Seattle Art Museum, Author at SAM Stories

Dirty, Sacred Rivers, a Talk by Cheryl Colopy at SAAM on November 8

Seattle Art Museum on Nov 2 2012

Cheryl Colopy discusses her book, Dirty, Sacred Rivers: Confronting South Asia’s Water Crisis, which takes readers throughout the enormous Ganges river basin–in North India, Nepal and Bangladesh, from the Himalaya to the Bay of Bengal. The book is a vibrant first-person narrative that brings the complex issue of water sustainability to life, as she observes both gross mismanagement of rivers and also efforts to revive traditional sustainable methods of water management.

Two of her recent op-eds appeared in the New York Times and Yale Environment 360.

New York Times

Yale Environment 360

Cheryl Colopy is an environmental journalist who wrote Dirty, Sacred Rivers during seven years of travel and residence in South Asia. She is an award-winning reporter, formerly with National Public Radio affiliate KQED in San Francisco.

Presented by the Gardner Center for Asian Art and Ideas with the Elliott Bay Book Company.

Event Details
Date: Thursday, November 8
Time: 7 pm
Location: Seattle Asian Art Museum
More information…

Free

SAM Art: A Cunningham way of looking at the world

Seattle Art Museum on Nov 2 2012

Imogen Cunningham is an artist who is revered for radically altering the traditional still life. Like fellow artists Georgia O’Keeffe, Margaret Bourke-White, Ella McBride, and Lola Alvarez Bravo, Cunningham conceived of and portrayed objects in ways that defied conventional picture making. These artists brought plants and constructions alike up close, reducing them to abstract shapes and patterns. Having liberated the portrayal of things from the mundane act of description, they asserted the role of the artist in selecting forms for visual impact, in altering the viewer’s perception, and transforming familiar objects into mysterious works of art.

Cunningham’s style changed throughout her career—her early pictorialist work developed into a mature, modernist aesthetic. Inspired by surrealism, she enjoyed manipulating images both in the camera and the darkroom. The world was a feast for her eyes, and Cunningham captured this vision with curiosity and enduring vitality that continues to resonate today.

Mendocino Motif, 1965, Imogen Cunningham (American, 1883-1976), gelatin silver print, 11 1/2 x 9 1/2 in., Gift of John H. Hauberg, 89.66, © (1965), 2009 Imogen Cunningham Trust. Currently on view in the Modern American art galleries, third floor, SAM downtown, as part of Elles: SAM.

6 Tips for Visiting Elles

Seattle Art Museum on Oct 24 2012

1. DEALS !!!

First Thursdays and Fridays
Admission is discounted on the first Thursday of the month for everyone and on the first Friday for seniors. Go to the Elles website for more information.

All Thursday and Friday nights
Every Thursday and Friday night from 5–9 pm ticket prices are reduced by $3.

FREE for Teens on the 2nd Friday of each month from 5–9 pm.

Bring your Friends
Receive discounted ticket prices and group benefits when you purchase 10 or more tickets in advance. For more information call 206.344.5260 or email groups@seattleartmuseum.org.

Park at 3rd and Stewart Garage
Discount parking is available at the Third and Stewart Parking Garage—entrance is located on Stewart between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. Ask for a voucher at the SAM Ticketing Desk and park for up to four hours for only $6.

Coat and bag check is free.

All tickets to Elles: Women Artists from the Centre Pompidou, Paris include entrance to Elles:SAM downtown and FREE admission to the Seattle Asian Art Museum at Volunteer Park within one week. There are no extra fees for online orders.

Buy tickets now >

VISIT AGAIN FOR FREE
Become a member today and visit as many times as you like for free. Enjoy members-only benefits including exclusive access times for Elles, free admission at all SAM sites for a year and discounts at SAM SHOP and TASTE Restaurant.

Already purchased your ticket?
Stop by the Ticketing Desk to apply the price of your Elles ticket towards a membership!

2. BEAT THE LINES, BUY ONLINE

Online ticketing, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

Guaranteed admission for your reserved day.
No waiting in line. Just print your online ticket at home or show us on your phone as you enter and you can go immediately to the special exhibition galleries.
No online ticketing fees.

Buy tickets now >

3. FREE AUDIO GUIDE

Rather than carrying around those clunky audio wands, why not use your petite, handy smartphone? SAM has an Elles audio guide app for Windows, Android and iPhone. Download before you get to the museum and you’re ready to go! Note: Windows Phone users bring your headphones as the audio plays via speaker phone.

Don’t have your own digital device?
Free audio wands are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The wand includes a special audio guide for no and low vision visitors.

4. BRINGING CHILDREN

Some of the Elles exhibition content is found to be mature for younger audiences. Discretion is advised.

However, we recommend using our Kids Activity Guide to plan a family-friendly route along with activities throughout the galleries. Hard copies are available at the SAM ticketing desk.

Guided school tours and art workshops are offered for students in grades 6–12 for this exhibition. We encourage educators to visit the galleries in advance to gauge the appropriateness of the exhibition for individual classes. Email educatorprograms@seattleartmuseum.org to obtain an educator pass or learn more about this exhibition. Visit the Elles learn page to view educator resources or book a school tour.

5. EXTENDED HOURS

Starting October 11, SAM Downtown has extended open days to make it easy to see Elles: Women Artists from the Centre Pompidou, Paris and Elles:SAM. We are now open on Tuesday!

Tuesday–Sunday 10 am–5 pm
Thursday & Friday 10 am–9 pm
First Thursdays (Nov 1, Dec 6, Jan 3) 10 am-midnight

Closed Mondays (except Members-Only Mondays)

Want to avoid crowds?
It’s likely the museum will be busiest during First Thursdays (when ticket prices are reduced) and on Saturdays and Sundays. For a quieter experience, we encourage you to visit during the week after 2 pm (school groups tend to visit between 10 am and 2 pm), or on Thursday or Friday evenings.

