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Win Tickets to see Thelma Schoonmaker!

Seattle Art Museum on Feb 28 2012

We’re still on an Oscar-high here at SAM, and to celebrate we’re giving away a pair of tickets to see a set of fab films (The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp and Peeping Tom) and as a big bonus you also get to see celebrated film editor Thelma Schoonmaker! It really doesn’t get better than this if you are into film.

Martin Scorcese’s Oscar-winning editor and the widow of director Michael Powell will will present the West Coast premiere of Powell and Pressburger’s freshly restored The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, as well as Powell’s latest masterpiece, Peeping Tom. Schoonmaker will introduce both films and answer audience questions. And all you have to do to win tickets is to answer the below question correctly by 5 pm Thursday, March 1. From the correct answers we’ll randomly select and announce the winner on Friday, March 2.

Thelma Schoonmaker and Martin Scorcese first worked together at:

A. Woodstock

B. The Newport Jazz Festival

C. A Shakespeare in Central Park production of Macbeth

D. The Monterey Pop Festival

Give us your best guess – good luck!

– Calandra Childers, Communications Manager

SAM Art: A Red Rothko

Seattle Art Museum on Feb 28 2012

“What do you see?”

This question creates the framework for John Logan’s play Red (currently running at the Seattle Rep), centered on painter Mark Rothko; it also provides a point of departure for an investigation of Rothko’s painting.

Rothko had worked in a traditional, figural mode early in his career, and dabbled in surrealism for a time, before finally arriving at his signature composition of pulsing blocks of color. For different viewers, the forms which emerge are stubbornly objective, ranging from biota to landscapes, humans to storm clouds. However, the strong verticality of works such as this resolutely assert their abstraction, mesmerizing viewers with a maintained focus on color and light.

#10, 1952, Mark Rothko (American, born Russia, 1903-1970), oil on canvas, 81 3/4 x 42 1/2 x 2 1/4 in., Partial and promised gift of Bagley and Virginia Wright, 91.98. © 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.Currently on view in the Modern and Contemporary art galleries, third floor, SAM downtown.

Photo Scavenger Hunt at SAM Remix

Seattle Art Museum on Feb 22 2012

How could the late-night creative explosion of art, music, dancing and performances known as SAM Remix get any better?

We’re giving away an incredible Gauguin & Polynesia prize package from the Inn at the Market at Remix!

Inn at the Market is the only hotel located in downtown Seattle’s beloved Pike Place Market. Recognized by Travel + Leisure and Condé Nast, the Inn at the Market offers a signature Seattle experience treasured by visitors and locals alike. The prize package includes:

Overnight accommodations at the Inn at the Market in a water view room
Two VIP tickets to Gauguin & Polynesia: An Elusive Paradise at the Seattle Art Museum
Special amenity from The Chocolate Box
Complimentary valet parking until 5 pm the day of departure

So how do you win this fabulous prize from the Inn at the Market? Take part in the Remix photo scavenger hunt! Simply take a photo of the 5 Remix activities listed below and tweet each photo to @iheartsam with the hashtag #SAMRemix.

Harpist and poet Monica Schley improvising spoken word, music and vocals in the 4th floor Baroque galleries
DJ Supreme La Rock spinning in the Brotman Forum
Cut-paper paradise by artist Celeste Cooning in the Think Tank on the 2nd Floor
The Record Store in the Arnold Board Room
Self-portraits in the Chase Open Studio with artists Jeanne Dodds and Elizabeth Humphrey

Everyone who completes the photo scavenger hunt will be entered to win the Gauguin & Polynesia prize package from the Inn at the Market. The winner will be announced on SAM’s Twitter feed on February 27 at 12 pm. Good luck and have fun at Remix!

Special thanks to the Inn at the Market for its generous prize donation. Go ahead and like them on Facebook.

Get Ready for Remix!

Seattle Art Museum on Feb 22 2012

Erin Langner and Greg Sandoval

SAM’s quarterly late-night party Remix is right around the corner and preparations are underway here at SAM. The masterminds behind Remix, Greg Sandoval, Manager of Adult Public Programs, and Erin Langner, Assistant Program Manager in Education and Public Programs, are busy finalizing the exciting programs for this Friday’s festivities. In this interview, the two give a sneak peek of what you’ll find at this Remix!

Read More

SAM Art: White Writing

Seattle Art Museum on Feb 22 2012

The visualization of night and light evolved in the art of Mark Tobey in the early 1940s from what was for him a heightened sensitivity to the impulses of the modern world. His motivation, he declared, was to paint something felt, not something seen: the energies of the modern city at night, for instance, and those indefinable force fields whose radiance is only detected in the dark, sparkling energies that, while potentially explosive, might also suggest human intellectual and spiritual enlightenment. Tobey’s distinctive approach to painting came to be called “white writing”—an obsessive, dense, calligraphic style that seems akin to ancient symbolic expression, like characters scratched into the surfaces of black obsidian or clay tablets. Tobey’s white lines on dark surfaces perfectly convey forces that are familiar to us all—like meteor showers in the night sky, for example—and that we appreciate as some of the most ravishing and mysterious occurrences in nature.

