Johnpaul Jones has a distinguished 52-year career as an architect and founding partner of Jones & Jones. Earning his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Oregon in 1967, his design philosophy emerged from his Choctaw-Cherokee ancestors, which connects his work to the natural world, animal world, spirit world, and human world. Mr. Jones’ designs have won widespread acclaim for their reverence for the earth, for paying deep respect to regional Indigenous architectural traditions and native landscapes, and for heightening understanding of Indigenous People and their diverse Native cultures of America.

Johnpaul has led the design of numerous cultural centers and museums with tribes spanning the North American continent, culminating in his 12-year engagement as overall lead design consultant for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian on the Mall in Washington, D.C. A Fellow in the American Institute of Architects, his designs have won a stream of local and national awards. His awards include the 2005 Distinguished Service Award from the University of Oregon (his alma mater), the AlA Seattle Medal (2006), the Executive Excellence Award from the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (2006), the Pietro Belluschi Distinguished Professorship from the University of Oregon (2011), the Island Treasure Award from the Bainbridge Island Art and Humanities Council (2013), the Washington State Governor’s Heritage Award (2014), and the National Humanities Medal from the National Endowment for the Humanities (2014) conferred by President Barack Obama.

Johnpaul Jones FAIA (BArch U. of Oregon 1967, Choctaw/Cherokee) has created a nationally significant legacy of projects that honor the land and cultural heritage, while nurturing a culture of professional inclusiveness based on regard for the human spirit. Johnpaul Jones takes his strength and guidance from the land – a design philosophy which he attributes to his roots in the Choctaw/Cherokee tradition. His designs for museums, cultural centers, environmental learning centers, and zoological facilities, including influential work at the highly-regarded San Diego Zoo and Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo, have
won recognition for heightening human sensitivity to cultural and environmental issues.

As a Founding Principal (1972) of Seattle-based Jones + Jones Architects and Landscape Architects – honored in 2003 as the first recipient of the ASLA Landscape Architecture Firm Award – Jones has contributed to the quiet alteration of the direction of zoological design beginning in the late 1970s. With his co-principals and clients including San Diego Zoo, he has helped foster an integrated approach to built environments and the conservation of natural resources, further educating the public about how
we all must live with nature. Many Jones + Jones projects have won a variety of ‘green’ or ‘sustainability’ awards. His designs have won recognition for heightening human sensitivity to both cultural and environmental issues.

An area of concentration involves the interpretation of indigenous peoples’ values, ways, and beliefs in creating projects celebrating Native American Indian cultures. Jones has worked closely with Native American tribes throughout the US, incorporating their architectural and cultural heritage into the structures designed specifically to honor them. This direction had a special culmination in Jones’ design leadership with others over the dozen years of effort to realize the National Museum of the American Indian, which opened on the Mall in Washington, DC on September 21, 2004. Jones’ design philosophy grew from his Native American heritage, and he returns that gift by volunteering with Native American tribes and mentoring young Native Americans and others of diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds to enter the design field. As a Founding Member of the AlA Seattle Diversity Roundtable, Jones has offered a consistently strong, thoughtful example of inclusiveness in practice, and has helped many people of “different” backgrounds find their place in architecture and design. He has had a profound influence on the profession, his modest and gentle manner underlies enormous strength of character, while his
profound idealism fires his passion to achieve an architecture embracing a rich cultural diversity. Quiet and unassuming yet with a uniquely commanding presence, he lets the power of design speak through him.

Mary Lou Sanelli is the author of 14 books of nonfiction, fiction, memoir, poetry, and a children’s title. Her newest title, In So Many Words: Three Years, Two Months, One Me, was nominated for a 2025 Pacific Northwest Book Award and a 2025 Washington State Book Award.

