This fall the Whatcom Museum partnered with three Squalicum High School AP English Language Arts classes on a new student art program, called Picturing Justice. The goal was to feature photographs that reflect student concerns about equality, justice, and equity. Students worked with a variety of community partners to prepare for the project. A visit to the Museum introduced students to looking closely at art. The Whatcom Dispute Resolution Center taught skills for empathetic discussions. Dr. Lauren McClanahan, Director of the Bellingham Youth Media Project, shared strategies for taking impactful photographs. Through these lessons, students learned how art, identity, and social justice connect together. They then identified a justice issue that spoke to their identities and experiences. Going out into their communities, they captured images that highlight causes they are passionate about. From climate change to racial justice, these images show the challenges affecting the lives of these rising community leaders. See these student works on display in the second-floor hallway of the Lightcatcher building.
Support of Picturing Justice is provided by Shirley Prichard, Squalicum High School English teacher; Whatcom Dispute Resolution Center; Dr. Lauren McClanahan, Director of the Bellingham Youth Media Project; and Dakota Art.
More than 70 students participated in the project and below is a selection of the submissions. To see them all and read their artist statements, visit the exhibit in the Museum’s Lightcatcher building!
Smudged
Asian culture has been pushed down and erased in America since the first time Asian immigrants stepped foot in America. Chinatowns, home to cultural traditions from all over Asia, face the gentrification of larger companies. Local businesses, from restaurants to hospitals, are pushed out by white-owned chain restaurants and large apartment complexes. Asian culture in America is actively being invaded and torn down by people who are blind to the community formed through shared culture; to the home Asian Americans find through coming together and sharing their traditions.
Growing up, I’ve been made fun of for “gross” school lunches my mom woke up early in the morning to pack for me. My name is mispronounced persistently, and there are times I don’t even think to correct it. In my photo, I used a glass window to reflect an image of a barbie against a doll dressed in traditional clothing, representing the contrast between Asian culture and expectations for Asian Americans. The barbie is blurry—a clouded image of someone untrue to oneself, an expectation—whereas the doll behind the window stands her ground. If her identity were to be stripped away, her culture and way of life are still there, simply pushed away. The culture forced upon her, a blurry reflection, is the one unfamiliar to her. My purpose with this photograph is to encourage the audience to be more accepting of cultures they aren’t used to, even in the small actions they take when presented with unfamiliar customs.
Action Statement: I can be unapologetically proud of the culturally diverse aspects of my family, from food to linguistic differences. We can respect cultural hubs such as Chinatowns as places for Asian communities to come together and celebrate their culture.
A Field of Broken Glass
I took this photo in Brazil while I was volunteering with Athletes in Action. Most of this photo is of the open sky framed with a beautiful sunset reflecting off the clouds. As you look closer at this image you see the apartment complex and finally the soccer field. At first people don’t see a soccer field, or at least one that is recognizable to them. This field is all that this community in Teresina Piaui has to offer for their athletes. I took this picture as the kids were taking a water break. As I looked around, some of them didn’t have shoes on and yet all I saw was smiles from the kids as this was their passion. It was enough. I reflected on the photo I had taken that night and realized that there needs to be a movement for equal access to sports and equipment globally. I had only ever played soccer on a beautiful turf field with a pair of cleats that fit me. I don’t even like soccer and yet I had such easy access. For the youth in Teresina soccer is their life and passion and are forced to play on a field filled with sand and glass. My hope is that this image draws attention to the fact that there is a need for equal access to materials and I would encourage more support for programs like Athletes in Action that are helping provide materials for everyone.
Action Statement: I plan to return to Brazil this summer to help provide resources and equipment as well as lead sports camps to help grow their athletic community. You can help to support this mission by aiding programs like “Athletes in Action” and by raising awareness of the unequal access to athletics on a global scale.
