
Graduation Speaker: Alexis Calma, Art History
Alexis Calma received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History in June 2021. She was the Division of Art History's undergraduate speaker for the School's virtual Graduation Celebration 2021.

Graduation Speaker: Lily Stelzer, Art
Lily Stelzer finished her Bachelor of Arts degree in Art in December 2020. She was the Division of Art's undergraduate speaker for the School's virtual Graduation Celebration 2021.

Q+A with Kathleen Ash-Milby
Kathleen Ash-Milby received her Art History bachelor's degree in 1991. After receiving an MA and working in New York for over 20 years, she was appointed the Curator of Native American Art at Portland Art Museum in 2019.

Alden Mason Book + Exhibitions
Alden Mason was an alum of the School of Art as well as being faculty here. He also had a successful career as a painter. A new book and three exhibitions celebrate his work and legacy.

Curiosity & Clay
George Rodriguez, who graduated in 2009 with an MFA from the UW, discusses his art and how he "fell for clay" in a University of Washington Magazine article.

‘Ancient Future’ questions our relationship with the natural world
Master of Fine Arts student Payton Cahill's thesis project, Ancient Future, "transcends the limits of the gallery space through a prompting of collective reflection."

Alumni News – May 2021
This is a listing of alumni news as posted to our social media outlets during the month of April 2021. Most news like this goes onto our Twitter feed; you can receive it in real-time by following us there.

Anne Focke Award honors Asian American activist and journalist Ron Chew
A profile of Ron Chew, the 2021 recipient of the Anne Focke Arts Leadership Award, which includes quotes from School Director Jamie Walker and alum Barbara Earl Thomas.

UW design student spreads joy through coffee sleeves
Jerred Mace, an industrial design student in his third year, has founded the W/ Joy Project to spread joy through uplifting messages inside coffee sleeves.

Director's Notes – April 2021
The marvels of spring have never been more appreciated than they are now: birds and blossoms abound, we are reveling in the extended daylight and a hint of warmth, and vaccines are giving us hope…

Alumni News – April 2021
This is a listing of alumni news as posted to our social media outlets during the month of April 2021. Most news like this goes onto our Twitter feed; you can receive it in real-time by following us there.

2021 Anne Focke Arts Leadership Award
The recipient of this year's award is Ron Chew, a lifelong Seattleite who has made significant cultural contributions to the city. An online event to celebrate him takes place on Friday, May 14, starting at 6pm.

Lawrence + Thomas at SAM
The Seattle Art Museum is showing two solo exhibitions that feature people with close ties to the School: Jacob Lawrence and Barbara Earl Thomas.

Q+A with Holly Chan
Holly Chan received her Bachelor of Design degree in 2017. After graduation, she spent more than two years working for Ancestry in the San Francisco Bay area. Chan became a user experience designer at Blue Origin in May 2020.

Alumni News – March 2021
This is a listing of alumni news as posted to our social media outlets during the month of March 2021. Most news like this goes onto our Twitter feed; you can receive it in real-time by following us there.

Spring 2021 Part-Time Faculty
The spring quarter part-time faculty are Sofía Córdova, Joe Costello, Melanie Enderle, Stefan Gonzales, Thomas Ham, Nadia Jackinsky Sethi, Justin Lund, Oscar Murillo, Nkiruka Oparah, Dan Paz, Charles Stobbs, Scott Tsukamaki, Ryan Weatherly, Lena Tseabbe Wright, Jayme Yen, and Shuo Yin.

First Nations art, resistance and governance in Canada
Art History Assistant Professor Kathryn Bunn-Marcuse taught a winter quarter 2021 microseminar for graduate students titled First Nations Art, Resistance, and Governance: Haida and Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw Art Against Extraction.

2021 MFA + MDes Thesis Exhibition
Master of Fine Arts and Master of Design students — all graduating in 2021 and some from 2020 — are participating in this exhibition at the Henry Art Gallery. The exhibition runs from May 29 through June 27, 2021.

Surveying the Native art of the Pacific Northwest
Assistant Professor of Art History Kathryn Bunn-Marcuse explains what it's like to be a student in her class, Native Art of the Northwest Coast, in this University of Washington Magazine article.

The Illuminating Work Of Barbara Earl Thomas Is Finally In Display At The Seattle Art Museum
Barbara Earl Thomas, who received both her BA and MFA in art from the University of Washington, has a solo exhibition on display at the Seattle Art Museum.

Alumni News – February 2021
This is a listing of alumni news as posted to our social media outlets during the month of February 2021. Most news like this goes onto our Twitter feed; you can receive it in real-time by following us there.

Director's Notes
As I sat down to write these quarterly notes, I struggled to find the concentration to focus. Given the current state of our world, which has at times been all consuming, it has been a challenge…

Alumni News – January 2021
This is a listing of alumni news as posted to our social media outlets during the month of January 2021. Most news like this goes onto our Twitter feed; you can receive it in real-time by following us there.

Winter 2021 Part-Time Faculty
The winter quarter 2020 part-time faculty are Andrew Allen, Romson Bustillo, Granite Calimpong, Alex Chang, Fiona Connor, Joe Costello, Stefan Gonzales, Arely Morales, Stephanie Simek, Rafael Soldi, Steven Watson, and Jayme Yen.

