“I’ve composed a new American national anthem: take a knee and scream until you can’t breathe.” – Nicholas Galanin
An invitation, a provocation, a plea: The startling neon artwork on view in American Art: The Stories We Carry is all of these things. Commissioned by SAM to create a new work for its reimagined American art galleries, Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit/Unangaẋ) responded with the scorching Neon American Anthem (2023), a “participatory performance” installation comprised of text in custom neon and welcome mats that offers visitors a place to engage their voice, body, and mind in a cathartic experience.
The project to dramatically transform the museum’s American art galleries first opened in October 2022. It came together in an inclusive-planning model as part of SAM’s commitment to centering equity at the museum. The effort was led by Theresa Papanikolas, Ann M. Barwick Curator of American Art, in collaboration with Curator of Native American Art Barbara Brotherton, who retired at the end of 2022, along with other SAM staff, artists, and advisors from the Seattle community.
Galanin is one of the three contemporary artists who worked with SAM, and his work debuted in April 2023. Wendy Red Star’s (Apsáalooke,) lightbox installation, Áakiiwilaxpaake (People of the Earth) (2022) and Inye Wokoma’s curated gallery, Reimagining Regionalism, both went on view with the exhibition’s opening. Red Star’s work is now part of SAM’s permanent collection.
Neon American Anthem fills the gallery with white light from a custom neon installation that offers a proclamation and an invitation in all-caps text: “I’ve composed a new American national anthem: take a knee and scream until you can’t breathe.” On the floor lies a grid of “Daisy Doormats,” the iconic AstroTurf welcome mats with plastic daisies in the corners; this symbol of Americana becomes both unsettling and humorously ironic in this setting. Visitors ring out with sounds of protest, mourning, or celebration, their sounds filling the museum’s spaces.
In an artist’s statement, Galanin says, “The neon sign embodies capitalism, its text a pointed reference to the murders of Eric Garner, George Floyd, Tyre Nichols, and all people of color who have been murdered at the hands of police and agents of the American state. Asking participants to take a knee is a position of deference and worship turned refusal. Asking them to scream until they can’t breathe encompasses protest and prayer aimed at tearing down the systems built to enforce Whiteness, White privilege, heteropatriarchy, and capitalist control.”
SAM is proud to have hosted this powerful artwork that takes on American history and seeks to inspire a new future. May the sounds—and ideas—it has inspired echo for years to come.
– Rachel Eggers, Associate Director of Public Relations
Usually on April 1, we post something light on social media for April Fools’ Day—a playful faux exhibition announcement or cheeky art joke. But this year, there’s nothing funny about the cultural sector being under attack.
In recent weeks, there have been Executive Orders and actions aimed at the Smithsonian, the Kennedy Center, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and other cultural organizations and universities. The reality is that museums, artists, and cultural institutions across the country are under siege.
These moves are troubling because they are an attempt to diminish the role of the arts, humanities, and higher education. Museums, artists, and the communities we serve are facing increasing scrutiny.
At SAM, our mission and values remain unchanged. We believe museums matter—as spaces of dialogue, community connection, creativity, and activism. We believe in truth. In inclusion. In history. In facts. We believe in public service.
That’s why we’re taking this opportunity to speak out and ask our community to stand with us and support the arts. Because the arts matter and bringing together our community matters, we’re offering everyone 50% off admission all month long to the Seattle Art Museum. This is our way of opening our doors even wider—inviting people in to experience the power of art and stand with us in supporting cultural spaces during a time when they’re being challenged.
It couldn’t be a better time to visit the Seattle Art Museum, too: Ai, Rebel: The Art and Activism of Ai Weiweiis now on view. This exhilarating and expansive retrospective explores 40 years of the globally renowned Chinese artist’s life and career as he questions forms of power, disrupts artistic canons, and challenges political authoritarianism. We invite everyone to come see the show, be inspired, and stir up some good trouble.
Because the best way to push back is to show up.
– Scott Stulen, Illsley Ball Nordstrom Director and CEO
Photo credit: Installation view of Study of Perspective—White House, Eiffel Tower, San Marco, Hong Kong, Long Island City, Mona Lisa, Tiananmen Square, Bern (detail), 1995–2011, Ai Weiwei. Eight (8) black-and-white photographs, 19 11/16 x 29 9/16 in. each. Photo: Chloe Collyer.
Both an ornamental piece of fabric and a symbol of devotion, the Ghiordes Pattern Prayer Rug is intricately woven by hands whose names we will never know, yet whose reach stretches to the present day. Dated to the late 19th to early 20th century, this prayer rug is in SAM’s collection. A field of flowers—infused with the history of ancient Gordion, located in modern western Turkey—buzzes in abundance around a central portal in the shape of a mihrab, an architectural niche that indicates the direction of prayer.
The intensity of the mihrab draws you in, blurring the flowers into the periphery and directing your focus to a single hanging lamp in the distance. A common motif in mosques across the world, the lamp is the only illumination in the dark, serving as a quiet symbol of guidance and hope. The worn patterns at the bottom of the rug reveal a story of use—a record of those who stood, knelt, and bowed here in prayer, day after day.
I like to imagine who might have used this rug—whose feet pressed into its fibers, whose hands traced its woven details, whose forehead met its surface in an intimate moment of reflection. How many prayers were whispered here in a secret shared only with their Creator? How many hopes and burdens were carried into each moment of stillness? This rug, though inanimate, holds within it a history of devotion—a continuity that stretches across generations and geographies. Prayer rugs like this offer a space of solace, whether in grand mosques or in exile, in places of peace or in lands shaped by struggle. From ancient Gordion to present-day Seattle, I am connected to the humanity of all those who prayed.
Eid Al-Fitr, meaning “Festival of Breaking the Fast,” marks the celebratory end of the holy month of Ramadan. After a month of fasting from dawn to dusk, it is a time of renewal, generosity, and community. But beyond celebration, Eid is also a moment of reflection. It is a reminder that faith is both personal and collective; it is a force that calls for compassion, justice, and responsibility toward others.
This year especially, I am reminded of the importance of standing with those who face hardship, both across the world and within our own communities. As we stand in prayer this Eid, let our hearts be filled not only with gratitude but with the resolve to uphold dignity wherever it is threatened. This rug, worn by the passage of time, is a testament to continuity—to the unbroken thread of faith, resilience, and hope that connects us all.
Happy Women’s History Month! March is a time to celebrate women’s many contributions to society, which are often overlooked and underappreciated. Let’s take a look at four artworks by talented women artists that dismantle gender stereotypes, honor family matriarchs, and celebrate the female body, among other feminist themes.
Woman Landing on Man in the Moon(1971) Ann Leda Shapiro
Kicking off the list is Woman Landing on Man in the Moon, a bold watercolor from Ann Leda Shapiro (b. 1947), an artist based on Vashon Island in Washington State. In the 1971 painting, a female astronaut in a silver spacesuit stands tall atop the moon’s surface and shines bright against the cosmic void. Bucking NASA’s dress code, her space getup features three American flag patches with cutouts to expose her breasts…and penis. She stands tall atop the moon’s surface as six male astronauts topple off into the abyss.
Shapiro’s blunt and edgy humor exposes male privilege and highlights the barriers women face to reach the same heights. Through her art and activism, Shapiro has dedicated her career to feminist expression. In the ’80s, she was an early member of the Guerilla Girls, a group of rebellious women artists famous for wearing gorilla masks as they covered NYC with provocative posters, sharing information about sexism and racism prevalent in the art world.
Tiger Lily (1976) Patti Warashina
Feminist themes radiate throughout the work of Seattle ceramicist Patti Warashina (b. 1940). Inspired by her grandmother’s religious shrines, Warashina created a 12-part altar series that injects the devious into the divine, unpacking the female dilemma.
Her 1976 sculpture Tiger Lily places a woman between two candles and a blooming flower, common altar elements associated with the Virgin Mary. Yet this woman is far from saintly. Surrounded by a ring of fire and clad in an animal print bodice, she embodies the rebellious Eve. She radiates power and resistance, transforming into a Tiger Goddess.
By utilizing ancient clay techniques, Warashina pays homage to generations of family matriarchs. However, the transformation of these sacred statues into statement pieces flips tradition on its head. Her piece acknowledges the demure behavior women have been expected to embody and seeks to empower them to challenge these gender norms.
Susanna and the Eldest (1981) Honoré Sharrer
Painter Honoré Sharrer (1920–2009) marched to the beat of her own drum throughout her 75-year career. Tucked away in her rural upstate New York studio, she bucked trending art styles and sometimes spent years on a single painting. Known for her satirical work, Sharrer loved poking fun at female stereotypes and creating alternate realities. She was also drawn to the craft, themes, and metaphors of Northern Renaissance art.
Her 1981 oil painting Susanna and the Eldest is based a tale from the Old Testament about sexual violence. In the story, two men spy on a woman while she is bathing and attempt to force her into having sex, then blackmailing her when she refuses. Eventually, their lies are exposed.
In her reimagining, Sharrer gives Susanna unabridged agency. Instead of the demure victim, as she has been depicted throughout art history, Susanna splays out naked on the floor and stares directly at the viewer. An odd assortment of objects surround her to cultivate a dream-like state in the colorful room. This includes a skeleton in a top hat set upon a plinth that hovers above Susanna—a monument of death upon the leering men of her past?
Fun fact: Susanna and the Elders (Novelty Hotel) by Robert Colescott is another famous piece found in our collection. In Colescott’s acrylic piece, men ogle at a woman stepping out of a hotel bathtub, showcasing the problematic idolization of European beauty.
Stillness #15(1999) Laura Aguilar
As a Chicana and lesbian photographer, Laura Aguilar (1959–2018) broke barriers by making herself and her community visible in the art world. Sometimes she did this by physically inserting herself into her artwork, as in Stillness #15. This 1999 photograph features Aguilar and another woman perched on rocky terrain, slouched over their naked bodies.
Often in the history of art, nude women with idealized thin, white bodies represent mythological figures or sexual objects. Aguilar complicated these norms by depicting herself and her models in unexpected poses and obscuring their faces. In this black-and-white image, the women become part of the environment—their curves, creases, and textures echo the rocks around them.
Stillness #15 focuses on both the body and the mind. Aguilar explained that this series stemmed from her experience as a caretaker for her dying father; during this time, she began contemplating spirituality. Aguilar’s use of the female nude is not about beauty or ideals—it’s about reckoning with grief, mortality, and self-exploration.
Sadly, Aguilar passed away in 2018, but her powerful contribution to the art world lives on.
– Sara Butler, Marketing Copywriter and Nicole Block, Collections Associate
In October 2023, SAM announced that Seattle-based artist Tariqa Waters as the winner of the 2023 Betty Bowen Award, an annual juried award that comes with an unrestricted cash award of $15,000 and a solo exhibition at SAM. Now, that show is soon to debut. Venus is Missing (May 7, 2025–January 5, 2026) is an exuberant entry in her innovative and multidisciplinary practice that pushes the aesthetics of commercial advertising into surreal, otherworldly territory. We emailed with Waters to learn about what’s on her mind.
Rachel Eggers: Well, I hope this doesn’t spoil the surprise for any of our member readers, but you’re landing a spaceship in the gallery of your show…tell us about the story and experience of Venus is Missing.
Tariqa Waters: Yes, a pink rocket ship with my blown glass adornments! I’m pretty stoked about how it’s coming together! One of my favorite films from childhood, and one that continues to resonate with me as an adult, is Back to the Future. I have always admired the friendship between Doc Brown and Marty McFly. This buddy-comedy/action film navigates various eras in human history, correcting multigenerational events through the time-traveling DeLorean while maintaining the integrity of existence. In today’s world, where humanity stands at a pivotal juncture, the rocket ship serves as a metaphor for my perspective on life on this planet.