Mark Tobey, White Writing with Patricia Junker

Members Art History Lecture Series: New Perspectives
February 22, 2012
7:00–9:00 pm
Plestcheeff Auditorium, SAM downtown

SOLD OUT

White Night, 1942, Mark Tobey (American, 1890–1976), tempera on paperboard mounted on composition board, 22 ¼ x 14 in., Gift of Mrs. Berthe Poncy Jacobson, 62.78. Photo: Paul Macapia, © Mark Tobey Estate/Seattle Art Museum. Currently on view in the Modern American art galleries, third floor, SAM downtown.

Japanese Internment Remembered at Final Weekend of “Painting Seattle”

Seattle Art Museum on Feb 15 2012

In recognition of Remembrance Day on February 19, guest curator Barbara Johns will give an exhibition tour of Painting Seattle: Kamekichi Tokita and Kenjiro Nomura on Saturday, February 18, at 11 am.

Remembrance Day marks the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, which enabled the U.S. military to forcibly relocate anyone considered threatening to national security. The order resulted in the incarceration of 120,000 people of Japanese descent, two-thirds of whom were American born citizens, the children and grandchildren of the Japanese immigrant generation. Even as the order was signed, ranking officials understood that there were no grounds to suspect and hold an entire population. This year is the 70th anniversary of the signing.

The circumstances leading to the signing and the impact on peoples’ lives is movingly recounted in Tokita’s diary, which is published in Signs of Home: The Paintings and Wartime Diary of Kamekichi Tokita. Two of his paintings from the Minidoka Relocation Center are included in the exhibition.

Admission to the Seattle Asian Art Museum will be free on February 19—also the last day of Painting Seattle—in further recognition of the importance of the day.

Self-portrait, ca. 1936, oil on canvas, Kamekichi Tokita American (born in Japan), 1897-1946, 21 x 17 in., collection of Shokichi and Elsie Y. Tokita.

Spend Your Mid-Winter Break at SAM!

Seattle Art Museum on Feb 15 2012

In honor of Presidents Day and Mid-Winter Break, SAM is open extended hours over the week of February 20-24. We hope you can take advantage of this time to visit Gauguin & Polynesia: An Elusive Paradise. Michael Church, arts writer at The Seattle Times, said, “Dazzling is the defining word for the extraordinary display of work by Paul Gauguin at the Seattle Art Museum.” Please note that tickets are reduced by $3 from 5-9 pm every day!

Monday, February 20: SAM is open 10 am – 9 pm.
Tuesday, February 21: SAM is open 10 am – 9 pm.
Wednesday, February 22: SAM is open 10 am – 9 pm. Check out a free exhibition talk by curator Pam McClusky at the Seattle Central Library.
Thursday, February 23: SAM is open 10 am – 9 pm. The François Truffaut film series continues with Two English Girls at 7:30 pm.
Friday, February 24: SAM is open 10 am – 6 pm. The late-night art explosion SAM Remix is 7:30 pm – 12:30 am.

Docent-led tours of the Gauguin & Polynesia exhibition are featured every day at 1 pm and 2 pm and are included with your admission ticket.

Drop-in art activities for kids are available in the Chase Open Studio. Visit the galleries and then make your own masterpiece to take home!

Everyone deserves a bit of paradise. Escape the gray of winter at the Seattle Art Museum!

For the Love of Art

Seattle Art Museum on Feb 14 2012

Valentine’s Day 2012

Like many couples looking for the perfect Valentine’s Day date, Gary and Dannie Bollinger-Smith came to the Seattle Art Museum this morning to see the Gauguin & Polynesia exhibition. However, what makes these two unique is that it’s their 26^thValentine’s Day together.

SAM Art: Happy Valentine’s Day

Seattle Art Museum on Feb 14 2012

The corkscrew form of this robust figure invites the viewer to walk around it and see it from all angles. This serpentine construction embodied the thinking of Michelangelo and other sixteenth-century theorists who believed that “a figure has its highest grace and eloquence when it is seen in movement.”

In 1998 this Cupid underwent surgery to remove his wings, appendages which had been considerably retouched over time.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Cupid (left: prior to 1998; right: after 1998), ca. 1580, Giambologna (Flemish, active Italy, 1529-1608), or Pietro Francavilla (Flemish, 1548-1615), marble, 29 x 12 x 11 in., Samuel H. Kress Collection, 61.177. Currently on view in the European art galleries, fourth floor, SAM downtown.

“Book of Shadows” Installation at SAM Gallery

Seattle Art Museum on Feb 14 2012

When peering into the SAM Gallery window display on 3rd and University, one gets a sense of witnessing a moment suspended in time. There are stacks of reference books covered in powdered graphite and ink placed amongst graphics of fallen leaves scattered under hand colored brick walls. It looks as if they’ve been lying around for years, left behind and somehow preserved from deteriorating. The installation is titled BOOK of SHADOWS: A Hidden Hagiography of New Mystics, by artists Dan Hawkins, No Touching Ground and NKO.

