Fort Words (Port Townsend, WA)

Fort Words was a public art installation created by artist Aaron Asis to celebrate the inspired conditions and historic significance at Fort Worden State Park.  These temporary installations were drawn from local oral histories, collections of historic texts, and public testimonials to give voice to these battery sites and share stories of the Forts dynamic history with park visitors.

Each installation is rendered in a military inspired stencil style text and consists of 23 unique quotes, chosen from over 600 oral histories, ensuring that each installation shares a different story related to these old bunkers for people to discover, contemplate, and reflect upon their own memories — like a trail of breadcrumbs, inspire explorations, inspire curiosity, and increase our collective appreciation for this extraordinary historic treasure.

Fort Words was created to explore new ways of engaging the visiting public in our parks — and was developed with support from Centrum, Jefferson County Historical Society, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, Fort Worden Public Development Authority, Coastal Artillery Museum, Friends of Fort Worden, Ignition Arts — with special support from the Port Townsend Arts Commission, and Washington State Parks & Recreation.