We have had arrivals, departures, and other changes in faculty and staff since the start of the calendar year. This is in addition to the six new faculty, who you can read about in a separate post.
Leena Joshi joined the school in March as our Marketing + PR Specialist. This new, half-time position was created in partnership with the College of Arts & Sciences to help us better tell the story of the school to audiences both on and off campus. Joshi came to us with experience in publicity, writing, and development. She is now our voice on Facebook, she established our Instagram feed, and she is helping the school make connections with arts organizations and arts writers in the Seattle area. She also works on event promotion. Outside her UW work, Joshi is a poet, and she has been invited to read at a New York City event in October.
Debra Cox, who came to work in Visual Services at the school in 1990, departed in May to become a cataloging and reference librarian in Special Collections at Seattle Public Libraries. She was the first staff person in the school’s Media Center, and she moved from there to the Slide Library in 1999. Her broad knowledge of art history and her attention to detail made her a valuable resource for many in the school. She was instrumental in the dismantling of the slide collection and the re-creation of rooms 120 and 122. After Cox’s departure and a review of staffing needs, Morgan Bell’s position was expanded from 
half-time to be 80% Visual Services and 20% IT. She now works with faculty on the use and addition of images to our in-house digital image database. She also aids faculty with the use of Canvas course management software and the Artstor database available through UW Libraries. Bell, like Cox, is an alumna of our Division of Art History.
John Taylor became the Instructional Technician for our Ceramics Program (now part of the 3D4M: ceramics + glass + sculpture Program) in 2006. In addition to the excellent work he did with students and faculty, he was also a great source of information about alumni shows and other clay/3D4M-related events in the Seattle area. Taylor’s last day of work was in September, and he had already started teaching an adult pottery wheel class at the Moshier Community Art Center in Burien. Like most of our technicians, he is also a practicing artist. He is preparing for a November show at Bennett Gallery in Knoxville, TN, that will include his pottery, drawings, and paintings. Stepping into Taylor’s shoes is Jinsoo Song. He has a BA in Studio Arts from University of Minnesota and an MFA in 
Ceramics from Arizona State University. Song was previously a technician at University of Arkansas, he has taught in a variety of venues, and he was a resident artist at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia for two years. He says, “I wanted to work here because I wanted to be a part of the prestigious program and live in the Pacific Northwest region.” He is quickly learning the ropes at the CMA.
Professor Lou Cabeen came to the UW in 1993. Over the years, she taught numerous Fibers and Interdisciplinary Visual Arts classes, with a particular emphasis on surface design and socially critical art. She also has research interests in textile history and techniques as well as the use of maps and mapping in art. With Judi Clark, Director of Academic Advising and Student Services, Cabeen developed an Exploration Seminar titled The London Art Scene – Past and Present. She completed her teaching career by co-leading this program in August and September. Cabeen already is scheduled to have work in three upcoming exhibitions, and she has contributed to a forthcoming issue of GeoHumanities.
Wilma Boyd, the school’s fiscal operations staff person, resigned from her position in September 2015 in order to pursue other interests. She joined the staff as a temporary employee in 2010 and then was hired on full time in 2011. Her attention to detail and steady hand will be missed.
Professor Robin Wright joined our faculty in 1990. Her position is shared with the Burke Museum, and she focused primarily on Northwest Coast First Nations art in both locations. She established the Bill Holm Center for the Study of Northwest Coast Art at the Burke Museum in 2003. Funds raised for the center have also supported many of the graduate students who have studied with her. In September, she received the Cultural Ambassador Award as part of the Seattle Mayor’s Arts Awards. Wright will retire in December. She plans to complete her book about the house models made by seventeen Skidegate Haida artists for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago and will follow that with a trip to Paris for the opening of a Marquesan art exhibition curated by Carol Ivory (PhD 1990) at Musée du Quai Branly.