In my work, I employ everyday consumer products as narrative devices, revealing deeper meanings behind these objects. The context often simplifies complex memories tied to notable products that I struggled to fully comprehend at the time. We frequently find ourselves constrained by the limitations imposed by others. Trapped. While we enter different spaces burdened by various influences, we often neglect to look upward. We forget the extraordinary nature of this journey; even if we cannot physically escape, we possess the ability to imagine boundlessly and harness that joy to reach new heights. The immersive environment I create aims to embody this very sentiment.
RE: Incredible. I can’t wait to jet off. Also, you have a book coming out from Minor Matters at the same time as this exhibition. That’s so exciting! Tell us about WHO RAISED YOU? A Martyr Sauce Guide To Etiquette. Is this your first publication?
TW: Yep, my first book! Although I’ve been an artist for over 20 years, 10 of my most notable years have been in Seattle. It’s the first time in my career that I decided to approach my work on my terms, to chart my own path. What started as a small gallery named Martyr Sauce, showcasing the work of myself and others, ballooned into two galleries, a pop art museum called MS PAM (Martyr Sauce Pop Art Museum), and a television show, Thank You, MS PAM. I have partnered with numerous organizations and institutions, all while maintaining my artistic endeavors as an interdisciplinary installation artist. Oh yeah, and I’m a mother of two creatives and the wife of a world-renowned musician.
My story is one of a kind, with a mixed bag of experiences. I’ve had a lot of people come up to me over the years and ask for advice or some kind of guidance on mentorship or just unpacking—“So this happened, and I don’t know what to do with it.” I thought it would be funny to lampoon those 1960s etiquette books by creating a monograph of all my work since being in Seattle—installation works and exhibitions—with the framework of it being A Martyr Sauce Guide to Etiquette.
RE: Must. Read. In addition to being a joyful and impactful artist on the Seattle scene since arriving here in 2012, as you mentioned, you have also always been at the forefront of the conversation about making space for artists in Seattle, with your gallery Martyr Sauce and other projects. What’s your take on the current state of the scene for local artists?
TW: I’ve had to detach myself from the scene in Seattle. I think it’s important to do that from time to time to avoid getting so immersed in what others are doing that you neglect your own needs as an artist. I do check in on occasion and have been very encouraged by what I’ve seen from young and up-and-coming artists! From what I can tell, the art scene seems active and vibrant.
RE: What did it mean to you personally to win this award?
TW: My first job ever was in 1993 when my uncle, an established artist and educator at Pratt, invited me to Seattle from Maryland to take part in a summer program focused on public arts for teenagers. During this program, I contributed to painting murals on the bus shelters throughout Seattle. This experience marks the beginning of my long journey in the art world. Receiving this award is a testament to the countless hours, sleepless nights, and unwavering commitment I have dedicated to my art. I am the first Black woman to win the Betty Bowen Award, a significant milestone in my artistic journey. This achievement represents a full-circle moment in many respects.
– Rachel Eggers, Associate Director of Public Relations
This article first appeared in the February through May 2025 edition of SAM Magazine. Become a SAM member today to receive our magazine delivered directly to your mailbox and other exclusive member perks!
Happy Black History Month! Founded by Dr. Carter G. Woodson in February 1926, this month is a time to learn and share about Black history, life, and culture in the US. Nearly 100 years later, this work remains urgent, especially in the face of ongoing efforts to dismantle the vision of a pluralistic society and target Black people specifically.
This year, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) has chosen “African Americans and Labor” as the central theme. We’re spotlighting four artworks by contemporary Black artists that you can see on view now in SAM’s galleries. And we’ll be thinking about how their art connects with the idea of labor, whether through the physical acts of their creative process or the deeper themes expressed in their work.
The Odyssey: 1862 / 1837 (2024) Bethany Collins
“Collins’s eraser lends particular poignancy to Odysseus’s feelings of statelessness, grief and unrecognition – whether we are watching a new presidency take shape or seeing a flame flicker on the horizon.” – Claudia Ross, Frieze Magazine.
Bethany Collins is the recipient of the 2023 Gwendolyn Knight and Jacob Lawrence Prize, awarded biennially by SAM since 2009 to an early to mid-career Black artist—defined loosely as an artist in the first decade of their career. At Sea is the solo show in honor of her win, debuting 15 works that have never been on view.
In her conceptual work, the Chicago-based artist uses strategies of erasure and redaction to point out the limits and possibilities of language. Her own intense labor is a key part of her practice. Using a Pink Pearl eraser and her own spit, she obstructs select words from familiar texts, revealing deeper meanings in the process. In The Odyssey: 1862 / 1837, she takes on Book 13 of the ancient Greek epic, obstructing every line but one from the two translations. From the 1837, it’s the timely line:
‘Then he bewail’d / His native isle, with pensive steps and slow / Pacing the border of the billowy flood, Forlorn.”
Two Way Connection (2021) Woody De Othello
Woody De Othello’s deep blue ceramic sculpture Two Way Connection requires a full 360-degree turn around the work to see all the shapes that emerge. Different body parts—lips, ears, and fingers—meld together. On top, there’s a clearly defined green telephone receiver, a handle, and a spout.
Othello created this work during the COVID-19 pandemic when human connection was mostly limited to the virtual realm. Othello brings the body and the senses back into those distanced conversations and, in this piece, the two faces become one, connected through the phone.
The sculpture is also influenced by face vessels, a distinctive art form created by enslaved Black potters in Edgefield, South Carolina during the 1800s. These potters created stoneware for food and water at a mass scale under slavery, but also with artistry, creativity, and their own representations of Black people. Edgefield face vessels capture theatrical expressions with intricately sculpted features protruding from the surface and the spout emerging from the top of the head, which is echoed in Othello’s work.
Opposing Parallels – Blues Up and Down for G. Ammons and S. Stitt (2015) Thaddeus Mosley
At 98 years old, Thaddeus Mosley works in his studio every day making his large-scale wood sculptures. Often, the sound of jazz rings throughout the space while he works, mingling with the sounds of his tools as he carves and buzzes and sands the wood into the shapes and textures he wants. Mosley is a passionate fan of classic jazz, and his studio is stocked with vinyl records of this essential Black art form.
Opposing Parallels – Blues Up and Down for G. Ammons and S. Stitt (2015) is one of 17 of the artist’s works on view in Following Space: Thaddeus Mosley & Alexander Calder. The sculpture is installed so that visitors can walk around the entire work and look through it. The title recognizes two virtuoso jazz saxophonists, Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt, who frequently played and recorded together starting in the 1950s. Just as Ammons and Stitt engaged in a dynamic call-and-response style of improvisation, Mosley’s process embraces spontaneity and rhythmic flow—translating the spirit of jazz into three-dimensional form.
All she wants to do is dance (Fran) (2009) Mickalene Thomas
Mickalene Thomas celebrates the complexity and individuality of Black women by bringing them into the art world and refuting stereotypes. She cites inspiration from Blaxploitation films of the 1970s that capitalized on exaggerated portrayals of the Black community and particularly the promiscuousness of Black women.
Thomas doesn’t shy away from sexuality or sensuality and portrays her subjects in control of their bodies and their environment. The women Thomas depicts are not restrained or holding back but overflowing with confidence and personal style—bold patterns, glitter and glam, accessorized to the max, and staring back at the viewer.
In some of her pieces, Thomas recruits models from her everyday life—Fran, depicted here, was her hairdresser. In this collage, Fran is striking a pose with her hand on her hip, pursing her lips, and looking directly into the camera, showing off her chunky metal jewelry and reptilian boots. Fran isn’t overly sexualized or idealized as someone’s image of a party girl; she’s just herself and “all she wants to do is dance.”
Celebrate Black History Month in Seattle with these suggested events.
The Northwest African American Museum invites you to celebrate Black art, culture, and communities all month long. Plan a visit to the Central District to enjoy a wide range of free and ticketed programming, including art exhibitions, lectures, and workshops galore. Ticketed events include an interactive painting workshop with AshaAung Helmstetter (Feb 22).
Every Tuesday through Sunday in February, Columbia City Theater transforms into the Call to Conscience Black History Month Museum. Experience powerful exhibitions, displays, and installations that honor the legacy of the Black communities in the Pacific Northwest. Learn about the untold stories of local groups, including Seattle Black Panther Party. Make sure to secure your time slot and tickets online.
As part of Coloring Outside the Lines, the Northwest African American Museum hosts the Black Art Takeover. This free community event highlights local Black artists working across many mediums, from photography to ceramics. Explore the pop-up market to meet artists and purchase artwork. Other offerings include artist panels, film screenings with Scope Screening, family-friendly art activities, and guided museum tours.
Dance the night away to live music and performances at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. When you need a water break, wander through Seattle’s Black Love Market, full of goods from Black-owned businesses and vendors. All ages are welcome, so bring the whole family!
Join us at the Olympic Sculpture Park for a poetry show focused on self-discovery and healing curated by Inside. The headlining poet, Bay Davis, draws from her experience as an Afro-Indigenous Black trans woman and utilizes her work to weave the tools of her own survival as offerings to challenge, heal, and question the systems and climate we exist in today.
Get ready to laugh at this unique comedy show. Unexpected Productions Improv presents a 1970s sitcom-style performance, inspired by TV shows centered on the Black experience, such as All in the Family and The Jeffersons. Audience participation is expected!
Head to Town Hall Seattle to hear an insightful public lecture from writer Victor Luckerson. The journalist and author will discuss the heartbreaking story of Greenwood and black Tulsans, which is the subject of his book, Built from the Fire. Presented by the University of Washington Office of Public Lectures, the event will be held in the Wyncote NW Forum. If you can’t make it in person, a livestream is also available.
Head to Museum of History and Industry for a multimedia program that spotlights Black women who worked in the aeronautics industry during World War II. Through live theater and archival film, these sidelined stories will take center stage in the Joshua Green Foundation Theater.
– Rachel Eggers, Associate Director of Public Relations and Nicole Block, Collections Associate
Artist, activist, curator, and educator Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation) has died at the age of 85. Born in 1940 at Saint Ignatius Mission on the Flathead Reservation in Montana, as a child she drew animals in the dirt. She grew to pursue her art and education relentlessly, becoming one of the most innovative and significant artists of her generation over an illustrious six-decade career. She leaves behind a long legacy of positioning Native American art and ideas at the center of critical dialogues around land, social justice, history, and culture and nurturing the next generation of Indigenous artists.
SAM had the honor of hosting Smith’s largest-ever retrospective, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: Memory Map (February 29–May 12, 2024). The Seattle Art Museum was the only West Coast stop and the last venue of the tour for this monumental exhibition organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York and curated by Laura Phipps. Theresa Papanikolas, SAM’s Ann M. Barwick Curator of American Art, shared her experience of working with Smith to bring together the SAM iteration of Memory Map.
Laura Phipps, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Theresa Papanikolas, and Neal Ambrose-Smith.
“It was such an honor and a pleasure to get to know Jaune when I curated SAM’s stop on her major career retrospective. As a specialist in American art, I always appreciated how she recast American art and history from her perspective as an Indigenous artist, but having the chance to know her and become immersed in her work at every level was truly transformative. Spending time with her paintings and sculptures and hearing her talk about their many layers opened my eyes to new ways of thinking about everything from climate change to landscape painting to transnational geopolitics. Then seeing our visitors do the same was truly rewarding. I will never forget how she, along with artist Neal Ambrose-Smith and Whitney Museum of Art curator Laura Phipps, brought the house down when they presented their work on the exhibition to our members. It is a memory I will always cherish, second only to having the great fortune to be a part of Jaune’s universe, at least for a little while.”