Gauguin & Polynesia Opening Weekend Activities

Seattle Art Museum on Feb 10 2012

Saturday, February 11
Celebrate the opening of Gauguin and Polynesia: An Elusive Paradise at SAM with Tahitian dancing and drumming brought to you by Te Fare O Tamatoa and their peformance group Te’a rama! Be prepared to experience a Marquesan haka (a Polynesian traditional welcome) followed by additional performances.

Contours will be onsite providing temporary Polynesian-inspired tatoos to kids, teens and adults.

Polynesian temporary tattoos, 11 am–3 pm
Te Fare O Tamatoa Presents: Tahitian Drumming and Dancing by the Te’a rama performance group
–Haka (welcome and call to performance) in Brotman Forum at 11:30 am & 3 pm
-Performance in Plestcheeff Auditorium at noon & 3:30 pm

Te’a rama in action!

Sunday, February 12
The excitement surrounding the arrival of Gauguin and Polynesia to SAM, the only U.S. stop, continues with a special Tahitian concert performance by Halau Hula O Napualani & Kohala. Get a Polynesian-inspired temporary tattoo from Contours, who will be onsite from 11 am–3 pm.

Polynesian temporary tattoos, 11 am–3 pm
Halau Hula O Napualani and Koahala (Polynesian dance performance), in Brotman Forum at 11:30 am & 1:30 pm

And be sure to check out the traditional Polynesian welcome flower arrangement in Sarkowsky Hall.

Taking Home Gauguin

Seattle Art Museum on Feb 9 2012

It’s difficult to leave the Gauguin & Polynesia: An Elusive Paradise galleries; the vibrancy and serenity of the island-inspired exhibition is an oasis where guests can escape the gloom of a dreary Seattle winter. Fortunately, SAM SHOP has made it possible for everyone who can’t bring themselves to leave the islands to take home the spirit of the exhibition.

SAM Art: A Punny Head

Seattle Art Museum on Feb 7 2012

Arneson’s self-portraits mix irreverence, informality, and humor. From a distance this head looks suspiciously like a straightforward echo of a classical bronze, complete with empty eye sockets. Close inspection reveals that Arneson has ‘defaced’ it with such punning phrases as: “It Is eye; I am it; it is me; find this mind of mine.’ The wordplay continues on the pedestal, which is decorated with a daunting alphabetical list of ‘self’ adjective, beginning with ‘self-abased.’ ‘Me & My Self’ is impressed word by word on the four sides of the base. The artist created the pedestal for this self-portrait more than a decade after the work had entered the museum collection. The pedestal (on view, but not pictured here) is not only a structural support but adds another ironic twist to the composition.

This Head Is Mine, 1981, Robert Arneson, American, 1930-1992, bronze, 24 x 19 x 20 in., Gift of Manuel Neri (pedestal, not pictured: Gift of the Artist and Rena Bransten in memory of Howard Kottler), 84.222, © Robert Arneson. Currently on view in the Modern and Contemporary art galleries, third floor, SAM downtown.

Intrigue….Intrigued?

Seattle Art Museum on Feb 3 2012

Picasso and Gauguin are all well and good, but just you wait and see what the people behind these smash-hit exhibitions have to offer. SAM employees are combining their collective artistic prowess to present a multi-talented, multi-media creative explosion. Many of the dedicated employees, from all departments, started their careers at SAM because of their love of art. That love also often includes some serious artistic talent. What kind of talent you ask? See for yourself at Art/Not Terminal this February.

By Gordon Lambert

After hearing about fellow co-workers’ projects over the years, a small group of SAM employees decided it was high time that someone put all of this hidden talent together to present to the community the combined works of 37 artists working at SAM.

By Taggard Wood

Come support local artists at the Intrigue, Works by SAM Staff on view February 4–29.

Opening Night Reception
Saturday, February 4, 7–10 pm
Art Not Terminal Subterranean Room
Map courtesy of Microsoft Bing

Paul Klein will be performing througout the evening. DJ Transport will be mixing chill music all night long.

Artists on View

Allison Manch	Lindsey Dabek	Sara Osebold
Ann Waller	Lynda Swenson	Sarah Hollingsworth
Chris Keenan	Mark Thomas	Scott Roseburrough
Christina Park	Megan Harmon	Shannon McConnell
Courtney Harris	Monica Cavagnaro	Stephanie Battershell
Craig van den Bosch	Natasha Lewandrowski	Steve Kummerer
Emily Hicks	Phil Stoiber	Taggard Wood
George Nunes	Ray Price	Thomas Krueger
Gordon Lambert	Rebecca Bush	Tom Douglass
James Ghormley	Robert Wendt	Vaughn Meekins
Joe Finn	Rodger Greene	Wendy Wees
Jonathan MacKinnon	Roy Stanton
Joshua Gosovich	Rush Fay

-Emily Eddy, Donor Services Representative

Top photo: Christina Park

SAM Scavenger Hunt on Twitter!

