EVERETT – James Belkonen was disheartened.
The Everett resident – a woodcarver, cab driver and weekend landscaper – couldn’t seem to find a permanent home for his beloved opus, a 7-foot cedar carving of a nude woman he calls “The Maid of the Woods.”
He moved to Everett in 1995. Since then she’s stood in front of a barbershop on Lombard Avenue. When it closed, he hauled her to Marysville and parked her in front of a tavern. It went out of business, too.
“The Maid of the Woods” was in serious danger of becoming the Matron of Moving.
Belkonen was sitting around after work one summer evening last year when it came to him – he could donate his masterpiece to the city of Everett.
He drove around and picked out the perfect spot, a small park near the intersection of Hewitt Avenue and Broadway. Before dark, “The Maid of the Woods” became The Maid of the Park.
Belkonen was thrilled at his idea.
The city, apparently, was not.
The Maid stood in the park for a few weeks before city workers noticed.
“Our parks department said, ‘Wait – we haven’t installed art there. It’s not something we authorized to be there,’” said city spokeswoman Kate Reardon. “We had no idea at that time who the sculpture belonged to.”
Not only was the wood sculpture a surprise anonymous donation – it wasn’t securely placed. They were worried The Maid might topple on parkgoers, she said.
“At that time we went ahead and put it into storage because we thought at some point in time somebody would come forward looking for it,” Reardon said.
Belkonen did. Three weeks after he’d dropped his carving at the park, he went back with his camera. “She was gone,” he said. “My heart skipped a beat.”
To him, The Maid is priceless. The piece is a result of Belkonen’s three-year friendship and apprenticeship with renowned Northwest wood sculptor Dudley Carter, whose wood sculptures still adorn area malls, parks and museums.
Before his death at 100 years old, Carter taught Belkonen to hand-carve old-growth cedar using a double-edged ax.
After the carving disappeared last summer, Belkonen made a few calls and found out the city was storing it, asking him to find it a new home. He still doesn’t know where to put her, but last week he finally picked her up.
She’d been standing all that time outside a Legion Park shed.
Though his donation wasn’t as well received as he’d hoped, Belkonen is grateful to the city.
“They stored my woman for a whole year and didn’t charge me,” he said.
Belkonen placed the sculpture under a shade tree in his front yard in downtown Everett. She’s holding up his mailbox.
His wife said the sudden appearance of a large, nude cedar woman made her a little jealous.
“When she first arrived, I tried to cover her up with a bathrobe,” said Jessica Belkonen, 32, an Everett Events Center usher.
But that’s not why The Maid can’t stay. Belkonen is still trying to find her a permanent indoor home before winter.
He still may try to donate it to the city if he can figure out how, he said.
“We do not get a lot of donations. It’s not a very common thing,” Reardon said.
Potential art donors must fill out an art donation proposal and submit it to the Everett Cultural Commission, which oversees the city’s art collection.
That collection includes art worth $2.5 million – 270 pieces by 150 different artists displayed in 20 locations around the city.
The commission also decides whether pieces are appropriate and of high enough artistic quality for public display
None of the city art now on display has nudity, though Everett has a few such pieces in storage awaiting either restoration or a proper venue, Reardon said.
Belkonen is also thinking of taking the sculpture back to the State Street tavern in Marysville, which reopened under new ownership last year as R Place.
“I think it’s a great idea. Bring it back,” said owner Karin Gjendem-Becker.
The bar is a favorite of local bikers and pool players, she said. And there’s plenty of standing room for “The Maid of the Woods.”
“Everett didn’t appreciate it,” she said. “My customers would.”
Reporter Jennifer Warnick: 425-339-3429 or jwarnick@heraldnet.com.
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