When Smith was in Seattle to share Memory Map, she and her son and fellow artist Neal Ambrose-Smith shared reflections with us for a video series you can enjoy on SAM’s YouTube channel.
We’re giving Barbara Brotherton, SAM’s former Curator of Native American Art (2001–2022), the final words on Smith’s work and legacy.
“As Jaune’s family and friends send her into the arms of her ancestors, it is good to remember her courage and kindness. Jaune broke every glass ceiling there was, not by stepping on others but by bringing them along. Knowing there is strength in numbers, she brought Native artists together by organizing exhibitions and events when there were few venues for Native fine art. She persuasively convinced curators and gallerists to invest in promoting Native artists. She was a visionary, presaging a time when the art establishment would stand up and take notice of the important work being enacted all over Native America. Like the legendary Chief Seattle that she paid homage to in work over decades, Jaune was a diplomat, a community convenor, and a strident voice for honoring ancestral land and promoting social justice and sustainability. Her storied landscapes in paint, print, collage, and sculpture expose the stain of racism, genocide, and degradation of the land using the conventions of canoe, map, and trickster figures from Native oral histories. Using her enormous talent and vision, she showed us that Native artists have important things to say. We should be listening.”
– Rachel Eggers, SAM’s Associate Director of Public Relations
After eight years on view and countless imaginations inspired, this week John Grade’s Middle Fork is being deinstalled from the Seattle Art Museum’s Brotman Forum. And that means something new will soon be taking residence in the soaring entrance lobby of the museum, which is a community space free to the public to enjoy without a ticket. Margo Vansynghel of The Seattle Times broke the news today that it will be a new commission from FriendsWithYou, the internationally celebrated LA-based duo of Samuel (Sam) Borkson and Arturo (Tury) Sandoval III. Little Cloud Sky (2025) will debut on June 27 and be on view for at least two years.
The new work is curated by José Carlos Diaz, SAM’s Susan Brotman Deputy Director for Art, who told Vansynghel that “the beauty of [FriendsWithYou’s] work is that it creates really uplifting atmospheres.” Little Cloud Sky (2025) is composed of 40 sculptures of the artists’ signature “Little Cloud”character, each custom made of plastic, four feet wide, and suspended from the ceiling of the Brotman Forum. The work is designed to spread positivity and inspire a sense of connection, encouraging museum visitors to reflect on the beauty of togetherness and the power of joy and nature. While versions of this interior skyscape have been displayed in cities around the world, including Las Vegas, Miami, Tokyo, and London, this is a brand-new iteration and the artists’ first long-term museum installation.
“Sam and Tury create Pop-inspired projects across the globe where visual joy takes center stage,” says Diaz. “We cannot wait to see our lofty entrance come to life with FriendsWithYou’s uplifting work that reminds us of the magic in public spaces and the boundless power of collective happiness. As visitors are captivated by the smiling clouds floating above their heads, we hope they will feel the sense of optimism in the atmosphere.”
The “Little Cloud” character serves as a symbol of peace and connectivity and can be found throughout the artists’ work. In August 2024, London’s Covent Garden featured Little Cloud World, an installation with 40 inflatable “Little Cloud” characters. In January 2024, Tokyo’s Yoyogi Park hosted an iteration of Little Cloud Sky, accompanied by a large-scale parade, “The Happy Dancing Rainbow Alliance,” featuring FriendsWithYou’s iconic characters.
FriendsWithYou’s work has been exhibited around the world. Their latest work, The BAND, an interactive performance-based installation featuring five large-scale autonomous robots, is currently on view at the Cleveland Public Library. In Miami Beach, the artists have a permanent public artwork 50-foot-tall sculpture titled Starchild, commissioned by The City of Miami Beach. FriendsWithYou has had recent projects in Covent Gardens in London, MOCA LA, the Telfair Museum in Savannah, the Dallas Contemporary as well as several gallery shows in Japan and Hong Kong.
– Rachel Eggers, SAM’s Associate Director of Public Relations
Photos: Arturo Sandoval III and Samuel Borkson in front of Little Cloud World in Covent Garden, 2024, Courtesy of FriendsWithYou. Rendering of “Little Cloud,” 2024, Courtesy of FriendsWithYou.
Earlier this year, the SAM team had the honor to film in the galleries with artist Joyce J. Scott inside her large-scale installation The Seat of Knowledge (2024), created for her major retrospective that is now on view at SAM. Walk a Mile in My Dreams features over 140 works from the 1970s to the present—including sculpture, bead work, jewelry, textiles, artwear garments, performance compilations, mixed-media installations, and a new large-scale commission. It’s a summative career retrospective that reveals the full breadth of Scott’s utterly unique artistic vision to challenge unequal social roles, confront traumatic histories, and agitate for freedom.
She settled into the magnificent seat, which is a place that brings together lineages, ancestries, birthrights, histories, memories, mentors, friends: the collective experience of Joyce J. Scott. From her perch she spoke as a fluid winding river, making some hilarious diversions now and then, sharing all that she has learned and unlearned and learned again in her travels around the world and back again, dropping gems as quickly as we could capture them with our cameras. Experience her vision of beauty, humor, and fearlessness in life and in art.
– Rachel Eggers, SAM’s Associate Director of Public Relations
One of my earliest jobs was working as a camp counselor on a farm in Oregon. I loved leading craft time because I could see the campers’ confidence grow as they worked with their hands and made their ideas come to life. This experience inspired me to explore a career in museum education. While pursuing my dual degree in Studio Art and Art History at Kenyon College, I interned at several small Midwestern art museums, where I helped create accessible and inclusive museum programs and didactic materials. After graduating in 2023, I worked at the Information Desk at SAM for ten months. Then, I got the Family Programs internship, and I was so excited to further explore my love for arts education within a large and well-known institution like SAM!
In my role as the Summer 2024 Family Programs intern, I helped plan and run SAM Camp, the museum’s summer camps at the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park. I was supervised by Nani Trias, Educator for Family Programs, who was unbelievably generous with her time and energy. In my role, I had many responsibilities. I helped coordinate between SAM staff, our teaching artists, and our fantastic team of counselors. I delivered morning announcements and planned downtime activities to provide structure and set a positive tone for the day. I planned four gallery tours each week, which complemented the teaching artists’ curriculums. I loved delivering these tours and connecting with the Education staff members who volunteered to lead them. I also appreciated the opportunity to connect with the facilities, visitor experience, and security staff members at the Asian Art Museum who made SAM Camp possible. Providing a safe space for kids to express themselves is what I love to do, and seeing young campers come into their own during their week at camp was so fulfilling!
My internship made me excited about a career in arts education. I developed a stronger ability to coordinate many stakeholders from different backgrounds and to make important decisions independently. I also learned how to create engaging and accessible tours for young audiences, encouraging kids to share ideas and ask questions in the museum space. Most significantly, working with Nani, as well as Nicole Henao and Cristina Cano-Calhoun from the Education department, was incredibly inspiring. I was energized by their thoughtfulness, kindness, and passion for providing meaningful art opportunities for underserved communities. I left SAM Camp feeling hopeful about the Seattle Art Museum’s ability to provide opportunities for growth and connection for youth in the Seattle area.
Due in no small part to the encouragement of the mentors I connected with during my internship, I landed a permanent position at the museum! In September 2024, I started my new job working with the Public Engagement team to create engaging and fresh programming during the museum’s Free First Thursdays. On the first Thursday of the month, the museum is free to all, all day; at the Seattle Art Museum in downtown Seattle, the museum now also offers free programming from 5 to 8 pm. I’m so thankful to the Education and Visitor Experience departments for their unyielding support, and I’ve had so much fun beginning this new chapter with SAM. Come visit the museum on Free First Thursdays to see what I and my colleagues have been dreaming up!
– Lucy Adams, Public Engagement Associate
Photos: Courtesy Lucy Adams. SAM Camp photos: Chloe Collyer.
For most school districts, the 2024–25 school year began in September, and after a month of getting settled, school tours began to ramp up across all three SAM locations. Though we offer some type of school tour year round, our most robust offerings take place between late September through the end of June each year. Like many programs at the museum, supporting school tours is a team effort that spans across various departments. Through institutional collaboration, school tours have mostly returned to their pre-pandemic form after a few years of rebuilding from school and museum closures in 2020 and 2021.
Since I started working at SAM six years ago, interacting with students on field trips has always been my favorite part of the job. The students’ excitement at being in a new place and their imaginative responses to the artwork on view always gives me energy, in spite of all the walking and vocal projection needed to lead tours. However, nothing drove home the value of an in-person museum experience more than when I was giving a dozen virtual tours every week during the 2021–22 school year. Though we tried our best to stay connected with schools, it just wasn’t the same to look at a work of art together on a computer screen instead of in the galleries together. For so many students, there is something about a museum visit that sticks with them, even if they don’t remember specific dates or materials used in certain artworks. We often hear from teachers that students still talk about their field trips months later. As we’ve rebuilt school tours at SAM, we’re reflecting on their impact. I wanted to share what they mean for students in our region.
Based on our 2023–24 school tour evaluations, 82% of educators agreed that their students felt welcomed and valued at SAM. This is especially meaningful, considering how many students who come on field trips have never been to an art museum before. It sets a positive tone for a possible lifetime of museum going and engaging with visual art.
Educators can choose to lead the group through the galleries themselves on a self-guided tour, or select a guided tour, which includes a tour led by a volunteer docent and an art workshop led by a teaching artist. Each SAM location has a different tour and art workshop curriculum that aligns with national, state, and district standards across a range of subjects. Those subjects include National Core Arts Standards, Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts/Literacy, Social-Emotional Learning, Social Studies/Ethnic Studies, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math), and more. We work with educator advisors and school district partners throughout the year to make sure this curriculum is relevant and engaging for students.
In the 2023–24 school year, SAM served over 11,000 students across 339 tours total, with over 50% of these students coming from Title I schools. While we are not quite back at pre-COVID numbers, which saw peaks of over 20,000 students during the 2016–17 school year, for example, it is heartening to see the increase from the 2022–23 school year across our different locations. School tour gains can be largely credited to the reintroduction of hands-on art workshops led by teaching artists, which many educators voiced were needed in 2023–24 evaluations.
School tours at SAM are free for all public schools. We offer full or partial bus reimbursement for Title I schools, which means 40% of their students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. These initiatives contribute to SAM’s mission to make arts access more equitable, particularly for historically underrepresented communities. Though the creative economy of Washington makes up almost 10% of overall state GSP, Washington is ranked 45 out of 50 states in providing public funding for the arts, which includes arts education. This disproportionate funding impacts who is able to gain entry to this thriving part of our state’s economy. Creative Advantage Seattle notes that there are “significant barriers facing students in accessing quality arts instruction — especially students of color, those receiving free and reduced lunch, those in special education programs, and multilingual language learners.” Many of our Title I partner schools do not have visual art teachers, or they split one teacher between two schools. They also typically do not have funding through PTAs or district grants for specialized supplies or field trip costs. We are very appreciative that we can offer these learning opportunities free of charge to so many students.
Frank Bayley (1939–2022) was a generous art patron who dedicated himself to uplifting the innovative practices of seven internationally-renowned contemporary Korean artists. With Meot: Korean Art from the Frank Bayley Collection now on view at the Seattle Asian Art Museum, we spoke with Hyongjeong “HJ” Kim Han, Joseph de Heer Curator of Arts of Asia at the Denver Art Museum and the exhibition’s curator, about her own relationship to Bayley and his appreciation for the past, present, and future of Korean art.
What was your relationship with Frank Bayley like? What can you tell us about him as a collector?
I used to call him Frank a-jeo-ssi, which translates to “Uncle Frank” in Korean. His inquisitiveness about Korean culture made him a generous and patient supporter of Korean artists and curators, including myself. Frank made his first trip to Korea about half a century ago; it was then that he began collecting Korean art, primarily Korean ceramics.
