SEQUIM — As Sequim prepares for its centennial year, a poster commemorating the event and other centennial memorabilia are available for sale beginning today.
The Sequim Centennial poster, emblazoned with the slogan, “Get Into the Sequim of Things,” was created by Port Hadlock artist Cindy Mangutz, who is known for her folk art and realism styles of painting.
It features around 100 historic buildings, farms and humorous vignettes of life just after the turn of the 20th century.
Among the images are steamboats, orcas and S’Klallam Elwha tribal canoes on the Strait of Juan de Fuca; an early depiction of the Irrigation Festival Parade; plus loggers, farmers and a horse race.
The poster print sells for $10 and is available at Sequim City Hall, 151 W. Cedar St., and the Sequim Dungeness-Valley Chamber of Commerce Visitor Information Center, 1192 E. Washington St.
Mangutz was selected to create the poster in 2010. She took a year to plan the poster by driving around Sequim, examining the layout of the town and landmarks, visiting the Sequim Museum & Arts Center, interviewing longtime area residents and consulting with the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.
“It was a lot of driving around and getting ideas,” Mangutz said.
She said that it was helpful that much of the city has been preserved, but many of the city landmarks have changed or are gone.
“Most of the buildings are from actual pictures from the turn of the century,” she said.
Nothing from the World War II era or later is included in the painting, she said.
The Sequim Centennial poster does not include the city’s now-famed lavender farms, because the period depicted in the poster predates the lavender industry in the area.
Some landmarks that were requested by the city’s centennial advisory committee no longer exist, so some of the placement was by guess, including a barn that was on the property where Walmart is today, at 1110 W. Washington St.
The greatest challenge was getting everything laid out correctly, Mangutz said.
The city is not depicted to scale but is a whimsical look at old Sequim, she said.
Mangutz, who has lived in Port Hadlock for 15 years, in the past preferred a “realism” style of painting, and when she decided to try “primitive Americana,” certain elements didn’t appeal to her.
“I didn’t like the round bubble trees. They didn’t look right to me,” Mangutz said.
The trees, Olympic Mountains, bald eagles soaring in the sky and some other elements are painted mostly in her older realism style, while the characters and buildings were painted with her unique mix of Americana folk art and realism styles.
“If you look at other folk art, mine doesn’t look the same,” she said.
She also has created paintings for the Sequim Lavender Festival, Hurricane Ridge, the Port Townsend Wooden Ship Festival and the New Dungeness Lighthouse.
There is a possibility that the Sequim Centennial painting may be selected to become a puzzle — one that would be very complicated because of the many buildings and details in the painting, Mangutz said.
Several other Sequim Centennial items also are available for sale in Sequim.
A short-stemmed commemorative goblet etched with the Sequim Centennial logo is available for $10 at Sequim City Hall.
A special blend of coffee roasted by Rainshadow Coffee Roasting Co., the “100 Years Strong” blend, is available for purchase at Sequim City Hall and Rainshadow at 157 W. Cedar St. The coffee sells for $12.50 for 12 ounces.
Wind Rose Cellars also has crafted a “Century Blend” red wine for the Sequim Centennial. The 2010 red table wine is available for $19.99 a bottle at the Wind Rose Cellars Tasting Room, 155 B W. Cedar St.
The wine also is available at the Red Rooster Grocery, 134 W. Washington St., Nash’s Organic Produce, 4681 Sequim-Dungeness Way and at Agnew Grocery, 2863 Old Olympic Highway, Port Angeles.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
