Parnassus, the cafe in the basement of the Art Building, has also served as a gallery for student work and other exhibitions over the years. With the arrival of COVID-19 and the closure of the Art Building, this venue has not been available. A group of enterprising students, with help from two staff members, have come together to create an online version of the Parnassus Gallery. Learn more in the Q+A below and in this UW Daily article.
Tell us a little about yourselves.
- Yerin Yang: I am a junior transfer student majoring in Art with a concentration in Interdisciplinary Visual Art (IVA).
- Ashley Tseng: I am a junior double majoring in Visual Communication Design and Art History.
- Jentzen Mooney: I am junior transfer student majoring in Art.
- Anna Shi: I am a sophomore intending to major in Informatics or Design.
What gave you the idea of creating the online gallery?
- Yerin: Originally, I wanted to curate the Parnassus Cafe Gallery, but due to the pandemic, it wasn’t possible to do in person. I really wanted to keep the gallery going, so I initially reached out to my ART 101 instructor Claire Cowie to see what could be done, and she recommended that I talk to Liz Copland about it. I also got support from Jentzen who was a classmate in ART 101, and we’ve been working together on the project since!
- Jentzen: Creating an online gallery was conceptualized by Yerin, and it is her enthusiasm and energy that sparked my interest to collaborate on this project.
- Ashley: I was a Gallery Manager for the Parnassus Cafe Gallery last year and really enjoyed curating exhibitions of student work. With school being remote this year because of the pandemic, I missed being able to help showcase the work of students at the UW. So, when I learned that there were plans for developing an online gallery, I knew that I wanted to help!
How has the project developed?
After meeting with Liz Copland and Katie Twiss from the School's Advising Office, they helped us reach out to other students that wanted to help, which is how we were able to add Ashley and Anna to our team. Thanks to Ashley’s experience in design and Anna’s experience in graphic design and illustration, we were able to conceptualize our gallery website more confidently and reach out to more students! Liz and Katie have also helped with facilitating meetings and handling the paperwork regarding the website.
When will the online gallery debut?
The website and first online exhibition, titled “Life in Quarantine,” will launch on January 17, 2021. We are hoping to add new exhibitions about once a month.
Will the artwork be for sale?
For now, work will not be for sale on the website, but if anyone is interested in purchasing any of the featured artwork, they can feel free to email us. We can contact the artist for them.
Are there plans to continue this after you graduate?
Absolutely! One of the goals of our group is to document and organize the process so that future students can manage the website after we graduate.
Who can submit work for this online gallery?
Any student at UW can submit to the gallery, regardless of major! Professors and faculty are also welcome to reach out to us if they would like to display work from their class on the website. We will regularly have Google forms that students can submit work to, or people can email us at parnassusartgallery@gmail.com if they have any questions about the gallery and submissions.