6. PLAN. LEARN. SHARE.

Plan your visit.
Check out Elles events and tours.
Learn about the artists.
We encourage you to share thoughts, memories, images or video of women who have inspired you. Tell us about the positive impact a woman has made on your life. Share your story.
Or honor a special woman in your life with a donation to SAM on our virtual Wall of Women.
Share the love with the 50+ Seattle community partners hosting events around the city.

SAM Art: Modern Masters

Seattle Art Museum on Oct 23 2012

Three of SAM’s modern and contemporary art galleries are currently dedicated to an installation titled Modern Masters, a look at the work of American heavyweights Joan Mitchell, Lee Krasner and Helen Frankenthaler. All three developed their work in the context and aftermath of Abstract Expressionism. Celebratory and ironic, “modern masters,” a popular label for the male painters of that generation, bestows this much-deserved designation upon these visionary women artists in recognition of their hard-fought accomplishments in what was a thoroughly male-defined domain.

Drawn from SAM’s own collection, as well as local private collections, Modern Masters surveys the bold, abstract, gestural production of Joan Mitchell (pictured above); the collage-inflected mid-career paintings of Lee Krasner; and the luminously stained canvases of Helen Frankenthaler. While not a retrospective, this installation provides visitors to SAM a fresh glimpse at the rigor and range of mid-century abstraction.

Installation view of “Modern Masters,” part of “Elles: SAM—Singular Works by Seminal Women Artists,” Modern and Contemporary art galleries, third floor, SAM downtown, on view through 17 February 2013.

SAM Art: Tiger Lily

Seattle Art Museum on Oct 16 2012

While Elles has focused our attention on female artists, works by women have been on view in SAM’s galleries all along, sometimes in unexpected places. Tiger Lily is just one example.

According to Patti Warashina, Tiger Lily’s genesis was rooted in memories of her grandmother. “’At the time it was an interest in religious objects used in society. I used the format of the alter to emphasize personal moments which I had been thinking about,” said the artist in 1992.

Shaping humble clay into transcendent forms fit for the divine is a tradition as old as ceramics themselves. Drawing inspiration from the ancient vernacular of forms and techniques, contemporary artists work with clay to create sculpture that, to our eyes, is simultaneously deeply familiar and startlingly fresh. Central to all of the ancient cultures represented in the Ancient Mediterranean and Islamic art galleries, altars and shrines find their contemporary reflection in Tiger Lily. At the height of the Feminist Movement in the 1970s, Warashina created altars such as this, offerings of feminine archetypes and stereotypes for consideration.

Tiger Lily, 1976, Patti Warashina (American, born 1940), low-fire ceramic with acrylic, 24 x 15 7/8 x 13 1/4 in., Gift of the artist, 89.78, © Patti Warashina. Currently on view in the Ancient Mediterranean and Islamic art galleries, fourth floor, SAM downtown.

SAM Art: Victoria Haven

Seattle Art Museum on Oct 9 2012

Seattle-based artist Victoria Haven creates work that furthers the discussion of how the language of abstraction can express personal experience. Recently, she has delved into her memories of the Pacific Northwest and her connection to it. In Northwest Field Recording – WA (12” B side), Haven created a drawing in a format that corresponds to the size and shape of a vinyl record – the pattern of the words suggests the circular grooves on an LP. In addition to a reference to music, Haven described the form of this drawing (one of a pair) as being reminiscent of the rings on a tree indicating a life span.

Although steeped in a minimalist sensibility, found objects of a certain kind—ephemera, like a mixed tape or the black double diamond found on trail maps—are starting points for Haven’s most recent body of work, Victoria Haven: Proposed Land Use Action, which is now installed as part of Elles: SAM—Singular Works by Seminal Women Artists.

Northwest Field Recording – WA (12″/B side), 2010, Victoria Haven (American, born 1964), ink on paper, 18 1/2 x 18 in., Gift of Rebecca and Alexander Stewart and an anonymous donor, 2011.9.1, Photo: Richard Nicol, © Victoria Haven. Not currently on view. Victoria Haven: Proposed Land Use Action, an exhibition of new work by the artist, is on view until February 2013, Modern and Contemporary art galleries, third floor, SAM downtown.

SAM Art 50+: The World’s Fair + SAM, final installment

Seattle Art Museum on Oct 2 2012

One week from now, women take over SAM, as the city of Seattle celebrates women artists. The exhibitions Elles: Women Artists from the Centre Pompidou, Paris and Elles: SAM—Singular Works by Seminal Women Artists debut to the public on 11 October, but this is only the most recent expression of the museum’s—and city’s—commitment to women artists.

In 1962, in the Fine Arts Pavilion of the World’s Fair, women were nearly invisible. In Masterpieces of Art, Art Since 1950: American and Art Since 1950: International, of the 199 European and American artists represented, only seven were women. The story was entirely different in Northwest Art Today – Adventures in Art. In this show of regional artists, ten out of 86 artists were women. One of these women was Kathleen Gemberling Adkison (Kathleen Gemberling in 1962).

A Spokane artist with wide-ranging interests, Gemberling Adkison was emblematic of the Northwest arts scene in the early 1960s. Known for her dreamy snippets of landscape, as if seen through our famous mist of rain, she was originally a student of Mark Tobey’s. Living in an area more accepting of women artists was a boon for Gemberling Adkison’s career. She, and her female peers, did not have to struggle in obscurity like many women artists in New York and other cities—in Seattle, women were fully accepted participants in the arts scene.

Her painting included in Northwest Art Today was a departure from her early work, and this increase in attention prompted her to an equal increase in ambition. Like Seattle itself, Kathleen Gemberling Adkison used the World’s Fair to process new styles, artists and philosophies.

Gemberling Adkison visited the Fair regularly, relishing her first in-person exposure to work by Hans Hofmann, Helen Frankenthaler, Sam Francis, and others. Her work from 1962 onward was visibly informed by the aesthetics, process and visual language of abstract expressionism— the exposure provided by the World’s Fair laid a path to a new style for this artist, who was liberated from her earlier, literal interpretations of nature. Her mature, abstract canvases (such as Verdant Winter) provide layers of reference, from moss and granite, to Hofmann and Frankenthaler.

