“Fort Words” was a temporary art installation created at Fort Worden in the fall of 2020.

Created by New York-based artist Aaron Asis, the project experimented with new ways to engage visitors with the vivid history and the unique architecture of the park.

The installation was short-lived, lasting but a handful of months.

However, new walls are talking now. The artist has the opportunity to re-create the “Fort Words” experience at Northwind Art’s Grover Gallery.

For the month of March, visitors will have a chance to learn more about the artwork that, only a short time ago, graced Fort Worden’s battery walls.

First Breath

Asis exhibits work in unexpected places, promoting access and awareness throughout different cities. His work is focused on sharing art experiences outside of art spaces.

With creative gestures intended to inspire thought and to create public opportunities for others to learn, explore, and share, the “Fort Words” project was a natural continuation of this artwork.

“It was amazing,” the artist said of his project.

“Anybody who has the opportunity to go somewhere special for the first time … you never forget what that feels like. The first second … literally the first day I was there, I was walking around and it was just impossible not to try to do something meaningful.”

For Asis, the project was about “celebrating the history and significance of the fort itself, the people who were there, the stories that were already there.”

“It was really just using art as an excuse to relive some of the iterations of the fort’s history,” he explained.

The public art installation series at the park consisted of 23 unique quotes, all rendered in a military-inspired stencil text.

The words were chosen from more than 600 oral histories, collections of historic texts, as well as, public testimonials to give a voice to the battery sites.

Each installation shared a different story relating to the forgotten bunkers for people to explore, contemplate, and reflect upon.

Almost a love letter to Fort Worden, the “Fort Words” installation celebrated the existing structure and attempted to highlight the historical impacts the fort had. Asis sought out to “help people better appreciate and understand how significant it is in our backyard.”

“Personally, I feel like an invited guest to this party,” he said. “I just think it’s such a remarkable thing to tap into. It’s a wonderful treat to just sit back and try to let it speak and let it be big and let it be bold.”

“Not every place you come across has that embodied energy and the fort just has it. And it’s magic,” he added.

New Life

For the artist, the new exhibit at the Grover Gallery is about more than just giving the installation a second life. It’s always been about telling the stories of the fort, he explained.

“So maybe this work isn’t happening on the fort walls,” but now visitors have the space to dive into the soul of the project, emerging themselves in the documentation and where the text came from.

“It’s been a fun chance to continue to tell the story in a different way and a different venue,” Asis said.

The “Fort Words” project video will premiere alongside the exhibit. A book about the project with photographic spreads and background about the installation locations and stories will also be released.

A workshop taught by the artist will coincide with the March exhibit.

The two-part online workshop, “Access and Awareness: The Art of Developing Site-specific Installations in the Public Realm,” will focus on the practice of just that: site-specific installations.

It will be held via Zoom on Thursday, March 25 and Thursday, April 1, and will introduce the practices, examples, and encouragement of students’ own ideas surrounding unique installation projects.

“Fort Words” was developed in collaboration with Centrum, as well as, support provided by Jefferson County Historical Society, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, the Coast Artillery Museum, the Fort Worden Public Development Authority and the Friends of Fort Worden. Support was also provided by Ignition Arts, the Port Townsend Arts Commission, and Washington State Parks.

Visit the Grover Gallery all month to see the execution of “Fort Words” minus the fort.

Those interested can register for artist-taught workshop at NorthwindArt.org.