Art History Assistant Professor Juliet Sperling began teaching at the University of Washington in autumn 2020. She also quickly started researching Jacob Lawrence, the famous artist who taught in the School of Art and after whom our gallery is named. Her interest was also sparked by a planned exhibition of Lawrence's work at Seattle Art Museum, which is now showing through May 23.
Provost Town Hall
Sperling was asked to speak about Lawrence at the town hall hosted by UW Provost Mark Richards, which took place on March 16, 2021. The event was recorded and is available on the UW's YouTube channel. Advance to 6:43 for the provost's introduction of Sperling and note the Lawrence print behind the provost.
Spring Class
During spring quarter 2021, Sperling is teaching a special topic course titled ART H 400 (Art and Seattle: Jacob Lawrence), which takes advantage of the Seattle Art Museum exhibition mentioned above. Students in the class will create social media content about works in the exhibition, will meet with the museum's American art curator, and will write essays for a digital publication about the artwork Lawrence made during his time in Seattle (1971–2000).