The World’s Fair left the city of Seattle, its artists and its arts institutions forever changed. It heralded a new era in the arts and culture of this city. The Seattle Art Museum is proud to have taken part in the Fair, and is pleased to have used SAMart this past month to present a look back (and forward).

Verdant Winter, 1969, Kathleen Gemberling Adkison (American, 1920 – 2010), oil on canvas, 46 1/16 x 40 3/16 in., Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection, 69.74, © Kathleen Adkison. Currently viewable online: www.seattleartmuseum.org/emuseum.

SAM Art 50+: The World’s Fair + SAM, part IV

Seattle Art Museum on Sep 25 2012

The “Century 21” World’s Fair introduced a host of innovations to the city of Seattle, not least of which was the avant-garde of artistic practice. Art Since 1950 – American and International, a pair of the exhibitions highlighted in the Fine Arts Pavilion, introduced the newest of the new to Seattle.

Avant-garde, forward-thinking, and—in particular—abstract art had long fought an uphill battle in Seattle. Public reaction to Mark Tobey’s Modal Tide, when it won the purchase prize of the 1940 Annual Exhibition of Northwest Artists, was immediate and outraged. Much had changed over the ensuing two decades, but Art Since 1950 was still able to shock the general public.

The exhibition included such provocative artists as Alberto Burri, Hans Hofmann, Robert Rauschenberg, as well as the brash face of New York abstraction, Willem de Kooning. Visionary Seattle arts patron Virginia Wright wryly noted in 2006, that the World’s Fair “was the first time Seattle saw a de Kooning.” The surface a stormy sea, with peaks and streaks of color building into the form of a woman, the painting lent by the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City was certainly Seattle’s introduction to the artist’s classic “Woman” series. It was not until 1965 that SAM acquired its first de Kooning, a gift of contemporary collector Anne Gerber; in 1976, the museum received its own “Woman,” a gift of Virginia Wright and her husband Bagley.

SAM Art 50+: The World’s Fair + SAM, part III

Seattle Art Museum on Sep 20 2012

Science and technology were the stated focus of the Seattle World’s Fair as a whole, while a subtler, though equally compelling, argument was made for the celebration and understanding of Asian art and culture within the Fine Arts Pavilion. The Art of the Ancient East was one of the Pavilion’s six exhibitions, and it introduced visitors to some of the greatest masterpieces of Asian art. This focused exhibition shone a spotlight on Asian art and artisans, proving this artistic heritage equally as brilliant and varied as Europe’s.

These masterpieces traveled across continents and seas, from one millennium to another. And yet, to arrive at the World’s Fair grounds, they traversed just over one mile: This exhibition was one of two installations at the Fine Arts Pavilion drawn entirely from the Seattle Art Museum’s holdings. The show included representative works from a dozen nations, including (in this photo) Pakistan and India.

What were considered masterpieces 50 years ago remain so today. Last year’s exhibition Luminous: The Art of Asia included nearly every work from Art of the Ancient East. Luminous, however, reflected the changes in the world over the past 50 years. Chief among the differences was the museum’s collaboration with artist Do Ho Suh, who not only guided the interpretation of the SAM Asian collection, but produced a brand-new work of his own in response. This imagining of the “life” of objects is an element that could not—and would not—have been considered 50 years ago.

The Art of the Ancient East, installation view, Fine Arts Pavilion, Seattle World’s Fair, 1962. Photo: © Seattle Art Museum.

SAM Art 50+: The World’s Fair + SAM, part II

Seattle Art Museum on Sep 13 2012

SAMart continues with the second installment of “50+: The World’s Fair + SAM.”

While the “Masterpieces of Art” exhibition took a wide view of the world’s artistic heritage, World’s Fair art director (and SAM’s Board vice president) Norman Davis insisted that there be a focus on artists of this region as well. A group exhibition of living Northwest artists was included in the Art Pavilion’s offerings, as well as a single exhibition dedicated to one artist: Northwest luminary Mark Tobey.

An artist with international recognition, Tobey’s work provided an immersion into the artistic heritage and influences of the Northwest. His paintings created a visual glossary: The muted browns and greens of the Northwest landscape; the active gestures reminiscent of Asian calligraphy; fugues of hooded figures, populated a city hunched against the fabled Seattle rain.

The show presented in a gallery of the Fine Arts Pavilion was small in scale (comprising only 23 works), but it provided a global platform for this artistic giant of the mid-20^th century. Welcoming visitors to the gallery was a wall text, proclaiming Tobey “Seattle’s foremost artist and… one of the most important names in the international art world.” This was late in the artist’s successful career, when he had moved his primary residence to Switzerland. Still, Tobey’s connection to Seattle ran deep, and it was his association with this city that was celebrated at the Fair. The works displayed were, themselves, local: The entire installation was drawn from the Seattle Art Museum’s holdings.

Fifty years later, Tobey’s works remain central within the museum’s collections. The museum’s Tobey holdings span the breadth of his entire, illustrious career. All works are available for browsing and study, on the museum’s website. The next time Tobey paintings or drawings will be on view in SAM’s galleries will be after the Elles exhibitions close, in 2013.

Mark Tobey, installation view, Fine Arts Pavilion, Seattle World’s Fair, 1962. Photo: © Seattle Art Museum.

SAM Art 50+: The World’s Fair + SAM

Seattle Art Museum on Sep 5 2012

This year, we celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Seattle’s World’s Fair. As part of the ongoing commemorations, through the month of September SAM looks back at arts at the Fair, as well as the legacy of those projects.

1,350,000 people visited the Fine Arts Pavilion at the Seattle World’s Fair, where six wide-ranging exhibitions held visitors’ attention for hours. Of these exhibitions, “Masterpieces of Art” was the most ambitious—Time magazine deemed it “well worth an hour off from the geewhizzery of space and the girlie shows of the Gayway.” Selected by the directors of North American museums, this show still betrayed a perspective unique to Seattle. In addition to works by Rembrandt, Copley, Monet, Eakins, and Picasso, several Asian masterpieces were also included. Among the latter was SAM’s submission: An ancient Japanese tomb figure.