Trash
I found this image at a time when wildfire smoke filled the air. Dissatisfied with the weather, to summon fall, I went to a local park. Here, I found the image of what appeared to me like a leaf, melted onto the top of a trash can lid. I knew that it illuminated my thoughts on the environment exactly. I photographed the lid of the trashcan, using a top-down view to not reveal the entire object and to have the focus entirely on the melted part. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest and growing up surrounded by nature, makes it more infuriating to witness extreme heat and flooding that damages my community. I hope to invite the viewer to consider first what the image is and secondly how it came to be. The lid of a trash can melted in the image of something that looks entirely natural. There is a plethora of knowledge and wisdom to be gained by studying and connecting with the natural world. The viewers of my image will hopefully consider the immediacy of damages caused by climate change, both to the natural world and the human world.
Action Statement: I will vote for a politician who will value the health of the environment over the health of corporations.
Dresses
This image represents the slow death of a culture. My culture. The image shows two dresses hung up on a wall. Both dresses are different colors, the designs on the dress are fading but the colors are still vibrant. The dresses are traditional clothes worn every day in Pakistan. The fading design represents fading culture, but the bright colors represent the parts of culture that are being “Americanized”. Typically, second and third generations of immigrants no longer wear traditional garbs anymore. We now wear jeans and sweaters, which makes us slowly lose the culture of our homeland and connections to past generations. I think this is in part due to a fear of not fitting in, of not being “American” enough. Due to this fear, we lose a part of ourselves, our history, our legacy, trying to be the “ideal” American.
As a person of color whose grandparents immigrated to the United States, I see myself slowly losing my culture. The first thing that went was the clothes. Both my parents no longer wearing traditional Pakistani clothing. The second thing that left was the language. My parents never passing it down to me due to being shamed for not speaking English. I hope this picture helps people to understand that one’s culture is important and worth saving, even when you’re afraid and shamed for being “different”. Instead, we should be proud.
Action Statement: I can encourage myself and other people to be more open-minded about wearing traditional clothing. We can normalize the representation of accurate traditional clothing in the media.
Safe Protesting
I took this image on November 7th at the Denver capital in Colorado as the Trump and Biden Presidential elections were happening. This was one of the first protests I’ve experienced as a young American and it scared me. I’ll be turning 18 in another year, and I want to be able to vote and protest peacefully. I fear that if we do not engage in peaceful protesting, protests will spiral out of control. We saw this happen at the Capital on January 6th, 2022. During this violent protest, five people were killed, as more than two thousand rioters attacked the capital building.
As I look at this image, I wonder about the future of protesting. Will there be armed guards at every corner? Will tear gas and riot shields be the norm? It’s not fair to young voters, like me, who want to safely express our right to speech, assembly, and expression of grievances. As a society we need to change our current approach to protests. We don’t need more riot armor, pepper spray, and rubber bullets. Instead, we need calm voices that are willing to express their needs peacefully and safely. Violence cannot be the only way to promote change.
Action Statement: I can lead by good example and encourage the people in my community to calmly and peacefully join in protesting for other social justice issues. You can refuse to participate in protests that are violent while talking to people that frequently join in protests and encourage them to stray away from actions of violence and hate in order to make a change.
Unlocking Vulnerability
I don’t take photos of my surroundings very often. But when I do, it’s because it has meaning to me. I like to see things and picture a deeper meaning to them. I photographed a picture of a small snippet of hundreds of lockets all connected to one fence. I took this photo only focusing on the lockets themselves because that’s where all the narrative is. People come from all over the world to see it. This picture was captured in Paris, France. I took this photo because it made me wonder about all the personal stories connected to each and everyone of those lockets. Most of them have an initial plus another. Who are these people that have a locket? Are they lovers? Parent and child? Friends? Each locket connects to a story of two individuals. Each person who is putting a locket on, is sharing a piece of themselves and their person. It’s vulnerable. Instead of locking away their love and compassion inside, they’re putting it on a locket, and into it. Each locket represents love shared between two. Its brave and unprotected in theory. But the love is protected by the strong metal locket that will never break open. I hope seeing this photo made you think about how brave it is to share yourself with others, and why it’s the strongest thing you really could do.
