Podcasts about Tacoma Art Museum

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. This week on 'Art is Awesome,' host Emily Wilson chats with Stephanie Robison, a sculptor living in Oakland and the chair of City College of San Francisco's Art Department. The episode delves into Stephanie's background, from growing up in Oregon and being encouraged by a high school counselor to attend college, to falling in love with sculpture, particularly stone. Stephanie discusses her creative process, the resistance she enjoys from materials like marble, and how her grandmother inspired her love for making things. She also shares her experiences with exhibitions and her thoughts on teaching. About Artist Stephanie Robison:Originally from Oregon, Stephanie currently resides in California teaching sculpture and serving as Art Department Chair at the City College of San Francisco. Robison holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Marylhurst University and a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture from the University of Oregon. Her work has been exhibited at Marrow Gallery, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art and Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in California, Robischon Gallery in Denver, Colorado, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Joseph A Cain Memorial Art Gallery and Greater Denton Arts Council in Texas, Yeiser Art Center in Kentucky, Site:Brooklyn Gallery in New York, Foster/White Gallery, Whatcom Museum and Tacoma Art Museum in Washington, and Peter Robertson Gallery in Alberta Canada.Stephanie is represented by Marrow Gallery in San Francisco, California and Foster/White Gallery in Seattle, Washington. Her work can also be found at Robischon Gallery in Denver, Colorado.The sculptures of Stephanie Robison plays with multiple oppositional relationships. Working with industrial fabrics and wood, she creates large-scale installations that examine relationships between culture, nature and the built environment. Her latest series of work combines traditional stone carving and the process of needle felting wool. By merging incongruous materials such as wool and marble, she works to synthesize and fuse: organic and geometric, natural and architectural, handmade and the uniform industrial. Focusing on materiality and color with this new work, Robison creates charming, often humorous or awkward forms referencing aspects of the body, relationships and the environment. Visit Stephanie's Website:  StephanieRobison.comFollow Stephanie on Instagram:  @SquishyStoneFor more about Stephanie's Exhibit, "Incantations for the Average Person" CLICK HERE. --About Podcast Host Emily Wilson:Emily a writer in San Francisco, with work in outlets including Hyperallergic, Artforum, 48 Hills, the Daily Beast, California Magazine, Latino USA, and Women's Media Center. She often writes about the arts. For years, she taught adults getting their high school diplomas at City College of San Francisco.Follow Emily on Instagram: @PureEWilFollow Art Is Awesome on Instagram: @ArtIsAwesome_Podcast--CREDITS:Art Is Awesome is Hosted, Created & Executive Produced by Emily Wilson. Theme Music "Loopster" Courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 LicenseThe Podcast is Co-Produced, Developed & Edited by Charlene Goto of @GoToProductions. For more info, visit Go-ToProductions.com

Explore the life cycle of Seattle artists in a dynamic round table discussion hosted by Sarah Traver, director of Traver Gallery. Join the conversation on transforming artistic practice into a flourishing and creative career within the vibrant artistic landscape of Seattle. Esteemed artists Esther Ervin, Henry Jackson-Spieker, Steve Jensen, Pohlman Knowles, and Jeanne Marie Ferraro all connected with Pratt Fine Arts Center, will share their experiences in developing their practices across diverse disciplines, including glass, installation, jewelry, metal, printmaking, public art, sculpture, and wood. Gain valuable insights from these working artists as they delve into the unique challenges and successes of navigating the Seattle art scene. Whether you're an aspiring artist or an art enthusiast, this discussion promises a deep exploration of artistic growth and the diverse pathways to establishing a fulfilling career within the rich cultural tapestry of Seattle. Don't miss this opportunity to engage with the life stories and creative journeys of these influential artists. Esther Ervin, a visual artist from Somerville, New Jersey, holds a BS in Biology from UC Irvine and an MFA in Fine Art/Illustration from CSU Long Beach. Her diverse experiences include teaching in the Peace Corps in Colombia and later focusing on art, with a particular interest in the environment, politics, and abstraction. Her jewelry has been exhibited internationally. She is an active member of various art organizations, including the Seattle Metals Guild, the Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA), and the Black Arts West Alumni Association as an honorary.  Henry Jackson-Spieker is a multidisciplinary artist focusing on sculpture and site-specific installations, combining glass, bronze, steel, wood, fiber, and light. His sculptures explore tension, balance and reflection through the merging of contrasting materials. He creates public art installations at Midtown Commons in Seattle, The Seattle Center, Method Gallery, and Wa NA Wari Gallery. Jackson-Spieker has been teaching glass blowing and bronze casting at Pratt Fine Arts Center for the past seven years.   Steve Jensen has been a working artist for over 45 years. Raised around family fishing boats in Seattle, his art reflects deep maritime roots. His latest “VOYAGER” collection is inspired by his Scandinavian fisherman and boat builder heritage, symbolizing journeys into the unknown. From 2015 to 2023, Jensen exhibited solo at major Washington state venues, including the Seattle Art Museum, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, and many others. Featured on Channel 9's Art as Voyage and Amazon Prime's The Story of Art in America (episode 10, 2023), his compelling work has garnered widespread recognition.  Sabrina Knowles and Jenny Pohlman (Pohlman Knowles) marked a quarter-century of collaboration in 2018 with the exhibition “SYNCHRONICITY: Twenty-Five Years of Collaboration” at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. They have undertaken six international journeys, morphing their experiences into sculptural stories to share what they have learned about healing, compassion, and the power of the human spirit through assemblages of sculpted glass and fabricated steel. Their work is in the collections of Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Henry Ford Museum, Museum of American Glass, and Tacoma Art Museum among others.  Jeanne Marie Ferraro was raised in a working-class family in Cleveland, Ohio, and found her artistic passion in childhood while observing the pouring of liquid metal into steel beams with her father. A storyteller across various media Jeanne's art has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including in Canada and Portugal, and is part of private collections. Alongside her artistic endeavors, Jeanne has dedicated forty years to teaching visual art, currently focusing on glassblowing, drawing, and painting at the Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle.  Sarah Traver, President of Traver Gallery  Since joining her father's business in 2004, Sarah Traver has been the President of Traver Gallery, overseeing all aspects from strategy to installation. With degrees in art and education, she emphasizes the gallery's mission as a space for learning and idea-sharing. Sarah, beloved by artists and the community, also serves on the boards of Artist Trust and Pratt Fine Arts Center.   Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Pratt Fine Arts Center.

Tacoma is a union town. Stephen Rue and Carrie Morton from Tacoma Art Museum Workers United share about forming a union at the Tacoma Art Museum. They share about the conditions at the museum that led them to decide to form a union, their long journey to being recognized, and what's involved as they go... The post Tacoma Art Museum Workers United with Stephen Rue & Carrie Morton appeared first on Move to Tacoma.

Art historian and curator Stephanie Stebich is the Margaret and Terry Stent Director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. She was named director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in January 2017. Stebich serves on the Smithsonian's Capital Board as well as the Smithsonian-London Strategic Advisory Board. In May 2018, she was named co-chair of the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative. Before coming to Washington, D.C., Stebich was executive director of the Tacoma Art Museum for 12 years. Under her leadership, the museum underwent a major renovation that doubled its exhibition space, and secured major collection gifts, including the Haub Family Collection of Western American Art, 300 masterworks from the 1790s to the present by Charles Bird King, Thomas Moran, Frederick Remington, Georgia O'Keeffe and others. She was assistant director of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts from 2001 to 2004 and assistant director at the Cleveland Museum of Art from 1995 to 2001.She and Zuckerman discuss feeling at home in museums, taking risks, making a museum free, house favorites, why museums buy certain things, finding the optimal location for an artwork, having a broad definition of art to include craft, mentorship, how to get a job, speaking up while active listening, America as a hopeful experiment, artists as makers of hope!

Art historian and curator Stephanie Stebich is the Margaret and Terry Stent Director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. She was named director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in January 2017. Stebich serves on the Smithsonian's Capital Board as well as the Smithsonian-London Strategic Advisory Board. In May 2018, she was named co-chair of the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative. Before coming to Washington, D.C., Stebich was executive director of the Tacoma Art Museum for 12 years. Under her leadership, the museum underwent a major renovation that doubled its exhibition space, and secured major collection gifts, including the Haub Family Collection of Western American Art, 300 masterworks from the 1790s to the present by Charles Bird King, Thomas Moran, Frederick Remington, Georgia O'Keeffe and others. She was assistant director of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts from 2001 to 2004 and assistant director at the Cleveland Museum of Art from 1995 to 2001.She and Zuckerman discuss feeling at home in museums, taking risks, making a museum free, house favorites, why museums buy certain things, finding the optimal location for an artwork, having a broad definition of art to include craft, mentorship, how to get a job, speaking up while active listening, America as a hopeful experiment, artists as makers of hope!

The following is a recording of a panel titled Grit City Stories: The Untold Tales of Tacoma. The panelists spoke about the value of preserving Tacoma's stories, reflected on whose voice may be missing in local history, and shared what they hoped could be learned from community stories. The panel was supported by the Foss Waterway Seaport, Museum of Glass, Pretty Gritty Tours, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma Arts Live, Tacoma Public Library's Northwest Room, and the Washington State History Museum. Additional support provided by Tacoma Creates. We hope you enjoy listening.

Susan Dory is a Seattle-based artist whose geometric abstractions explore systems of interconnectedness, patterning and her trust of the process. Susan has exhibited widely with exhibitions at Winston Wachter Fine Art in New York and Seattle; Margaret Thatcher, New York; Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco; Tew Gallery, Atlanta; Boecker Contemporary, Heidelberg; The Tacoma Art Museum; The Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington; Kittredge Art Gallery, University of Puget Sound, The Western Gallery, Western Washington University; Mills College Art Museum, Oakland; The Contemporary Austin – Jones Center and The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria BC, Canada. She received her BA from Iowa State University and studied painting in Vienna, Austria. Susan is a recipient of the Neddy Award, The Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant, GAP grant, the Artist Trust Fellowship Grant, and was a finalist for the Betty Bowen Award. Some public collections include, The Tacoma Art Museum, Ballinglen Museum of Contemporary Art, Ireland; The U.S. Embassy, Vientiane, Laos, Seattle Arts Commission Collection, King County Arts Commission, 4Culture, The Microsoft Collection, Vulcan Enterprises, Swedish Hospital, Hewlett Packard, W. Clements Jr. University Hospital, Dallas, TX, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom Spontaneous Sights, through March 11th at Winston Wachter Fine Art. Pole Star 1, 2022, acrylic on canvas over panel, 52 x 58" Arena, 2022, acrylic on canvas over panel, 52 x 60" Secret Cave of the Heart 1, 2022, acrylic on canvas over panel, 58 x 52"

Happy New Year to all our listeners, hopefully 2023 will be another year of worker upsurge. We start our first show of the year discussing the debacle at Southwest Airlines where capitalists have once again proven they can't be trusted to manage vital infrastructure. Next we discuss the third union drive at Activision Blizzard, this time at the ironically named Proletariat Studios. California nurses just wrapped up a 10 day strike to stop assaults on their pensions, while as many as 17k nurses in NYC may soon strike over unsafe staffing and low pay as well. We belatedly check in on the strike by BCTGM workers at Ingredion in Cedar Rapids that has now gone on for over 5 months. NYC construction workers finally forced the passage of a law to hold companies liable for worker deaths caused by negligence. Workers at the Tacoma Art Museum are fighting hard for voluntary recognition of their union in order to be able to bring ALL their coworkers under one organization. Finally we check in on Starbucks, who didn't let the holidays slow down their union busting. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

Eden Redmond is the Institutional Giving Manager and one of the representatives of TAM WU: Tacoma Arts Museum Workers United. She graciously educates the We Art Tacoma team on the importance of union recognition and...

