The unsung ballad of the 'chick pic': An avian tradition for Washington State lawmakers

WASHINGTON (CN) — Deep in the bowels of the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, as the business of government proceeded overhead, members of Washington State’s congressional delegation took part in an arcane ceremony during which their newest members became the proud custodians of a “highly valuable, gimlet-eyed monstrosity.”

But this wasn’t some ancient rite out of a Dan Brown novel — rather, it was the latest iteration of a decadeslong tradition among Evergreen State lawmakers, involving a rather unsettling painting of a chick hatching from an egg.

The artwork itself, about the size of a poster, was first brought to Capitol Hill in 1972 by former Washington State Representative Joel Pritchard, who received it as a gift from a friend who had purchased it at a charity auction.

Pritchard, perhaps understandably, didn’t want to have a photorealistic chick hanging in his office, and regifted it in 1976 to then-Representative Norm Dicks, who at the time was the newest member of Congress from Washington state. Thus sprang forth a longstanding tradition, under which the painted avian is bestowed upon freshman members from Washington when they arrive to the Capitol.

The painting, signed by all of its previous stewards, comes with one major condition: members are required to display it in their offices — though there are no rules about where it must go. And it’s not without superstition, as lawmakers say that failing to display the chick will beget an election loss.

On Thursday, newly minted Representatives Michael Baumgartner and Emily Randall became the chick’s newest custodians. Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, the painting’s most recent caretaker, oversaw the handoff during an informal ceremony in the Capitol basement.

Gluesenkamp Perez, who coined the term “gimlet-eyed monstrosity” for the Washington state token, said she hoped that the chick would inspire Baumgartner and Randall to “think deep thoughts.”

“My freshman year was a wild one,” she said. “And sometimes, I would look at the chicken in the eye and say, ‘things can always be worse.’ Here today, getting rid of this thing, shirking it … things can get better, too.”

Gluesenkamp Perez, elected in 2022, received the painting from former Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who announced last year that she would step down from her post representing Washington’s Fifth Congressional District.

Fellow Washington Representative Rick Larsen, who was once a custodian of the painting himself, pointed out that the chick handoff marked Baumgartner and Randall’s official ascent as members of the Evergreen State’s congressional delegation.

“You were sworn in, you got your pins — but you’re never official until you get the chick,” he said.

As for where the new lawmakers are going to display the infamous bird, things are still up in the air. Larsen noted that he hung it in a closet. And Representative Dan Newhouse, who received the painting in 2015, quipped that it had been proudly mounted in a bathroom during his tenure as the chick’s steward.

Randall, who brought 100 McDonald’s chicken nuggets to mark the occasion, made a similar suggestion for her own time in charge of the painting ahead of Thursday’s ceremony.

The pomp and circumstance ended with Gluesenkamp Perez adding her name, in black Sharpie, to the growing list of Evergreen State lawmakers who have adorned their office walls with the infamous chick painting. She quipped that the painting’s frame had “nice, clear vertical grain” courtesy of local Washington timber, perfect for signatures.

And the lawmakers and gathered staff celebrated the handoff by digging into Randall’s chicken nuggets.

Baumgartner, who will be the first of the two freshman Washington lawmakers to take charge of the painted avian, said he was glad to be part of such a long line of proud custodians.

“It’s not the most beautiful painting, but it is a beautiful tradition for a beautiful state — and it’s wonderful to be part of your delegation,” he told his colleagues.

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