Seattle Art Museum on Feb 2 2012

At tonight’s KOMO News meetup, there will be a Twitter scavenger hunt through the SAM Collection Galleries. The three images below are segments of pieces SAM is currently showcasing. Take a photo of yourself with each piece and tweet it to @iheartSAM with the hashtag #KOMOatSAM. Everyone who correctly identifies all three pieces of artwork will be entered to win two tickets to see Gauguin & Polynesia: An Elusive Paradise and will receive a free exhibition poster!

The images can be found on the @iheartSAM Twitter feed. After tweeting your images, come to the meetup registration desk in the Brotman Forum to claim your free poster. Best of luck!

Lots of Free Fun for February’s First Thursday!

Seattle Art Museum on Feb 1 2012

All of these events on February 2 are free and open to the public. For more information, please visit SAM’s website at seattleartmuseum.org.

Ladies Musical Club Recital
Noon-1 pm
Pletscheeff Auditorium, SAM Downtown
Seattle’s oldest arts organization presents an afternoon of classical music performed by club members and special guests. This month’s performance features Selina Chu (piano), Karin McCullough (piano) and Catherine Treadgold (mezzo-soprano).

KOMO News Meetup
6-8 pm
Brotman Forum, SAM Downtown
Join KOMO News at SAM Downtown for drinks, music, prize giveaways and great art! Admission to SAM’s Collection Galleries will be free, including one of our newest exhibitions, Theaster Gates: The Listening Room. Incorporating a vast array of disciplines, Theaster Gates’ solo exhibition at SAM will transform the gallery with cultural ephemera. Coupled with objects and architectural elements that elicit stories through every day practices, the backbone of the installation will be a collection of vinyl records that reflect cultural and social currents of the 60s, 70s and 80s. Every First Thursday, a DJ will be spinning and a volunteer archivist will be recording those mixes.

Theaster Gates: To Play a People’s Music
6:30 pm
Kane Hall 120, University of Washington Seattle Campus
The Seattle Art Museum and the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments are bringing Theaster Gates back to Seattle for a free lecture. Gates provided the following description for his talk: “This night, we will play and sing songs. We will reflect and breathe together. We will remember why sentiment was a necessary political tactic. The nostalgic, the desperate and the mundane worked perfectly for love, revolution and trans-national belief accumulation. It is melodic word, not just the spoken, that gives soul-power. Sound all alone has done so much. I want to be funk and gospel and soul. I am curious about yourselves and how the podium might move us all if we ride together. 2 turntables and a mic recomposed. Maybe.”

Food and Faith in Japan Lecture Series
Modernizing Mochi: From Divine Mirror to Frozen Treat
7-8 pm
Stimson Auditorium, Seattle Asian Art Museum
Independent anthropologist and artist Julia Harrision will look at the many forms, flavors, and cultural roles assigned to mochi, a traditional Japanese food made of pounded rice, and the technological, historical, and religious factors that influence how mochi is made and consumed.

10 Tips for Your Trip to “Gauguin & Polynesia”

Seattle Art Museum on Jan 31 2012

1. ADJUST TO ISLAND TIME
Starting February 9, SAM Downtown has extended open hours to make it easy to see Gauguin & Polynesia: An Elusive Paradise.

Tuesday–Sunday 10 am–5 pm
Thursday & Friday 10 am–9 pm
First Thursdays (March 1 & April 5) 10 am-midnight

Closed Mondays
(except Presidents Day & select Members-Only Mondays)

After the exhibition closes on April 29, the museum will resume Wednesday–Sunday open hours.

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

2. BEAT THE LINES, BUY ONLINE
Online ticketing, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

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

Okay, so that’s only three, but you have to admit, they’re pretty good!

Sold out online? Don’t worry!
If your preferred time is already sold out online, you may still be admitted by showing up in person. A limited number of day-of tickets will be available— first-come, first-served—at the Ticketing Desk.

Visit seattleartmuseum.org/gauguin to check ticket availability. SAM’s Facebook page and Twitter feed will also have updates about tickets, lines and other exhibition news.

3. SAVE SAVE SAVE
Regular-priced Gauguin & Polynesia tickets include entrance to the SAM Collection Galleries Downtown and FREE admission to the Seattle Asian Art Museum within one week. There are no extra fees for online orders.

SAM Members, Children (12 & under) FREE!
Adults            $23
Seniors (62+), Military (with ID)           $20
Students (with ID), Teens (13–17)        $18

Visit First Thursdays and Fridays & Save
Admission price discounts on First Thursdays and First Fridays will be available during Gauguin & Polynesia. Visit seattleartmuseum.org/gauguin for details.

Avoid the Crowds & Save
On Thursday and Friday nights, 5–9 pm, ticket prices are reduced by $3 for everyone and lines are likely to be shorter.

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

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

4. GO! GAUGUIN & SAVE MORE
When you buy your tickets online, you’ll get a link in your confirmation email leading to an online coupon good for great discounts from participating retailers, restaurants, and art and cultural institutions. It’s a city-wide celebration of Gauguin & Polynesia which means fun offers and super savings for you.