The catalogue for “Masterpieces of Art” called this sculpture, “a simplified, almost abstract interpretation of a helmeted and armored warrior,” one who once guarded a tomb in Japan’s Gunma prefecture. This monumentally scaled terra cotta was concrete recognition that a “Masterpiece” could, indeed, hail from a region other than Europe or America. This willingness to acknowledge the artistic achievements of non-European-extracted cultures extended geographically as far as Asia, and philosophically as far as the native cultures of North America.

In 2012, our conception of the world has expanded even further. In addition to all of the geographies represented at the Fine Arts Pavilion of the Fair, this year SAM has shown art from Polynesia, Brazil, Australia, and Central Asia in dedicated exhibitions; as well as permanent collection objects hailing from Africa, the Middle East, and Central America. The world has grown over the past 50 years, and now more than ever before it has come to Seattle.

Haniwa warrior figure (detail), 6th-7th century, Japanese, Kofun period (3rd-7th century C.E.), ceramic with polychrome, 53 ¼ x 16 ½ x 10 ¾ in., Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection, 62.44. Currently viewable online.

SAM Art: Time to wave goodbye to the Mountain Devil Lizard

Seattle Art Museum on Aug 28 2012

Pointillism is taken to new levels by Kathleen Petyarr who paints with meticulous care using a satay stick. Her wavy X across the middle of the painting marks the path of the Mountain Devil Lizard. What is recorded here is the lizard’s idiosyncratic habit of meandering, swerving around obstacles, never following a straight path. The dots that appear in dense clusters simultaneously convey the spotted pattern of the lizard’s skin, the seeds or small ants she eats, and the sandstorms she passes through. Like many of the paintings in Ancestral Modern, this work maps multiple levels of existence.

Called “a show that truly does take you into another world,” by the Seattle Times’ Michael Upchurch, Ancestral Modern presents more than 100 works of breathtaking beauty, eye-popping visual complexity, and dizzyingly deep meaning. This exhibition runs through this Sunday, 2 September.

SAM Art: Who presides at places of change? This man.

Seattle Art Museum on Aug 22 2012

This is a gentleman who tempts fate. He likes to preside at places of transition, where he can push people to recognize the need to change directions. He carries a sword to cut through difficulties and a flywhisk to invoke his authority to make things happen. Esu is prepared to bring the insights of the gods to bear on earthly dilemmas, such as changing jobs and moving on.

After 37 years, Michael McCafferty retired from his work at the Seattle Art Museum on April 20, 2012. He was the lead designer for galleries in the downtown Seattle Art Museum, the Olympic Sculpture Park, and the Seattle Asian Art Museum, and oversaw the installation of several hundred exhibitions. He was offered the following praise salute on his last day:

Master of the delicate dance

Required to give art the chance

To fly through the air and land at our feet

May Esu guide your fate in all that you meet.

Standing Figure of Esu, early 20th century, Nigerian Oyo State, Yoruba, wood, iron, 19 1/2 x 6 1/2 x 6 1/4 in., General Acquisition Fund in honor of Michael McCafferty, 2012.11. Currently on view in the African art galleries, fourth floor, SAM downtown.

Celebrate Summer at SAM Remix!

Seattle Art Museum on Aug 16 2012

With my summer as a PR intern for SAM coming to a close, I couldn’t leave without giving you a sneak peak of SAM Remix! Just around the corner, Remix promises an evening packed with DJs, dancing, talks and more. And as a first time attendee, I couldn’t be more excited!

Inspired by Sandra Cinto’s Encontro das Águas and Sarah Bergmann’s Portal to the Pollinator Pathway, SAM Remix celebrates stories of the land and seascape with a late night creative explosion on August 24 from 8 pm to midnight. The Olympic Sculpture Park will be alive with the celebratory spirit of Brazilian carnival, dancing, art, games and more!

Kick off the night with Show Brazil! in the Gates Amphitheater, followed by Seattle indie rockers BOAT telling stories of dinosaurs, real-life, punctuation, and the ferocious sounds of lobsters—I don’t think I’ve ever heard the ferocious sounds of lobsters, but I can’t wait to find out! Dance all night as Tigerbeat mixes everything from mainstream pop to local favorites in the PACCAR Pavilion, and under the stars as DJ Riz infuses the waterfront with his soulful beats. And don’t miss the outdoor screening of our favorite thriller Jaws against the backdrop of the Puget Sound—I can’t imagine a better venue!

The park will be filled with creative activities! Make seed bombs to grown Washington wild flowers at home with artist Jeanne Dodds. Remix the sights and sounds of the Olympic Sculpture Park by creating a portable viewfinder with Seattle artists The Unearth Collective. Experience the park in new and unexpected ways on My Favorite Things: Highly Opinionated Tours—The Park After Dark with local artists, curators and more. And come play America’s favorite beanbag toss game cornhole on boards designed by Dumb Eyes. Design sea adventure hats with Seattle artist Romson Bustillo for your next nautical adventures—I’m gathering inspiration from Cinto’s Encontro das Águas, a piece that celebrates our planet’s most precious resource: water.

Like Encontro das Águas, one of Remix’s very own co-hosts, the Center for Environmental Law and Policy (CELP) is committed to preserving Washington’s water resources. Suzanne Skinner, executive director at CELP, said this about their role in Washington:

We have been watching the country burn this summer and we are now seeing Cle Elum fight rampant fires. The impacts of climate change are upon us—and in the West—where water has always been in short supply—that means more demands for our increasingly short supplies. We need water for everything. The Center for Environmental Law and Policy (CELP) is Washington’s water watchdog. We bring our water law expertise and passion to help citizen groups and tribes throughout the state to protect their rivers, streams and aquifers. From what we learn from people working on the front lines, river by river, aquifer by aquifer, we advocate for science based, sustainable water management in the legislature, in the courts and with government agencies. Now more than ever, we need to work together to protect our water resources.

You can browse the links below to find out more about the CELP or any of our other rad cohosts.

We will party rain or shine, so please dress for the weather, as many tents will be located outside throughout the park.

Every Remix is different, so be sure not to miss it!

P.S. Don’t forget that the first 50 guests at the door in aqua blue get in FREE.

