Jewelry artist and educator Ron Ho passed away on September 7, 2017. He received his Master of Arts for Teachers (MAT) from the School in 1967. His obituary lists many honors including being designated as a Lifetime Award Member of Northwest Designer Craftsmen in 2006. In the same year, a retrospective exhibition of his work was mounted at the Bellevue Arts Museum, and an accompanying catalog was published. A review of the exhibition by Matthew Kangas provided evocative language about Ho's work. Ho was elected to the American Craft Council College of Fellows in 2010. They published a remembrance of him last month. Ho's papers are housed at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art. They also have an oral history interview with him, conducted by Lloyd Herman, on their website.
For many years, Ron Ho was active in the Lambda Rho Alumni Association. This group raised funds for School scholarships and to support student exhibitions. When the association disbanded in 2006, Ho was one of the people instrumental in making sure that the endowment built by Lambda Rho continued its work in the School. It is now used to fund the annual MFA + MDes Thesis Exhibition at the Henry Art Gallery.
Northwest Designer Craftsmen has been working on a documentary about Ron Ho for their Living Treasures Project. His family suggests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made toward the completion of this video.
A memorial event for Ron Ho will take place in November. Those who knew him will learn the details through one of the many organizations in which he was active.