson’s Little Gallery in Seattle, Washington.
Through gallery director Theodora Lawrenson Harrison, meets and begins to study with Mark Tobey.

1946

Uses symbolism in his first sculpture, The Chaotic Half, a woodcarving.
Becomes President of Baptist Training Union, scoutmaster at Mount Zion Baptist Church, and Chairman of Education Committee of the Elks’ Olympic Lodge.
Takes classes with Yvonne Humber at University of Washington Extension.
Represented in two exhibitions: Urban League-sponsored exhibition at People’s Art Center, St. Louis and “Northwest Paintings Go East” at the Marshall Field’s Gallery, Chicago.

1947

Earns certificates in landscape design and landscape gardening from the National Landscape Institute, Los Angeles.
Completes painting Hungry Bird.

1948

Transfers to Fort Lawton in Seattle as shoe repairman in Quartermaster Shoe Repair Shop. Completes painting, Shoe Repair Shop. Studies printmaking with Glen Alps.
Exhibits at Seattle Art Museum’s “Northwest Annual” (the first of many years of participation) and Pacific Northwest Arts and Crafts Fair, Bellevue, Washington.
Organizes the Mount Zion Art Show (MZAS), the first of thirteen annual events, involving Mark Tobey, Morris Graves, Kenneth Callahan, Glen Alps, and others.
The MZAS features speakers from the University of Washington and the Seattle Art Museum; attendance at preview nights reaches 200 people.

1949

Begins four-year term as secretary of Artists’ Equity, a national union created to improve the economic and working conditions of professional artists.

1950

Artworks included in the Northwest Printmakers’ Exhibition and Seattle Music and Art Foundation Invitational at the Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington, Seattle.
Designs and creates the first of two medallions that display universal symbols of life and religion, which will come to be associated with the artist.
Completes painting Democracy Challenged (Lynching).

1951

Takes sketching trip to Mexico and meets artists Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siquieros. Rivera’s current large mural project is Lerma Waterworks (Chapultepec Park, Mexico City) commissioned by the Mexican Government for public waterworks. The north and south walls of the mural are dominated by figures symbolizing African and Asian races.
Tours pyramids at Teotihuacan where he is unable to resist picking up and keeping a stone. Five years later he will use it for his first stone sculpture, Young Boy of Athens.

1952

Completes painting, The Alton Unlimited.
Turning point in art career through exploration of granite-sculpting tools and techniques.

1954

Maintains a forty-hour workweek at Auburn General Depot in Auburn, Washington.
Meets Martin Luther King, Jr. at the home of the Reverend Raymond Henderson in Los Angeles. 
Lectures and teaches workshops at the National Sunday School and Baptist Training Union Congress, which becomes the first of several annual trips.
Lectures focus on the relationship between graphic art and religion.
Retrospective exhibition at Hathaway House in Seattle.

1956

Completes, Young Boy of Athens.
First sale of sculptures, The King and Head of Job, at Chi Omega Art Collectors’ Tea at the University of Washington.
Initiates a several year association with the Campus Music and Gallery in Seattle.
Ann Faber of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer writes that his stone carvings of birds, “appear to have been formed by a particularly intelligent kind of erosion.”

1957 

Receives purchase prize for two sculptures: Bird Hatching at the Oakland Museum of California and Bird Composition no. 4 at the San Francisco Art Museum.
Begins to use diamond-impregnated tools of his own design.

1958

Receives a purchase award for Wounded Bird at the 78th Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition of the San Francisco Art Association.
Receives honor prize for sculpture during “Art Week on Pine Street” in Seattle.
Solo exhibition at Feingarten Galleries in San Francisco.

1959

Governor Albert Rossellini appoints James Washington to the Washington State Council on the Arts.Attends national meeting of Artists’ Equity Association in New York as a State Delegate.
Exhibition at M.H. De Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco.
Seattle Art Museum purchases Young Bird of the Swamp.
Art in America names JWW as one of the young artists “most likely to succeed in the field of art” in an article on “New Talent.”

