Asked to describe himself, Matt Jones doesn't hesitate.
"A cross between Jimmy Carter and Indiana Jones," he smiles.
It fits.
Entrepreneur, adventure traveler, stand-up comedian, photographer, motivational speaker and now artist - the 50-year-old Jones is also a hands-on philanthropist.
From his Gasworks Gallery, a warren of artists studios at 3815 Fourth Av. N.E., unofficially the big blue building across from Ivars, Jones has mounted his latest charitable effort: Passion for Mashin'.
It's all about the lowly potato, which, in Jones's eyes, occupies the "top of the food chain of cool."
Every first Friday of the month, 7-11 p.m. the 5000 square foot building is opened to the public for his Passion for Mashin' parties. There's music and plenty of wine, food and art. The 14 artists who rent from Jones open up their studio space. The 200 to 300 people who show up are encouraged to bring potatoes. Jones, in turn, delivers the donated spuds - fingerlings, jumbos, Idahos, Yukon golds - to Northwest Harvest. Jones figures he and his MashedPotatoes.org volunteers have delivered some 50,000 pounds of potatoes to the regional food bank.
Jones is no ordinary fellow. His quiet, smiling manner is grounded in a desire for freedom from convention, a freedom that allows him to live the life he wants and to make a difference.
Born in Brazil in 1955, Jones and his family moved back to this country when his engineer father was transferred to a small town in Ohio. He and his two siblings grew up in an atmosphere in which memories and mementos of travel were present.
"When I was 11 I wanted a compass and books on surviving in the wilderness," Jones recalls.
Jones remembers being popular in school, with jocks, geeks, the ins, the outs and the in-betweens. From others, such a memory might betray conceit. With the unassuming Jones the memory rings true.
At Youngstown College in Ohio he studied art, advertising and business until, putting aside his dream of being an abstract painter in Paris, he chose to see the world. His desire to head west brought him to Seattle in the memorably beautiful summer of 1979. He ended up leading a seafood products sales force and making more money than he ever thought he would. In his early 30s Jones embarked on a career in adventure travel with Society Expeditions. Jones figures he helped lead expeditions to more than 70 countries, including eight jaunts to Antarctica. In the 1990s Jones entered the corporate world as a motivational speaker - after doing some stand-up comedy in Seattle in the 80s - and then started his own Internet company.
All of this is more than enough for one lifetime.
What's his secret? he's asked.
"My mother, when I was young, put positive notes on our doors every day," he says. "She instilled a positive attitude."
Jones says his mother, after returning from Alaska and watching dog sled teams in action, had a saying: "If you're not the head dog the view is always the same."
Last year Jones, who is single, resurrected his dream of becoming an abstract painter.
"I just said I'm going to do this painting I've always wanted to do," he told himself.
At local food banks, though, Jones is known as the potato guy. He'd been taking donated potatoes around in his truck anonymously until he hit on the Passion for Mashin' plan. Jones works closely with long time friend David Sterling and Sterling's mother Jan George to manage the effort and the lively, first Friday parties. Jones also cites other volunteers, artists, donors and friends as instrumental in the potato drive.
The Gasworks Gallery is now part the Fremont Gallery Walk.
"There's a lot of enthusiastic, warm, nice people," Jones says of his party-goers. "The people who come are awesome."
With so much going on, how much sleep does he get? He's asked.
"Eight hours," Jones smiles. "I love to sleep."
But his latest daylight love, besides art, is the potato.
"I think I have a big potato deal right now," Jones says. "I've got a guy who's ready to deliver 40,000 pounds of potatoes to Northwest Harvest."
Gasworks Gallery, 3815 Fourth Ave. N.E. Passion for Mashin' openings are the first Friday of each month, 7-11 p.m. They're free and open to the public. Donations of potatoes or other non-perishable food items are encouraged. For more information: wwww. mashedpotatoes.org; www.gasworksgallery.com.[[In-content Ad]]