5. ARRIVE EARLY AND STAY AS LONG AS YOU LIKE
Gauguin & Polynesia is in the Simonyi Special Exhibition Galleries on the Fourth Floor. Please arrive 10–15 minutes before the time listed on your ticket. You must enter the galleries no more than 20 minutes after your specified time, or your reservation will be released. There is no re-entry into Gauguin & Polynesia, but once admitted you may stay as long as you wish.

Don’t forget!
You are welcome to explore the 35 international SAM Collection Galleries before or after your visit to see Gauguin & Polynesia. And, remember to bring your special exhibition ticket within one week to the Seattle Asian Art Museum and enjoy FREE admission to our recognized Asian art collection.

6. DOWNLOAD FOR FREE
The Seattle Art Museum and Acoustiguide have developed an insightful audio guide with commentary about selected works in the exhibition. Download the podcast or iPhone/Android application to your digital device at seattleartmuseum.org/gauguin prior to your visit to the museum.

Don’t have your own digital device?
FREE audio wands are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Audio guides for no and low vision visitors are also available.

7. SHOP ‘TIL YOU DROP
Want to pick up a bit of the Pacific Islands? Or maybe find that special gift? Expect the unexpected at SAM SHOP, where playful, modern and worldly wares are the norm.

8. FEED & WATER REGULARLY
Don’t forget to fill up beforehand—food and beverages are not allowed in the galleries. May we suggest TASTE Restaurant? TASTE features artistic, locally-focused food, including menu items inspired by Pacific Island cuisine. Reserve your table to coincide with your gallery visit at opentable.com.

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

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

10. SNEAK A PEEK
See a preview of the works and learn more about Gauguin’s life, his art and his search for the exotic at seattleartmuseum.org/gauguin

Photo credit: Madeline Moy

Final listening party at SAM’s Record Store

Seattle Art Museum on Jan 31 2012

The final listening party at SAM’s Record Store will be held January 31 from 6:30-9 pm. Donna Moodie from Marjorie restaurant, Alan Maskin from Olson Kundig Architects and a host of other incredible people will be spinning choice cuts from their favorite albums in the Record Store collection. Don’t miss it!

The Record Store is a temporary extension of the Theaster Gates show housed in a storefront in Pioneer Square. A collaboration between SAM and Olson Kundig Architects, the Record Store is open for the general public to browse the robust collection of records and play albums for the entire store or listen in a small group.

While nothing is for sale in the store, the exchange of ideas and concerns is encouraged. The goal is for the Record Store to function as a cultural commons where ideas, issues and moments in time are discussed, debated or responded to.

The Record Store will feature a series of “listening parties” with guest DJs, artists, community folks, dancers, musicians, urban planners, activists, etc. Each “selector” will borrow from the same collection of LP’s or brings a few of their own records that act as the sound track that illustrates their ideas. Irruptions might take various forms including: debates, writing or dance classes, silent reading, tastings, workshops, to-do-lists or a sermon.

RECORD STORE LOCATION
[storefront] Olson Kundig Architects
406 Occidental Ave. S
Seattle, WA 98104

HOURS
Tues| Wed | Thurs
12 – 4 pm and 6:30 – 9:00 pm

Photo credit: Madeline Moy

Food and Faith in Japan

Seattle Art Museum on Jan 25 2012

A fascinating series of lectures will be offered at the Seattle Asian Art Museum on two topics that have increasingly entered the purview of art historians across the world: food and ritual in relation to art.

Japanese culture, both ancient and modern, is rich in elements of ritual display. Foods, drink, implements for ceremonial performance, and a wide range of display objects such as lacquer and ceramics are found on temple and shrine altars. Paintings extoll the sins and virtues of various foods—often in encoded visual subtexts. Mochi, which many of us know as a frozen ice cream treat, traces its origins to secular rituals for harvest or the New Year and religious rites in ancient Japan. Paintings in the Seattle Art Museum collections transport us back in time to the days when wrongly accused courtiers and statesmen took vengeance on the perpetrators of injustice and were pacified only by regular ceremonies at court or posthumous enshrinement at Shinto jinja.

Professor Cynthea J. Bogel (East Asian visual culture and art history, University of Washington) has organized colleagues, community, and students to form a creative collaboration that explores ritual, foods, objects of display, and medieval Japanese painting side by side. Working with the Simpson Center for the Humanities, the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle artist and cultural anthropologist Julia Harrison, and input from Seattle’s Asian-American artist and confectionary-making community, four lectures will be offered at the Seattle Asian Art Museum free of charge.

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SAM Art: Brendan Tang’s “Manga Ormolu”

Seattle Art Museum on Jan 25 2012

The new incarnation of Here and Now, the museum’s new acquisition space, focuses on recently acquired contemporary ceramics. The works now on view reveal their desire of bridging the past and present. These hybridized vessels express their synthesizing of visual histories from Eastern and Western cultures.

Focusing on the intermingling of stylistic traditions, Brendan Tang’s Manga Ormolu blends cultural references. Here, a dynamic robotic form seems to discard the skin of its prior form as a Chinese Ming dynasty vessel. The artist has said, “this narrative is personal: the hybridization of cultures mirrors my identity as an ethnically-mixed Asian Canadian. My family history is one of successive generations shedding the markers of ethnic identity in order to succeed in an adopted country—within a few generations this cultural filtration has spanned China, India, Trinidad, Ireland and Canada.”

