Provocateur Mike Lash smuggles two choice loaves of hearty bread to aid in the future struggle for independence
Chicago painter Mike Lash has become an avowed partisan of the Conch Republic. Invited by The Studios of Key West to be its artist-in-residence during the month of May, and to show paintings from his original children’s book, “Lies for Leo,” Lash began exploring the history and struggle of the fabled Southernmost micro-nation.
“When I learned of the late unpleasantness of 1982, and the annual celebration of the island’s people who continue to thumb their noses at the Federal powers, I knew I had to do my part for the rebellion,” said Lash, from his cottage on the TSKW campus.
n 1982, the United States Border Patrol set up a roadblock and inspection point on US 1 just north of the merger of Monroe County Road 905A/Miami-Dade County Road 905A onto US 1 (they are the only two roads connecting the Florida Keys with the mainland), in front of the Last Chance Saloon just south of Florida City. Vehicles were stopped and searched for narcotics and illegal immigrants. The Key West City Council complained repeatedly about the inconvenience for travelers to and from Key West, claiming that it hurt the Keys' important tourism industry. In fact, Eastern Air Lines, which had a hub at Miami International Airport, saw a window of opportunity when the roadblocks were established; Eastern became the only airline to establish jet service to Key West International Airport, counting on travelers from Key West to Miami preferring to fly rather than to wait for police to search their vehicles.
When the City Council's complaints went unanswered by the Federal Government and attempts to get an injunction against the roadblock failed in court, as a form of protest Mayor Dennis Wardlow and the Council declared the Key West's "independence" on April 23, 1982. In the eyes of the Council, since the federal government had set up the equivalent of a border station as if they were a foreign nation, they might as well become one. As many of the local citizens were referred to as Conchs, the "nation" took the name of the Conch Republic.
As part of the protest, Mayor Wardlow was proclaimed Prime Minister of the Republic, which immediately declared war against the U.S. (symbolically breaking a loaf of stale Cuban bread over the head of a man dressed in a naval uniform), quickly surrendered after one minute (to the man in the uniform), and applied for one billion dollars in foreign aid.
In late April, the artist secretly procured two substantial loaves of thick-crust bread, assembled by an underground Chicago baker, and managed to smuggle these across the mainland and over the Key West border. Dressed as a standard sun-loving tourist, he then managed to infiltrate the island’s creative community, meeting several key people who eventually led him to the battle-worn Reef Perkins, Vice Admiral in the Conch Republic Navy.
“These are most delicious armaments,” said Perkins, still smelling of stale and wet Cuban bread from the previous week’s Naval battle re-enactment with the Unites States Coast Guard. “But we dare not consume them, no matter how hungry, as the density and heft will surely prove to be an even better projectile force.”
A pivotal moment in the surreptitious arms deal occurred on the evening of 9 May, when Lash boarded the Schooner Jolly Rover, for what was billed as and actually turned out to be a three-hour cruise. Undercover again as a Midwestern tourist, in golf shirt and bermuda shorts, the artist quietly conferred with the ship's captain, known in more barnacle-encrusted circles as the Lord Admiral of the Conch Republic Navy. The artist, accompanied by an unnamed companion who had a reputation for conveying active yeast cultures across international waters, sealed the arms deal on the top deck that evening. The Jolly Rover plan was leavened and ready for the Republic's Department of Home-baked Security.
Based at a temporary artist studio inside the main hall of the Key West Armory, Lash will continue meeting with high ranking officials in the Conch Republic military and civilian government, and anyone else who comes along. The official transfer of arms, two hearty loaves of Chicago-baked bread, are to be ceremoniously handed over to the Conch Republic on Thursday 15 May, as part of that evening’s Walk on White. The public is invited to visit Lash in the main hall and inspect the loaves between 6 and 9pm. The evening will also include wine, beer, food, and live music from fellow visiting artist and newly converted Conch Republic partisan, Lorenzo Buhne.
“What better place to hand over fiber-rich armaments than the island’s historic, newly restored Armory,” said Lash, “Built in 1900 as home to the Island City Rifles of the Florida State Militia, it’s now a beautiful house of creativity, expression, and ideas.”
Lash’s new children’s book, “Lies for Leo,” will be published later this year, and the paintings are set to tour to Europe and Asia after their Southernmost exhibition at The Studios of Key West. They remain on view in the main hall of the Armory through May 23, before moving on to Paris, London, and Tokyo. While in residence, the artist will be laying the groundwork for a new project to debut in 2009: a coloring book for creative kids and adults to be based on all the idiosyncrasies, legends, folklore, and peculiar aspects of life in Key West.
“A lot of this island is tongue-in-cheek, accepting of whimsy and serendipity" said Eric Holowacz, executive director of The Studios of Key West, "and much of it is fascinating and like no other place on earth. And that's what has caught Mike Lash's recent attention, and will drive his next peculiar, provocative project."
For details and information please contact The Studios of Key West at 296-0458 or info@tskw.org.