In Memoriam – Bill Holm
The School of Art + Art History + Design is sad to announce the passing of Art History Professor Emeritus Bill Holm, expert on Northwest Coast Native art, on December 16, 2020.

Alumni News – December 2020
This is a listing of alumni news as posted to our social media outlets during the month of December 2020. Most news like this goes onto our Twitter feed; you can receive it in real-time by following us there.
Jack Lenor Larsen, Innovative Textile Designer, Dies at 93
Larsen (BA 1949) was a textile designer who blended ancient techniques and modern technology to weave fabrics that enlivened postwar American homes and workplaces and in the process became an international presence.

Q+A with Robert Yoder
Yoder received his MFA in Fiber Arts in 1987. Since then, he has worked on his own art practice, and he became a gallerist when he founded SEASON in 2010. Tela Real, an Instagram-only gallery, is his most recent venture.

Autumn Activities
Autumn quarter is over, but some work lives on digitally. We are pleased to share with you activities that occurred during the past few months within the UW and out in our broader community.
Craft in America: STORYTELLERS episode - PBS premiere Dec 11, 2020
George Rodriguez (MFA 2009) is one of five artists featured in the December Storytellers episode of the PBS Craft in America series.
Art Pulse: A Yakima artist shows why farmworkers are essential
Christie Tirado (BA 2013) and her artwork are the subject of a December article on Crosscut.

A Snapshot of America, in 18 Portraits
Assistant Professor of Art History Juliet Sperling analyzes 18 pieces of art that tell the tale of American history. Paintings by two alums are included in this University of Washington Magazine article.

Alumni News – November 2020
This is a listing of alumni news as posted to our social media outlets during the month of November 2020. Most news like this goes onto our Twitter feed; you can receive it in real-time by following us there.
New Exhibit At Birmingham Museum of Art Shows American History’s Violent Struggle
This exhibition features a painting series about American history by the late Professor Emeritus Jacob Lawrence. The story includes quotes from alum Barbara Earl Thomas who studied with Lawrence.

Director's Notes
It was a summer like no other. A reduced schedule of classes was all taught online and most staff worked remotely. Only a handful of faculty, staff, and graduate students were to be found in our buildings…

Alumni News – October 2020
This is a listing of alumni news as posted to our social media outlets during the month of October 2020. Most news like this goes onto our Twitter feed; you can receive it in real-time by following us there.

Q+A with Tamar Benzikry
Benzikry received her bachelor's degree in 2005 with majors in Art History and Jewish Studies. After two years of graduate study, Benzikry returned to the Greater Seattle area to begin a career in curating and coordinating art projects.

Alumni News – September 2020
This is a listing of alumni news as posted to our social media outlets during the month of September 2020. Most news like this goes onto our Twitter feed; you can receive it in real-time by following us there.

Autumn 2020 Part-Time Faculty
The autumn quarter 2020 part-time faculty are Arely Morales, Jayme Yen, Joe Costello, Marcus Watson, Matt Clark, Melanie Enderle, and Michael Smith.

Dyson Award Winner
Congratulations to recent alum Thipok (Poom) Cholsaipant! His breath glucometer, AeroLyze, is winner of the US national James Dyson Award, and it is part of the competition for the international award from the James Dyson Foundation.

Campus Ambassador
Alice Lee, manager of the UW Visitor Center, graduated from the UW in 2011 with a BA in Interdisciplinary Visual Arts. She explains her role and what brought her to the UW.

Alumni News – August 2020
This is a listing of alumni news as posted to our social media outlets during the month of August 2020. Most news like this goes onto our Twitter feed; you can receive it in real-time by following us there.

Sean Sullivan: Dare to Judge
The Jacob Lawrence Gallery hosts the inaugural curatorial residency for a UW BIPOC graduate student. Curator Stefan Leandro Gonzales has created an exhibition that examines connections between queer experience and domestic space. Dates are September 4–26, 2020.

Lux Aeterna
This year-long online research platform and exhibition traces and troubles the currents of technical migration and image circulation. It is curated by Jacob Lawrence Gallery Director + Curator Emily Zimmerman and produced in partnership with Northwest Film Forum.

Strange Coupling
Strange Coupling has been a student-run tradition in the School's Division of Art since 2002. For the first time, this year's exhibition has a theme — Memory — and the exhibition is online. It launches August 21, and there is an online reception.

Transforming How We Live, Work, and Play
Stephen Bader (BDes 2014) and Alanna MacGowan (MFA Design 2010) work at Microsoft Envisioning and explore how people will live, work, and play five to seven years in the future.

Alumni News – July 2020
This is a listing of alumni news as posted to our social media outlets during the month of July 2020. Most news like this goes onto our Twitter feed; you can receive it in real-time by following us there.

2020 Seattle Deconstructed Art Fair
While there is no Seattle Art Fair this year, a number of galleries from Seattle and beyond have banded together to create the SDAF during August. At least 20 galleries are showing work by alums, staff, and/or faculty.

YU Cedes Property to NACF
Yale Union in Portland — co-founded by Assistant Professor Flint Jamison — announced on July 16 that they will cede ownership of their historic building and its land to the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation.

Alumni News – June 2020
This is a listing of alumni news as posted to our social media outlets during the month of June 2020. Most news like this goes onto our Twitter feed; you can receive it in real-time by following us there.