Art has long been a lever for working class solidarity and social justice. It's also a collaborative form of labor that props up some workers and devalues others. This week, we're taking a long, hard look at two works of art: Rodrigo Valenzuela: New Works for a Post Worker's World, an exhibition on view at BRIC House through December 23rd, and 7 MINUTES, a play produced by Waterwell that premiered at HERE Arts Center last spring. • Brooklyn, USA is produced by Emily Boghossian, Shirin Barghi, Charlie Hoxie, Khyriel Palmer, and Mayumi Sato. If you have something to say and want us to share it on the show, here's how you can send us a message: https://bit.ly/2Z3pfaW• Thank you to Justin Bryant, Elizabeth Ferrer, Marc Enette, Waterwell, Lee Sunday Evans, Arian Moayed, Andrew Tilson, and Matthew Munroe aka Superlative Sain. • LINKSBorn in 1982, Santiago, Chile; based in Los Angeles, CA Rodrigo Valenzuela has presented solo exhibitions at the New Museum and Asya Geisberg Gallery, both NY; Light Work, Syracuse, NY; University of South Florida, Tampa, FL; Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, CA; Orange County Museum of Art, Santa Ana, CA; Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, CA; Luis de Jesus, Los Angeles, CA; Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Eugene, OR; and the Portland Art Museum and UPFOR, both Portland, OR. He has participated in group exhibitions at The Kitchen, The Drawing Center, Wave Hill, and CUE Art Foundation, all NY; Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, FL; Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE; Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA; and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, among others. He has also exhibited his work in solo shows internationally at Arróniz Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City; Peana Projects, Monterrey, NL, Mexico; Galería Patricia Ready and Museo de Arte Contemporàneo, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile; and Galerie Lisa Kandlhofer, Vienna, Austria. Valenzuela has participated in residencies at Dora Maar, Fountainhead, Light Work, MacDowell, Glassell School of Art, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Kala Art Institute, Vermont Studio Center, Center for Photography at Woodstock, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. He is the recipient of the 2021 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in Photography, the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, and the Joan Mitchell Fellowship. His work is included in numerous public and private collections, including those of the Whitney Museum of American Art, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Frye Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, and The Center for Photography at Woodstock. He is an Associate Professor and Head of the Photography Department at UCLA. Valenzuela received his BFA in Art History and Photography from the University of Chile, his BA in Philosophy from Evergreen State College, and his MFA in Photo/Media from the University of Washington.Ebony Marshall-Oliver is an actress, singer, and storyteller. She began singing in church as a little girl. After being cast in her first musical- Bubbling Brown Sugar- in her mid twenties, she decided that acting would be her career. She enrolled in the Integrated Program at AMDA NY. Her first professional job after graduating was Seussical the Musical with TheatreWorksUSA. With this role, she became a member of Actors Equity Association. Broadway credits include Ain't No Mo' and Chicken and Biscuits. Off Broadway theaters she's worked at are Waterwell, Clubbed Thumb, The Public Theater, to name a few. She can be seen on season 2 of The Ms. Pat Show (BET+) and season 3 of Evil (Paramount+).Mei Ann Teo (they/she) is a queer immigrant from Singapore making theatre & film at the intersection of artistic/civic/contemplative practice. Their critically-acclaimed work has been seen at The Bushwick Starr, Waterwell, The Shed, Shakespeare's Globe, Woolly Mammoth, Theaterworks Hartford, Belgium's Festival de Liege, the Edinburgh Fringe, Beijing Int'l Festival, among others. Awards include LPTW Josephine Abady award and the inaugural Lily Fan Director Lilly Awards. They are an Associate Artistic Director and Director of New Work at Oregon Shakespeare Festival.Sarah Hughes has played many roles in her short time in the labor movement, including steward, officer, organizer, and workshop facilitator. She has worked for the National Education Association (NEA), the Professional Staff Congress at the City University of New York (AFT), and university labor studies programs, including CUNY's NY Union Semester. She has also taught a variety of workshops to city workers, electricians, women workers, and others. She holds a masters in labor studies from UMass Amherst. Prior to joining the Labor Notes staff in 2021, Sarah had been a long time fan, subscriber, volunteer trainer and donor. She attended her first Labor Notes conference in 2008, and is excited for many more. She lives in Flatbush with her labor lawyer husband and their toddler, who also loves picket lines. Waterwell is a group of artists, educators and producers dedicated to telling engrossing stories in unexpected ways that deliberately wrestle with complex civic questions. Founded by Andrew Tilson, the Workers Unite Film Festival, now in its 11th season, is a celebration of Global Labor Solidarity.  The Festival aims to showcase student and professional films from the United States and around the world which publicize and highlight the struggles, successes and daily lives of all workers in their efforts to unite and organize for better living conditions and social justice.Superlative, meaning the best of, and Sain meaning to bless, is a multi-talented creative, born in the UK (United Kingdom, England) and raised in Hollis Queens, New York. Born Matthew Munroe, Sain always connected with music by singing with his mother, a vocalist in a church choir who grew up singing. As a child, art was always a passion of Sain's life. Art was always a staple in his life, from drawing full-length comic books to designing logos. Picking up the art of rapping in his early college years, Sain continued with his love of the arts and always wanted to bring his friends with Him wherever he went. Co-creating the creative collective group OGWN with long-time friend Diverze Koncept, he began expanding his ever-growing catalog simply because he loved making music. While pursuing music, he also manages his visual company MMunroeMedia, directing, filming, and editing music videos for other artists, capturing the moment and enhancing the vision with graphics and photography. Superlative Sain takes the term "Artist" to an entirely new level by designing his merch/clothing line, "Be|SUPERLATIVE," Check out this talented artist and be a part of his Rise.• MUSIC and CLIPSThis episode featured clips from “Why Work?” (1996) by Bill Moyers.• TRANSCRIPT: ~coming soon~• Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @BRICTV Visit us online at bricartsmedia.org/Brooklyn-USA

Pro-democracy groups focus on Wisconsin's strict voter ID laws, no-excuse absentee voting is underway in Missouri, and a weekend rally aims to support unionization at the Tacoma Art Museum.

Pro-democracy groups focus on Wisconsin's strict voter ID laws, no-excuse absentee voting is underway in Missouri, and a weekend rally aims to support unionization at the Tacoma Art Museum.

Juan Alonso-Rodríguez describes his paintings and sculptures as an on-going exploration of abstraction based on forms both found in nature, and those conceived by human ingenuity. From horizon lines to his father's wrought iron railing designs, memories of sights and sounds of his Caribbean origins always play an integral part in his creativity. He is influenced by the organized balance, pattern, and symmetry found in nature as well as that of architecture that lives in harmony with the natural world. In the first Gage art talk of the season, Scott Méxcal interviews Alonso-Rodríguez about how he “accidentally” became a professional artist, his long career in the Pacific Northwest, being Latinx, the changing Seattle landscape, and the process of art as meditation. Cuban-born Juan Alonso-Rodríguez is a self-taught artist whose transition from music to visual arts coincided with his move to Seattle in 1982. His work has been exhibited throughout the U.S. and is included in permanent collections such as Tacoma Art Museum, Portland Art Museum, and Henry Art Gallery. He has won a Seattle Mayor's Arts Award, The Neddy Fellowship, and the ​De​Junius Hughes Award for Activism​​.​ In 2019 he received an Artist Trust Fellowship and the Washington State Governor's Arts Award for an Individual Artist.​ He was selected Lecturer for the 2021 University of Washington Libraries' Artist Images. Scott Méxcal (né McCall) is a cultural worker in the genre of socially engaged practice art. Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Scott's ancestors have lived on both sides of the Rio Grande for countless generations. Descended from indigenous people and Spanish/European colonizers, he has called the traditional homeland of the Duwamish people, Seattle, Washington, his home for the past 20 years. Scott has contributed to the creative cultural fabric of the city as a graphic designer, a public artist, a youth art mentor, and art activist. His work has hung in numerous exhibitions throughout the city and surrounding area. Presented by Town Hall Seattle and the Gage Academy of Art.

We're in Tacoma, Washington, with my good friend Peggy Cleveland of PeggyWhereShouldIGo.com. Peggy and I talk about walking on the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, visiting Point Defiance Zoo, and exploring the Tacoma Art Museum. Show notes are at https://WeTravelThere.com/tacoma Bluffworks' stylish clothing is designed with the modern traveler in mind. It is wrinkle-resistant, machine washable, and very comfortable with hidden pockets to protect your valuables. Save 10% with our promo code at WeTravelThere.com/bluffworks.

Cappy Thompson is an internationally acclaimed Seattle artist known for her mythopoetic narratives on glass created via the grisaille painting technique. Early in her career, she was drawn to the images and symbols of the medieval period, inspired by the Christian tradition of Western Europe as well as the content of Hindu, Pagan, Judaic, Buddhist and Islamic painting. In more recent years, the artist has moved away from mythological narrative and toward compositions on vessels that draw upon images and themes from her personal life. Thus began an autobiographical exploration of world culture and spirituality that continues to the present. Thompson states: “For me, as a narrative painter, the issue has always been content.  The issue wasn't glass, the material that I chose some 45 years ago. Nor was it the painting technique—grisaille or gray-tonal painting—that I taught myself to use. My work—which spans several decades and a variety of scales from the intimate to the monumental—has always been driven by content.” Born in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1952, Thompson grew up in Seattle and attended the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, where she received her BA in 1976 in painting and printmaking. Basically self-taught, her first professional exposure to glass came in 1975 when she worked for a small studio in Olympia. For several years she learned and worked in solitude until her reputation brought her to the attention of glass artists Charles Parriott, Therman Statom and Dale Chihuly. In 1984 Thompson moved back to Seattle, and her subsequent exposure to artists at Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington, led her to painting on vessel forms. Thompson's work can be found in collections worldwide, including those of the Corning Museum of Glass, Tacoma Art Museum, Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, the Chrysler Museum of Art, Museum of Art and Design, and the Microsoft Corporation.  Recent exhibitions include Indie Folk: New Art and Songs from the Pacific Northwest, held at The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at Washington State University, Pullman, 2022; The Schneider Museum of Art, Ashland, Oregon, 2022; and Fluid Formations, Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, Washington, on view in 2021. Public commissions include large-scale installations at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Evergreen State College, and Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. In 2019, Thompson designed, fabricated and installed eight painted glass windows for Salk Middle School, Spokane, Washington, a project commissioned by Washington State Arts Commission in partnership with Spokane School District.  A recipient of an NEA fellowship, the Libensky Award, and Pilchuck's John Hauberg Fellowship, Thompson has also been artist in residence at Pilchuck and at Toyama City Institute. She has served on the Bellevue Arts Museum Advisory Council, the Board of Directors of the Glass Art Society and Pilchuck Glass School's Artistic Program Advisory Committee and continues serving on the Board of Directors for Pottery Northwest. She has taught workshops around the world at Bildwerk, Frauenau, Germany; California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, California; Canberra School of Art, Canberra, Australia; Centro del Arte Vitro, Monterrey, Mexico; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia; International Glass Center, Dudley College, Stourbridge, England; National Sculpture Factory, Cork Ireland; National College of Arts and Design, Dublin, Ireland; Northlands Creative Glass Center, Lybster, Scotland; Penland School of Crafts, Penland, North Carolina; Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington; and many more. Though each piece tells its own story, there is one general message Thompson tries to convey with her work: “I see now, after more than three decades of work, that I am like those medieval painters striving to express magnificence and beauty.  But my expression focuses on the human experience of goodness, of hope and of love.”  