Manga Ormolu version 5.0-h, 2010, Brendan Lee Satish Tang, Canadian, born in Ireland, 1975, ceramics, mixed media, 16 1/4 x 11 x 7 1/2 in., Margaret E. Fuller Purchase Fund, 2011.27, © Brendan Lee Satish Tang. Now on view in Here and Now, new acquisition gallery, third floor, SAM downtown.

Communications Team Preps for Gauguin & Polynesia Opening!

Seattle Art Museum on Jan 24 2012

Everybody at SAM is in a flurry to get the Gauguin & Polynesia exhibition ready to open to the public on February 9. Of course you know that we must hang paintings on walls, but what else is there to do? The answer is, lots! The Communications department is responsible for all printed materials at the museum (from the quarterly members newsletter SAMconnects, to invitations sent to 50,000 households, to the Map & Guide that get when you arrive), advertising and museum signage, so there’s no lack of things to do! Below you’ll see a big sign going up on the outside of the building, the tools we use for selecting the perfect color for our billboards, and one of our designers working away at her desk. What other behind-the-scenes images do you want to see?

-Calandra Childers, Communications Manager

Photo credits: Carlos Garcia

This is a gigantic PMS color chart, printed onto billboard material. Because colors can print differently on different material, our billboard rep provided us with this huge print out. We used it to make sure the two main colors of the campaign would match across all mediums.

Here you can see one of our graphic designers, Michele Bury, busily working on a new design. She’s creating the wall signage for the special Gauguin & Polynesia shop that will be located outside of the exhibition.

Top photo: Here you can see the special lift that is required to install this huge sign on the outside of the building at 1st Ave and Union St. The sign is 45′ x 36′ when it is complete! The image is of Gauguin’s Three Tahitians, a stunning work that’s become the signature piece for the exhibition promotion.

Record Store Listening Party Schedule for January 24-26

Seattle Art Museum on Jan 23 2012

TUESDAY, JANUARY 24

6:30 – 9 pm
Selector: Eric Frederickson, Western Bridge/Seattle Arts Commission
Eric Fredericksen is the director of Western Bridge, Seattle and Chair of the Public Arts Committee for the Seattle Arts Commission. He has curated exhibitions at the Or Gallery, the Bodgers’ and Kludgers’ Co-operative Art Parlour, and the Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver. His exhibition Poste Restante has traveled to Artspeak, Vancouver; Limoncello, London; and the Henry Art Gallery, Seattle. His lecture and karaoke evening, “Karaoke and Authenticity,” has been presented at the TBA Festival, Portland; On the Boards, Seattle; and Instant Coffee Light Bar in Vancouver and Victoria, BC.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25

6:30 – 9 pm
Selector: Hollis Wong-Wear + Youth Speaks
Join Hollis Wong-Wear and the incredible voices of Youth Speaks as they get you writing, performing and chanting with them. When you mix young powerful voices, thousands of vinyl LPs and a few seasoned poets/community folks, the end result is a must see. So…come out.

“Hollis Wong-Wear is rebellious, whip-smart and outspoken is a rising star in the Northwest spoken-word poetry scene. She graduated from Seattle University with a degree in History and a minor in Global African Studies. When she’s not performing her work at poetry slams and open mics all over town, she can be found working as a mentor at the literary arts organization Youth Speaks Seattle.”

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26

6:30 – 9 PM
Selectors: Dean Sven Carlson and Brenda “DJ B” Walker of The Recording Academy
Dean Sven Carlson and Brenda “DJ B” Walker share a love of modern global music. Dean is known for his internationally syndicated radio program, Fusion Radio and for his work with the Decibel Festival. DJ B spins a weekly a mix of downtempo, hip hop, world jazz and Latin electronica for WOMR-Provincetown. As Recording Academy governors, they proudly dedicated their night to MusiCares, which provides a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need. MusiCares’ services and resources cover a wide range of financial, medical and personal emergencies, and each case is treated with integrity and confidentiality. MusiCares also focuses the resources and attention of the music industry on human service issues that directly impact the health and welfare of the music community.

RECORD STORE LOCATION
[storefront] Olson Kundig Architects
406 Occidental Ave. S
Seattle, WA 98104

HOURS
Tues| Wed | Thurs
12 – 4 pm and 6:30 – 9:00 pm

Celebrate the Olympic Sculpture Park’s 5th Birthday with Cupcakes, Caramels and Some Seriously Cool Hats

Seattle Art Museum on Jan 20 2012

It’s hard to believe, but the Olympic Sculpture Park is already 5 years old! By the numbers, that’s:

5 seasons that salmon have been able to rest in a protected area just off our beach after hatching
60 months of growth to the native plants, 1,800 sunsets over the Olympic Mountains
About 2.5 million people walking (and running!) through the park.

And that doesn’t even account for the art in the park – over 20 pieces of monumental sculpture sited on 9 acres, with new and temporary works installed regularly.