How does Frank Bayley exemplify the term meot?
Meot (pronunciation: mʌ̹t or mŏt) is a Korean word in Hangul (the Korean alphabet) that originated from the word ‘mat,’ meaning taste. The word encompasses multiple meanings, including charming, stylish, elegant, creative, and intellectual. Frank certainly possessed these characteristics, and I would add one more: humor. Frank loved to laugh and he truly loved art. In his own, personal way, he embodied meot.
What are you excited for Seattle audiences to encounter in the exhibition?
I’m looking forward to exhibiting some of the artworks that were in Frank’s living room, including Bohnchang KOO’s FM 01 BW, a photograph of a long-necked white bottle that was gifted to Frank by the artist, as well as a series of ceramics by YOON Kwang-cho that originally sat atop Frank’s wooden cabinets. I’m confident Seattle audiences will appreciate the powerful white slip surface decorations of these works. As a curator, it’s always interesting to see artworks go from the intimacy of a domestic space to the galleries of a public institution; it’s exactly what Frank wanted with this gift to SAM.
Meot features both contemporary and historical artworks. What is the benefit of setting these works in dialogue?
A key component of Frank’s interest in collecting Korean art was the continuity of its artistic traditions and how contemporary artists innovate within these histories. Artworks from the past provide enormous inspiration for today’s artists, and the contemporary works featured in Meot are excellent models for this phenomena. I believe art museums are the perfect platform to demonstrate the continuous dialogue between the past and present, while simultaneously providing direction for the future of art.
– Rachel Eggers, SAM’s Associate Director of Public Relations
Photos: Installation view of Meot: Korean Art from the Frank Bayley Collection, 2024, photo: Chloe Collyer
The Seattle Art Museum and the Betty Bowen Committee are proud to announce Portland artist Samantha Yun Wall as the winner of the 2024 Betty Bowen Award! The juried award comes with an unrestricted cash award of $20,000—increased this year by the committee from $15,000—and a solo exhibition at SAM. This year’s committee was Gary Glant (Chair), Mike Hess, Mark Levine, Catharina Manchanda, Llewelyn Pritchard, Greg Robinson, Norie Sato, Anthony White, Merrill Wright, and Rob Rhee.
Samantha Yun Wall (b. 1977, Seoul) creates drawings that reflect her experience navigating her transcultural identity as a Black Korean immigrant. She primarily works with ink delicately layered on Dura-lar, drawing inspiration from female archetypes described in global mythologies, folktales, and creation narratives. In her highly detailed, monochromatic images, she reveals how these figures are made alternately invisible or hyper-visible in their roles as social outcasts or even menaces. By deconstructing and reframing these vilified figures, Wall challenges patriarchal norms and stigmatization. Details for her solo show at the SAM will be announced at a later date.
Wild Seeds No.2, 2024, Samantha Wall, ink and conté crayon on clay-coated board, 37 x 37 in.
Wall’s work has been exhibited throughout Washington and Oregon, including Boren Banner Series: Samantha Wall (April 10–October 06, 2024) a solo show at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, and Black Artists of Oregon (September 9, 2023–March 31, 2024), a group show at the Portland Art Museum. She has been awarded multiple prizes and grants, including the Ford Family Foundation Grant, the Bonnie Bronson Fellowship, and the Arlene Schnitzer Prize. Wall is a previous finalist for the Betty Bowen Award, winning the Kayla Skinner Special Recognition Award in 2023.
“I am ecstatic to have been selected as this year’s recipient. The committee’s recognition, trust, and support are invaluable encouragement to continue the hard work artists know intimately,” says Wall. “Our contributions are not always validated, yet we wake up every day inspired to create meaningful work. I am grateful for the resources and platform provided by this award, because they allow me to take bolder risks and create from my wildest imaginings.”
– Samantha Yun Wall
This year, the cash awards were increased by the Betty Bowen Committee:
The winner’s prize increased from $15,000 to $20,000.
Special Recognition Awards increased from $2,500 to $4,000.
Special Commendation Awards increased from $1,250 to $2,500.
“The Pacific Northwest has an outstanding community of artists, and it is essential and a great privilege to celebrate and support their work and efforts,” says Gary Glant. “On behalf of the Betty Bowen Committee, we were delighted to raise the dollar amount of all the awards granted for this important annual recognition of local talent, which is now in its 47th year and going strong.”
Mountain Couple 1, 2024, Sally Scopa, acrylic on canvas, 18 x 24 in.Untitled (Bus Tray), 2021, Sol Hashemi, archival pigment print with potential to receive updates, 30 x 40 in.Toppled Over on the Futon from One Week in January: New Paintings for an Old Diary, 2023, Carson Ellis, gouache on watercolor paper, 10 x 11 in.Omitted Matter (Recto), 2024, Tannaz Farsi, handmade rug, steel, wood, conspicuity tape, strap, 40 x 38 x 20 in.Dreaming of Paradise 1, 2024, Nahom Ghirmay, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 in.
Sally Scopa won the Kayla Skinner Special Recognition Award and Sol Hashemi won the Gary Glant Special Recognition Award. Finalists Carson Ellis, Tannaz Farsi, and Nahom Ghirmay will each receive Special Commendation Awards. The six finalists were chosen from a pool of 410 applicants from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho to compete for the $35,500 in awards.
Founded in 1977 to continue the legacy of local arts advocate and supporter Betty Bowen, the annual award honors a Northwest artist for their original, exceptional, and compelling work. Betty Bowen (1918–1977) was a Washington native and enthusiastic supporter of Northwest artists. Her friends established the annual Betty Bowen Award as a celebration of her life and to honor and continue her efforts to provide financial support to the artists of the region. Since 1977, SAM has hosted the yearly grant application process by which the selection committee chooses one artist from the Northwest to receive an unrestricted cash award, eligible to visual artists living and working in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
Recent past winners include Elizabeth Malaska (2022), Anthony White (2021), Dawn Cerny (2020), Lynne Siefert (2019), and Natalie Ball (2018). The 2023 winner is Seattle artist Tariqa Waters. Her solo exhibition, Venus is Missing, will be on view at the Seattle Art Museum May 7, 2025–January 5, 2026.
– Rachel Eggers, SAM’s Associate Director of Public Relations
Since February 10, 2017, a dynamic, 105-foot sculpture of a tree created by Seattle-based artist John Grade has graced the Seattle Art Museum’s main entrance lobby, greeting each visitor that walks through the doors. Recently, the museum announced that the work will be deinstalled from the Brotman Forum in early 2025 after eight years on view. The last day for visitors to experience Middle Fork at SAM is February 2, 2025. Margo Vansynghel of The Seattle Times broke the news, noting that the “beloved” artwork has welcomed more than a million visitors in its time at SAM.
The highly detailed sculpture was created by Grade, his team, and over 3,000 volunteers using a plaster cast of a 150-year-old western hemlock tree in the Cascade Mountains east of Seattle. The cast was used as a mold to assemble a new tree from nearly one million reclaimed cedar segments. Suspended horizontally from the museum’s ceiling and above the viewer, Grade’s sculpture offers a mesmerizing new perspective on a familiar form, and its collaborative energy has made it a symbol of Seattle’s arts community.
“We bid a fond farewell to Middle Fork,” says Scott Stulen, SAM’s Illsley Ball Nordstrom Director and CEO. “For the last eight years, this sculpture has inspired awe and delight in every visitor to the museum. John Grade’s deep appreciation for the interconnectedness of nature and people in the Pacific Northwest has reflected our mission to connect art to life these past years. We look forward, along with everyone else, to see the next part of its journey.”
Middle Fork (2014–2017) was first conceived at MadArt Studio, a Seattle gallery from 2009–2024, and debuted there in January 2015. Following that, it was included in the WONDER exhibition at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC (November 13, 2015–May 13, 2016) and was displayed at the 2017 Davos World Economic Forum in Switzerland. At SAM, the sculpture was presented in its largest iteration yet, more than doubling from its previous length of 50 feet to 105 feet. Grade’s intention has always been to continue the sculpture’s growth to match the length of the living tree that it is based on, 140 feet. Eventually, he plans to bring the sculpture back to the forest, allowing it to decompose and return to the earth at the base of that original tree.
Middle Fork is only the second installation to make a home in the Brotman Forum. The first was Inopportune: Stage One (2004) by Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang. The large-scale installation featured nine Ford Taurus cars that appeared to be arrested in an animated sequence of explosions via numerous LED light tubes. It was on view at SAM as part of the expansion of its downtown building on May 5, 2007. The installation closed on January 19, 2016.
The Brotman Forum will welcome a new installation in June 2025, to be announced at a later date. From a massive tree, where do you think the museum will go next?
– Rachel Eggers, SAM’s Associate Director of Public Relations
Photos: Middle Fork, 2014–2017, John Grade, American, b. 1970, cedar, 105 ft. long x 30 ft. diameter, Seattle Art Museum commission, Photo: Ben Benschneider.
National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated annually between September 15 and October 15 in recognition of the contributions and influence of Hispanic and Latine Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States. In recognition, we’re sharing this essay from a recent Emerging Arts Leader Intern. Learn more about SAM internships.
In memory of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, my UW Middle East Studies classmate who was killed by military on September 6, 2024, while volunteering in the West Bank. May we continue to be inspired by her memory to advocate for justice and a free and interconnected world.
Often, when I share that I am taking advanced Farsi classes or talk about my dedication to Persian-English poetry translation projects, I am met with confused stares. I’m a rising senior at the University of Washington majoring in Middle East Studies, with a concentration in Persian and minoring in Art History. With the mentorship of my professor, Dr. Aria Fani, I am inspired to disprove the myth of “untranslatability”: that art, languages, cultures, and people are irreconcilable and at odds with each other. This was a perspective I wanted to bring to my Emerging Arts Leader Internship in Public Relations and Outreach at the Seattle Art Museum this past spring and summer. Over the course of 20 weeks, I worked closely with Rachel Eggers, SAM’s Associate Director of Public Relations, on efforts to invite local Seattle communities into the museum for the summer exhibition, Poke in the Eye: Art of the West Coast Counterculture.
During my time as an EAL intern, I focused on researching and executing an outreach plan with local contacts and partners, and I gathered insight into cultivating community partnerships between the museum and the public. Towards the end of my internship, my focus shifted to synthesizing my data into a report that can support the museum’s future outreach strategies. As a freelance artist with a following of nearly 60,000 on Instagram and more than 10 million views on my original comics, illustrations, and animations, I am keenly aware of the power of social media as a tool for connecting art with the public, and I wanted to bring this knowledge and creativity to support SAM’s outreach efforts.
Much of my internship inspired me to reflect on the intersections of the art museum as an institution and how it connects to our dynamic lives, passions, and experiences. In addition to my educational experiences, I volunteer with Peyvand Non-Profit Organization, which serves youth arts and cultural programming for Seattle’s Iranian and Afghan families. For the past two years, on behalf of Peyvand, I have designed educational posters about the Persian New Year to be displayed in several King County Library System locations. Peyvand director Shahrzad Shams has been a mentor to me as I develop as an artist and advocate, and my work with the organization has contributed to my understanding of partnership work.
SAM invites all EAL interns to create a gallery tour or presentation to share their contributions to the museum with the public. For my gallery tour, I drew inspiration from a personal connection to artwork on view in the museum. I highlighted two contemporary Mexican artists in SAM’s collection, Diego Rivera and Alfredo Arreguín, and presented a gallery tour on the public outreach plan I created inspired by the artists’ works. I was also inspired by my grandfather, Abel García Ossorio, who was the first Mexican American in the US to earn a PhD in clinical psychology after being rejected from colleges for being Hispanic. Using my time at the institution and access to its artworks by Rivera—two of which are on view in American Art: The Stories We Carry—encouraged me to learn more about the Mexican muralist movement and the hectic period following the Mexican Revolution, as I better my understanding of the history and political and social instability that led to members of my family immigrating to the US from northern Mexico in the 1920s.