1960 

Leaves government job for full-time art making, due to the succes of his art career.  Begins a two-year term as President of Artists’ Equity.
Begins six-year representation through Wallard Gallery of New York and Haydon Gallery of Dallas, including both group and solo shows, 1960-66.

1961

Appointed to five-year term on the new Washington State Arts Commission.

1962

Visits 17 countries in Europe and the Middle East to study “universality in life and art.”
Solo exhibitions at Gordon Woodside Gallery (later the Gordon Woodside/John Braseth Gallery) in Seattle, Nexus Gallery in Boston, and Lee Nordness Gallery in New York.

1964

Speaks “to awaken people to their potential” at Church and Arts Conference of American Baptists in Wisconsin.
Group show at Grosvenor Gallery in London.

1965-66

Gives speech entitled, “Civil Rights and Activities of the NAACP in the Puget Sound Area.”  Publishes articles in the Seattle Post Intelligencer: “The Arts are Color Blind,” “Christianity and the Arts,” and others.
By the artist's estimate, there are now over six hundred of his sculptures in museums and private collections.
Creates sculpture, Renewness of Life.

1968

Pauline Johnson’s article, “James W. Washington, Jr. Speaks,” is published in Art Education Journal.University of Washington Afro-American History project, documenting important aspects of Northwest history, requests the JWW papers.
Begins representation by the Richard White Gallery (later the Foster/White Gallery). which lasts the rest of his life.

1969

Guest lecturer in art, Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington.
Guest speaker at Seattle Pacific College (later Seattle Pacific University) as a guest of the Civil Rights Commission.
Speaks at St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame in conjunction with a solo exhibition.
Creates six busts of historical African American figures for Rotunda of Achievements in Philadelphia, including Martin Luther King, Jr. and George Washington Carver.
Several other important commissions produced for the Seattle area.

1970

The Obelisk is exhibited at Expo ’70 in Osaka, Japan.
Washington State produces a video of the exhibiting artists working in their studios.

1971

Returns to serve on the Washington State Arts Commission under Governor Dan Evans.  Receives Governor’s Award for “Outstanding Accomplishments in Sculpture.”
Seattle Chapter of LINKS, Inc. creates the James W. Washington, Jr. Scholarship for “creative achievements in the fine arts.”
The National Bank of the State of Washington and Weyerhaeuser Company commissions work.

1972

Receives commissions from Washington State for Three Mysteries of Life and from New Shiloh Baptist Church in Baltimore for The Scapegoat.
Completes sculpture, Sperm Pursuing the Egg.

1973

Travels to Japan to study the art of bonsai.
His portrait is included in “Outstanding Black Seattleites” exhibit by Ernest Allen that tours area schools.
Seattle Mayor Wes Uhlman declares May 20th “James W. Washington, Jr. Day.”
Receives awards of recognition from Governor Dan Evans and from Mount Zion Baptist Church.The Tacoma Art Museum commissions Woodchuck Preparing for Hibernation.

1974 

Leads the first of thirteen annual Passover Seders at Mount Zion Baptist Church.
Appointed as the sole juror to Governor’s Invitational Exhibition.
Woodcut Struggle for Life chosen by the Children’s Orthopedic Hospital, (later renamed Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center), for their Christmas card.
Work included in Expo ’74 Afro-American Pavilion and “Art of the Pacific Northwest” at the Portland Art Museum (travels to Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.).
World’s Trade Center at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport commissions Gray Owl.

1975

Receives Honorary Doctorate from the Center for Urban-Black Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California.
Seagull Resting is exhibited at the opening of the Bellevue Arts Museum in Bellevue, Washington.

1976

Acknowledged as “One of the Founders of the Age of Enlightenment” by Rabbi Raphael Levine. Joint exhibition with Dr. Frederick Franck at Foster/White Gallery in Seattle.

 
1977

Work included in collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art (Lawrence H. Bloedel Collection).
Art critic Regina Hackett publishes “James Washington: Secrets in Stone” in the November issue of American Artist.

