Directors Notes
Welcome to the School's Spring 2025 Newsletter, our first newsletter on our new website. So far, we have been happy with the response to our site. We are continuously updating content, so please check back often for news and fresh stories.
The University and College of Arts + Sciences budget shortfalls and looming cuts continue to be front and center in discussions here. Earlier this month, President Ana Mari Cauce, Provost Tricia Serio, and Chief Financial Officer Sarah Norris Hall hosted a virtual roundtable discussion to address employee questions about the UW’s budget. If you are interested in what is happening you can watch the recording here.
How will these pending UW/CAS cuts affect our School? We are working closely with College leadership to sort through scenarios. Long term, you might see some shifts in staffing as we move to shared models in areas such as IT, HR, and Fiscal.
Some lighter news: the 2025 Graduation Celebration for the School of Art + Art History + Design will be held in Meany Hall on Saturday, June 14. It’s a very special time to recognize the hard work of our students as they depart for new creative endeavors. Keep an eye out for the Alumni + Friends initiative at graduation, too.
Summer will be a little quieter here. Faculty scatter to focus on their research, the Jacob Lawrence Gallery will not host a summer exhibition, and the student presence on campus is reduced in the summer quarter. It is still lovely here, so if you’re in the area, do stop by to wander the halls! A few of us will be in the building planning for the autumn quarter.
In the meantime, we hope to see you at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery for the BA in Art Exhibitions or the Design Show. If not there, let's find each other at the MFA + MDes Thesis Exhibition public opening on May 30 in the Henry Art Gallery.
UW Design Collaboration with Partners in Print
Your Words Have Power is a temporary exhibition by Design students and Studio Matthews in Partner in Print's new location
A new Podcast featuring Alumni
In each episode, the Back to School podcast welcomes a special guest for an intimate conversation with host Liz Copland (BFA 2009, MA 2022) to reflect on their journey from being a student to a practitioner in their respective field.
2025 Graduation Exhibitions
Join us for a series of shows celebrating our talented art and design students graduating from the School of Art + Art History + Design in Spring 2025.
Artists Jonas Wood and Brian Sharp reflect on the teacher who changed their lives
A new show at Sebastian Gladstone places work by the influential teacher and artist Denzil Hurley alongside his former student Brian Sharp (MFA 2001). Here, Sharp talks with his former classmate Jonas Wood (MFA 2002) about their shared education.
Student Stories
Art major selected as a 2025 Bonderman Fellow
As a Bonderman fellow, Painting + Drawing senior Aaliyah Garingao will travel to Ecuador, Peru, Nepal, Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan.
2025 Husky 100
Visual Communication Design senior Kort Maeda was selected as one of this year's Husky 100.
Alumni Stories
Alumni + Friends
This alumni-led group is dedicated to fostering meaningful connections between alumni, students, and the School through engaging events, professional development opportunities, and curated communications.
Nathan Vass brings readers onto his bus in new book ‘Deciding to See’
Vass (BA 2009) turns ordinary bus rides into something extraordinary — an opportunity for connection in a city known for folks who keep to themselves.
Jacob Lawrence Gallery Stories
Watch Where You Step
UW’s Jacob Lawrence Gallery Is Full of Portals
The Jacob Lawrence Legacy
Twenty-five years after his death, Jacob Lawrence's impact as a chronicler of the Black experience lives on through the efforts of local arts institutions.
Other News
Associate Professor Whitney Lynn received a project grant from the VIA Art Fund in April 2025. Her project, Atomic Open House, will be a monumental, site-specific installation in Nevada, facing the former Nevada Test Site. Black Cube Nomadic Museum is the project's curatorial producer.
Instructional Technician and alum Kim Van Someren (MFA 2004) has been elected to the Executive Board (2025-2028) as Vice President for the Southern Graphics Council International (SGCI), the largest print organization in North America.
Alums Stefan Gonzales (MFA 2020) and Yongqi Tang (BA 2019, MFA 2022) are recipients of the 2025 Artist Trust Fellowship. Both Gonzales and Tang are current School faculty members in the Division of Art. Gonzales is Adjunct Professor of Photo/Media, Tang is Part-Time Lecturer of Painting + Drawing.
Interaction Design faculty members Audrey Desjardins and James Pierce, and alum Wyatt Olson (MDes 2024) had a strong presence at CHI 2025, the premier international conference of Human-Computer Interaction held in Japan this year. Together, they had four full papers and two workshop presentations.
Congratulations to design alum Burke Smithers (BDes 2024) for winning a 2025 Young Ones TDC Award for his senior capstone project, Phylum (a typeface), and Chuanzhe (Bill) Xiong (MDes 2024) for winning a 2025 Indigo Design Award for his thesis project, LoopLab. Xiong's project was chaired by Assistant Professor Chad Hall.
A set of cardboard stools designed by students in DESIGN 166 was featured during Seattle Art Book Fair’s exhibit on May 10–11. A chair co-designed by alum Peyton Todd (BDes 2023) and Jack MacLeod was also featured in the exhibit.
This spring, the student-led online publication the BASEMENT partnered with Seattle-Tacoma Arts and Resistance (STAR) to host their first in-person art show in tandem with their 6th publication. View Publication #6 online..
With heavy hearts, we share the sad news that Photo/Media alum Jenny Irene Miller (BA 2013) has passed away. We send our deepest condolences to her family. Read this article by First Alaskans Institute honoring the artist's life.