As an artist, I often prefer expressing myself and experiences visually through illustrations and comics. So to accompany my reflection, I also completed an illustration inspired by one of the works from my SAM gallery tour, Stalemate (1973) by Alfredo Arreguín (b. Michoacán, Mexico, 1935–2023), a Seattle-based artist who unfortunately passed away last year. The oil painting blends Pacific Northwest flora and fauna with other symbols and familiar images from Arreguín’s upbringing in Michoacán and Mexico City. A new work in SAM’s collection, the painting was on view in Poke in the Eye this summer.
I am drawn to the memory-like, stream-of-consciousness quality to the original painting, and I decided to create my own illustrated interpretation with symbols from my experiences and learnings at SAM this spring and summer. During my SAM internship, I visited Mexico City, which influenced my gallery tour. I represented this with a concha, an iconic Mexican sweet bread pastry; a cafecito; and a book on Frida Kahlo, who had also been a muse for Arreguín throughout his career. My Persian and Iranian studies at the University of Washington also guided me during my internship, and I illustrated a book that my language professor Dr. Fani had lent me for the quarter: Paintings and Designs of Sohrab Sepehri. I paid visual homage to the original painting by incorporating drawings of flowers, fruit, stars, and a mountain, but added my own flair: the flowers in my piece are nasturtiums, my mother’s favorites, and cherries represent the summer fruit of the orchard in my extended family. The mountain, originally a landmark of Mt. Rainier, painted by Arreguín, in my version became inspired by the illustration of a mountain on the cardboard box of Alvand on my tea shelf, named after a mountain range in western Iran, which is also a brand of sugar cubes to mix in hot chai and coffee called qand in Farsi. The cactus entering on the left represents both my heritage connection to Mexico and my online handle (@sensitive.cactus). Instead of flowing branches, I instead wrote in Persian calligraphy two words that are very meaningful to me and frequently appear in poetry: عشق “eshq” (love) and هیچ “heech” (nothing). While the original painting incorporates images of butterflies, which to me represent completion and fulfillment, I opted to draw a caterpillar, representing personal growth and embracing the in-between process.
I would like to thank my friends, family, and SAM staff for their support along the way, which was pivotal to my experience. I am appreciative of SAM staff who made me feel welcomed into the new environment and offered advice and understanding.
– Amelia Ossorio, Emerging Arts Leader Intern in Public Relations and Outreach
SAM will receive $500,000 over two years to support extending our Free First Thursday program into the evening. Free First Thursdays at the downtown museum—when the museum is free to all, all day on the first Thursday of each month—will now run until 8 pm and feature programming inspired by the exhibitions on view from 5 to 8 pm.
“We are grateful for this funding from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and excited by the opportunities it presents,” says Scott Stulen, SAM’s Illsley Ball Nordstrom Director and CEO. “Local artists will create dynamic programs, our community partners will have a platform, and audiences will be able to visit the museum who may not otherwise have been able to do so. We’re also proud to join with these other incredible local arts organizations as we work to revitalize downtown Seattle and show how important the arts are to those efforts. Philanthropic support like this is critical for organizations of all sizes, and SAM relies on substantial investments like this to be sure that we are here for generations to come.”
With this day of free admission and programming offered every month, SAM is able to advance its mission to connect art to life and contribute to making downtown welcoming and lively. Free First Thursday also serves the museum’s efforts towards being an equitable institution by decreasing barriers for those with financial need or who cannot visit during daytime hours.
The first edition of Free First Thursday supported by the grant will be held on October 3, 2024, and will feature a DJ set from Kennedy Quille; gallery tours by SAM staff, docents, and local artist Stefan Richmond; tabling by the Lavender Rights Project, a SAM Community Pass Program partner; and a meet-and-greet with new SAM CEO Scott Stulen.
– Rachel Eggers, SAM’s Associate Director of Public Relations
“‘I think in the future, we’re probably going to see more and more acceptance, or even embracing of, new ways of presenting art,’ Diaz says. ‘Real works, but then also something very immersive and very emotional.’”
“‘The extraordinary thing about this site is that one edge of it is the Salish Sea, and the other is the urban center of Seattle,’ says Mark Reddington, a partner at LMN. The new 50,000-square-foot Ocean Pavilion, with its sweeping yellow Alaskan cedar-clad façade and nearly half-million gallon Reef ecosystem, houses 3,500 sustainably sourced tropical fish, invertebrates, and plants, representing more than 150 species.”
Inter/National News
Hurray for arts writers! Tessa Solomon for ARTnews reports on the 2024 winners of grants for visual arts journalists from the Rabkin Foundation: Greg Allen, Holland Cotter, Robin Givhan, Thomas Lawson, Siddhartha Mitter, Cassie Packard, TK Smith, and Emily Watlington.
“Unlike many members of her generation, she is resistant to depicting personal experience. Her sublimity is of the abstract kind: ‘The idea,’ as she puts it, ‘is of portraying everydayness as excellence.’”
And there’s even more opportunities to see it! Capitol Hill Seattle Blog shared the news that Wednesdays are back at the Seattle Asian Art Museum, bringing it back to a full five-day-a-week schedule. Visit Meot and the collection galleries Wednesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm.
Local News
Mike Lindblom of The Seattle Times reports on the recent renaming of the light rail station closest to the Seattle Art Museum. University Street Station is now called Symphony Station for our neighbor, Benaroya Hall.
“Seattle’s must-see September art exhibits”: The Seattle Times’s Margo Vansynghel spots shows at the Nordic, Davidson Galleries (in its new home!), Traver Gallery (right across the street from the Seattle Art Museum!), and more to see this month.
“September brings lower temps and, for the visual art scene, plenty of good tidings with a brand-new art walk, the return of a Pioneer Square staple, scores of fun events and exciting new shows.”
“One of the most ambitious shows the museum has ever presented — six years in the making and bigger than any Whitney biennial — it tracks the development of an American art form through Ailey’s singular vision. Here is a chance to better understand the man behind that vision, to watch his dances with new eyes.”
Poke in the Eye: Art of the West Coast Counterculture is now on view at SAM! This homegrown exhibition features 87 ceramics, sculptures, paintings, and drawings from SAM’s collection—some of which are being shown for the first time. Throughout the run of the exhibition, we’ll be periodically sharing insight on a few of the eclectic artworks on view.
Please note: The following article includes mentions of nudity, coercion, and sexual assault.
Like many works on view in Poke in the Eye at SAM, this painting’s vibrant colors and figurative style draws the viewer in, then flips expectations upside down.
From a distance, Susanna and the Elders (Novelty Hotel) (1980) looks like a cartoon, but the artist, Robert Colsecott (1925–2009), often used this visually appealing strategy to hook viewers and make them confront the more serious issues of race and gender that are in his works.
This intriguing painting is titled after a story from the Bible that perhaps wouldn’t be so well known if not for the many Renaissance artists who painted it. Although Colescott didn’t cite one particular artwork as inspiration for his work, he was familiar with this subject from historical artists like Tintoretto, Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt van Rijn, and many others who depicted the story.
In this tale, found in the Book of Daniel, two men are spying upon Susanna bathing in the garden of her home. They catch each other peeping and unite to coerce Susanna into having sex with them. They threaten to blackmail her, but still she refuses. They have her arrested and publicly accuse her of adultery. These two respected men are judges and elders in their community and Susanna is sentenced to death on their word until the prophet Daniel appears and questions them. He finds major differences in their stories and declares Susanna innocent.
Although a somewhat minor anecdote in the Bible, Susanna’s story became popular partly because it allowed artists to display their talent at depicting nude women. During the Renaissance, artists often portrayed Susanna lounging naked, sometimes unaware of the men watching, or other times, seeming to seduce them. Like the elders watching the oblivious Susanna, the patrons and viewers of these paintings also act as voyeurs of Susanna and lust after her with the excuse that the artwork depicts a biblical story.
Robert Colecott interprets this tale in his own way: a naked blonde woman emerges from behind a shower curtain, much to the glee of three ogling men and one rubber ducky. At the Novelty Hotel (a real hotel that Colescott visited in Paris), a bald white man in a red robe, cigarette hanging out of his mouth, and a Black janitor holding a mop are directly next to this Susanna, physically leaning on one another as they witness this scene. Another Black man peers in through the open window, a self-portrait of Colescott himself with his signature glasses and facial hair. The rubber ducky also seems to be looking up at her eagerly from the tub. None of them are touching Susanna or harming her, but they are intruding on the privacy of her hotel room and her body.
Much like the men in this scene, the viewer is also a voyeur complicit in this visual violation. With its bright colors and cartoonish style, paired with the towering seven-foot-tall canvas on which it sits, Colescott’s painting is unmissable. Visitors passing by can’t help but stop and stare at the intrusive tableau.
Susanna’s eyes appear closed as if she’s unaware of those watching her. Alternatively, Susanna’s facial expression could be interpreted as giving the voyeurs a flirtatious smile over her shoulder, as if performing for them. With all these eyes looking at her, it seems impossible that she wouldn’t notice these men around her, but is she to blame for their actions? By calling her Susanna in the title, she is aligned with the innocent and happens to be the unfortunate subject of this male attention.
Colescott grew up in Oakland, California and attended the University of California, Berkeley where he studied painting. He studied in Paris for a year, working with Fernand Leger. Colescott’s Night and Day, You Are the One (1969), also on display in Poke in the Eye, more closely resembles Leger’s Cubist-inspired, rhythmic style. Colescott visited and lived in Paris throughout his life, but returned to Berkeley for his master’s degree before becoming an art teacher in the Pacific Northwest, at a junior high school in Seattle and Portland State College. He later held other teaching positions in Cairo, Egypt, California, and Arizona.
From the mid-1970s on, Colescott was well-known for creating artworks that spoofed and remixed art history. He was a satirist, taking the serious subjects of the art world and translating them with critique, wit, and humor into offbeat commentaries.
Often, Colescott subverts artistic precedents by changing the racial makeup of the scene, substituting Black figures for the historically White main roles. Another work on display in the galleries of Poke in the Eye, Les Demoiselles d’Alabama: Vestidas (1985) plays on Pablo Picasso’s famous Cubist painting of sex workers, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon(1907). Picasso’s original took direct influence from African masks, at the time regarded as “primitive” in the wake of ongoing colonization of that continent, but Colescott puts actual Black figures in this key moment in art history.
In Susanna and the Elders, the men overcome their racial differences to unite in their ogling of the modern Susanna. They are all complicit in this behavior and caught red-handed. However, Susanna seems to still have the upper hand—she stands tall, powerful, and unbothered.
By the 1980s, thanks to the previous decades’ feminist movement, American and European women received more recognition of their social and political rights and a degree of sexual liberation. Even with these men watching her in the hotel shower, she will not be accused of adultery and sentenced to death as the original Susanna was. These older men don’t pose a mortal threat to her in the same way that the biblical judges did. Colescott instead transforms the story into a comical episode that shifts the power in favor of the female lead.
Have you ever wondered who creates interactives at SAM? Hi! We’re Emily and Ramzy and we design interpretive experiences at all three of SAM’s locations. We work on SAM’s Interpretation team which creates educational in-gallery experiences designed to spark creativity, connect visitors to the art, and share dynamic storytelling.