1978

In conjunction with solo exhibition, delivers lecture on “The Universality of Art” at Fort Steilacoom College (later Pierce College Fort Steilacoom).
Continues solo exhibition at Foster/White Gallery in Seattle.
Seattle Arts Commission commissions Fish for an installation in Ballard.

1979

“Black Artists/South” exhibition at the Huntsville Museum of Art, includes his work.

1980

Retrospective exhibition at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle.

1981

“Portopia ‘81” in Seattle’s Sister City Kobe, Japan, which is curated by Richard Andrews of the Seattle Arts Commission, exhibits his works.
The Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic in Seattle commissions My Testimony in Stone, a three-ton sculpture.

1982 

“Northwest Contemporary Art” exhibition at Squibb Gallery, Princeton, features his work.Sheraton Hotel and Towers in Seattle commissions Obelisk with Phoenix and Esoteric Symbols of Nature.

1983

The State Capital Museum in Olympia, Washington, commissions Bird with Covey.

1984 

Receives King County, Washington Arts Commission Service Award.
Elected to the Washington State Historical Society Hall of Honor.
Responds to honors by creating the sculpture Arch of Triumph and a poem, “The Last Link of the Chain.” Smithsonian American Art Museum accepts Young Queen of Ethiopia into its collection.

1985

King County Arts Commission commissions Wounded Eagle.

1987

Works included in National Sculpture exhibition at Foster/White Gallery.
Works also included in “Recent Modern Acquisitions” exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum.
Life Surrounding the Astral Altar installed at 3200 Columbia Center.
Mount Zion Baptist Church in Seattle commissions The Oracle of Truth.

1988

Chosen as featured artist for “Seattle Northwest Black Pioneers Centennial Tribute.”

1989

Major retrospective exhibition of paintings and sculpture, “The Spirit in the Stone: The Visionary Art of James W. Washington, Jr." at the Bellevue Art Museum.
Receives King County Arts Commission Honors Program Award, recognizing "Northwest Master Artists" who have made significant and enduring contributions to the visual arts of the region.

1990

The James W. Washington, Jr. and Janie Rogella Washington Foundation is founded and the Honorable Charles Z. Smith, the artist’s close friend, patron, and a noted attorney and judge, serves as its first President.

1991

Works included in “A Matter of Colors" exhibition at Pacific Arts Center's Anne Gould Hauberg Gallery, celebrating African American influences in the visual arts and “Views and Visions in the Pacific Northwest” exhibition at Seattle Art Museum, celebrating 100 years of art in the Northwest. Children’s Touchstone with Eagles commissioned and installed at Bailey-Gatzert Elementary School in Seattle.

1992 

On January 27th, the Seattle City Council designates the Washington home and studio at 1816 26th Avenue a Seattle Landmark, citing the importance of its association with Washington and its role in the heritage of the community.
Landmark Commission listing from Landmarks Preservation Board

1994 

The Mayor of his hometown of Gloster, Mississippi, askes him to return as an honored son for “Coming Home: A Celebration” honoring his life and work. The State House of Representatives enters a proclamation in his honor.

1997

Publishes “Poems of Life”, a collection of paintings, poetry and sculpture.

2000

“Earthly Paradise”, a Seattle Art Museum exhibition documenting Northwest Art, includes his work. James W. Washington, Jr. passes away at the age of 91 on June 7th.
Janie Rogella Washington passes away at age 92 on September 9th.

2002 

“Iridescent Light”, a retrospective exhibit at the Museum of Northwest Art in LaConner, Washington, features his work along with works by 21 artists associated with the Northwest school. Solo exhibition, “Spirit Within,” a retrospective exhibition of oils, pastels, poetry and sculpture at the Washington State Trade and Convention Center.
Year long exhibit, "Kindling the Flame of Creativity: The Life and Work of James W. Washington, Jr." opens at the Washington State History Museum.

2005

“Africa in America” exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum, which examines themes of African American history, including slavery, spirituality, music and urban life, features his work .

2008

Making a Life, Creating a World: Jacob Lawrence and James W. Washington Jr. – Northwest African American Museum was the inagual exhibition at the Northwest African American Museum.