To celebrate this milestone, we’re inviting everyone to a FREE birthday party at the Olympic Sculpture Park’s PACCAR Pavilion on January 21 from 11 am – 3 pm!

We’ll be:

Handing out cupcakes and chocolate caramels (courtesy of TASTE Restaurant)
Giving away Olympic Sculpture Park T-shirts for kids (to the first 400)
Making birthday hats (with Mark di Suvero’s Bunyon’s Chess as inspiration)
Giving special tours of the park

What do we want for our birthday, you ask? Most importantly – you! But if you must, we’re accepting $5 donations to SAM’s Annual Fund, which helps SAM put on great exhibitions and programs. Come join us for fun and festivities!

Here’s vintage coverage by the Seattle Channel of the Olympic Sculpture Park’s opening day festivities on January 20, 2007.

-Madeline Moy, Digital Media Manager

Photo credit: Sean Fraser

Top photo: From left to right: SAM staffers Madeleine Dahl, Emily Eddy and Carlos Garcia model the birthday hats guests will have the opportunity to make at the Olympic Sculpture Park’s 5th birthday party.

SAM Art: SNOW on Wednesday!

Seattle Art Museum on Jan 17 2012

Today’s SAMart was going to focus on Robert Morris’ Box with the Sound of Its Own Making, the topic of curator Catharina Manchanda’s lecture on Wednesday. However, given the forecast for a storm, SAM’s 3 sites will be closed Wednesday, January 18. This lecture will now take place on Wednesday, July 11.

Stay warm, stay safe, and enjoy the snow!

Trail in the Snow, 1959, Paul Horiuchi, American, 1906-1999, casein on paper, 34 7/8 x 22 15/16 in., Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection, 60.58, © Estate of Paul Horiuchi. On view until mid-February at the Seattle Asian Art Museum, Volunteer Park.

Record Store Listening Party Schedule for January 16−19

Seattle Art Museum on Jan 16 2012

TUES | January 17

6:30 PM – Cancelled due to weather concerns!

Selectors: Jason Plourde and the Three Dollar Bill Cinema Family

Join Jason Plourde, the Programming Director for Seattle’s own Three Dollar Bill Cinema, for an evening of that you will never forget. Three Dollar Bill Cinema provides access to films by, for, and about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and their families, and a forum for LGBT filmmakers to share and discuss their work with audiences. We curate themed screenings throughout the year and produce programs in partnership with other arts, cultural, and service delivery organizations in the Greater Seattle area.

WED | January 18

Noon – Cancelled due to weather concerns!

Selector: Karen Toering, Cultural Worker

Karen Toering is back to man the store for the day! She is cultural worker who finds joy in the spaces where justice and art intersect. She is a grant-writing and development consultant for non-profit arts, cultural and social justice organizations. She is Director of GroundUP Organics, an urban farming and food justice program for youth and young adults. Her passion also includes film, where she Program Director of Seattle’s Langston Hughes African American Film Festival and founder of the Gary International Black Film Festival.

6:30 PM – Cancelled due to weather concerns!

Selector: Makoiyo Alley-Barnes and Makers of Note

THURS | January 19

Noon – Cancelled due to weather concerns!

Selectors: Seattle Art Museum Staff/Volunteers

6:30 PM – Cancelled due to weather concerns!

Selector: To Be Announced

RECORD STORE LOCATION
[storefront] Olson Kundig Architects
406 Occidental Ave. S
Seattle, WA 98104

HOURS
Tues| Wed | Thurs
12 – 4 pm and 6:30 – 9:00 pm

Meet Our Second PR and Social Media Intern

Seattle Art Museum on Jan 11 2012

As the second PR and Social Media Intern for the SAM this quarter, it would be best to introduce myself on first day of work. For me this internship is an opportunity to approach art and museums in a new manner from my previous experiences.

I was born and raised outside Chicago, a place which instilled in me a strong love cultural cities and a distaste for tedious flat landscape. For university, I moved to the Pacific Northwest, a region that beckoned me with mountains and a body of water more endless than Lake Michigan. After spending nearly two years abroad, I returned to Seattle and eventually to school at UW as a MA student in Art History.

SAM Art: Oceanic art, beyond the glass box

Seattle Art Museum on Jan 10 2012

Museums tend to collect what fits in a glass box, and lose sight of such intangible effects. In particular, Oceanic artists rely on and revere natural materials, many of which may decay or dissolve but are no less valued. In a new installation, Allyce Wood, a Seattle artist, was commissioned to reunite selections from the museum’s Oceanic collection with visual elements of artistic environments that were abandoned.

Terror is triggered by the sight of moving shields in Asmat fields. Bursting out of a dense forest, the shields signal oncoming combatants as they dodge and lunge forward, leaping swiftly and making zigzag movements to fend off opponents. In a region of lush verdant growth, the shields presented as “billboards” to announce that warfare was to begin.

War Shields (Jamasji), early 20th century, Irian Jaya, New Guinea, Asmat people, wood, lime, clay and fiber, Gift of Tom and Vicki Griffin, 2004.237, and Gift of Mark Groudine and Cynthia Putnam, 94.113 (right), installed with backdrop by Allyce Wood. Now on view in the NEW Oceanic Art Gallery, third floor, SAM downtown.