What you'll learn in this episode:   Why jewelers from the Pacific Northwest have a singular style, and how Laurie draws inspiration from her environment How Laurie and other artists in the Northwest School of Jewelers incorporate found objects, humor and wordplay into their work What inspired Susan to focus on American jewelry How Susan sorted through Laurie's 30-year archive, and what it was like to write “North by Northwest: The Jewelry of Laurie Hall”   About Susan Cummins   Born in 1946 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but raised primarily in Atherton, California, Susan Cummins specializes in contemporary art jewelry and spent many years as a gallerist in Mill Valley, California. In 1983, Cummins took over Horizon Gallery in Mill Valley, re-naming it the Susan Cummins Gallery. Noting a lack of representation, Cummins settled on American jewelry as a primary focus for her gallery. Eventually, Cummins relocated to a larger space in Mill Valley and became known for representing painters and jewelers in the same gallery space, blurring the rigid distinction between fine art and craft. Cummins maintained the gallery until 2002. In 1997, Cummins helped found Art Jewelry Forum, a nonprofit tasked with connecting people working across the field of contemporary jewelry and educating new audiences. She continues to be a frequent contributor and is currently serving as the board chair. Cummins has also served on boards for arts organizations such as the American Craft Council and the Headlands Center for the Arts. Her primary focus in recent years has been her work as director of the Rotasa Foundation, a family foundation that supports exhibitions and publications featuring contemporary art jewelers. Susan Cummins was elected a 2018 Honorary Fellow of the American Craft Council.         About Laurie Hall   Laurie Hall, along with Ron Ho, Kiff Slemmons, Ramona Solberg, and Nancy Worden, is part of what has been called the Northwest School of Jewelers, an influential jewelry art movement centered around an eclectic style of narrative and composition. Laurie Hall is a long-time artist and educator from the Pacific Northwest, whose work has exhibited internationally. In 2016, her work was featured in Craft in America's exhibition Politically Speaking: New American Ideals in Contemporary Jewelry. Laurie's work is part of numerous private and public collections including The Museum of Art and Design in NYC, The Tacoma Art Museum, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Additional Resources: Photos Available on TheJewelryJourney.com: Coney Island Express 1983 Carved polychromed wood, bronze, sterling silver, string, and found cocktail umbrella  1 1/2 x 1 1/4 x 16 inches Private collection  Photo: Roger Schreiber   Stumped 1988 Yew wood, sterling silver (oxidized), and antique compass 13 x 1/4 x 3/8 inches The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Helen Williams Drutt Collection, museum purchase funded by the Morgan Foundation in honor of Catherine Asher Morgan, 2002.3793   Cubist Café 1987 Sterling silver (oxidized) 6 1/2 x 12 3/4 x 1/2 inches Tacoma Art Museum, gift of Mia McEldowney Photo: Doug Yaple   Wrapped Up in the Times 1987 Sterling silver (oxidized), aluminum sheet, and decoy fish eye 6 x 4 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches Sandy and Lou Grotta collection Photo: Richard Nichol     The Royal Brou Ha Ha 1996 Sterling silver (stamped), stainless-steel fine mesh, hematite beads, and sterling silver foxtail chain 10 x 10 x 1 1/2 inches Tacoma Art Museum, gift of Sharon Campbell Photo: Richard Nichol   One Screw 2009 Bronze screw and sterling silver 1 x 1 x 1/4 inches Curtis Steiner collection Photo: Curtis Steiner   No. 2, Please! 1988 Bronze, found No.2 pencils, basswood, and color core 16 x 3/4 x 4 3/4 inches The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Helen Williams Drutt Collection, museum purchase funded by the Morgan Foundation in honor of Catherine Asher Morgan, 2002.3791   Behind the Eight-Ball 2008 Fabricated marriage of metal ball (copper, sterling silver, nickel silver, bronze), copper frame, found printing plate and stencil, and sterling silver 2 3/4 x 3 x 1/2 inches Marcia Doctor collection Photo: Roger Schreiber   Transcript:   Although her work has been shown internationally, Laurie Hall's jewelry is undoubtedly rooted in the Pacific Northwest. As a member of the influential Northwest School of Jewelers, Laurie's eclectic, often humorous work has drawn the attention of numerous gallerists and collectors, including Art Jewelry Forum co-founder Susan Cummins. Susan recently captured Laurie's career in the new book, “North by Northwest: The Jewelry of Laurie Hall.” Laurie and Susan joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about the influences behind the Northwest School; where Laurie draws her inspiration from; and what they learned from each other while writing the book. Read the episode transcript here.  Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. This is the second part of a two-part episode.    Today, my guests are Susan Cummins and Laurie Hall. Susan has co-authored with Damian Skinner a new book, “North by Northwest: The Jewelry of Laurie Hall.” For 20+ years, she was the driving force behind Art Jewelry Forum, which advocates for contemporary art jewelry. Laurie is an arts educator and jeweler from the Pacific Northwest whose jewelry has been exhibited internationally. She's a key figure in the Northwest School of Jewelry, an influential jewelry art movement centered around an eclectic style of narrative and composition. If you haven't heard Part 1, please go TheJewelryJourney.com.    Welcome back. Susan, did you see Laurie's work somewhere and said, “I want to show that,” or did Laurie send you a photo and say, “Do you want to carry my stuff?” How did that work?   Susan: I don't think Laurie sent me anything. I think I saw her work in a gallery in San Francisco that had it before I did, the Lane Potter Gallery.   Laurie: Right.   Susan: It could have been that I saw it in the catalogue for Jewelry U.S.A. or another invitational of some sort, or I could have seen it through Kiff Slemmons, who I was also showing at the time. Somehow or another, I saw images of it. I had a show—I can't remember if it was a group show. Maybe it was Northwest jewelers; I don't remember the reason for the group show, but it seemed to me that Laurie's work would fit into that. That's when she did the café piece, because Laurie always was very conscious of where her pieces were going.    If she was doing a show that was going to be in the San Francisco Bay Area, she wanted to do something that reminded her of that area that she thought people there would relate to. She thought San Francisco was kind of like Paris, in that there are cafés and Bohemians, life and art and all that. So, she made this café piece that looks like it could have been something that Brock or Picasso did early in their careers. There's a guitar in there. There are tables with plates and chairs and things askew, as if in a cubist painting, and the word “café” in big letters across the top. It was something she thought the San Francisco community would like.    When she did something for the East Coast, she often thought about folk art and Americana, so she used whirligig figures, literally off of whirligigs, or folk art-influenced imagery, like people riding a bicycle, or a tall bicycle with a top hat on and a little message, or the words “Coney Island” on it so they would be thinking of Coney Island. It was very folk art, Americana-like, which she thought the East Coast would be more interested in. Laurie was definitely making work for these markets she showed in, very conscious of that and very accommodating to it. Anyway, did I answer your question? I think I got carried away there.   Sharon: Yes. Laurie, how did the fact that you were a teacher influence the work you did? I don't know if you're still teaching.   Laurie: I taught for over 38 years. The cubist café was because we were studying cubism. I taught calligraphy, lettering and graphics. I love lettering and graphics, and the kids influenced me a lot because they would comment on what I was making or doing. I didn't work at school, but I'd sometimes bring a piece in and show it to them. Did I answer it?   Sharon: Yes.   Susan: Why don't you talk about that piece you did that was a challenge for the students in your class to make something like it?   Laurie: Yeah, you mean the football thing. At Mercer Island High School, they always win all the sport competitions, football, basketball, baseball, soccer, everything. Sometimes they'd shut school down when they were in the finals. I had a whole bunch of football players in my class, and they all called me Hall. They all thought I was cool.    Sharon: I'm sorry. You were cool? Is that what you said?   Laurie: They thought I was cool.   Sharon: For a minute I thought you said cruel, and I was going, “O.K.”    Laurie: No, they called me Agent Orange and Galleon. It was quite funny. They all wanted an A, and they kept coming up and saying, “What does it take to get an A? This is an art class. It must be easy to get an A.” I said, “All right. We're making jewelry. You guys have to make a necklace and wear it into the lunchroom if you expect to get an A. You have to wear it. I really want you to wear it all day, but I won't be able to see you all day.” Anyhow, they did it, and everybody enjoyed it.   Sharon: And did they get A's?   Laurie: If they deserved one. Just by them doing it, I thought they deserved an A because of that, yeah.   Sharon: It's a high hurdle, walking to the lunchroom with something like that.   Laurie: Yes, guys with big necks and everything. It was humorous.   Susan: You also did a piece yourself that had to do with the idea of football, which was a sandwich board piece you wear over your shoulders, front and back. It was called “Rah, Rah, Sis, Boom, Bah.” There were footballs flying over the goalposts and flags and people waving and numbers and all kinds of things.   Laurie: I had a little candy. They used to give candy out. If you had a date to the football game, they'd give you a favor, a little tin football with some candy in it. So, I used that football on the necklace. That was my found object that I had, but how did I come about having that? I think it was in my brother's drawer upstairs in my parents' house.   Susan: No, somebody invited you to a football game and gave you a piece of candy.    Laurie: I doubt it. I probably stole the candy in it.    Sharon: Laurie, was there a point in your jewelry making that you were selling but making so much that you said, “I can't teach right now”? Was there so much demand, or no?   Laurie: No, I had a really good job. I needed the money. I had no other means of support because I'm a single lady, and I loved it. It was consistent. It was reliable. I had no desire to make production jewelry. I worked for Robert Lee Morris one summer for six weeks. It was interesting, and I really liked Robert. I went to his workshop up in Lake Placid, New York. He made that Coty collection of bracelets that are all aerodynamic, and he was talking about that. I used hollow construction a lot because I'm not a flat jeweler. I really make dimensional things.   Sharon: Yes, you can see that now.   Laurie: To me they're sculpture; they really are. They're sculptural, and I like the way they interact with the body. It's a sculpture on the body, as I said, but I'm not really intellectual about what I'm doing. I'm just recording things that I think other people could find interest in and making them. Do I know they're going to find interest in them? I've always been lucky my work has gone out. Am I big seller? I usually sell what I make, but I can't make that much. I've always been interrupted by school. I had a lot of kids every day. I was in a public school, and then I had to clean the room and get the supplies. I had a whole lot of energy. I'm kind of amazed at what I did at this point.    