Remix Co-Hosts, August 24th

Center for Environmental Law and Policy, ARCADE, ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery, Bumbershoot, Central District Forum for Arts and Ideas, Frye Art Museum, Greater Seattle Business Association, Happy Hour in Seattle, Network of Indian Professionals, National Organization of Minority Architects NW, OUT for Sustainability, Pacific Science Center, People for Puget Sound, Photo Center NW, Seattle Emerging Museum Professionals, Seattle Fun Events, Space.City, Tacoma Art Museum, The Vera Project, Twilight Artist Collective, Urban Art Concept, Voices Rising, World Affairs Council Young Professionals International Network, The World Is Fun, and Young Professionals Network

Photo: Robert Wade

Modern & Contemporary Galleries at SAM will be closed August 26-October 6

Seattle Art Museum on Aug 16 2012

Women artists are taking over SAM’s Modern and Contemporary Galleries! In anticipation of the new exhibition Elles: SAM—Singular Works by Seminal Women Artists, the Seattle Art Museum is transforming a few galleries on the third floor of SAM Downtown. The Ebsworth Gallery and the Wright Galleries for Modern & Contemporary Art will be closed August 26 through October 6.

However, please enjoy the third floor galleries that will remain OPEN during the transition:

18^th and 19^th Century American Art
Native Art of the Americas
Australian and Oceanic art
Japanese Teahouse
Textiles

Elles: SAM will be presented in conjunction with Elles: Women Artists from the Centre Pompidou, Paris. Come and see these two shows October 11, 2012 through January 13, 2013!

SAM Art: Voice of the supernatural

Seattle Art Museum on Aug 15 2012

With just a few instruments—whistles, horns, rattles, clappers, box drums and hand drums—coastal peoples effectively conjured up the sounds of the supernatural realm. Rattles and clappers display the widest array of shapes, yet often depict images of birds—creatures imbued with unique abilities to move between the realms of the earth, water and sky.

Rattles and clappers accompany a host of secular and sacred songs. Rattles are used by ritualists and shamans to call forth supernatural beings whose presence is desired. They are also rhythmically shaken by attendants to subdue the power that has overcome those undergoing initiation into secret societies. The Tlingit word for rattle, sheishoox, imitates the swooshing sound when shaken.

Swan rattle, 19th century, Tlingit or Tsimshian, wood and paint, 5 5/16 x 10 3/4 x 3 3/4 in., Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection, 59.104. Currently on view in the Native American art galleries, third floor, SAM downtown.

Reflections on a summer at SAM

Seattle Art Museum on Aug 14 2012

It is my pleasure to introduce another intern we have been lucky enough to work with this summer. Beimnet Demelash has been a terrific colleague–it is difficult for us to believe that she is still in high school! Without further ado, here are Beimnet’s thoughts about her summer with us at SAM.

-Sarah Berman, Collections Coordinator and Research Associate

Nobody really knows what happens on the 5^th floor of the museum. Everyone just thinks the art is placed there for them to look at and don’t understand how much work it takes for everything to go smoothly in the museum. All of the hard work is done on the 5^th floor, whether it’s planning exhibitions, sending out invitations, planning events, or raising money for the museum. The staff on the 5^th floor does it ALL.

This summer I have had the pleasure of working as a YWCA intern for the Seattle Art Museum. I have worked on a lot of different things that I feel will prepare me for any office job, things like entering data into different databases, filing, filling out paperwork by hand, mailings and much more. Some of these things were challenging at first, but after asking the right questions I got the hang of it.

My favorite part of my internship was giving a tour of my three favorite pieces of art in the museum. My three choices were “A Country Home”, “Man and Mouse”, and “Some/One”. I was very scared at first, but once I got in front of the art I knew exactly what I was going to say. Another thing that made everything go smoothly during the tour was the fact that everyone was very involved in the conversation. I want to say Thank you to my supervisors and the staff for helping me step out of my comfort zone and talk about the things I loved about those three pieces of art.

I thought my biggest challenge as an intern this summer was going to be adapting to the office environment, but everyone is very nice and helpful and best of all they all know that it’s ok to have fun while working. As a 15 year old that made everything easy to learn and more fun. I love being able to laugh and have fun during work. I think that the goofing off helped bring me closer to everyone. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else this summer. Thanks again to everyone on the 5^th floor for making this an amazing internship!

-Beimnet Demelash, YWCA GirlsFirst Intern, 2012

Beimnet Demelash with “Some/One,” 2001, Do Ho Suh (Korean, works in America, born 1962), stainless steel dog-tags, nickel plated copper sheets, steel structure, glass fiber reinforced resin, rubber sheets, 81 x 126 in. overall, Barney A. Ebsworth Collection, 2002.43, © Do Ho Suh

Art and Adventure

Seattle Art Museum on Aug 9 2012

I’ve been down to the Ancestral Modern: Australian Aboriginal Art from the Kaplan & Levi Collection exhibition a few times now. I find the paintings spellbinding and mysterious. They remind me of those Magic Eye images from the 1990s—those 2D images that if you blurred your eyes and stared long enough, a secret 3 dimensional world would magically appear to the patient viewer. Like that art of yore, I find myself mesmerized by the paintings in the SAM exhibition, trying to see the story or the place or the songlines the artist is representing.

Traci departing from Golden Gardens, Seattle.

Recently, a colleague at SAM set off on a walkabout, of sorts, of her own. SAM’s Web Programmer/Software Engineer, Traci, and her friend—also Tracy—have set off on an epic journey up the inside passage. They are kayaking from Seattle to Ketchikan. They are carrying most of their food and supplies in their kayaks—50 days worth in 50 gallons (you can imagine what kind of culling that might entail). And they will only supplement and refill whenever there is a town close enough to the water to do so.

View Inside Passage 2012 in a larger map

They’ve mapped out a tentative route (yellow pins), plus some optional campsites as recommended by other paddlers (blue and pink pins). As Traci says, “I didn’t think I’d find the charts so mesmerizing, especially as I’ve spent time on Google Maps, charting applications, and smaller book-sized charts, but having big table-size maps to wander in is strangely compelling.”

