Director Notes
Cheers to sunny, warm weather! The School is relatively quiet after a busy spring quarter that culminated with our graduation celebration. As with most summers, there are a few classes in the Art building, and most of our faculty are away doing research. Those of us who are on campus are retooling spaces, taking stock of materials, and planning curriculum before everyone returns for the autumn quarter. The Jacob Lawrence Gallery is currently closed but will reopen in September for assistant professor Rob Rhee's promotion exhibition.
We bid farewell to three stellar faculty members this past year: Timea Tihanyi (Teaching Professor, IVA), Curt Labitzke (Associate Professor, Painting + Drawing + Printmaking), and Estelle Lingo (Professor, Art History) have all moved on from UW. We won't use the word "retirement" since they are busy with other creative endeavors. We are grateful for their dedication to the school and our students over the years, and we wish them the very best.
In this newsletter, we are highlighting the wonderful achievements of faculty, students, and staff. There is always more to share, so please keep checking our website for new stories and upcoming events.
Featured Stories
Types of Expression
Burke Smithers (BDes 2024) discovered a passion for typography at UW that led to award-winning work, international experience, and the launch of his own type foundry, Nightjar Type. His designs reflect personal interests in nature and climate—showing how type can be both expressive and deeply personal.
Read & Watch: Henry Jackson-Spieker
A Handcrafted Award for Medalists
Marek Wieczorek appointed Joff Hanauer Distinguished Professor in Western Civilization
One of the highest honors in the humanities at UW, the three-year professorship recognizes faculty whose teaching and research engage deeply with themes central to Western civilization. Wieczorek's term begins on September 1, 2025.
Student Stories
Designing a Future
Lisa K. Bambach’s path to becoming a design educator has been shaped by over a decade of professional experience, a deep commitment to collaborative inquiry, and a passion for shaping the future of design.
2025 Graduation Award Winners
Each year, the School honors outstanding students from each division with a series of awards that recognize academic excellence, creative achievement, and meaningful contributions to the community. Meet the 2025 awardees.
Making Art, Making Connections
Alumni Stories
Podcast Season 01: The Pilot
Launched in Spring of 2025, the pilot season includes seven episodes – each featuring a School alum in conversation with host Liz Copland.
Jacob Lawrence Gallery Stories
A Bolt From The Blue publication
A new publication highlighting the 2024 Jacob Lawrence Legacy Resident Simon Benjamin, his practice, and reflections from his time in residence. Get a free copy from the Jacob Lawrence Gallery.
Other News
The Design Show 2025 website is live. Explore the design projects of this year's BDes and MDes graduates at uwdesignshow.com.
Art History Phd student Bethany Palkovitz (MA 2024) has been selected as a 2025–2026 Joff Hanauer Award for Excellence in Western Civilization Graduate Fellow. As a Hanauer Fellow, Palkovitz will participate in a year-long seminar led by Professor Wieczorek.
Woven in Wool: Resilience in Coast Salish Weaving opens on September 13, 2025, at Burke Museum. The exhibition is collaboratively curated by Associate Professor Kathryn Bunn-Marcuse (also Curator and Director of the Bill Holm Center at the Burke Museum) in partnership with the Coast Salish Wool Weaving Center. It runs through August 30, 2026.
In a new Communications Leadership course, held for the first time in the Spring quarter, UW professor Adrienne Russell and Teaching Professor in Design Dominic Muren taught students how to examine the climate crisis and environmental problems from a perspective beyond the hard sciences. Read the story on UW News.
Summer Residencies: Assistant Professor Henry Jackson-Spieker is headed to New York in August for the Corning Museum of Glass BIPOC Residency. Glass tech Sean O'Neill is also traveling across the country to Maine in September for Haystack’s two-week Open Studio Residency. Recent 3D4M grad ralph salazar (MFA 2025) is currently in Mexico City completing an art residency at Casa Lu Parque.
Jai Sallay-Carrington's (MFA 2023) returns to Seattle for their next solo show, INSTINCTS at Gallery ERGO. The exhibition opens on August 8 (5–8pm) and runs through September 7, 2025.
In this Seattle Creative podcast interview, the owner of ID consultancy Tactile, Josh Kornfeld, touches on design education and on how he’s hired several designers from UW. Josh is married to School alum Maria Phillips. Their daughter, Olive, is currently a student in the Design program.
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Media Contact
Leo Carmona, Media Relations Specialist, soanews@uw.edu