Sharon: Have you ever put on a piece that you had been playing with and said, “This is too flat,” or “It's not talking,” or “This isn't what I had in mind”?   Laurie: You mean do I mess up and trash something? Yeah, of course. There's one piece in the book that's made out of an aluminum ruler. I made that piece three times and even had it photographed. I don't have a lot of money, but I don't think about that. I just go and do something because I know I'll have to figure it out later. When I finally got that piece done, it went to a gallery and it sold immediately, but I made it three times. I have evidence of the way it looked along the way.   Sharon: What was it the other times? You didn't think it was dimensional enough?   Laurie: It just didn't do it. That's all I can say. To be honest about it, it wasn't compelling. There are compelling ideas. Some people can sit down and design something and make it—I'd say there's the ordinary way things look where they're acceptable, like a lady the other day showed me a picture of something on a TV set and said, “Is this your piece?” I looked at it and said, “No. It's nice, but I don't make that kind of thing.” I don't try to make nice. I don't try to make acceptable. I just try to make something that's got a little bit of magic to the message. You don't get it right away maybe, but you keep wanting to go back and look at it. That's what I hope for, and that's what it does to me when I make it. I either know it works or I know it doesn't work.   Sharon: Do you have a story in mind that you want to say, or message in mind that you want to get across in a piece before you start it?   Laurie: Sometimes, like when I found the screw, I knew what I was going to do with it. I saw what was behind the Eight Ball. I saw that ball thing, and I had some Corbusier letters. They were stencils, and I had the monkey. I knew I wanted to make a marriage of a metal ball, and I wanted to see how round I could get it. That was the high bar, so it was technical in one aspect. I try to go over the high bar sometimes.    What other piece can I talk about? The “Wrapped Up in the Times” piece doesn't have any found objects in it other than a glass eye, but I had aluminum, and I made the newspaper out of aluminum because I could cut letters. If you know how you can do it with the materials you have available—and I work with anything. If I think it will work in the piece, I work with it.   Susan: We should say that “Wrapped Up in the Times” is a fish wrapped up in The New York Times. It's a pun. I was going to say a couple of things about Laurie's work. One is that she really does describe the Northwest. If you've ever lived in the Northwest, which I have, either in Portland or Seattle, there are so many references to her place of origin that you just can't miss them. For example, there are a lot of boats in her work. There's water or fishing references. There's a bridge. One necklace is of the bridge. Portland, if you've ever been there, there's a river that goes through the city, and over the river are many, many bridges. There's also a lot of wood and log sections, like rounds of cut wood which came from some branches of a hawthorn tree—I forget what it was.   Laurie: Yew wood.   Susan: Yew wood, yeah. Those sections were all arranged around a necklace with a little compass down in the bottom, which refers to a story about Laurie getting lost in the woods. She called it “Stumped,” again referring to getting lost in the woods, but also referring to the fact that Portland was a big source for lumber companies back in the 19th century for wood. For a long time, they cut the trees and left them stumps, so there are vast areas where there were stumps. Even today, Portland is known by the nickname of Stumptown, and you can find Stumptown coffee around town. It's a brand of coffee. There are parts of the city that are called Stumptown. So, it's a joke, and yet she made this necklace that has this title.    A lot of Laurie's pieces are like that. They are puns or plays on words, or just something funny. There's another piece called “The Royal Brewhaha,” which is about brewing tea. It's got tea bags all around it, all of which Laurie made, but it's about the English, so the royal part comes in making a deal about something. It's just funny and fun. She's often very clever about how she names them. It's also things that are coming from this area, except maybe “The Royal Brewhaha,” but many things—   Laurie: Except it was Princess Di and the royal family. I am Scottish, English, Irish, all the British Isles, so I couldn't help but identify with her because she was so tortured by the royal family. I hated that, so I had to make a piece about it.   Susan: Everything that she's doing is coming from her place, her environment. Everything around her and in her life is incorporated one way or another into the pieces.   Sharon: Susan, in writing the book and interviewing Laurie and going through the archives, what surprised you most about Laurie's work?   Susan: I knew Laurie to some degree before, but not all that well. It is fantastic when you write a book about somebody and you get to ask them every single question you can think of about themselves, about their lives, about their backgrounds, about the piece they made. We literally went through all the work Laurie had ever done that we had pictures of, and I said, “O.K., Laurie, what's this piece about? What's it made of? When did you make it? What were you referring to?” So, we have something written up in our archive about every single piece.   I don't know if there's any one thing that surprised me about Laurie, but everything about Laurie was interesting and funny and fun and amazing in how original her work is, and how she embodies a certain area of this country, and how she was a very American jeweler who was interested in stories and her place of origin. I think none of that was a big surprise, but it all was really interesting to me.   Laurie: Ramona had used things from other places in the world, and I could relate to what she had done, but I didn't want to do it again. I knew I wanted to celebrate American things, and that was it. Then I went about trying to describe it, not thinking it out until I had to make things. I'm very driven by a deadline and a vacation and having time to work, because I worked all the time.    Sharon: Were you picking things not just from America, but from the Pacific Northwest?   Laurie: I was living there and I loved where I was from, so I couldn't help but record what was going on in my life.   Sharon: I'm curious, because in the past 30 years, let's say, everyone has even less of an understanding of your work. I could see how it would be like, “Oh look, you have this ethnic jewelry over here, and you have your cool jewelry over here,” which is really unusual. Have you seen more “I don't get it” in the past 30 years?   Laurie: If someone saw the café necklace on, they'd want it, or they'd say, “Well, maybe I can't wear that, but I really like that.” I don't want to worry about that. I didn't worry about it, and I'm still not worried about it. That's what's wrong. I think Dorothea Prühl was not thinking too much about acceptability. I love her pieces. Being free and expressing your own self or your original thoughts is better than anything else. It really is.    Susan: I think Laurie's work speaks to American interests. I don't think those interests have changed a huge amount from when she made these pieces, but she's been making pieces all along. She's still making pieces. She's still reflecting her times and her place. I think we're talking more about the beginnings of her career or some of the earlier pieces, but the later pieces are also very similar in their humor and their personal reflections of where she is. That doesn't change much over time. Your environment is your environment. The Northwest is the Northwest. There still are influences from nature, from First Nations people. There's a lot of imagery you can see all around Portland and Seattle from the Native Americans who were there originally, which influenced Laurie's work as well.    Laurie: I love that stuff. It's the same feeling. It was looking at the materials. Making with materials is so exciting with the colors, the textures, all of those things. It's just so exciting putting them together.   Susan: And that's pretty much constant with what Laurie's made all along.   Sharon: Laurie, was there something surprising or interesting that was thought-provoking as Susan was interviewing you and you were thinking more about the work? Were there surprises or reflections you had that hadn't occurred to you?   Laurie: I think Susan explained how I think. That was a surprise to me, because I didn't think anybody could figure out how I think. That was the biggest gift she gave me. I was so pleased with the writing and also with Damian, with some of the things he'd say to me. It was fun. We interviewed a lot, and it was always exhilarating.    I never did this because I was trying to make a living or be famous or anything, but I did it because I liked expression. Even from when I was a kid, I won a poster contest. I was in the fifth grade. Everybody at the school entered and I won; the fifth grader got first prize. I never felt that my primitive style would be rejected. I also felt that I could go ahead and be the way I am inside, put it down in paint, put in down in printmaking, put it down however—not that I didn't have to work hard to get one composition to work, but another one would fall into place. There are quick pieces. Then there are long, hard pieces that you work on. They're all different.   Susan: We should also say, Laurie, you were teaching art in general in your high school classes.   Laurie: I wasn't just a jewelry teacher. I was teaching painting, printmaking, graphics, textiles, everything. I had to go out at the end of the day and go from one end of Seattle to the other getting supplies. Then I'd go down to Pacific Island Metal where they have all this junk, and I'd think, “Oh, look at that! Look at that, this metal!” I love metal, I really do. I can make sculpture for the body, but when you think about making your sculpture that is freestanding, I haven't done much with that yet. I still want to make some tabletop ones, little ones, but it's putting things together that's so exciting.    Sharon: So, there's more to be explored. I have to say the book is very clear in terms of explaining your thought process behind each of the photos, which are beautiful, as well as your thought process in general. It's published by Arnoldsche. How do you say that?   Susan: Arnoldsche. They've published a lot of books on contemporary jewelry, especially European ones, but they've also published more American writers about American jewelers now. Toni Greenbaum just published one on Sam Kramer. The influx book that Damian and Cindi Strauss and I worked on was also published by Arnoldsche. They are really the best distributors of contemporary jewelry publications.   Susan: Yes, and I was excited they were going to publish my book.   Sharon: It sounds like such an honor. It's a beautiful book. It's available on the Art Jewelry Forum site, ArtJewelryForum.org, if you want to see a beautiful book. It's also a very readable book with the pictures. Thank you both very, very much. It's greatly appreciated. I hope to talk to you about the next book.   Susan: Thank you, Sharon. Thanks so much for having us.   Laurie: Thanks, Sharon.   Thank you again for listening. Please leave us a rating and review so we can help others start their own jewelry journey.      