We hear from visitors regularly that they are hungry for more opportunities to interact with the exhibitions on view, learn about the art in our galleries, and show off their creativity. We considered Poke in the Eye: Art of the West Coast Counterculture to be the perfect opportunity to pull out all the stops and create a cohesive suite of interpretive offerings that further explore the exhibition’s themes. In close collaboration with Carrie Dedon, SAM Associate Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art and the exhibition curator of Poke in the Eye, and Justin Scoltock, SAM Exhibition Designer, we developed four interpretive offerings: a ceramic touch table, a counterculture response wall, a hands-on art activity, and rotary phone audio guides.
Ceramic Touch Table
How many times have you been in an art museum and thought “I wanna touch that”? For the average art museum, encouraging visitors to touch is a rarity. Making museums multi-sensory allows visitors to show up as their whole selves, ensuring museum-going can be more memorable, educational, and welcoming to all.
Since Poke in the Eye focuses so heavily on ceramics, we wanted to ensure that people had the chance to experience all the shiny, globby, sharp, and rough textures that make the ceramic works what they are. This led us to develop the centerpiece of the interpretive gallery space: a giant blob-shaped table we affectionately call the “touch table.” The table features 25 samples covering the various stages of the ceramics process, all with completely different textures, colors, and glazes, that any visitor can walk up and touch.
To guide visitors as they touch, we wrote accessible didactic signage to accompany each type of ceramic. This presented a natural opportunity to try something new for SAM: incorporating braille labels into the galleries. We hope this is one small step of many toward SAM’s progress in making art and interactives more accessible.
So far, it has been clear that people simply love to touch stuff. Visitors respond with visible and often audible joy when they see the words “please touch” in the galleries. There’s also a huge variation in how people engage with this table. Some read every word of the educational signage, some talk out loud with a friend about the different textures they’re touching, and others don’t read any signage and just touch the ceramics. Any of the above is fine by us!
Counterculture Response Wall
We knew the interpretive space wouldn’t be complete without an opportunity for visitors to express themselves and share their ideas. Counterculture is a key throughline of the exhibition, and we wanted to give visitors a chance to understand the concept more concretely by making it personal and related to their own lives, not just as an abstract idea from the 1960s and 70s. After selecting one of four prompt cards about counterculture, visitors can respond however they’d like using colored pencils: with words, with illustration, or most popularly, a mix of both.
An unexpected but welcome outcome of this interactive is how much visitors love reading other visitors’ responses. Any time we pop into the interpretive space, we’re bound to see visitors looking at others’ responses and pointing, smiling, or remarking on the ideas, impressive illustrations, or multiple languages they see on the shelves. We’ve been blown away by the creativity that people are exhibiting in their responses to these prompts.
From Ordinary to Extraordinary Art Activity
Expressing yourself conceptually in response to a prompt is a great way to share your personal connection to the exhibition’s themes, but why stop there? We know that a dose of creativity is powerful for both learning and well-being, so we wanted to provide a more visual opportunity for visitors to create.
Many of the artists featured in Poke in the Eye use mundane, everyday objects as inspiration for forms that they included in their art. These ordinary objects are transformed into new, original, and extraordinary art by the artist. We wanted to give people a glimpse into this perspective and a chance to try out a version of this process themselves, by transforming an illustration of a trailer, a toilet, a teacup, or a rotary phone into something extraordinary.
And wow, “extraordinary” is an understatement! Our visitors have really understood the assignment. As of mid-August, visitors have transformed about 7,000 object cards. It seems that the rotary phone is one of the most popular cards that visitors choose to transform. As designers, we’re thrilled to know that visitors are engaging with both the activities in the interpretive gallery and our final interpretive offering which is sprinkled throughout the exhibition: the rotary phone audio guides.
Rotary Phone Audio Guides
While exploring Poke in the Eye at SAM, you may have noticed a few old-school rotary phones in several of the exhibition’s galleries. Pick one up and you’ll hear exclusive content about some of the artworks on view in the exhibition. These phones are part of the Interpretation team’s latest efforts to break out of the box and put a new spin on a classic museum offering: the audio guide.
To create this retro experience, we tackled two major obstacles: hacking 60 year-old rotary phones to play MP3 files, and developing engaging audio content to connect our visitors with the art. To hack the rotary phones, we called in Sasha Falsberg, SAM Systems Engineer, who took each one apart, studied the mechanics, and reassembled them with a tiny raspberry pi computer. Now when you pick one up, the pins on the phone trigger the Pi and an MP3 plays until you place it back down— it’s magic!
For the audio content development, we had two main goals: 1. Feature the voice of artists and 2. Develop family-friendly content. We interviewed artists Fay Jones, Patti Warashina, and Jeffry Mitchell, who shared their unique perspectives on creativity, process, and the stories behind their artwork. For the family stops, we developed scripts in the form of a thoughtful dialogue between a teeanger and a kid, encouraging close-looking and connection to the art. This kind of scripted, theatrical conversation was a new approach for SAM, so we collaborated closely with educators, parents, and kids to ensure that the content would land with our younger visitors.
Since opening Poke in the Eye in June, we’ve seen the phones spark joy in our visitors, regardless of age. Even though we designed the family stops with kids in mind, it’s been a pleasant surprise to see that adults have been enjoying the rotary phones just as much, if not more, than kids! There’s something about the tactile and playful experience of picking up a vintage phone in the galleries sparks the curiosity of visitors of all ages, leading to meaningful connections with each other and the art.
What’s Next?
Creating interpretive experiences for Poke in the Eye has been an incredibly rewarding experience for our team. From hands-on experiences, to art-making and rotary phones, we’ve had the opportunity to flex our creativity and collaborate across departments throughout the museum. In the last two months, it’s been exciting to see firsthand the impact on the visitors’ experiences at SAM. In the galleries, we see friends showing off the everyday objects they’ve transformed, toddlers using the step stool to reach for the ceramic touch table, and kids leading their parents to the vintage phones in the next gallery. We can’t wait to continue this momentum into our future exhibitions at SAM, designing interpretive experiences that foster creativity, belonging, and connection with the art for all of our visitors.
– Emily Gardner, SAM Assistant Manager for Gallery Learning, & Ramzy Lakos, SAM Digital Interpretation Specialist
Fiori dei miei Habiti (La Montagne Enchantée) is a tour de force of porcelain artistry by Diego Cibelli, the Neapolitan contemporary master of this historically prized and notoriously delicate and technically difficult medium. Cibelli has achieved such extraordinary technical skill in part due to his close relationship with the legendary Royal Porcelain Manufactory at Capodimonte in Naples, Italy. His conceptual approach owes much to his training as both an artist and a designer at the Academy of Fine Arts and University Luigi Vanvitelli in Naples and the Weisensee Kunsthochschule in Berlin, Germany. Evolving from the tradition of 1960s and ’70s Italian radical designers—such as Archizoom, Superstudio, Andrea Branzi, and Ettore Sottsass—Cibelli’s work shares with these spiritual forefathers a belief in objects as powerful agents in our lived-in and natural environments. His training in design was not to gain “a practical functional method of doing,” as Cibelli puts it, but rather “it was a path I took only to be influenced by those thoughts where the object is considered as ‘a living being’ with its own history. This makes objects on a speculative level similar to human beings.”
Cibelli’s research-based approach leads to the production of singular collections, each exploring a specific theme—for example, the relationship between ceramics, ancient and medieval iconography, and early modern print culture. He has even created ceramic representations of the cash tips received in a single day by coffee baristas. The results are worthy of the most extraordinary cabinets of curiosities and Wunderkammer (wonder-room) collections.
The son of a fisherman, Cibelli grew up in the Naples working-class neighborhood of Scampia, a community of low-income housing that has been notoriously represented as the mafia-controlled center of drug dealing in the TV drama Gomorrah. Cibelli is the proud native son of his neighborhood, where his studio occupies the unused second floor of the local elementary school. In his workshop, he has overcome the challenges of his circumstances to grow a staff of assistants and a prolific practice that has made Cibelli a preeminent voice in contemporary porcelain.
Born into anything but royal conditions, Cibelli is the unlikely heir apparent to the long tradition of exquisitely detailed porcelain flowers that became the signature of the Royal Porcelain Manufactory at Capodimonte. Founded in 1743 by King Charles of Bourbon to rival the porcelain produced at Sèvres and Meissen for the French and German courts, respectively, Capodimonte porcelain became prized for its fine quality due to the suppleness of its paste.
The Seattle Art Museum commissioned Cibelli to create Fiori dei miei Habiti as a site-specific work that responds to the crown jewel of the museum’s European galleries: the Porcelain Room. Cibelli has expressed what an honor it is to have been invited to “dance together with so many porcelain masterworks gathered from across time and cultures in the museum’s extraordinary collection.” His work for SAM is a study in choreographies orchestrated between characters caught in complex compositions that create mininarratives and vignettes. This is not the first time Cibelli has engaged in such a dance. For The Art of Dancing Together, his 2021 solo exhibition at the Museum and Royal Wood of Capodimonte, the home of the Farnese Collection, Cibelli was invited to research and respond as a way of engaging in a contemporary dialogue with the museum’s historic masterworks.
Similarly to his work at Capodimonte, Cibelli responds to the context of SAM’s Porcelain Room, with its famed ceiling fresco by Venetian baroque rococo master Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696–1770). Rising upward in the center of the Porcelain Room directly underneath the Tiepolo ceiling, Cibelli’s porcelain mountain landscape provokes a conversation between the histories of sculpture and painting. His three-dimensional allegory responds directly to Tiepolo’s two-dimensional The Triumph of Valor over Time. While the vanity of eternal fame is the driving force behind Tiepolo’s work, Cibelli conveys the transcendence of eternal nature beyond humanity’s vanity. The pairing could not be more fitting. Tiepolo is known as a painter of light, whose ceiling frescoes in Venetian palazzi become illuminated and in turn diffuse light through the whole room by capturing the glimmer of sunlight reflected off the lagoon’s surface.In the purity of its bisque white body, Cibelli’s porcelain captures light into the vitreous translucency of its material, radiating an otherworldly, glowing aura. In terms of style, Cibelli’s baroque forms of abundance and technical virtuosity rival that of the great Italian baroque masters. His Neapolitan culture surely instilled in him the awe-inspiring drama of that city’s intense regional version of baroque. But his lightness of touch and preference for the whimsical arabesques of the floral and natural world place him within the language of rococo.
The work’s title takes on multiple meanings by substituting the word fiori (flowers) for fuori (out) in the expression fuori dei miei habiti, which means “out of my habitat [or habits],” implying a journey into the uncomfortable or unknown, an experience outside of one’s comfort zone. But the play on words could also be interpreted as “flowers of my dress,” drawing attention to the characters’ skin and garments of garlands, foliage, sticks, and flowers.
Cibelli takes his initial inspiration from Filippo Tagliolini’s La Caduta dei Giganti (1785–90), one of the greatest masterpieces of Capodimonte porcelain. In Tagliolini’s work, Zeus straddles the peak of Olympus hurling thunderbolts at the Giants, who are depicted as loin cloth–clad muscle men tumbling in various poses of defeat down the craggy slopes of the mountain. The Giants themselves were said to be hybrid beasts with dragon scales and shaggy hair, as tall as mountains and nearly invincible.
Cibelli reverses Tagliolini’s formula of traditional heroic masculinity in favor of a spectrum of diverse hybrid creatures, not a war of testosterone-fueled men but queer celebrants in states of transformation. Through the magic of metamorphosis, Cibelli conjures the act of becoming through the union of vegetal, human, and animal. His unique crossbreeds aspire toward a holistic and interconnected cosmology. Instead of defeated and falling down the mountain, his enchanted menagerie sets off on a journey full of twists, chains, tumbles, close calls, and glory as the beings spirally ascend the peak heavenward. Their path takes them through challenging encounters with animal-vegetal others as well as their own changes and transcendence.
