Artist Interview: Emily Russel

Meet Emily Russel - The Landscape Architect who helped bring Quincy Square to life! 

What inspires you about Bremerton?

My family moved to Bremerton for work-related opportunities when I was 3 years old, and I’ve lived here ever since. As I entered young adulthood, I chose to stay living in Bremerton and attend Olympic College before transferring and commuting to the University of Washington’s Landscape Architecture program. Once I graduated from college, I was confronted with the decision about where I’d like to pursue my career. After an internship in Seattle, I realized that it was important to me to remain living and working in Bremerton, and that’s what I’ve done. My husband Chris, who was born in Bremerton and loves it here, and I were fortunate to buy a home and raise our daughter in a sweet neighborhood.

It feels meaningful to me to be involved in a community. I have found that aspect of my life to feel less effortful by living, working, volunteering, playing, and connecting—all in the same not-too-big, not-too-small, just-right-for-me city.

It can be challenging to put your finger on exactly why a city feels inspiring versus another city that feels less inspiring. While there are key elements that make a city feel inviting, it’s sometimes more about a less tangible attraction to a place. I find Bremerton to be a bit of a litmus test. It’s not appealing to everyone, and that can be a good thing. It’s attracting a diverse array of interesting and creative people who feel the unique form of beauty and potential here.

I find myself inspired by the people that I meet in this city who have moved here from all over the world. When you’ve lived in one place your whole life, that’s an intriguing idea. Of all the cities on earth, someone found their way to Bremerton and often they are putting down roots. To see this city in a new light through their eyes is always an inspiration.

I’m so thankful that Bremerton is still drawing so many creatives. I’d assume that at some point I would be able to say, “I’ve met all of the artists who live and work here.” But I’m regularly blown away by meeting yet another artist (or maker, or entrepreneur, or chef, or musician—the list goes on) who is energized by living here and excited about the creative community in Bremerton. We’re so fortunate that they share their craft and expertise with the rest of us.

This buzzy feeling of possibility, creativity, and connectedness against a backdrop of so much natural beauty is something that I hope stays alive and well in Bremerton for generations to come.

What drew you to your medium?

As a child, I was drawn more toward creative pursuits over other interests. I always had multiple arts and craft projects going on at any given time. Not much has changed there!

When I got to Olympic High School, I initially found myself in Ms. Alder’s plant science class only because I wanted to avoid dissecting animals in anatomy/physiology. But before I knew it, I was hooked and became a willing lab tech in plant science, spending as much time as possible in the greenhouse helping to nurture and maintain all the little seedlings in rows that belonged to my classmates.

After high school, I was uncertain about my path in life and opted to work in the floral department of Michael’s craft store while attending Olympic College. In addition to continuing my studies in plant and earth sciences, I could mostly be found in the art department late into the evening working on figure drawing and sculpture, but mostly doing my favorite thing—printmaking under the tutelage of Bev Olson.

Eventually, I was fortunate enough to meet with a wonderful career advisor at Olympic College (I wish I could remember her name!). She asked whether I’d heard of the field of Landscape Architecture, which seemed to involve two areas of study that I was most drawn to—fine art and plant/earth sciences.

I knew nothing about Landscape Architecture and made my way to an informational presentation at UW where the professors explained all the different ways that Landscape Architects contribute to planning and designing the natural and built environment, create meaningful and functional public and private outdoor spaces, and directly affect ecological sustainability and community needs.

I was hooked! This felt like the perfect next step for me. Since I had no plan B, I worked extremely hard to get into the landscape program. Then I worked hard to stay there! It was tough and my path wasn’t clear, but I wouldn’t change it. I still feel that this work is my calling and I’m so grateful that I found it at the right time.

What was your role in the Quincy Square project, and what excited you most about working on it?

Quincy Square is one of the most meaningful and rewarding projects I’ve worked on during my career so far. It’s been a dream project inspired by an incredible story of Mr. Quincy Jones finding his creative inspiration as a child in Bremerton. So many of us have been inspired by his story, and I believe the success of this project has a lot to do with so many folks identifying with that feeling of inspiration as well as our pride in his first inspiration happening in Bremerton.

That creative inspiration gave this tribute project the traction that it needed to make it through ten years of design, public process, community support, and the search for funding.

Quincy Square has begun to take on a life of its own, utilized and enjoyed as a central pedestrian gathering space for community events, performances, markets, and First Friday Art Walk! This was always my hope and the first signs of a successful public project. I look forward to seeing how it evolves over time.

Where can we find more of your art?

You can learn more about what I’m up to at Emily Russell Landscape Architecture on social media and at emily@erla.land. I continue to be interested in a range of project types, including public, commercial, and residential. I’d love to chat with you about your project.

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Are you an artist interested in sharing your work with the community?

We’d love to feature you on our blog and social media! If you’d like to be interviewed and showcased in a future post, reach out to us at firstfriday@downtownbremerton.org. Let’s celebrate the amazing artists in our local art scene together!