What you'll learn in this episode:   Why jewelers from the Pacific Northwest have a singular style, and how Laurie draws inspiration from her environment How Laurie and other artists in the Northwest School of Jewelers incorporate found objects, humor and wordplay into their work What inspired Susan to focus on American jewelry How Susan sorted through Laurie's 30-year archive, and what it was like to write “North by Northwest: The Jewelry of Laurie Hall”   About Susan Cummins   Born in 1946 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but raised primarily in Atherton, California, Susan Cummins specializes in contemporary art jewelry and spent many years as a gallerist in Mill Valley, California. In 1983, Cummins took over Horizon Gallery in Mill Valley, re-naming it the Susan Cummins Gallery. Noting a lack of representation, Cummins settled on American jewelry as a primary focus for her gallery. Eventually, Cummins relocated to a larger space in Mill Valley and became known for representing painters and jewelers in the same gallery space, blurring the rigid distinction between fine art and craft. Cummins maintained the gallery until 2002. In 1997, Cummins helped found Art Jewelry Forum, a nonprofit tasked with connecting people working across the field of contemporary jewelry and educating new audiences. She continues to be a frequent contributor and is currently serving as the board chair. Cummins has also served on boards for arts organizations such as the American Craft Council and the Headlands Center for the Arts. Her primary focus in recent years has been her work as director of the Rotasa Foundation, a family foundation that supports exhibitions and publications featuring contemporary art jewelers. Susan Cummins was elected a 2018 Honorary Fellow of the American Craft Council.         About Laurie Hall   Laurie Hall, along with Ron Ho, Kiff Slemmons, Ramona Solberg, and Nancy Worden, is part of what has been called the Northwest School of Jewelers, an influential jewelry art movement centered around an eclectic style of narrative and composition. Laurie Hall is a long-time artist and educator from the Pacific Northwest, whose work has exhibited internationally. In 2016, her work was featured in Craft in America's exhibition Politically Speaking: New American Ideals in Contemporary Jewelry. Laurie's work is part of numerous private and public collections including The Museum of Art and Design in NYC, The Tacoma Art Museum, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Additional Resources: Photos Available on TheJewelryJourney.com: Coney Island Express 1983 Carved polychromed wood, bronze, sterling silver, string, and found cocktail umbrella  1 1/2 x 1 1/4 x 16 inches Private collection  Photo: Roger Schreiber   Stumped 1988 Yew wood, sterling silver (oxidized), and antique compass 13 x 1/4 x 3/8 inches The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Helen Williams Drutt Collection, museum purchase funded by the Morgan Foundation in honor of Catherine Asher Morgan, 2002.3793   Cubist Café 1987 Sterling silver (oxidized) 6 1/2 x 12 3/4 x 1/2 inches Tacoma Art Museum, gift of Mia McEldowney Photo: Doug Yaple   Wrapped Up in the Times 1987 Sterling silver (oxidized), aluminum sheet, and decoy fish eye 6 x 4 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches Sandy and Lou Grotta collection Photo: Richard Nichol     The Royal Brou Ha Ha 1996 Sterling silver (stamped), stainless-steel fine mesh, hematite beads, and sterling silver foxtail chain 10 x 10 x 1 1/2 inches Tacoma Art Museum, gift of Sharon Campbell Photo: Richard Nichol   One Screw 2009 Bronze screw and sterling silver 1 x 1 x 1/4 inches Curtis Steiner collection Photo: Curtis Steiner   No. 2, Please! 1988 Bronze, found No.2 pencils, basswood, and color core 16 x 3/4 x 4 3/4 inches The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Helen Williams Drutt Collection, museum purchase funded by the Morgan Foundation in honor of Catherine Asher Morgan, 2002.3791   Behind the Eight-Ball 2008 Fabricated marriage of metal ball (copper, sterling silver, nickel silver, bronze), copper frame, found printing plate and stencil, and sterling silver 2 3/4 x 3 x 1/2 inches Marcia Doctor collection Photo: Roger Schreiber   Transcript:   Although her work has been shown internationally, Laurie Hall's jewelry is undoubtedly rooted in the Pacific Northwest. As a member of the influential Northwest School of Jewelers, Laurie's eclectic, often humorous work has drawn the attention of numerous gallerists and collectors, including Art Jewelry Forum co-founder Susan Cummins. Susan recently captured Laurie's career in the new book, “North by Northwest: The Jewelry of Laurie Hall.” Laurie and Susan joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about the influences behind the Northwest School; where Laurie draws her inspiration from; and what they learned from each other while writing the book. Read the episode transcript here.    Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. This is a two-part Jewelry Journey Podcast. Please make sure you subscribe so you can hear part two as soon as it comes out later this week.     Today my guests are Susan Cummins and Laurie Hall. Susan has co-authored with Damian Skinner a new book, “North by Northwest: The Jewelry of Laurie Hall” For 20+ years, she was the driving force behind Art Jewelry Forum, which advocates for contemporary art jewelry. Laurie is an arts educator and jeweler from the Pacific Northwest whose jewelry has been exhibited internationally. She's a key figure in the Northwest School of Jewelry, an influential jewelry art movement centered around an eclectic style of narrative and composition. We'll hear more about Susan's and Laurie's jewelry journey today. Susan and Laurie, welcome to the program.   Susan: Thank you, wonderful to be here.   Sharon: So glad to have each of you. Susan we'll start with you. Can you tell us about your jewelry journey?   Susan: My jewelry journey did not start until I was running a gallery in Mill Valley. I showed a lot of crafts in the gallery, and that introduced me to some American jewelers who were part of that craft movement in the 80s and 90s. I started to show those American jewelers in the gallery and after a while, I began to realize how smart and how very skilled they were, and how wonderful it was to work with them. There were no other galleries that just showed American jewelers in the United States at that time. All the other galleries that existed showed a lot of European work. So, I thought, “O.K., this is going to be my specialty.” That's mainly what I did and what I showed, and I became very infatuated with jewelry at that moment in time.   Sharon: Is that when you started Art Jewelry Forum?   Susan: I started Art Jewelry Forum in 1997, and the gallery I had in the 80s and 90s. So, it was a while before that came to be, but yes, within that period of time.   Sharon: Laurie, what's your jewelry journey?   Laurie: As a kid, I started doing art right away. My parents observed me drawing horses on the wall and my mother said, “Bill, I think we have an artist here.” I was given their stamp of approval from the very beginning. Did I think about being a jeweler? No, it's always been about art and making things like accessories, costumes, that kind of thing. I just wanted to be an artist, whether it was a visual artist or making things. I liked making compositions that were about something.   Sharon: Did you first meet Susan when she had the gallery? How did you two first meet?   Laurie: I met Susan at the gallery in Mill Valley. She requested to show my work, so of course you respond; you don't hesitate on that. I knew Susan's reputation already and I was thrilled. As usual, it was a bit of a hot potato because I taught full time and it was hard to get the pieces done. I think I squeaked in at the last minute, but I did get there.   Susan: Laurie is famous for being late, especially delivering work to every show she was ever in, but I have to say doing this book, she was right on time with everything. It was a miracle. She really, really performed in this case.   Sharon: There are some beautiful photos, so I can imagine pulling them all together must have been such a task.    Laurie: It was, but it was fun.   Susan: She kept very good records and we had access to all of those. For years she'd been taking photographs. Unless an artist does that throughout their career, it going to be hard to even put together a monograph of their work.   Sharon: I bet it would be, if you had to go back and start pulling things from 30 years ago. Laurie, in the book, “North by Northwest,” it talks about the influence that Ramona Solberg had on you. Can you tell us who she was, what happened and how she influenced you?   Laurie: I came to Seattle to teach. I taught a couple of years on Vashon, and then I was recruited to go to Mercer Island, which was—I didn't know at the time—the best school district in Seattle in terms of kids and the economics of it and everything. It was a public high school. I went to a conference down in Tacoma, and Ramona was there. It was an art education conference. I walked in, and she had this whole table of ethnic jewelry, which was the rage, and I liked it. Everybody liked it. It really put things on display, and she had her own work right next to it.    I think her aesthetic was something I always had to begin with, in some ways. I like making compositions; I like collage and printmaking; I like painting; I like sculpture; I liked all of that, and there it was in some ways. All of her pieces were made with found objects. A lot of people do found objects, but they don't remove them from looking found. Hers were integrated into the composition, somewhat of a cubistic-looking composition.    Her persona, she was a big gal, but she always wore polka dots and stripes and bright colors. She was cheerful looking, and she would wear a bandana around her neck. Everybody loved her and I could see why. She reminded me a little bit of my mom. My mom was a version of Ramona and her sense of humor. Ramona would call it like it is. She didn't ever try to make it up. She wasn't charming for the sake of being charming; she was matter of fact, right on. She called it, and you stood there at attention. I just liked her no-nonsense approach, and her jewelry to me was art. I was looking for something I could devote myself to. I had painted. I had done printmaking. I had done everything in college, and everybody was impressed with what I made. I sold everything, but I was looking for something I could wrap my mind around and my physical self around. It seemed like it was the thing, and it certainly was.   Sharon: What was it that moved you so much? Was it the fact that the found objects were integrated so they became part of a piece? What was it that opened your mind to that?   Laurie: Graphically her pieces were—you wanted to own them. You wanted to put them on. They were pendants and things like that, but they were very appealing to me. It harkens back to me going to a house dance down in Salem at Atlanta University, and there being this barn and this guy collaged all this barn stuff all over the wall. I thought it was beautiful. There was a collage like that that Ramona was making, but it wasn't just Ramona; it was the wholeness of Ramona. She not only had these collections, but she could talk about objects. She had traveled a lot. She had been in the Army, and she had been over in Europe. She had had adventures and was part of the world. She was really a beacon for me.   Sharon: Susan, you knew her too, because I think the first time I ever heard the name was from you.   Susan: I did know her. I think we should also bring in here that the point in time Laurie is talking was during the 60s and 70s, when there was a strong feeling of interest in objects and aesthetics from other cultures. People were wearing beads and bright-colored clothing, and all the things Laurie's talking about that were in Ramona's purview were part of what was happening then. Ramona just did it with a particularly great style and attitude. So, I think there was a proclivity at the time for somebody like Laurie, an impressionable young thing, to be intrigued by Ramona.   Laurie: And then the Pencil Brothers and all the things that were going on in Seattle. Seattle was ripe for craftspeople.   Sharon: The Pencil Brothers?   Laurie: The Pencil Brothers, yeah.   Sharon: Who were they?   Laurie: If you read Susan's book, “In Flux,” you will see—help me out here, Susan.   Susan: It was Ken Cory and Les LePere who were from eastern Washington. They used to show in a gallery called Margolis Gallery in Seattle. Other people from that eastern part did a lot of what Laurie's calling funk jewelry. We talked about of this in the book “In Flux: American Jewelry and the Counterculture.” Those kinds of things were circulating around at the time in the 60s and 70s in Seattle. The Northwest was very strong in that regard.   Sharon: Laurie, you're described as being part of the School of Northwest Jewelry. What is that?   Laurie: The Pencil Brothers are part of it, Ken Cory being one of them, and the other one is Les LePere. Ramona is part of that. Merrily Tompkins and Don Tompkins, who were—Merrily was one of Ken Cory's students. They were all over in Ellensberg. That scene was going on, and then in Seattle there was Ramona. It started with Ramona, but I was paying attention to what I saw.    Susan: Ron Ho.   Laurie: Yeah, Ron Ho.   Susan: Kiff Slemmons   Laurie: Kiff Slemmons, yes, absolutely.   Sharon: What was it, a belief? What made them a part of it?   Laurie: I think a lot of us liked the same kinds of images in terms of the found objects. They were using pencils. Number two pencils; Ramona used those. Ken Cory used them obviously, but I can't remember if he got the idea from Ramona or he got the idea himself. I saved pencils when I was in college. It was just something you did. I liked them. I like carpenter's pencils. I'm not explaining this too well, I don't think.   Susan: Let me give it a try. The Northwest Group, which is mainly Kiff Slemmons, Laurie, Ron Ho and Ramona—those are the major players—they were all doing work that had some familiarity with each other. They were using found objects as part of it, but they also often were making statements or telling funny stories or representing something more dynamic, like traveling the world and collecting bits and pieces from things. Ron Ho was a gay man who was Chinese. The other three were all students of Ramona, and they all did work that was similar to hers, but also very distinctively different. They all had something to say about different topics, and they all saw each other and saw each other's work. I think there was a strong difference between what they did and what everybody else was doing in the United States at the time. I was interested in showing it in the gallery because I thought it was particularly interesting in that it had something to say and was saying it with objects you could understand, like the pencils Laurie was describing.   Laurie: And the rulers and the compasses. Ramona used dominos. I remember going to New York for my show at the Elements, and I knew were really doing something different than the East Coast. They were into slick things and production jewelry and titanium and all that stuff. I'd seen that in London when I went there. Ramona did a study abroad program, and I went on it with Ron Ho. We saw Caroline Broadhead and Catherine Mannheim and Wendy Ramshaw and all those people. We went to see Wendy Ramshaw, and I realized we were doing something different. It's what I felt comfortable with: liking antiques, liking the Asian influence in the Northwest, liking the colors. To make things and put rivets in was very exciting. It was a formative way of making jewelry, put a rivet into something and rivet the whole thing together. How exciting.   Susan: And how simple and how direct.   Laurie: And how hard, oh my gosh! You can't believe once you start putting something together. You're not in charge; it's in charge. It's on the table. It's flat. You've got to make it so it can go onto somebody, and you don't know how it's going to get there. You tape it together; you string it together; you do anything you can to make it look like you could put it on. You put it on and say to somebody, “How do you think this is working?” “Well, I think it's good.”    I remember the café necklace, when I made that, I worked on it Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I have to say I skipped school, not Thursday, but Friday and then Monday I think I skipped school too. I never would skip school, but it was very important to me. It was going to Susan. Anyhow, did I know it was going to work? No, that's half the reason you do it. The way I work, that's why I do it. I have an idea or I have something I've seen, and suddenly you'll come down to your worktable and everything's been rearranged. You look down and see an idea right there on the table. It's very creative. It's about the piece dictating to you what to do next, and you just keep working.   Sharon: With found objects, do you have a box? Do you collect them on the beach and put them in a box, and you look at it one day and it says, “Make me into this”? How does that work?    Laurie: I don't always use found objects. Ramona thought it was funny; I said I make found objects, and that's the truth. I think so much of this jewelry that was made with found objects, people didn't really make it into a conversation. They just plunk them down. Do I go out to garage sales and all that kind of stuff? No, I've got too much stuff to begin with.    I find things incidentally. There's a ring in the book that's a one-screw ring. I found that screw on the floor in my school workshop. I asked the guy I worked with if he knew who it belonged to and he didn't know, so I thought, “O.K., it's mine.” The eight ball, I found that on the floor in Multnomah Arts Center where I was teaching here in Portland. You just see things. Sometimes it's a fragment that nobody could even identify, but it makes you have juices in your eyes. You're really excited. Do I know what I'm going to do with it? Not necessarily.   Sharon: How about when you saw the screw? Did the screw talk to you and say, “Make me into this”?   Laurie: Yeah, I thought that could be a ring because I'd already made a two-screw ring with the flange that I found in the same workshop. I thought it was kind of dirty and funny, which is the juvenile part of me, and that's why he bought it.    Sharon: How did you segue? You said in school you studied printmaking and all kinds of different arts, but how did you come to jewelry? Did you just keep doing more jewelry?   Laurie: I took a jewelry class from a visiting professor at my university. It wasn't Ramona, and the guy didn't know what he was doing, so I had to learn by myself. That didn't bother me. I'd seen Calder's work, so I wanted to make jewelry. My first work doesn't look like Calder exactly. It was of that time period, and Calder had a huge influence on all of us. It was that forging of metal and changing it from one thing to another. Susan, you have a picture of you wearing that wonderful piece—it might be Dorothea Prühl —that looks like great, big paperclips, the steel piece.   Susan: Probably Dorothea, yeah.    Laurie: Yeah, I love her work. There's this essence of originality that some pieces have, and if you can get in touch with that in your own soul, that's the best kind of art that can be made because it's original. I knew right away because I had a fantastic art history professor at Atlanta University. I knew what monumental was; I knew what original was; I knew you had to have a style. It wasn't that it scared me; it excited me that I could express myself and it could be mine, not anybody else's. It wouldn't look like everybody else's.   Sharon: So, that's what brought you to jewelry.   Laurie: Yes.    Sharon: How do you describe your jewelry to people when they say, “What do you do?” If you say you make jewelry, they think gems and gold.   Laurie: I always tell them I don't make jewelry. Sometimes it can be worn. It sometimes goes on the wall in a frame. It is wearable, but forget the word jewelry. It's a composition that I'm making with different materials.   Sharon: Do people usually get that? Do they understand what you're saying?   Laurie: Not necessarily. Most people think of jewelry as a category and they can't escape it. It's too bad, because more of the exciting pieces are being made with Legos and pieces of wood and recycled stuff. Maria Phillips is shredding a cup, and she'll put it together with popsicle sticks or whatever. Everything can become a beautiful or interesting piece to look at that ignites another thought. That's what you want to do. You want to put something out that ignites a thought.    When the piece is in charge, it says what it wants to say. I'm separate from it. It's like giving birth to child, I suppose. You've got to let it free, let it go out there and walk. You put it on somebody, and that's where the ethnic jewelry—it was on parade. People were wearing it and it was colorful. It had funny things in it that they had never seen before, but you adopted it and you liked wearing it. It fit your style and people were dressing in really fun ways.