Cibelli explains that it is in the process of his characters’ transformations that “they express beauty in their own terms.” Cibelli further explains that “beauty in my work comes from ‘the baggage of history.’ I consider time as a resource of ‘whispers’ that offer for each of my productions an overwhelming visual narration.”
To encounter Diego Cibelli is to discover a rare and unique, almost mythological, creature. He is the proverbial unicorn. His physical presence astonishes with his courageous and bold sartorial choices. His body has suffered through the challenges of an eating disorder, which in the food-dominated culture of Italy carries an especially intense resonance. His work is marked by a relationship to abundance and food, with one collection even titled Feed Me with Domestic Stuff. His star has risen and, along with it, he has triumphed over his own personal challenges. A light, joyful, and boundless compassion emanates from his soul. When with Cibelli, he transports us along with him into his fantastical world of imaginative and transcendent beauty.
– Christian Larsen, SAM Guest Curator and Cultural Historian
Poke in the Eye: Art of the West Coast Counterculture is now on view at SAM! This homegrown exhibition features 87 ceramics, sculptures, paintings, and drawings from SAM’s collection—some of which are being shown for the first time. Throughout the run of the exhibition, we’ll be periodically sharing insight on a few of the eclectic artworks on view. Stay tuned for more object spotlights to come.
Did you know that Poke in the Eye: Art of the West Coast Counterculture derived its title from one of the artworks on view in the exhibition? It’s true!
Created by artist Bruce Nauman in 1985, Double Poke in the Eye IIfeaturestwo faces made up of bright neon tubing. The figures look at one another while the hands in between them alternate lighting up. There is a slight delay between when the hands light up, but the two figures are always simultaneously poking each other in the eye, both at fault. Their pointed fingers just barely touch one another’s eyes and one face has its mouth open, seemingly arguing.
Nauman began making works in neon in the 1960s, often using wordplay and both text and figurative imagery, to address “pain, life, death, love, hate, pleasure” to quote the title of another neon work by him that puts those words into a never-ending circle. Neon is typically used for commercial advertising, attracting the consumer’s eye to a storefront, but Nauman’s signs twist this commonly recognized aesthetic to question philosophical and artistic ideas.
Nauman was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana and attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison to study mathematics, physics, and art, then the University of California, Davis for his MFA. UC Davis was a hub for artists who rejected abstract and minimalist aesthetics and boundaries of low and high art. William T. Wiley and Robert Arneson were among those who taught Nauman at Davis and are also featured in Poke in the Eye.
Nauman mainly studied sculpture, but after graduating, became known for his performances recorded in his studio space. Nauman captured himself doing repetitive tasks and exercises; for example, Walking in an Exaggerated Manner around the Perimeter of a Square, 1967–68, is ten minutes of Nauman doing just what the title describes. Watching these mundane actions captured on film draws attention to the topics of surveillance and privacy, as well as the human body’s physical limits and abilities, and what qualifies as art. To Nauman, anything an artist does in his studio is art and one of the most accessible materials an artist can use is his own body.
Though Double Poke in the Eye II is not a performance piece, it echoes some of these themes. It mimics an endless, repetitive action as the figures go back and forth poking one another. Due to the way the lights click off and on and make the work change moment to moment, the viewer can get caught up watching this pattern repeat, trying to observe the whole sequence. In the way that viewers watch Nauman’s own body perform these repetitive actions, here we have people performing the same simple poke, again and again. Though the neon colors make this scene cartoonish, this piece illustrates a moment of pain and bodily harm that the viewer is forced to watch.
Yet, a “poke” has less serious connotations than a punch, a jab, or a stab to the eye. A poke is slightly silly. We “poke fun” at things to make light of them. The word choice for the title is significant because Nauman is also interested in the role of language in his art.
The gaps where language is imprecise are part of what Nauman wants to tease out. In 1989, Nauman said:
“When language begins to break down a little bit, it becomes exciting and communicates in nearly the simplest way that it can function: you are forced to be aware of the sounds and the poetic parts of words. If you deal only with what is known, you’ll have redundancy; on the other hand, if you deal only with the unknown, you cannot communicate at all. There is always some combination of the two, and it is how they touch each other that makes communication interesting.”1
The work isn’t just a poke in the eye but a “double poke” which is a not a common phrase: Is it a double poke because of the two figures poking one another? Or because there are two eyes as possible targets? Or could they be poking twice in a row?
Besides the verb of “poke”, the emphasis on the eye in this work is key—damaging someone’s vision impairs a major way of interacting with the world, limiting the way they can perceive others, art, and everything around them.
Double Poke in the Eye II is open to interpretation and double meanings. When asked about what the title of this particular work means on a SAM questionnaire, the artist simply replied “It is what it is.”
For the exhibition though, this title represents the experimental modes that these artists used to depart from their contemporary artistic movements and seek something new. Many of these artists in Poke in the Eye depicted figures in their work (rather than abstraction); worked with neon, ceramics, and textiles (rather than paint and canvas); and were silly and self-effacing (rather than serious).
Artworks like these are a type of a poke in the eye—they stand out as offbeat and off-kilter from expectations of what art should be.
– Nicole Block, SAM Collections Associate
1 John Yau, “Words and Things: The Prints of Bruce Nauman”, in Bruce Nauman Prints 1970-89, ed. Christopher Cordes (Castelli Graphics: New York, Lorence Monk Gallery: New York, Donald Young Gallery; Chicago, 1989), 10.
“Why does one painting call us more than others? What parts of ourselves, buried or thriving, known or unknown, does art draw out? What does it mean to stand in front of a Jacob Lawrence painting and think only of my mother? I make a mental note to call her on my way out.”
“Wrapping together art-historical revisionism and kid-friendly displays, the Seattle Art Museum’s new exhibition, “Poke in the Eye: Art of the West Coast Counterculture,” flashes back to artistic rebellions of the 1960s and ‘70s associated with the Bay Area Figurative Movement, Funk art, and Northwest studio ceramics.”
Local News
The latest weekly newsletter of Cascade PBS’s Brangien Davis features Actualize AiR, the new endeavor in the Coliseum Theater, and mourns the passing of potter Reid Ozaki. BTW: Did you know that Davis has launched a new video series, Art by Northwest? It broadcasts on Friday nights and streams the following Mondays.
“Bird doubled down on the need for the museum to be ‘anchored and grounded’ in reflecting its mission to be a family-focused institution that uplifts the experiences of all Black people, particularly those in the Pacific Northwest.”
Andrew Russeth for The New York Times on Pacita Abad’s first retrospective, which opened at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis last year and is now on view at MoMA PS1.
“The exhibition will demolish cherished myths about pirates, including walking the plank and maps of buried treasure. It will also reveal that some kept disappointingly pragmatic rules on board—Bartholomew Roberts, better known as Black Bart, insisted on lights out by 8 pm.”
My application to become a SAM Emerging Arts Leader was a shot in the dark. As an oil painter, object conservation seemed out of my realm. When I was finally offered this internship, however, I felt like I finally had a chance to explore a new aspect of the art world.
Unlike painting, the goal of art conservation is to not grab the attention of the viewer. I dove into projects with the hope that viewers would not see the countless hours I spent chipping away at flaking paint or the brush strokes in my wax applications. An art conservator is a kind of secret hero, working in stealth to make it seem as though all artworks on view have always been bright, shiny, and untouched by time. As a SAM intern, I grew familiar with employing vastly different treatments to an assortment of objects and sculptures.
While working alongside Liz Brown, SAM Senior Objects Conservator, I had the opportunity to help reassemble Me and Pops (2019) an artwork by American contemporary artist Aaron Fowler. It took precision and many hands to lift the plywood backing—when handling art in such an intimate way, I started to notice things that the average viewer might not. I needed to be aware of weak points, sharp edges, and even the fibers of the organic material. Many of those details revealed evidence of the artist’s hand. While thinking through these small details I felt like I was in a conversation with the artist, rather than simply handling an object.
Andy DeLapp and Liz Brown, SAM Senior Object Conservator, at the Olympic Sculpture Park.
I was also able to learn how to treat smaller objects in the museum’s conservation lab with Geneva Grisworld, SAM Associate Object Conservator. I gained insight into the research and documentation that conservators are required to complete before treating any object in the museum’s collection. Focusing on an 18th century French mustard cup, I took care in documenting every feature, scratch, and dent. I then made a mixture of calcium carbonate and ethanol to delicately remove the tarnish layer by layer. Slowly, and much to my satisfaction, the dull orange-tinted surface transformed into a dazzling silver. I made my own file on The Museum System (TMS) to document the cup’s condition, treatment, and analysis. I took a lot of joy in researching the history of mustard cups, especially discovering that this particular mustard cup was likely missing a spoon!
As an artist, I now think about how my own two-dimensional painting practice relates to object conservation. I think about my methods, the paints I use, and the craftsmanship of my hand-stretched canvas. I ask myself, “Will future conservators need to re-tension my canvas? What can I do toprevent paint lifting in the future? Should I note the pigments used in case the paintflakes?” The behind-the-scenes look at art conservation I received as a SAM Emerging Arts Leader has shattered the barrier that once sat between myself and the intimidating white museum walls.
I am extremely grateful for my experience as a SAM intern and am eternally grateful for the guidance offered by my supervisors on the conservation team. As my internship comes to an end, I will be pursuing jobs in art handling, and carrying my knowledge of conservation into my painting practice. I take pride in contributing to my community by caring for our beautiful art, and I sincerely hope my work at the Seattle Art Museum is unseen by the viewer.
– Andy DeLapp, Emerging Arts Leader Intern in Conservation
For Seattle Magazine, Rachel Gallaher interviewed collector Jon Shirley and curator José Carlos Diaz about iconic artist Alexander Calder and Calder: In Motion, The Shirley Family Collection. By popular demand, the exhibition has been extended through October 20.
“Calder invented an entirely new way to make sculpture,” Shirley adds. “His works of 70 years ago look like they were made yesterday. Not many artists have created a whole new art form, and have created works that seem timeless. To my mind, he is the most accessible artist ever.”
“These thought-provoking exhibitions ask us to reconsider art and political history through carefully crafted works of art that elevate often-overlooked stories and materials.”
“The Mona Lisa escaped from the Louvre to catch the occasion, braving the rain along with an expected 300,000 Parisians and visitors from around the world.”
Heaven Quiban, SAM’s Manager of Public Engagement, recently appeared on KING 5’s New Day NW to talk about Summer at SAM at the Olympic Sculpture Park. Watch the segment to hear about this free programming series and enjoy a performance by musician Alie Renee, who plays at the sculpture park with her band, BYLAND, on August 1.
“It’s a show that asks us to look again at SAM’s permanent collection and the nature of art itself, with our sense of humor engaged and our eyes wide open.”
“It looks like neon guts!” That’s 7-year-old art critic Cora on the exhibition for a sparkling “mother-daughter” review from Elizabeth Hunter for Seattle’s Child. In addition to more gems from her kids and their friend, Hunter shared insights from Carrie Dedon, SAM Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, and Ramzy Lakos, SAM Digital Interpretation Specialist, on how the art and in-gallery experiences will appeal to young visitors.
Local News
Seattle author Octavia Butler’s 1993 post-apocalyptic novel Parable of the Sower opens on July 20, 2024. The Stranger’s Charles Mudede thinks you should read it.
“Asked if the Stanley Museum of Art is confident that the works returned will be publicly accessible, Lauren Lessing, the director of the Stanley Museum of Art, says: ‘It is not my job to tell people what to do with their own possessions. The two works of art restituted were stolen from the Oba of Benin in 1897, and they belong to him.’”