The Tracies also have a blog and a SPOT Connect Satellite Communicator that allows those of us at home, to track their journey. They set off on June 24^th and have been on the road, erm, open water, for 47 days now—and I learned that they reached their destination, just this morning! I’ve been keeping tabs on them and following their progression and as I look at the map with their path on it I can’t help but be reminded of the paintings in the Ancestral Modern exhibition. All the undulating lines of the British Columbia coastline and organic shapes are evocative of the similarly undulating and vibrating paintings of place by the aboriginal artists. But not only that, both the map and the paintings evoke place, journey, story and adventure.

“Mountain Devil Lizard Dreaming”, 1996, Kathleen Petyarr, Australian Aboriginal, Anmatyerr people, Utopia, Central Desert, Northern Territory, born ca. 1940, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 48 1/16 x 48 1/16 inches, Seattle Art Museum, Promised gift of Margaret Levi and Robert Kaplan. © Kathleen Petyarr, photo: iocolor, Seattle.

In drawing the connection between the map and the paintings, the Australian paintings seemed to snap into focus for me. Like those Magic Eye paintings of yore, something in my brain needed to switch and now I feel like I can zoom in and out (like a Google Map) and I can see what is being represented. All at once I can see the lizard skin, footsteps in the sand and the cracks in the desert sand simultaneously. If you haven’t already, drop by the Ancestral Modern exhibition, on view through September 2nd. And maybe like me you’ll be transported to Australia or into some fantastical story.

Follow the Tracies as they navigate the wild blue yonder.

Liz Stone, Digital Media Support Specialist

Top Photo: “Wati Kutjarra (Two Men Story)”, 2003, Spinifex Men’s Collaborative (Ned Grant, born 1942; Kali Davis, n.d.; Ian Rictor, born ca. 1962; Lawrence Pennington, n.d.; Frank Davis, n.d.; Fred Grant, born 1941; Gerome Anderson, 1940–2011; Wilbur Brooks, n.d.; Simon Hogan, born 1930; Mark Anderson, born 1933; Roy Underwood, born 1937; Walter Hansen, n.d.; Loren Pennington, n.d.; Cyril Brown, n.d.; Alan Jamieson, n.d.; Lennard Walker, born 1949; Byron Brooks, born 1955), Australian Aboriginal, Pitjantjatjara people, Tjuntjuntjara, Southwestern Deserts, Western Australia, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 82 11/16 x 74 13/16 inches, Seattle Art Museum, Promised gift of Margaret Levi and Robert Kaplan, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum. © Spinifex Men’s Collaborative, photo: Susan Cole.

SAM Art: Farmers markets

Seattle Art Museum on Aug 9 2012

The countless local farmers markets we host in Seattle are part of a long tradition—and one that is surprisingly well-plumbed by artists.

In this painting (known as a “world landscape”) a bustling market day is set within a vast scene that extends for miles into the distance. The sun breaking through the clouds provides an opportunity for painter Paul Bril to create alternating zones of light and dark that supply an attractive visual rhythm. A permanent settler in Italy from the age of twenty, Bril nevertheless remained a loyal heir to the Antwerp landscape tradition established in the sixteenth century.

Market Scene in Imaginary Landscape, 1600, Paul Bril (Flemish, 1554-1626), oil on canvas, 10 3/4 x 14 3/4 in., Gift of Seattle Art Museum Guild, 54.49. Currently on view in the European Art galleries, fourth floor, SAM downtown.

Sarah Bergmann: The Birds and the Bees

Seattle Art Museum on Aug 3 2012

It will be the most comfortable Birds and Bees conversation you’ll ever have…

All over the US, pollinating insects and other pollinators (big shout-out to birds and bats!), which are vital to the well being of plants, the diets of many animals, and almost 1/3 of the food we eat, are struggling to survive. The Western Honeybee, for example, has almost completely disappeared on the west coast despite its role in pollinating some of your favorite foods: tomatoes, avocados and even delectable summer snacks like cherries and blackberries!

With these vital insects compromised, one woman, one hero has emerged! In the face of this pollination crisis, Sarah Bergmann, an artist and ecological designer, has taken the challenge to design and plant a one-mile Pollinator Pathway through downtown Seattle. The pathway runs along Colombia Street beginning at Seattle University and finishing at Norah’s Woods. It is a series of normally grass sidewalk strips transformed into pollinator friendly gardens. The plots and pollinator specific plants are maintained by the local homeowners and with their help, these insect populations can flourish.

Sarah will be at the Olympic Sculpture Park every Saturday throughout this August and up until September 15^th to talk more about her project, the plants, the pollinators, and what you can do to help. Come down and learn different ways that you can help protect these pollinators! The tours begin at 11am and continue on to the pathway itself.

Feel free to join in the conversation after your morning OSP yoga session ends at 11:30!

You can keep thinking Plants & Pollinators at www.pollinatorpathway.com

Summering at SAM

Seattle Art Museum on Aug 3 2012

This summer, I have had the pleasure of working with a number of talented interns in the Curatorial division. Today, I share reflections from Sophia Green, whose project focused on background research for a future exhibition project. -Sarah Berman, Collections Coordinator and Research Associate

As an art history major at Middlebury College interested in the museum world, my decision to apply to SAM’s internship program was a no-brainer. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my summer than working in a museum with such a longstanding commitment to fine art in the Seattle community. Growing up in Seattle, I have many fond memories at SAM. Spanning over a decade, they began in elementary school when my first grade class lined up by the Hammering Man, waiting impatiently for the museum doors to open. Over the years, my family and I brought many out-of-town guests and family to the museum. As I grew into my own and truly adopted a passion for art, I visited the museum alone and explored the collections for hours. Upon receiving the internship, I was thrilled to add another experience to my SAM memory book.