Joe Bomar interviews Trenton Quiocho, curator of the new exhibit at Tacoma Art Museum, GATHER: 27 Years of Hilltop Artists, which runs March 26 - September 4, 2022 For more information about the exhibit: https://www.tacomaartmuseum.org/exhibit/gather-27-years-of-hilltop-artists/

Joe Bomar interviews Margaret Bullock, Chief Curator of Tacoma Art Museum, about the history of TAM.

On this episode of COLUMBIA Conversations, host Feliks Banel speaks with Faith Brower, curator at Tacoma Art Museum, about the exhibition "On Native Land: Landscapes from the Haub Family Collection." More than a dozen Western landscapes are featured which depict homelands of Indigenous peoples; specific groups are recognized in written land acknowledgments on labels accompanying each painting in the gallery. For more information about "On Native Land": www.tacomaartmuseum.org/explore/upcoming-exhibitions/ For more information or to subscribe to COLUMBIA Magazine: www.washingtonhistory.org COLUMBIA Conversations is a production of COLUMBIA Magazine, a publication of the Washington State Historical Society.

Episode 189: Today I get to chat with curator, Khalil Kinsey of the Tacoma Art Museum about a traveling exhibition that is very personal to him. His parents have collected rare African-American art during their 50 year marriage. They have some really rare treasures and now The Kinsey Collection is touring. I get the inside […] The post My chat with Khalil Kinsey about The Kinsey Collection at the Tacoma Art Museum appeared first on Let's Talk Art With Brooke.

Thursday, July 29 on Urban Forum Northwest- scheduled guests for the hour are: *Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant comments on her efforts and resolution to have property seized during Urban Renewal returned back to New Hope Missionary Baptist Church. *Reverend Willie Seals Jr., Senior Pastor, The Christ Spirit Church that is providing housing for the homeless at a Tiny Home Village. He spoke at the Saturday Rally in support of New Hope Church. *Burien Washington Mayor Jimmy Matta comments on the racial attacks that the and other Latino candidates are facing in the city just southwest of Seattle and the home of Seattle Tacoma International Airport. *Wayne Williams, Member, Tacoma Pierce County Black Collective is a Kinsey Exhibit Community Advisory Committee. He talks about the African American Art and History Collection coming to Tacoma on July 31. *Lyle Quasim, Chair, Tacoma Pierce County Black Collective comments on his role in the Kinsey African American Art and History Collection opening on July 31 at the Tacoma Art Museum. Urban forum Northwest streams live at www.1150kknw.com. Visit us at www.urbanforumnw.com for archived programs and relevant information. Like us on Facebook. Twitter@Eddie_Rye. This program will also air on Saturday 7:00-8:00 am (PDT).

Thursday, July 29 on Urban Forum Northwest- scheduled guests for the hour are: *Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant comments on her efforts and resolution to have property seized during Urban Renewal returned back to New Hope Missionary Baptist Church. *Reverend Willie Seals Jr., Senior Pastor, The Christ Spirit Church that is providing housing for the homeless at a Tiny Home Village. He spoke at the Saturday Rally in support of New Hope Church. *Burien Washington Mayor Jimmy Matta comments on the racial attacks that the and other Latino candidates are facing in the city just southwest of Seattle and the home of Seattle Tacoma International Airport. *Wayne Williams, Member, Tacoma Pierce County Black Collective is a Kinsey Exhibit Community Advisory Committee. He talks about the African American Art and History Collection coming to Tacoma on July 31. *Lyle Quasim, Chair, Tacoma Pierce County Black Collective comments on his role in the Kinsey African American Art and History Collection opening on July 31 at the Tacoma Art Museum. Urban forum Northwest streams live at www.1150kknw.com. Visit us at www.urbanforumnw.com for archived programs and relevant information. Like us on Facebook. Twitter@Eddie_Rye. This program will also air on Saturday 7:00-8:00 am (PDT).