Poke in the Eye: Art of the West Coast Counterculture is now on view at SAM! This homegrown exhibition features 87 ceramics, sculptures, paintings, and drawings from SAM’s collection—some of which are being shown for the first time. Throughout the run of the exhibition, we’ll be periodically sharing insight on a few of the eclectic artworks on view. Stay tuned for more object spotlights to come.
Poke in the Eye is all about encounters with the odd and unusual as well as challenging expectations of what you’ll find in a museum. Patti Warashina’s Red Hot Pot(1969) embodies this spirit with more than just tongue-in-cheek humor.
The shape of Red Hot Pot is not a standard form like the ceramic vessels that we use everyday. The large, curved rectangular white base with a black bottom edge resembles a toaster. But instead of toast emerging from this form, a bright pink tongue pops out from a pair of large red-orange lips and teeth. The shiny finish on the surface makes the lips look picture-perfect, glossy, and red hot, as the title says.
Red Hot Pot is part of Warashina’s Basket and Loaf series where the forms (in this case a loaf) allude to themes of food and the kitchen, traditionally associated with women. Starting her career in the 1960s in a male-dominated art world and the rise of second wave feminism, Warashina often critiqued gender stereotypes and the sexualization of women’s bodies. Curvy vases have long been associated with women’s bodies and their reproductive capabilities, as vessels that can be filled. Warashina’s Faucet Pot(ca. 1966),also on view in Poke in the Eye, critiques this symbolism explicitly.
Likewise, the plump lips of Red Hot Pot mimic a seductively red mouth, but the tongue sticking out seems like an act of defiance. The lips aren’t blowing a kiss, but are drawn into a smile, poking fun at us for looking.
In isolating the lips and removing the rest of the face, Warashina draws attention to how sexualized a woman’s mouth can be, but also makes it more peculiar in this context. Warashina was inspired by Surrealist artists like Rene Magritte and Marcel Duchamp who are known for their strange, dreamlike scenarios that demand we inspect the mundane more closely.1Red Hot Pot is definitely dreamlike, or maybe nightmare-ish, adding a mouth to this inanimate object.
Talking about her work recently, Warshina said, “I like things that are not quite right, they’re kind of loony… The parts and pieces fit together and if they kind of go against each other that’s even better. You know, I don’t like things to be too logical. I like things that are kind of disturbed.”2
Warashina grew up in Spokane, Washington where her father, a Japanese immigrant, and her mother, a second-generation Japanese American, encouraged her education. However, they didn’t envision Warashina becoming an artist, and neither did she. Warahina attended the University of Washington intending to get a practical degree to work as a dental hygienist. When she took her first elective art classes, however, she fell in love with clay and experimenting with its techniques. Warashina returned to teach at the University of Washington from 1970 to 1995. In 2024, she received the UW Alumni Association’s Golden Graduate Distinguished Alumnus Award.3
Throughout her career, Warashina was inspired by her fellow artists, especially those on the West Coast like Peter Voulkos, Viola Frey, David Gilhooly, and Howard Kottler, who were exploring different ceramic techniques, modes of humor, and figurative forms. Abstract art had become a dominant force in the art world, especially on the East Coast, with Abstract Expressionism from artists like Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothkoand Minimalism from the likes of Donald Judd and Frank Stella. However, art departments at universities like the University of California, Davis, UC Berkeley, and the University of Washington became hubs for alternative approaches, rejecting abstraction, and typical materials like paint and canvas.
Art history in Europe and the US has tended to focus on paintings and sculpture (usually carving from marble or stone), Meanwhile, more everyday and functional materials like textiles and ceramics have been relegated to the category of “craft.” But many of the artists in Poke in the Eye like Patti Warashina pushed ceramics, and other materials like fiber and neon, to new possibilities and built the art world of today that recognizes extraordinary artists in any medium.
When talking about the divide between what is art and what is not, Warashina defined it for herself: “When I come in and I see something that raises my blood pressure, then I know that there is something more than just a bowl or a sculpture or a painting. It makes me react to the painting chemically in my body. And that’s when I know—or music, you know. It makes my body react. And that is my way of judging whether, I guess, quote, whether it’s art or not… It alters your being.”4
Red Hot Pot, though it might cause confusion, discomfort, or even a laugh, provokes a reaction and that is what Warashina is looking for. To hear more from Patti Warashina herself, watch her recent SAM Talks conversation with Carrie Dedon, SAM Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Calder: In Motion, The Shirley Family Collection debuted last fall, but we’re still spinning with excitement about this transformative gift of art by Alexander Calder to the collection. This inaugural exhibition is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see all 45 seminal works gifted to SAM on view together. Now, there’s even more reason to check out Calder: In Motion for the first, second, or tenth time following our recent announcement of the exhibition’s extension through Sunday, October 20. Here, we remind you of all the ways you can experience this exhibition and deepen your appreciation of this collection and the stories it tells.
Website The exhibition microsite is the online home for all things Calder at SAM and offers a robust portal for exploration. The site details the story of the collection’s formation, includes information on each collection object, features a “surprise me” button that randomly selects an object to explore, and highlights the life and career of the artist. Check it out at visitsam.org/calder!
Smartphone Tour The exhibition audio guide, produced by SAM and available via smartphone, features collector Jon Shirley’s reflections on his 35-year journey of collecting Calder’s works, and object spotlights by Alexander S. C. Rower, Calder’s grandson and the President of the Calder Foundation; Kennedy Yanko, a painter-sculptor based in Bushwick, Brooklyn, who works in acrylic paint skin and metal to explore the limits of material gesture; and José Carlos Diaz, exhibition curator and SAM Susan Brotman Deputy Director for Art.
Catalogue The clothbound hardcover catalogue is a stunning keepsake that introduces you to the Shirley Family Collection. Fully illustrated with 102 dazzling images, it features contributions from Jon Shirley, Alexander S. C. Rower, José Carlos Diaz, and Elizabeth Hutton Turner, a Calder scholar and University Professor in the Department of Art, University of Virginia. It’s available in person or online at SAM Shop.
SAM Soundtracks SAM created a playlist, available via three music platforms, that features tracks from Calder’s own collection of jazz, world, and avant-garde music. Wander the Calder galleries while you listen, or put it on anytime to engage with Calder’s creative mind. Find the link via QR code in the galleries or on SAM’s Calder microsite.
Exciting Events & Tours Since the exhibition’s opening, SAM has hosted various events—including Balancing Act: A Calder Family Festival, SAM Open House, and the Calder Symposium—which offer new and thoughtful ways to engage with Calder’s art. Keep an eye out for additional upcoming Calder-related events on our website. Plus, SAM docents offer guided tours of Calder: In Motion every Saturday and Sunday at the Seattle Art Museum. They’re free with museum admission!
This article first appeared in the February through May 2024 edition of SAM Magazine and has been edited for our online readers. Become a SAM member today to receive our quarterly magazine delivered directly to your mailbox and other exclusive member perks!
SAM’s Teen Arts Group (TAG) is an intensive internship program for high school-aged youth who are eager to learn about themselves and the world through art, and are excited to make SAM a fun and engaging space for teens. TAG members meet weekly from October to May to learn about the behind-the-scenes work of an art museum, lead engaging gallery tours, plan Teen Night Out, and so much more. TAG Talks is an ongoing SAM Blog series on SAM Blog that serves as a space for SAM’s teen leaders to express themselves and their love of art. Keep up with all TAG adventures by following @samteens on Instagram and stay tuned for more TAG Talks to come!
When it was announced that this year’s cohort of Teen Arts Group leaders would be making an audio guide for American Art: The Stories We Carry as our long-term project for the year, I was a bit nervous. I had never written a podcast or script before—and definitely not an audio guide. The idea of something I made being displayed for hundreds (maybe thousands!) of people to access was both intimidating and exciting! I was thrilled to try something new as well as test my creativity skills by developing something that guests at the museum could use to further enjoy the art. After finding out it would be something we work on in pairs, I felt more at ease as I usually work better and more efficiently in pairs than I do by myself.
I was lucky enough to be paired with Lila, another Teen Arts Group leader who had amazing ideas for the entirety of the project! She initiated the plan of having a conversation between us that consisted of analyzing the tones and impacts of the artworks we were assigned to discuss. She also proposed the idea of presenting the conversation as a podcast episode, which greatly contributed to the engaging and enjoyable demeanor of the final audio guide. Other folks that played instrumental roles on the audio guide as editors, recorders, and overall awesome people were Cristina Cano-Calhoun, SAM Museum Educator for Youth Programs, Ramzy, SAM Digital Interpretation Specialist, and Sasha Falsberg, SAM Audio Visual Technician! They greatly helped us make an audio guide that was polished, well-made, and fun to listen to. Each time new edits were made to our script, they always had the most helpful feedback and creative new ideas to add!
One of the most memorable moments I had working on the audio guide was when it came time to record. This was the part that I was especially nervous about, as I was sure I wouldn’t be very good at recording something like this. Lila and I were guided to the recording area where Sasha greeted us and introduced us to some of the equipment we would be using. It was a calm and cozy environment in the recording room; the lights were dimmed and there were soft objects all around, which helped ease my nerves. We introduced ourselves and recited our pre-written statements made for the audio guide that would be played first when listeners first entered SAM’s American art galleries.
Then, we got to recording our own stop: an analysis of 4 different landscape paintings displayed together on a wall to the right of the galleries’ entrance. We discussed the colors and saturation of each work, and how this affected the gallery’s overall tone. We spoke of the paintings’ differing depictions of water, whether it be an ocean, lake, pond, or a fisherman’s hut. All of our pieces showed various relationships between humans and water. Because of this, we wrapped up our stop by asking: “What would these paintings look like if humans did not exist?”
Our hope was that listeners would walk away from our stop with a new perspective on how humans have impacted our planet’s water, how we use it, and how we need it. I hope that those who listened to our stop will now notice the smaller elements of the artworks that may otherwise go unnoticed, such as the relationships between colors and how they impact the feel of the painting. Overall, I hope that listeners enjoy our audio guide, and I highly recommend anyone with—or without—an interest in art to visit the American art galleries at SAM and listen to our TAG Audio Guide!
– Ella Clark (she/her), 16, First-Year Teen Arts Group Leader
In the Studio highlights the private workspaces of local artists represented by SAM Gallery. For more than fifty years, SAM Gallery has supported artists from across the Pacific Northwest and provided private and corporate clients with a wide range of services, from purchasing their first work of art to building extensive collections. To browse a featured artist’s entire catalogue of artwork available for rent or purchase, visit SAM Gallery on the lower level of the Seattle Art Museum.
Artist Enid Smith Becker creates semi-abstracted landscape paintings that capture a mood or an emotion. Her cozy, sun-filled studio sits in the middle of a forest on the outskirts of Seattle. When we visit, the unfinished artwork on her easel depicts a beach scene with blue skies. At the bottom, the ocean’s waves are layered atop the primary scene. For Becker, this painting evokes hope. Her works serve as a bridge between viewers and the natural world.
Becker begins each new artwork by searching through her source photographs, selecting a photo, and making a quick sketch. She paints the background landscape first and then incorporates panels or layers that overlap the landscape, offering multiple views of the same subject. Her painting process begins more loose and abstract, but becomes more intricate as details emerge. Some paintings begin with a certain location and change as she paints. For example, when she began a painting from a photograph of the Skykomish River Valley, she decided the mountains in the photograph were too angular, so she softened them. Becker wants the viewer’s eyes to continuously move and explore the space in her paintings. She works to capture the nuance of color as it is seen in the world, most recently blending five colors of green to accurately capture the color of some trees she was painting. As she paints, she steps back or rotates her paintings, to see the sense of movement and balance in the work.
Becker’s creations focus on nature and the environment. She believes that art can remind people of their connection to the natural world and encourage them to protect the beaches and forests they love. See new artworks by Enid Smith Becker online or by visiting SAM Gallery.
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