During my time spent in the curatorial department of SAM, I worked primarily on a specific research assignment. I am certain that the research assignment strengthened my critical thinking and problem solving skills. I received a unique insight into the museum’s inner workings by performing odd jobs, such as making wall labels, cataloging books, and archiving images. In the curatorial wing, I was surrounded by SAM’s curators and staff who incredibly helpful and friendly. While incredibly busy, they always had time to say hello, answer any question I might have had, or offer me some delicious chocolate or exotic tea. During my time, I also attended a luncheon at the Asian Art Museum for all the interns and received a private tour of the permanent collections.

I greatly enjoyed my internship at the SAM and would readily recommend it. My internship was interesting, intellectually stimulating, and greatly informational. It was invaluable being surrounding by such bright, passionate people who are committed to the museum. It was also a treat to be located in downtown Seattle where I got to explore the hole-in-the-wall restaurants and cafes in Pike Place Market during my lunch breaks. The summer has flown by too quickly and I hope to stay involved with SAM for years to come.

Ruby Lhianna Smith: The Hidden Shadows of Cancer

Seattle Art Museum on Aug 2 2012

Seattle Art Museum is proud to present the photographs of Ruby Lhianna Smith, who passed away in May of this spring. After first gracing the walls at Gallery4Culture earlier this summer, we are honored to bring her inspiring work to the SAM. Today, twenty-eight of Smith’s black and white archival inkjet prints will be installed in our South Hall gallery and will remain there through September 9th. Said Ruby of her photography and her work, The Hidden Shadows of Cancer, “Cancer is a hidden disease. I have it right now even though you cannot see it—but it causes pain and makes me nauseous. It appears only as the shadows on an X-ray. Photography for me is a search for the shadows. An image that has no shadows is not very interesting; it’s the shadows that make photographs beautiful. I started this project as a way to show my classmates what it’s like to have cancer—but as the project has grown more people have become interested and now I am using photography to show the world the story of my experience.”

The show is free and donations made in Ruby’s name to The Seattle Children’s Hospital Fund go directly to The Therapeutic Play Fund, which supports art and music therapy at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

SAM Libraries Book Sale is August 25

Seattle Art Museum on Aug 2 2012

Get ready for another exciting Seattle Art Museum Libraries Book Sale, August 25 at the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park. We’ll have a pre-sale for SAM members and Wyckoff Teacher Resource Center Borrowers from 9–10 am, then the sale opens to the public at 10 am, ending at 3 pm (or whenever we run out of books).

To give you a taste of what we’ll be selling, SAM’s three librarians have selected these highlights:

New England Begins: The Seventeenth Century by Jonathan L. Fairbanks and Robert F. Trent (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1982).

This three-volume set has nearly 600 pages of fine, functional and decorative objects from early New England settlers. Objects are annotated descriptively, and include origin, dimensions, marks and provenance. A must-have for anyone interested in early Colonial history.

You can find used copies online beginning at $100 for a single volume, and upwards of $500 for the whole set. We are selling this set in very good condition for $50.

Michelangelo by Howard Hibbard (Harper & Row, 1985).

This great biography is left over from when the Museum hosted Michelangelo Public and Private: Drawings for the Sistine Chapel and other Treasures from the Casa Buonarroti back in 2009. It’s been a little loved and it has our library marks on it, but it’s in great condition and is still very readable.

Amazon.com is currently selling a brand new copy of this book for $42. You can get it at our sale for $1. That’s a 97% discount.

The Japanese Courtyard Garden: Landscapes for Small Spaces by Kanto Shigemori (Weatherhill, 1981).

A Japanese courtyard garden is small private garden and intends to reflect the personality and sensitivities of the people who enjoy it every day. This book provides 75 full-color plates revealing Japanese courtyard gardens’ special features as well as their architectural plans and commentaries for both the gardens and the buildings that surround them.

This book is in great condition, almost like brand new. At Amazon, it is priced for $198.18 for new copy, and used copies are starting at $69.95. We are selling for $10!

The Coast Salish Peoples by Frank W. Porter III (Chelsea House, 1989).

A great overview of the tribes of the Coast Salish, this book was one of several copies in one of the TRC’s Outreach Suitcases that is being updated for the 2013 school year. Even though it’s been out in the classroom, this library binding edition is in great condition—no TRC library markings and only one “I Belong to SAM” sticker on the back cover.

New copies of this out of print book run for $42 on Amazon.com – we’re selling ours for $2!

We hope to see you there!
Learn more about the book sale.
Traci Timmons, Librarian
Yueh-Lin Chen, Associate Librarian
Anna Elam, TRC Librarian/Educator

Josh Yiu: From Getty Intern to Arts Professional

Seattle Art Museum on Jul 28 2012

Click here to check out this interview about the Getty Foundation’s Multicultural Undergraduate Internship Program.

Josh Yiu, the curator of our Chinese Art Collection here at SAM, is interviewed about his summer spent in the Getty program following his Junior year.

Seattle Magazine: Let the Good Wines Flow!

Seattle Art Museum on Jul 28 2012

This August 1^st, Seattle Magazine is hosting Red, White & Brew, an evening filled with 2012’s top local Wines and Brews as featured in Seattle Magazine’s upcoming August issue. Come one and come all and let the good wines flow as you taste the Best Washington has to offer! This groovy eve is to be held at the Olympic Sculpture Park will benefit SAM. Enhance your palate’s journey with TASTE, Oil & Vinegar, and then Belle Epicurean as they provide delicious appetizers, snacks, and sweets along the way. The horn sounds at 6:30, (just kidding, there is no horn…) so be there, or be square.Tickets are available online here for $35.

No need for young rebels, 21 and older please. The event will be held in PACCAR Pavilion and ends around 9pm.

Arrange safe transport and we hope to see you there!

Yogi SAM Wants You!

Seattle Art Museum on Jul 28 2012

Thanks to Yogi Bhajan’s journey to the USA back in 1969, Yoga has ventured from ancient India and in to your very own Olympic Sculpture Park! The chance to become a Saturday Yogi (yoga-do-er) is upon us! Every Saturday morning through the end of August, join fellow Seattleites and Terilyn Wyre on a journey as you assume the Warrior II, Half Moon, Royal Pigeon and Thunderbolt amongst other physically enlightening poses. If you’re lucky enough you might experience great self transformation while in Bharadvaja’s Twist or Distinguished Hero… Spiritual serenity and improved self-awareness are on the morning’s menu, all while you wave goodbye to your timber-limber (that’s not very limber…) self!

