Artwork copyright Jeffrey Veregge. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2024.

Reaching for Space, 2024

Jeffrey Veregge
(American | Port Gamble S'Klallam, born 1974, died 2024)

Location: Evergreen Middle School, Kent

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Reaching for Space by Jeffrey Veregge is part of a series that honors the history of science and industry in the Washington State. He drew it in his "Salish Geek" style, combining form-line designs with pop culture imagery of the Space Needle in Seattle, astronauts, and outer space.

This artwork is part of a curated collection by Asia Tail in April 2024 for three Federal Way Public Schools in South King County. Asia chose graphic works that are as bold and diverse as the students, by artists with ties to South Puget Sound. Images of language, people, and the natural world create a poem for this place where students live and learn. She notes, "School is a place where we can connect with new families. And families are always strongest when working together."

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Federal Way Public Schools.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Jeffrey Veregge (Port Gamble S’Klallam) (1974-2024) called his art style as “Salish Geek.” He blended his love of comic books, toys, TV, and film with his Native perspective. His art has appeared on the covers and insides of over 100 comic books for Marvel and other comics. He also created the exit mural for Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle and "Of Gods & Heroes" – two giant, fifty-foot-long murals – for the permanent collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. “My origins are not supernatural, nor have they been enhanced by radioactive spiders. I am simply a Native American artist and writer whose creative mantra is best summed up with a word from my tribe’s own language as: “taʔčaʔx̣ʷéʔtəŋ”, which means 'get into trouble'."

Jeffrey Veregge is an enrolled member of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe. He was raised and lived most of his life on the Little Boston reservation, located near Kingston on the Kitsap Peninsula, southern Puget Sound, Western Washington. He is also of Suquamish and Duwamish tribal ancestry. Veregge graduated from the Art Institute of Seattle and also studied with Tsimshian master carver David Boxley to learn Salish formline design.