Patron Saint of Thrown-Away Things | Creative Nonfiction - No. 17 2001

Patron Saint of Thrown-Away Things - Greg Bottoms
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Many people have written about the janitor, James Hampton, who lived in Washington, D.C. and created an  intricate, beautifully fabulous set of folk art pieces in a rented garage.  He worked on this for fourteen years and today it sits in the first floor of the west wing of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

But why did he do this?  Who was this man?

Greg Bottoms takes a look at his motivations and his life, including his loss of his older brother, Lee.  I won't recap his life here, you can read the essay.  Mr. Bottoms makes Mr. Hampton's faith the driving force.  And that makes perfect sense, because it would take something to drive such a supernatural passion to create.

You might look at this work of art and think that it isn't that big of a deal, but when you look at the materials used, when you estimate the effort expended, you can't help but feel awed.  Would it be more gorgeous in real silver and gold?  No.  It might shine more brightly, but it would lose its humanity, its underlying humility.  Gaudiness would be a complete falsehood in this humble exaltation of the belief of this poor, hard-working, dedicated janitor.

We're going to see it the next time we're in Washington.