These classes suit all levels; so if your flexibility rivals mine, don’t worry about struggling through body-bending and mind-blowing poses designed for rubber bands and silly-putty. Please bring your own stylish mat and arrive 15 minutes early to sign in. Classes meet at the Olympic Sculpture Park’s Amphitheater from 10:30 to 11:30 and if it dares to rain on your yoga-day, classes will move into the adjacent Pavilion to render mother nature offenseless through the power of Patanjali and his Yoga Sutras (and also a functional roof…)!

Come down and stretch it out this Saturday!

Keep it Flexi,

-Yogi SAM

SAM Art: Herbert Vogel, in memoriam

Seattle Art Museum on Jul 23 2012

Over the course of four decades, Dorothy and Herbert Vogel built a collection of American and international contemporary art, often creating lasting relationships with the artists. They did this on salaries of a librarian (Dorothy) and a postal worker (Herbert, who passed away this Sunday, 22 July, 2012)

Their extraordinary collection was committed to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and in 2008, in partnership with the National Gallery, the Vogels donated a portion of this collection—2500 works—to one museum in each of the fifty states. The Seattle Art Museum was selected by the Vogels to represent Washington state, and is now home to works by such internationally recognized artists as Tony Smith, Robert Mangold, Sol LeWitt, and Richard Tuttle.

Yellow Bird, 1971, Tony Smith (American, 1912-1980), heavy-weight paper, adhesive, paint, 6 1/4 x 9 x 3 3/4in., The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States, a joint initiative of the Trustees of the Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection and the National Gallery of Art, with generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Institute for Museum and Library Services, 2008.29.33, Photo: Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, © Tony Smith Estate. Currently on view in the Modern and Contemporary Art galleries, third floor, SAM downtown.

Gardner Center’s Friday Night Movies in the Park

Seattle Art Museum on Jul 23 2012

Starting the weekend off right with some time for relaxation, Bollywood action and natural inspiration is no problem this summer. On Friday nights through August 3^rd, dawn your Snuggies, stuff your pillows, ferment your fruits or malted barley and harvest your picnic goodies in preparation for an 8:30 journey to Volunteer Park. Enjoy Bollywood music and a sunset picnic alongside carefully selected company. Important Notice: Cuddling is A-Okay!

Beginning just as darkness arrives, the Gardner Center is partnering with Tasveer to bring you a Friday night of Bollywood Film under the stars or clouds or whatever shows up to the Volunteer Park Amphitheater. One night, you might see the 1977 classic Shatranj Ke Khilari, a film about two men engrossed in their chess match amidst British attempts to annex the kingdom of Awadh, while on another it might be Band Baaja Baaraat, a 2010 film about two Wedding Planners who enjoy a successful business partnership until feelings interfere. There is something especially appreciable about outdoor movies, especially in such a pleasant natural medium like good old Volunteer park. Although nine months a year we wouldn’t dare watch a movie OUTSIDE!?!? in Seattle, summer is our time to do it. Despite the 99.99% certainty that it’s going to be a perfect night every time; we acknowledge the weather MIGHT not cooperate with such lofty predictions. That being said, we Seattleites are adept at adapting whenever summer-chills come our way, so make your plans fearlessly. Worst case, enjoy watching the movie inside of the Stimson Auditorium, bundled in all of your comfort devices. There is a no-judgment policy on indoor Snuggie use…

If you’re left wanting more when the Bollywood fun runs out, head down to Cal-Anderson Park on Fridays through the remainder of August for more outdoor movie action!

So remember: Friday nights at Volunteer Park Amphitheatre, the music starts at 8:45 and the movie begins at dark (9:30ish). It is a grand occasion, ’nuff said!

Click here for specific movie information or schedules.

See you Friday!

SAM Art: Bahram Gur, and one of his seven pavilions

Seattle Art Museum on Jul 17 2012

In this scene, King Bahram Gur has won the hand of seven beautiful princesses from seven distinct lands. They each entertain the great king on successive days, ensconced in different pavilions, dressed in different colors, all with different lessons for the king. Depicted here, after spending a day with each of his other six consorts, Bahram Gur visits Diroste, the daughter of a Persian king and mistress of the White Pavilion on Friday, the final day of the week. Teaching the king perhaps his most important lessons, Diroste tells of the attraction of passion, and the redemption of virtue.

The 12th-century poet Nizami is famous for setting down in writing the great folk histories of Persia. This scene is drawn from the Haft Paykar (“Seven Beauties”), one of the sections of Nizami’s Khamsa (“Quintet”). The Haft Paykar records the rise to power of the Sasanian king Bahram Gur, while also serving as a fable of love and morality.

Bahram Gur in the White Pavilion (detail), mid-16th century, Persian (modern Iran), Safavid period (1501–1722), opaque watercolor, ink and gold on paper, 9 3/16 x 5 7/16 in., Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection, 47.16, Photo: Marta Pinto-Llorca. Currently on view in the Ancient Mediterranean and Islamic art galleries, fourth floor, SAM downtown.

SAM Announces New Director

Seattle Art Museum on Jul 16 2012

We are thrilled to report that, this morning, the Chairman of the Board of SAM announced the selection of Kimerly Rorschach as the next Illsley Ball Nordstrom Director of the Seattle Art Museum.Since 2004 Kim has been the Mary D.B.T. and James H. Semans Director of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, and we look forward to fall 2012 when she will formally begin her work at SAM.

In making the announcement, Charles Wright, Chairman of the Board said, “We feel fortunate to be bringing a new arts leader of such caliber to Seattle. Kim’s engagement with national and global arts issues, along with her combined experience in scholarship, business management and community engagement will benefit SAM and the wider community immeasurably and strengthen the city’s reputation as a national leader in the arts.”

Click here for more information about Kim.

We hope you will join us in welcoming Kim Rorschach and her husband this fall. Watch this space for more information about her start date and when you will have the chance to meet her yourself.