In this new collection of essays about living in the Northwest, Sanelli gives voice to the exquisite nuances of day-to-day life, as well as larger struggles we face, while always managing to leave us feeling less worried, certainly less alone, and much more hopeful. These relevant and frequently funny essays remind us that the simple act of paying attention to what happens around us (maybe put your phone down and look up?) can make a profound difference in how we view the world and ourselves. Sanelli has spent much of her writing career emphasizing what she believes-has always believed-that the most personal is the most universal. She writes on the basis of that. But even at her most serious, she never takes herself too seriously and what remains for the reader are insightful gems that shine light into the dark, as touching as they are wise.

Sanelli is also is a columnist, speaker and master dance teacher. She and her husband live on Bainbridge Island. For information, visit www.marylousanelli.com.

Christine Rolfes, Kitsap County Commissioner and former Washington State Senator for the 23rd District between 2011 and 2023, will present to us. Her work focuses on funding and educational reform, small businesses, ferries, military and veteran families, opposition to housing, and the environment. More information to follow.

Folksinger and activist Woody Guthrie composed 26 songs in 30 days while riding along the Columbia River and touring the Grand Coulee Dam Project in 1941. With his unique, authentic voice, he chronicled both the grandeur and the perils of what he called “The Greatest Thing That Man Has Ever Done” as an employee of the Bonneville Power Administration. His time here in the Pacific Northwest inspired a swell of patriotism that led Guthrie to enlist in the U.S. Merchant Marine in World War II, after which he returned home to fame and notoriety, but also to tragedy and tremendous personal loss.

Historian, teacher, folksinger, and actor Joel Underwood performs an hour that is part concert, part theatrical drama, and part lecture. Sing along to “Roll on Columbia,” “Pastures of Plenty,” and of course, “This Land is Your Land,” and learn the—sometimes hilarious, sometimes tragic—stories behind the songs.

Joel Underwood (he/him) is an actor, teacher, musician, and historian. After 25 years teaching high school history, Underwood got his master’s degree in American History with a focus on folk and protest music. A recipient of the Woody Guthrie Fellowship, Underwood was granted access to the Woody Guthrie Archives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to research Woody’s time in the World War II Merchant Marines. Underwood continues to tour as a musician, both solo and with his daughter. Underwood lives in Olympia.

“Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?”  

The answer to this question—or the refusal to answer it—cast hundreds of lives into turmoil at the dawn of the Cold War. The Red Scare that erupted in the 1940s allowed the House Committee on Un-American Activities to grab headlines by parading prominent Hollywood figures before the cameras. Witnesses could either defy the hearings at the risk of their own careers, or “name names”—inform on their colleagues and friends. The resulting blacklist threw many moviemaking professionals out of work.  

This presentation, illustrated with film clips, tells the stories from this heartbreaking and scandalous era, and how notables such as Humphrey Bogart, Elia Kazan, and Charlie Chaplin were swept up in the frenzy. We’ll also ask a question: With today’s politics at a boiling point, are we living in such a period again? 

Robert Horton (he/him), a member of the National Society of Film Critics, was the longtime film reviewer for the Seattle Weekly, Everett Herald, and KUOW. His books include a critical study of Frankenstein. He has been a Fulbright specialist, a Smithsonian Journeys speaker, and an instructor at Seattle University and the Architectural Association in London. He now hosts the radio program, The Music and the Movies. Horton lives in Seattle.

From Antarctica to Iceland, come see the world through the lens of Photographer and Documentary Filmmaker, Brooke Juhala. With an emphasis in cultural and natural history exploration, we’ll learn about some of these remote regions through photos, stories and lessons. Brooke will also discuss her work as a Documentary Filmmaker, sharing a trailer for her 3-part series Inseparable, and discuss how her career journey has led her to becoming a Certified Photography Instructor with Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic.

Brooke Juhala (she/her) is an international Documentary Filmmaker and Photographer based in Bremerton, WA. Specializing in exploring the intersection of land use and culture, her work has taken her around the globe documenting the vast spectrum of outdoor enthusiasts found within diverse backgrounds. Brooke shares her passions working as a Certified Photo Instructor aboard Lindblad Expeditions in partnership with National Geographic. Outside of her creative endeavors, she uses her technical skills to give back to her community by volunteering as a Rescue Team Member with Olympic Mountain Rescue.