KPLU Local News
(2010-09-05)
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Ed Marquand, the brainchild behind the Mighty Tieton enterprise, in his MARQUAND EDITIONS TIETON shop
Photo by Florangela Davila
Welcome to Tieton whose soundtrack is the twittering of birds.
Today, a pair of Seattle jewelry artists whip out a saw, a torch and an engraving pen and get to work.
Lori Talcott talks about her jewelry design.
"I'm engraving an image of an eye on this piece as part of a bigger piece that I'm working on," she says.
Talcott huddles at a table in a small cabin-turned-art-studio, while fellow artist Maria Phillips crafts a crow out of stainless steel.
"Just work, work, work," Phillips says, relishing what's on the agenda for the next two days.
And how she'll be able to disconnect from her usual routine.
"No phones. No television."
Oh sure, these amenities are available. But most of the artists come here for the quiet.
Tieton is 15 miles west of Yakima, up in the hills, and it's teeny: less than one square mile. It can also feel otherworldly.
The jewelry artists step outside and look down the street.
"It's kind of got an old cowboy town thing going on," Phillips says. "I feel like I'm on a horse and I'm waiting for my opponent to come down. We're going to meet in the middle and have a shootout. Just the way the buildings are, the facades of the building. It's like you hear, Whoo hoo." Phillips attempts a whistle.
Back inside the studio, Phillips finds her tune from the soundtrack of "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly." She's been invited here by Talcott who knew she could use an escape to one of the "El Nido" cabins she owns.
Talcott's cabins - which are available to rent - are part of a larger group of buildings clustered around Tieton's main square.
They're all part of an ambitious enterprise led by Ed Marquand.
He's a successful publisher of fine art books based in Seattle.
"At a certain point you wake up and you think 'well, I have a nice little business going here. And it's satisfying and I have wonderful clients and I do wonderful projects but what else could I be doing creatively and professionally?'"
Five years ago, Marquand was riding his bike through the Yakima Valley when he got stuck here. His tires were studded with thorns.
"So I wheeled the bike to the park, the nice little park in the middle of town. I spent the afternoon repairing the tires. And As I looked around the square, and saw the four blocks of storefronts and the warehouses, I thought that it had some creative potential."
In this struggling orchard town, many large buildings sat empty. So Marquand gathered a group of investors - artist friends such as painter Fay Jones - and bought nine buildings.
They renovated the buildings into work and living spaces and named their enterprise "Mighty Tieton."
"Kind of like Mighty Mouse," Marquand says.
To appreciate all that's going on in Tieton you just have to know where to look.
"Some people probably think nothing's going on here. They'll come and catch us on a day when no one can take them on a tour," says Karen Quint.
Quint - Mighty Tieton events manager - shows a reporter around the community's epicenter.
"We're in what used to be an apple processing plant. It's vast and dim but look up: chandeliers made out of teacups and a sculpture with a metal ball rolling around in a circle.
The tour leads past printmaking and letterpress studios and a corner woodshop. She opens a large, freezer-looking door.
"There's quite a few CA rooms, which are controlled atmosphere rooms that stay at 50 degrees all year around. And that's where they would store the apples. So we've done different things with each one. Trimpin, the artist Trimpin has a studio in one space. Right now there's a little show going on, the '10 by 10 by 10' invitational. And we have a wonderful space of kites," she says.
Next door, a second warehouse has been converted into 14 lofts - all occupied. Talcott's cabins are just down the street.
So far the Mighty Tieton investors have spent about $4 million. But their goal has always been to launch businesses that could hire locals.
Maria Solorio binds books in Marquand's Tieton gift store.
Originally from Jalisco, Mexico, she's been working here for three years. She used to sell food out in the orchards. She smiles and says she now feels like an artist.
She says Mighty Tieton will help the local children who want to be artists.
For non-locals, artists or otherwise, a trip to Tieton means not only blessed quiet but also art shows, an upcoming poetry fest and a delicious farmers market all nestled in the rolling hills of Eastern Washington.
Florangela Davila, KPLU News, Tieton
The 10 x 10 x 10 x Tieton Exhibition art show runs through Oct. 10, 2010. For a list of events, directions as well as to arrange a short tour go the Mighty Tieton website .
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