Featured Stories
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…
First Floor Renovation
An idea born six years ago will become a reality in the next two years. The result will be a more visible location for the Jacob Lawrence Gallery and upgrades for other spaces.
New Faculty for 2021
The School is pleased to announce the hiring of one new faculty member for each of our divisions: Sangram Manjumdar (Painting + Drawing), Miriam Chusid (Japanese Art History), and Meichun Liu (Industrial Design).
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.
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.
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.
Digital Health Futures
In a ten-week project during winter quarter 2021, students in Professor Axel Roesler’s DESIGN 483/582 (Advanced Projects in Interaction Design) explored the future of digital health, sponsored by Eli Lilly and Company Design Labs.
Juliet Sperling + Jacob Lawrence
Art History Assistant Professor Juliet Sperling began teaching at UW in autumn 2020. She also quickly started researching Jacob Lawrence, the famous artist who taught in the School and after whom our gallery is named.
New Courses in the Arts for Non-Majors
Two faculty members — Annabelle Gould and Whitney Lynn — applied to the Arts Division in the College of Arts & Sciences early last year to develop new courses for non-majors. Both were taught for the first time in winter quarter 2021.
A Symposium on Design Graduate Education
There are many questions to be addressed in this April 30 symposium about the future of graduate design education. Hosted by the Division of Design and organized by Audrey Desjardins, James Pierce, and Annabelle Gould.
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.
Out in the elements, for art
During autumn quarter 2020, 3D4M Assistant Professor Michael Swaine taught an introductory sculpture class entirely outdoors. It was featured in an Arts & Sciences Perspectives article.
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.
Donors: April 2020 – March 2021
Gifts from our generous donors — individuals, foundations, and organizations — are critical to the success and morale of the School. We are deeply grateful for their support. Join them by selecting one of our top funds for your donation.
Student Stories
Art History + English
Background
Alexis Calma is a senior majoring in both Art History and English. She has taken advantage of study abroad in Italy, and she is pursuing the honors option in Art History. Liz Copland, an academic adviser for the School of Art + Art History + Design, interviewed Alexis via email.
Interview
What brought you to UW and how did you select your majors in Art History and English?
Animation through IVA
Background
Katherine Munoz-Castano arrived at the University of Washington in autumn 2020 from Kent-Meridian High School in Kent, Washington. She is currently in her first year pursuing a double major in Art (with an Interdisciplinary Visual Art focus) and Cinema + Media Studies. Her goal is to work in the animation industry. She received one of the School's Crabby Beach Foundation Art Scholarships.
Second Try
Background
Gigi Costello-Montgomery first started at the University of Washington in 2000. She left after two years, partly because she still had no major. She returned in autumn 2020 and is now fully focused on an Art major with a concentration in Interdisciplinary Visual Art. Liz Copland, an academic adviser for the School of Art + Art History + Design, interviewed Gigi via email.
Interview
Tell us a little about your pathway at UW?
Jacob Lawrence Gallery Stories
2021 Graduation Exhibitions
Each year the School proudly celebrates graduating Art and Design students — both undergraduate and graduate — with a series of exhibitions at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery and the Henry Art Gallery. We have a combination of online and in-person exhibitions this year.
BIPOC Graduate Student Curatorial Fellowship
This year's recipient will be chosen soon. The exhibition will take place in June and July. Read more about the fellowship.
Other News
Painting + Drawing Professor Ann Gale has a solo exhibition of new paintings at Dolby Chadwick Gallery in San Francisco through May 1.
Visual Communication Design Professor Karen Cheng was recently interviewed by the New York Times for this article about color-coding Covid-19 information.
Interdisciplinary Visual Arts Associate Professor Curt Labitzke had an article about his recent work featured in North Coast Magazine and on the Everett Daily Herald's website.
Interdisciplinary Visual Arts Assistant Professor Whitney Lynn has a new public artwork adjacent to the Burke Gilman Trail on view until August 2021.
An exhibition of work by late Professor Emeritus (and alum) Charles W. Smith is on view at Cascadia Art Museum through November 28.
We are sad to announce the passing on February 28 of former staff member Dick Law, instructional technician for ceramics. He retired in June 2006 after thirty years of service.
Julie Nelson Davis (MA 1994, PhD 1997) and Rodrigo Valenzuela (MFA 2012) just won 2021 Guggenheim Fellowships in the Fine Arts Research and Photography categories respectively.
Willem Volkersz (BA 1965) was named winner of a 2020 Montana Governor's Arts Award at the end of last year. Read more in this article.
Kimberly Trowbridge (MFA 2006) has a solo exhibition at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art through June 27. Learn more in an Art Zone segment on Seattle Channel.
Francis Luu (BFA Design 2009) is Design Chief at Common Room, and this startup recently launched with $52 million in funding. Read Forbes and Geekwire articles.
Read all the alumni news since our last newsletter: January, February, March, and April.
Contacts
Merith Bennett, Constituency Relations Officer, mab4@uw.edu
Jeanette Mills, Newsletter Writer/Editor, soanews@uw.edu