Artists explore themes of relocation and travel in “Journeys” at SAM Gallery

Seattle Art Museum on Jan 10 2012

How does travel affect and enhance our lives? How does it change us and our world view? These are questions for the ages—that no one can specifically answer but everyone, including artists, can ponder.

The influence of travel is central to SAM Gallery’s upcoming show Journeys.

Record Store Listening Party Schedule for January 10-13

Seattle Art Museum on Jan 9 2012

TUES | January 10

6:30 PM

Selector: Joshua Kohl, Degenerate Art Ensemble Co-Artistic Director/Co-Founder

Joshua Kohl has created original works for dance, silent film, concert ensembles, “classico-punk-big band” shows and street performances and has collaborated extensively on the creation of invented instruments used in DAE performances. Kohl has performed extensively throughout the U.S., as well as in the Netherlands, Italy, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Italy, and Germany, with the support of Arts International Fund for U.S. Artists and the Mid-Atlantic States Foundation’s U.S. Artists International. In addition to his work with Degenerate Art Ensemble, Kohl has created scores for the San Francisco-based dance theater company inkBoat; for a commissioned performance of c(h)ord (2008) at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco; Tale of Two Cities (2007) and Night Flight (2007–2009) for Seattle’s Book-It Repertory Theatre; as well as Twelfth Night (2007) and The Beard of Avon (2007) for Portland Center Stage. In spring 2011 Kohl will perform with Haruko Nishimura at the Center for Performance Research in New York City, and he will be in a residency with DAE at Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center: A Laboratory for Performance, Long Island, New York.

WED | January 11

6:30 PM

Jonathan Cunningham and Rich Jensen, Hollow Earth Radio, Last Night’s Mixtape, Metro Times Music Blog

Cunningham is bound to make you think, talk and move just as he does in on Hollow Earth Radio – the weekly radio show that features music and conversation connected to Seattle’s musical hot bed known as the Central District. Broadcasts “could include anything from Jimi Hendrix to Ernestine Anderson to Ray Charles to Vitamin D to Shabazz Palaces to Wheedle’s Groove or a conversation about gentrification…they aim to unearth a local gem each week from yesteryear that more contemporary listeners need to know.”

THURS | January 12

6:30 PM

Selectors: Randy Engstrom, Founding Director of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center and Chair, Seattle Arts Commission and a Few Good Friends

Randy Engstrom is a dynamic arts leader with a vision for the new frontier. Originally from Chicago, he first arrived in the west in 1995 to attend Evergreen State College and moved on to Seattle post-graduation. During his time in the Pacific Northwest region he has helped found numerous creative ventures and organizations including serving as the Founding Director of the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center and Chair of the Seattle Arts Commission. Randy continues to develop innovative programs that help support and nurture vibrant communities through his consulting practice, Reflex Strategies.

RECORD STORE LOCATION
[storefront] Olson Kundig Architects
406 Occidental Ave. S
Seattle, WA 98104

HOURS
Tues| Wed | Thurs
12 – 4 pm and 6:30 – 9:00 pm

SAM Art: Farewell to LUMINOUS

Seattle Art Museum on Jan 6 2012

For her final entry, Hattie Branch, Blakemore Intern, looks at a seemingly fearsome figure.

Although this mask now appears to be a piece of static sculpture, when it was in use the effect was the reverse. The mask originally had a back half, and tied together covered the entire head of the wearer. With the wearer’s costume pulled up high on the neck, the head-concealing mask gave the impression that the sculptures within the temple had descended from their pedestals to stride forth amidst the devotees. Masked processions very literally brought religious belief to life in a thrilling way.

Masked dance was introduced to Japan during the Nara Period (710-794 CE) as part of a massive importation of Korean and Chinese political and religious culture. Initially only used in court rituals, by the Kamakura Period (1185-1333), when this mask was made, masked dance had taken on many different forms. The Dragon King was used in Buddhist gyodo performances, processions of masked figures embodying divine being.

Sagara the Dragon King stylistically blends two characters from different schools of masked performance. In Buddhist gyodo, the character Sagara is one of the Eight Great Dragon Kings, part of the retinue of Amida Buddha. In bugaku, a type of popular non-religious masked drama, the same features are shared by the character of a Dragon King, a prince so handsome that he wore a fearsome mask in battle to frighten his enemies, and so that his beauty would not distract his allies. Over time, the two characters came to share the distinctive green skin, ferociously contorted face, bulging eyes, and the dragon rearing back atop his head. Sagara’s role as a religious guardian, here, is emphasized by his golden lotus crown, a symbol of purity in Buddhism. Sagara’s formidable visage gave the faithful confidence in his ability as a protector.

Gyodo mask of Dragon King, early 13th century, Japanese, Kamakura period (1185-1333), wood with lacquer, polychrome and gilt, 15 9/16 x 8 1/8 x 5 15/16 in., Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection, 68.110. On view in LUMINOUS: The Art of Asia, through Sunday 8 January.