Three new staff have or will soon take their place in already existing positions, and one new staff person is in a re-imagined position. We also have two new lecturers who are helping to keep the Industrial Design and 3D4M Programs strong during this academic year.
Merith Bennett will become our Constituency Relations Officer on November 3. She has a Master of Architecture degree from UW along with a bachelor’s degree in studio art. Most recently, she has worked for over four years as a Senior Curatorial Associate at the Henry Art Gallery, where she regularly applied her communication and project management skills. Bennett says, “It’s a very exciting time for the school, and I’m thrilled to join the team during this period of energy and activity. The School plays an integral role in Seattle’s art and cultural scene, and I’m looking forward to working with the dynamic faculty and staff to further grow this relationship to our community.”
Andrew Fallat is an Instructional Technician in the 3D4M: ceramics + glass + sculpture Program. He began work at the CMA in August, and his primary focus is assisting students in sculpture classes. Fallat received his MFA from us in 2007 and then worked for seven years at Fabrication Specialties Ltd while also continuing his work as an artist when he could find time. He sees this position as allowing him “to use my existing skills to foster a love of building in students while building new skills with them.”
Scott Lawrimore joined us in the Jacob Lawrence Gallery on July 1, becoming the first person heading the gallery to hold the title of Director. He earned BA and MA degrees in art history and previously held positions with Foster/White Gallery, Davidson Galleries, and Greg Kucera Gallery before opening his own space, Lawrimore Project, in 2006. In 2012, he was appointed Deputy Director of Collections and Exhibitions at the Frye Art Museum where he curated historical exhibitions drawn from their collection as well as contemporary exhibitions. He has said, “…my curatorial and intellectual heroes’ blueprints for affecting radical change and making significant contributions were all drawn up in university contexts. As the leading site of experimentation and knowledge production in the region, I’m privileged to be working with the students, faculty and staff of the University of Washington. It will be an honor to lead a gallery with such a distinguished namesake, and I hope to extend Lawrence’s legacy of testing art’s capacity to teach and engage the community.”
Risa Morgan Lewellyn became the School's Administrator this summer after ten years in a similar position at the UW Dance Program. Prior to that she managed the Arts portfolio for UW Continuing Education and served as the Manager for the UW Summer Arts Festival. She has performed various management roles in non-profit organizations, including two years as the Executive Director for Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle. Lewellyn holds a BFA in Dance and Theatre Performance from the University of Wisconsin and an MBA in non-profit management from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. She is “looking forward to the new challenges and adventures this position will offer. While theatrical performance has been my primary form of artistic expression, I’ve always been interested in and impressed by the visual arts and look forward to learning more about these multi-faceted art forms.”
Matthew Marzynski is a full-time Lecturer in the Industrial Design Program for the 2014-2015 academic year. He received his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and has been active in the industry for over twenty years, working at Human Factors Industrial Design in New York, Herbst LaZar Bell in Boston, and most recently as Manager of Industrial Design at Fluke Corporation in Everett. He has served as an intern mentor and has led UW and WWU classes through industry-sponsored projects. Marzynski says, “I am excited to join the faculty and for the opportunity it gives me to engage with young designers, creative teachers, and the UW community. I’m particularly drawn to teaching studio projects and the way they allow students to experience the broad arc of developing a design from idea to finished product.”
Nicole Seisler is a full-time Lecturer in the 3D4M: ceramics + glass + sculpture Program for the 2014-2015 academic year. She earned her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has shown her work in a number of venues around the United States as well as in Brussels and Turkey. She has previously taught at her alma mater and Lake Forest College. Seisler says, “The University of Washington, and the 3D4M department in particular, is an exciting place to pursue my career because the faculty here embrace a progressive approach to teaching ceramics. The program repositions ceramics within a sculptural curriculum and contributes to redefining its role within the contemporary art world as a whole. The close-knit, and yet open and inclusive nature of the art community at the UW, also makes it an incredibly enticing place to teach, to make, and to continue learning.”