Bo Bartlett is a painter based out of Columbus, Georgia. He studied with Ben Long in Florence, and received his degree in Fine Art form the Pennsytlvania Academy of Fine Arts. He has had numerous solo exhibitions nationally and internationally. Recent solo exhibitions include Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA; The University of Mississippi Museum, Oxford, MS; “Love and Other Sacraments,” Dowling Walsh Gallery, Rockland, ME; “Paintings of Home,” Ilges Gallery, Columbus State University, Columbus, GA; “A Survey of Paintings,” W.C. Bradley Co. Museum, Columbus, GA; “Paintings of Home,” PPOW Gallery, New York, NY; and “Bo Bartlett,” Ogden Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA. Recent group exhibitions include “Rockwell and Realism in an Abstract World,” Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA; “Brine,” SOMA NewArt Gallery, Cape May, NJ; “The Things We Carry: Contemporary Art in the South,” Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC; “American Masters,” Somerville Manning Gallery, Greenville, DE; “The Philadelphia Story,” Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC; “The Outwin Boochever 2013 Portrait Competition Exhibition,” Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC; “Best of the Northwest: Selected Paintings from the Permanent Collection,” Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA; “Perception of Self,” Forum Gallery, New York, NY; “Real: Realism in Diverse Media, Imago Galleries, Palm Desert, CA; “Thriving in Seattle: A Retrospective,” GAGE Academy of Art, Seattle WA; “private (dis)play,” New York Academy of Art, New York, NY; “Figure as Narrative,” Columbus State University, Columbus, GA; “Solemn & Sublime: Contemporary American Figure Painting,” Akus Gallery, Eastern CT State University, Willimantic, CT; Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA, “private(dis)play,” Center of Creative Arts, St. Louis, MO; and “Five Artists of Accomplishment from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA. His work may be found in the permanent collections of the Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, SC; La Salle University Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA; Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Loretto, PA; Philadelphia Convention Center, Philadelphia, PA; McCornick Place Metropolis Pier and Exposition Authority, South Hall, Chicago, IL; United States Mint, Philadelphia, PA; Academy of Music, Philadelphia, PA; Office of the Governor, Harrisburg, PA; Curtis Institute, Philadelphia, PA; Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA; Hunter Museum of American Art; Chattanooga, TN; Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA; Denver Museum of Art, Denver, CO; and Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA. Bartlett is the recipient of the PEW Fellowship in the Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art Award; Museum Merit Award, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, GA; William Emlen Cresson Traveling Scholarship, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA; Charles Toppan Prize, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA; and Packard Prize, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA. This episode is sponsored by Golden Artist Colors and the New York Studio School. You can follow the podcast @soundandvisionpodcast on IG and Brian at @alfredstudio

Stephanie Stebich is the director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum - that means she is responsible for the nation's premier collection of American art and major exhibition, research, publication, education and digital-media programs at the museum and its Renwick Gallery.  Before moving to Washington DC, was the executive director of the Tacoma Art Museum for 13 years. She was the assistant director of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts from 2001 to 2004, and assistant director at the Cleveland Museum of Art from 1995 to 2001. Stephanie studied art history at Columbia University and got her master's degree with a concentration in modern art from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. Stephanie is the daughter of an art historian, and her wife is also an art historian - she is at home in the museum and with art. In this episode Rose talks to Stephanie about reckoning and reconciliation - what should happen to confederate statues? How do we welcome in the new artists and exhibits during a global pandemic? What does the art we choose to showcase say about our values and ourselves? How do you handle death threats after you choose to showcase art about today's most pressing issues? The Woman is a production of Rose Reid. We will be publishing every two weeks on Thursday. On our next episode, February 25th, Rose speaks to Jessica Nabongo - the first black woman to travel to every country in the world! #TheWomen #RoseReid #StephanieStebich #Interviews #Podcast #Smithsonian #Museum #WashingtonDC #Tacoma #Art #ArtHistory Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Setford, Executive Director of Tacoma Art Museum, joins the podcast to talk about reopening plans at TAM on October 9 and what he sees going forward at museums in general. Tacoma Art Museum will...

Adult content. Since the late 1970’s, Mark I Chester has documented his life in San Francisco’s gay sexual underground with his photography. Mark’s work is politically provocative, sexually radical, socially aware, and artistically taboo. With a focus on portraiture, Mark documents both the men and the times, reflecting tumultuous decades in challenging images. His work was featured in the National Gallery of Australia in the 1994 exhibit titled "Don’t Leave me this Way” and at The Tacoma Art Museum in the 2015 exhibit "Art AIDS America."Links:Twitter @SFphotoUFine art photos on InstagramGay Men's Sketch on InstagramHot Draw on InstagramHome page (may be temporarily down)Street Sex Photos online presentations (1.5 hours):9/25/2020 at 4pm and 7pm Pacific time9/26/2020 at 2pm Pacific time$20 suggested donation. Preorders for book will be taken.Text 415-613-0369 for more information about any of the above.Tip Sheet For Safer Sex During the COVID-19 Pandemic (San Francisco DPH)Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/sexualheroes)

Betty Walton, the owner of Daisy & Wish LLC, began her floral career during college as a delivery driver at her hometown florist in the South. Her floral career has taken her to study in Europe as well as several prestigious floral schools in the US. She has taught floral design at Floral Design Institute in Portland, OR. Betty has presented floral seminars to industry members in 23 states and Canada. She has won numerous awards for floral design, including second place for People's Choice award for best use of materials at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. She has been a guest lecturer at the Spring into Summer Garden Festival at the Tacoma Art Museum. Her work has been published in Seattle Homes and Lifestyles Magazine and Souvenir Magazine. For over 15 years she has been a visiting member of Ron Barrett LLC Design Team, which specializes in Mardi Gras set design in Mobile, AL. Betty and her team of floral experts believe that whatever the occasion your flowers should be "Always Beautiful, Always Fresh". Website: DaisyAndWish.com

Betty Walton, the owner of Daisy & Wish LLC, began her floral career during college as a delivery driver at her hometown florist in the South. Her floral career has taken her to study in Europe as well as several prestigious floral schools in the US. She has taught floral design at Floral Design Institute in Portland, OR. Betty has presented floral seminars to industry members in 23 states and Canada. She has won numerous awards for floral design, including second place for People's Choice award for best use of materials at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. She has been a guest lecturer at the Spring into Summer Garden Festival at the Tacoma Art Museum. Her work has been published in Seattle Homes and Lifestyles Magazine and Souvenir Magazine. For over 15 years she has been a visiting member of Ron Barrett LLC Design Team, which specializes in Mardi Gras set design in Mobile, AL. Betty and her team of floral experts believe that whatever the occasion your flowers should be "Always Beautiful, Always Fresh". Website: DaisyAndWish.com

Brenetta Ward is a Seattle-based fiber artist and third generation quilter. Her work has been exhibited at the National Afro-American Museum; Textile Center: A National Center for Fiber Art; Ethnic Heritage Art Gallery; Tacoma Art Museum; Northwest African American Museum and Spelman College Museum of Fine Art. Selected pieces have been published in Spirits of the Cloth and included in public and private collections. As a fiber artist, she believes quilts have the power to nurture our spiritual needs for creativity, beauty and comfort.

March 23 – July 23, 2020Kathleen O. Ellis GalleryGallery Talk: Thursday, March 26, 6pmReception: Thursday, March 26, 5-7pmPacifico Silano’s The Eyelid Has Its Storms… borrows its title from a Frank O’Hara poem. O’Hara’s musings and observations about everyday queer life inspired Silano’s artistic practice. “The eyelid has its storms,” the poem begins. “There is the opaque fish-scale green of it after swimming in the sea and then suddenly wrenching violence, strangled lashed, and a barbed wire of sand falls onto the shore.” O’Hara’s deeply visual poem, like Silano’s work, evokes duality—in memory, in the present, and future, shimmering beauty and umbral violence often occur at once.Through the appropriation of photographs from vintage gay pornography magazines, Silano creates colorful collages that explore print culture and the histories of the LGBTQ+ community. His large-scale works evoke strength and sexuality while acknowledging the underlying repression and trauma that marginalized individuals experience. Born at the height of the AIDS epidemic, Silano lost his uncle due to complications from HIV. “After he died,” says Silano, “his memory was erased by my family due to the shame of his sexuality and the stigma of HIV/AIDS around that time period.” Silano set out to create art that reconciled that loss and erasure. Silano’s exhibition somberly contemplates such pain and photography’s role in the struggle for queer visibility, while celebrating enduring love, compassion, and community.In collaging, Silano decisively fragments, obscures, and layers images that he has rephotographed from these magazines. He reassembles and ultimately recontextualizes these images, removing the overtly explicit original content. “These new pictures-within-pictures are silent witnesses that allude to absence and presence,” says Silano. He sees them as stand-in memorials, both for the now-missing models as well as those who originally consumed their images. Silano meditates on the meaning of the images and tearsheets that he collects over time. What continually excites him is precisely the “slipperiness” of representation and meaning in photography as our culture shifts. “The lens that we read [images] through today gives them new context and meaning,” he observes. “In another 30 or 40 years, they might very well mean something completely different.”—Pacifico Silano is a lens-based artist born in Brooklyn. He has an MFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts. His group shows include the Bronx Museum, Museo Universitario del Chopo in Mexico City, Oude Kerk in Amsterdam, and Tacoma Art Museum. His solo shows include Baxter ST@CCNY, The Bronx Museum, Fragment Gallery in Moscow, Rubber-Factory, and Stellar Projects. Aperture, Artforum, and The New Yorker have reviewed his work. Silano’s awards include the Aaron Siskind Foundation’s Individual Photographer’s Fellowship, Finalist for the Aperture Foundation Portfolio Prize, and First Prize at Amsterdam’s Pride Photo Awards. His work is in the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection. Silano participated in Light Work’s Artist-in-Residence Program in 2016.pacificosilano.com—Special thanks to Daylight Blue Mediadaylightblue.comLight Worklightwork.orgMusic: "Dawn Line Approaching" by Blue Dot SessionsMusic: "Vela Vela" by Blue Dot Sessionssessions.blue See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A new exhibit at the Tacoma Art Museum focuses on public art created in the Pacific Northwest during the 1930s and 1940s as a part of the New Deal. Margaret Bullock, the curator, has been working on this exhibit for more than a decade.

Tannaz Farsi’s practice straddles sculpture, installation and image making allowing her to work within a serial structure to create interdependencies in meaning. She uses organic materials such as flowers and plants, creates spatial compositions from light, air, words and continually engages with the history and specificity of objects to critically address broader socio-political systems through both an analytical and poetic framework. Farsi’s research draws from historic cultural objects, feminist histories, and theories of displacement evidenced by long standing colonialist and authoritarian interventions into daily life to complicate the network of relations around conception of memory, history, identity and geography. Farsi’s work has been exhibited at venues including SFAC Galleries, San Francisco; Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland; Disjecta Art Center, Portland; Linfield Gallery McMinnville, ; Pitzer College Art Galleries, Claremont; Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma; the Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids; Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington; and The Sculpture Center, Cleveland. She has been granted residencies at Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Ucross Foundation, the MacDowell Colony, Studios at Mass MOCA, Santa Fe Art Institute and the Rauschenberg Foundation. Her work has been supported through grants and awards from the Oregon Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, University of Oregon and the Ford Family Foundation. She received a Hallie Ford Fellowship in 2014 and was named the twenty-eighth Bonnie Bronson Fellow in 2019. Born in Iran, Farsi lives and works in Eugene, OR where she is on the faculty at the University of Oregon. The Names [state III], 2019, powder coated steel Tyrrany stops life., 2109, Iranian rug, silica grit, aluminum, archival ink jet print, polyester film, dried tulip petals

Episode 141: Today I talk to Margaret Bullock from the Tacoma Art Museum where she is the Interim Chief Curator, Curator of Collections and Special Exhibitions. We talk about the Bart at TAM exhibition, which features Bill Heeter’s vintage Simpson’s collection. It goes until December 31, 2019. Stay tuned for Part 2, where I talk […] The post Bart at TAM: Animating America’s Favorite Family, Pt 1: Chat with Margaret Bullock from the Tacoma Art Museum appeared first on Let's Talk Art With Brooke.

