Restored murals at Everett library have a story to tell

By Margaret Riddle

Prespectivepast@gmail.com

On April 30, art conservator Peter Malarkey finished restoring the Everett Public Library’s John T. Jacobsen murals, artwork that has greeted visitors to the downtown branch since the building opened Oct. 3, 1934.

Built during the Great Depression, the library is a gem of 1930s aesthetics, designed by Northwest architect Carl F. Gould. A decade earlier, Gould had designed the Everett Weyerhaeuser Office Building and was well-known for many prominent Seattle buildings. A $75,000 grant from local industrialist Leonard Howarth made a new library possible, along with additional federal and state funding.

Gould’s Everett Library had a comfortable, intimate feel, with fine use of terra cotta tiles, wood and metal work. Display art was added as a part of the project, including an early painting by Northwest artist Guy Anderson. Library construction was done in less than a year and, as the library neared completion, Gould considered decorating the lobby with historic photographs. Instead, he commissioned murals that would depict the history of the Everett location from exploration days to 1934. Seattle artist John Theodore “Ted” Jacobsen was chosen to paint the murals, a likely choice since he had done previous mural work with Gould.

Jacobsen painted the murals in August and September, relying on research assistance of library director Mabel Ashley, and finished in time for the Oct. 3 opening. He received $550 for his work. The south mural represented the city’s 1890s beginnings, while the north mural showed Everett in 1934. The large west-facing panel told the story of pre-Everett days.

In the 1960s, the Everett Library was extensively remodeled and expanded in a project that covered the building’s exterior with beige sheet-metal panels in a style of the times. Changing technology and library services made many renovations to the library’s interior space necessary over the years. Through it all, the north and south murals remained unchanged, except for aging. The central panel, however, was altered, with doors installed leading into a room behind it.

A voter-approved levy allowed restoration and expansion of the library, which reopened in 1991. The sheet metal panels were removed, the library’s original entrance doors were replicated and a grand south entrance was added, matching the 1930s architecture. Peter Malarkey was hired at that time to clean the north and south murals.

During this library remodel, a wind- and rain storm damaged the west mural and caused patches of paint to lift from the backing. This panel had always been the most vulnerable of the three. The north and south panels had been painted on canvas but, possibly because of time constraints, the west panel was painted directly onto plaster.

In 2015, Peter Malarkey was consulted and restoration costs were estimated at $80,000. This involved many hours of skilled work using special glues to stabilize paint that had delaminated from the plaster, then covering these areas with mulberry tissue paper and applying adhesive through the paper to guard the paint. The final step was to carefully clean the mural with a solution of water and ammonium sulfate. Restoration began when the Everett’s Cultural Arts Department granted $21,000 to hire Malarkey to begin.

A fundraising campaign was initiated by library director Eileen Simmons, assistant Kate Larsen, the library board of trustees and Friends of Everett Public Library, who drew first from the library budget and endowments (held by the Community Foundation of Snohomish County) and then reached out to the community. Funding came from the Snohomish County Community Heritage Program, the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, the Tulalip Tribes Charitable Funds, the Toyota Foundation and the Friends of the Everett Public Library. Individuals also gave generously.

The $80,000 goal was reached, with Malarkey continuing restoration as money came in. He was able to complete the job — including patching holes drilled into the mural many decades ago — and repainting some areas where paint had flaked off completely. Finishing up, he cleaned the surface and added a protective coating over the entire mural.

What exactly is the legacy of the Jacobsen murals? They are part of the original library building and, while they tell some of the location’s past, they are also part of the library’s story. Northwest Room historian Lisa Labovitch describes their importance in this way:

“John T. Jacobsen’s murals not only provide an aesthetically pleasing entryway to the Everett Public Library’s historic Main Library, they also tell visitors a little about local history. The recently restored western wall gives a satellite-level view of the Puget Sound, with vignettes depicting important events in Washington state’s early period of European exploration and settlement. The south wall zooms in on Everett, telling the story of the early days of its non-Native settlement, and the north wall shows how the same space had rapidly industrialized by the time the murals were completed in 1934. Jacobsen’s work has almost a folk art feel, sprinkled occasionally with a sense of humor; spot the Eastern investor absconding with a bag of money on the south mural. All three works combine to provide a historically vibrant welcome to locals and visitors alike.”

The Everett Library has always benefitted from public-private partnerships. From its beginnings in the 1890s as the Women’s Book Club, to securing a Carnegie library for the city in 1905, to the Gould building and its updated remodel, and the current mural restoration as well as expansion of the south Everett branch, the Everett community has supported its library. One of the greatest satisfactions for Malarkey has been restoring the west panel so that it once again matches the other two panels. As he says, “It’s a tribute to the community that they were willing to fund and support such a project.”

This September, American Libraries, a publication of the American Library Association, will feature an article about library mural restoration projects and Everett’s story will be included.

When you walk into the main entrance of the Everett Library at 2702 Hoyt, look up at mezzanine level and enjoy the completed work.