From the interview with Grimanesa Amoros conducted by Clare Ledden at the Fort Worden History Center on November 4, 2004. Ms. Amoros is an interdisiplinary artist. She was born in Peru and currently lives in New York City. In 2004, she was an Artist in Residence at Centrum in Fort Worden working on a project entitled “Rootless Algas.” Here she discusses the residency and her reaction to the local environment:

“I heard about the program through a friend of mine. There is a process of application, you have to do a quite extensive application. It is like winning the lotto, because there’s a lot of artists out there. In the case of Centrum, they don’t interview you on the phone. You just have to send your resume as well as an application in which they ask you a lot of things about your career so they can see what stage you are at. Also they have to like the project that you want to be doing here at Centrum.

I am living here in Building 260. It’s very simple accommodations, what I call rustic. But they are very clean and that’s important to me. It is a very interesting transition for me (to be working on her own). Coming from New York City, you are used to have so much bubbling energy all around you. Then you arrive in Port Townsend, Fort Worden, and you realize that you’re pretty much on your own. Sometimes you could pass a whole day and you have not spoken with anybody. For me it is wonderful that I’m able to experience this because it gives me the balance that I need for my happiness. It has given me time to do a lot of writing, a lot of reading, a lot of filming. I have filmed almost six video DVDs, I have done over 400 pictures and I have done about ten drawings that are almost 80 per cent complete. I have been enjoying the town. I have been going to the movies at the Rose Theater, which I absolutely adore. I think it is a jewel and if they had a different movie every night, I would be there every night. The people around are just wonderful, very helpful, very warm.”