With pricing pressure across the Puget Sound Region, more people are turning to Tacoma, which is now one of the hottest zip codes in the Pacific Northwest. There's a lot to like here, with unique, turn-of-the-century view homes perched atop 30th Street, walkable neighborhoods like the Proctor District, and a vibrant arts & culinary scene. Dale Chihuly's Museum of Glass, LeMay's American Car Museum, and the Tacoma Art Museum anchor a revitalized downtown core. Windermere's Anne Jones, a Tacoma native, tours with us.

Billy White joins the guys for an update on what's been going on at Mary Mart in Tacoma. Mary Mart is a retail marijuana dispensary located nearby in the south Tacoma neighborhood. They're family-owned and operated and take pride in serving their local community. They pride themselves in being well-versed in their craft and love offering their expertise and insight when it comes to marijuana and its many applications. People can learn more about Mary Mart and their upcoming events by visiting their website at: www.marymart.com. 4:13 – Justin invites listeners that are interested in sharing what's going on with them in Tacoma to reach out to the podcast, Billy gives the guys an update on what's new with Mary Mart, and shares that they've been open for 5 years. He talks about how they've expanded from a tiny shop ran by the owner and his dad to where it's at today, the cool people they have hired, and how it's now a became household name over the years. They talk about the different stores that have come and gone in the marijuana industry, Justin talks about his first visit there and the connections Mary Mart make with people in the community. 15:30 – Scott gives an update on his broken knee, he gives props to Summit Physical Therapy in Puyallup, Billy shares information on the Exotics brand that they sell at the shop, and gives tips on how people can find the right marijuana for them. Justin talks about his most recent trip to the store, the different strains mixed as hybrids, and Billy shares his love for Pokémon Go. Justin and Billy give their reviews of the recent Dave Chappelle & Joe Rogan show in Tacoma, how great security was ran during the show, and the crazy traffic before the it. 32:48 – They talk about Dave Chappelle and Joe Rogan renting out the whole theater in Rustin Way, where people can rent out the other theaters in Tacoma, and Billy explains where the next sample they tried came from. He talks about the different extraction methods that are used, Justin shifts the conversation to coaster questions, and Scott shares his appreciation of a good bartender at the shops. Billy answers the question on how many people in suits purchase marijuana, how the shop gets their weed to sell, and the difference between seeds and starts. 48:07 – Scott tells Billy about the hidden Tacoma gem, The Manuscript Museum in Tacoma, Justin shares that Tacoma Art Museum is featuring Bart on TAM, and Billy talks about his recent trip to a Mariners game. Billy gives the guys some edibles to try, including one that's a mix of THC and CBD, the recent boom with drug stores selling CBD, and what THCA is. Justin tries the peach gummy and Billy shares where people can find Mary Mart. Thanks Billy for the samples and update on what has been going on in your world! Special Guest: Billy.

Bill Heeter is a collector of animation cels from The Simpsons. These hand-drawn cels are put together for the public for at Tacoma Art Museum for the first Simpsons animation exhibit in the US! On...

Rafael Soldi in his exhibit 'Imagined Futures' Rafael Soldi is a Peruvian­-born, Seattle-based artist and curator. He holds a BFA in Photography & Curatorial Studies from the Maryland Institute College of Art. He has exhibited internationally at the Frye Art Museum, American University Museum, Griffin Museum of Photography, ClampArt, The Print Center, G. Gibson Gallery, Connersmith, Filter Space, and Burrard Arts Foundation, among others. Rafael is a 2012 Magenta Foundation Award Winner, and recipient of the 2014 Puffin Foundation grant, 2015 Portable Works Cultural Perspectives Purchase Grant, 2016 smART Ventures grant, 2016 Jini Dellaccio GAP grant, 2017 CityArtist Projects Grant, and a 2017 4Culture Arts Projects Grant. He has been awarded residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, PICTURE BERLIN, Oxbow Space, and The Bogliasco Foundation. His work is in the permanent collections of the Tacoma Art Museum, Frye Art Museum, and the King County Public Art Collection. He has been published in PDN, Dwell, Hello Mr, Metropolis, GRAY, LUXE, Lagom, among others. His work has been reviewed on ARTFORUM, The Seattle Times, The Boston Globe, ArtNexus, Photograph Magazine, Lensculture, and PDN. Rafael is the co-founder of FOUND, a space for contemporary art in Seattle, and the Strange Fire Collective, a project dedicated to highlighting work made by women, people of color, and queer and trans artists. 'Imagined Futures,' Fifty Gelatin silver photo booth portraits, 2 x 1.5 inches each. Each unique. Installation view at Oxbow Seattle 'Imagined Futures (detail),' Fifty Gelatin silver photo booth portraits, 2 x 1.5 inches each. Each unique. Installation view at Oxbow Seattle.

Episode 111 : Today I talk to Faith Brower, of the Tacoma Art Museum about the Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s exhibition, In the Footsteps of My Ancestors. I’m fascinated with indigenous art, of which Jaune is one of the U.S.'s finest talents. Featured Image credit: Jaune Quick-to-See Smith; King of the Mountain, 2005; Oil on canvas […] The post Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: In the Footsteps of My Ancestors appeared first on Let's Talk Art With Brooke.

Rock Hushka has been at Tacoma Art Museum for 17 years. He’s been there for three expansions of the museum, most recently with the opening of the Rebecca and Jack Benaroya Wing. Rock joins the...

Episode 95: Rock Hushka, Senior curator of the Tacoma Art Museum returns to the podcast to chat with me about the Sun, Shadows, Stone exhibition. Adrienne Edmondson, director of marketing, joins in as well. It’s a great chat. We learn about photographer and former geologist, Terry Toedtemeier (1947–2008), who has had a diverse and interesting […] The post Sun, Shadows, Stone: The Photography of Terry Toedtemeier appeared first on Let's Talk Art With Brooke.

http://www.tacomaartmuseum.org/

While their sculptural forms and assemblages evoke the sensuous curves of the feminine, Jenny Pohlman and Sabrina Knowles provide a narrative that embraces our common humanity. Drawing on inspiration from day-to-day life, travel, or studies of ancient and contemporary cultures, Pohlman and Knowles have blazed a trail for women working in hot glass through their successful and cutting edge artwork.   “From our earliest collaborative efforts we have explored the feminine fluidity, curvature, strength, and plasticity inherent in glass. The innate three-dimensionality of molten glass assists with our design visions, and we often see new forms emerging from the forms we are working on in the hot shop. These glimpses into the next possibility fuel our enthusiasm and the direction of our designs.”   The Pohlman Knowles collaboration spans two decades. As seekers, they have undertaken multiple international two-month journeys to developing nations absorbing religious beliefs, political histories, current affairs, architecture, social structure, and people’s personal stories. After lengthy incubation Pohlman and Knowles morph their experiences into sculptural stories to share what they have learned about healing, self-empowerment, and the power of the human spirit.   Pohlman and Knowles have been honored with numerous awards including Pratt Fine Arts Center’s Service in the Arts Award in 2011 and Service in Education Award in 2000. The artists received a Saxe Fellowship award from the Bay Area Glass Institute, San Jose, in 2009; a 2015 residency at Pilchuck Glass School, and residencies at Museum of Glass, Tacoma, 2014, 2007, and 2003; as well as Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center in 2004 and 1999. Their work can be found in the collections of the Museum of American Glass, the Museum of Glass, the National Liberty Museum, the Racine Art Museum, and Tacoma Art Museum, among many others.   On view now through November 4, 2017, at Schack Art Center in Everett, Washington, is the Pohlman Knowles exhibition Lodestar. Defined as a principle, interest, or person that serves as an inspiration or guide, Lodestar features an installation of signature compositions and works from the artists’ latest series integrating photographic images in blown glass. This process was inspired by the strength, grace, and beauty of the Himba women, who the artists briefly met in Northern Namibia. “We believe in the Magnitude of the Multitude and what it represents, that collectively we can effect change and create something more beautiful together than separately. We wish to show a feeling of reverence and solidarity together as is expressed in our Multiple Homage series and power through Luna, our Wheel of Liberation. Prayer beads are used in many cultures throughout the world. They can be used as a meditation and remind us that we can hope for something better.” On view at Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, Washington, Making our Mark:  Art by Pratt Teaching Artists runs from November 9 – April 23, 2018. Pohlman and Knowles will be represented by Duane Reed Gallery at SOFA Chicago, November 2 through 5; and in 2018, opening in July, the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Washington, will present Journey: 25 Years of Collaboration- A Mid-Career Survey of Works by Sabrina Knowles & Jenny Pohlman.    

Episode 52: Brooke talks with Rock Hushka, chief curator of the Tacoma Art Museum about the 30 Americans exhibition which runs until this Sunday, January 15, 2017. The critically acclaimed showcase of influential African-American artists who have have emerged as leading contributors to the contemporary art scene in the United States was put together nearly a decade ago, but is making its West Coast debut at the TAM. Eight of the thirty artists featured have strong Pacific Northwest connections, and the TAM has several programs related to the exhibition to involve the community in the discussion. The post 30 Americans appeared first on Let's Talk Art With Brooke.

Images of the American West line the walls of a brand new addition to the Tacoma Art Museum . The collection, a gift from a German family with ties to the Northwest, is a once-in-a-lifetime acquisition that is raising the museum’s profile.

Emily Carr University of Art + Design proudly presents Alex Schweder, as part of the Fall 2009 Speaker Series. Alex Schweder is the 2005-2006 Rome Prize Fellow in Architecture. Since this time, Schweder has been experimenting with time and performance based architecture including Flatland at New York's Sculpture 2007, This Apple Tastes Like Our Living Room Used to Smell presented at Western Bridge in Seattle 2007, Melting Instructions presented at the Tacoma Art Museum 2007, Homing MacGuffin during New York's Homebase III project 2008, Its Form Will Follow Your Performance at Gallery Magnus Muller in Berlin 2009, Stability at Lawrimore Project 2009, Ours at the Jack Hanley Gallery, A Sac of Rooms All Day Long to be shown at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 2009.

Susan Russell Hall is a painter and medical illustrator who has documented more than 6,500 surgeries from life in the operating room. Hall's medical drawings have been published in more than thirty books and journals and have been used in professional and educational presentations internationally. Her encaustic paintings have been exhibited in more than sixty solo or group shows. Hall was one of forty artists selected to be included in the seventh International Biennial Exhibition, Encaustic Works 2009 in New York. Her work resides in many collections, including the Tacoma Art Museum, Cairncross & Hemplemann (a Seattle law firm), and MultiCare Hospital in Tacoma, Washington.

Susan Russell Hall is a painter and medical illustrator who has documented more than 6,500 surgeries from life in the operating room. Hall's medical drawings have been published in more than thirty books and journals and have been used in professional and educational presentations internationally. Her encaustic paintings have been exhibited in more than sixty solo or group shows. Hall was one of forty artists selected to be included in the seventh International Biennial Exhibition, Encaustic Works 2009 in New York. Her work resides in many collections, including the Tacoma Art Museum, Cairncross & Hemplemann (a Seattle law firm), and MultiCare Hospital in Tacoma, Washington.