Action Statement: I can continue to advocate and show that being vulnerable is a strong emotion and makes you brave. We can encourage others to show their vulnerable side by normalizing vulnerability.
False Sense of Serenity
I took this picture with the idea of expressing the high expectations that every high schooler faces. Whether feeling pressure from coaches, teachers, parents, or peers, the universal truth is that society puts an overwhelming level of stress upon students. This year, I’ve taken on several difficult classes and joined many intensive extracurricular activities. This photo uses light and contrast in order to convey all the pressure students are under. I first started to understand the overwhelming expectations at the beginning of sophomore year, when I took AP US History, which, while being an extremely rewarding class, was difficult to succeed in as the workload was intense. This endeavor taught me how to be a successful and organized student, but for some, it soured them against school and caused them to give up. While students are constantly working, we are also still in the process of growing and learning and figuring out who we are. For some, these burdens cause overloads of stress, which can spark anxiety and other mental health issues. Mental health issues can lead to decreased focus, leading to lowered grades and decreased capacity for the normalized burdens. Adults often don’t understand this and keep pushing their children when that may be the worst thing that they can do. Many of my peers have suffered from this stress, and it can be very scary to go through this when one’s adults do not understand. It takes an incredible amount of creativity and stamina in order to succeed in the way that the adults in our lives want us to. I’ve had to come up with creative ways to complete the required amount of homework while still learning and doing my extracurriculars. I’ve mentally planned out essays while figuring out physics problems, practiced songs for choir while doing even more physics problems. While this photo may seem serene, the blaring light of the computer overshadows the real chaos on the desk. My current life is represented in this photo: Spanish and physics homework, pointe shoes on top of sheets and sheets of music. In spite of all of this, the photo seems serene. But if you look closely, under the surface, there is a storm of pressure. I hope that this photo helps to illuminate the incredible expectations for high schoolers, but to also provide understanding for the adults in our lives to have sympathy and compassion for us.
Action Statement: I can do this by changing my mindset about how I deal with my workload, from feeling stressed about all the things I need to do, to feeling grateful for having these opportunities. We can do this by changing the fundamental way society views college admissions by increasing societal understanding of the pressure that students face.
Tighter
I would always freak out when people asked me my dress or pant size. Negative self-talk would make its way to my head, eating me alive. Why did I think this way? When you look at your favorite TV shows or magazines, how thin are the women in them? I sadly couldn’t stop myself from comparing myself to them. And then, as I grew older, I realized that I wasn’t the only one comparing bodies, sadly lots of people do.
Orchids are beautiful. When one looks at orchids, no matter how colorful, big, small, tall, or short, if they have a pattern on their petals or not, they are always loved. Why can’t it be like that with women’s bodies? If you are a size too big you are called fat, a size too small you are seen as sick, if you are too tall you are a giraffe, and if you are too short you look like a child. These measurements get tighter and tighter until at one point the flowers can’t breathe, and they fall. Why do we want a world with the same flowers, when we could have a world with a breath-taking variety?
Action Statement: I can change the way I view myself by using affirmative language and appreciating more my body. We can break these standards by having more variety and inclusivity in social media, our communities, and our personal lives.
A Choice
Like many people my age, I have been consumed by social media. Social media has many issues, but I chose to represent one in my picture. With the spread of social media, so many options are shown to users. Whether it’s the opportunity to travel the world, or to pick up hundreds of new hobbies, the options become overwhelming to the point where sometimes it’s easier to just do nothing. By doing nothing, we start to get upset and frustrated that we can’t be productive, which causes us to shut down even more. This is known as the “Paradox of Choice”, where a person has so many options that the choice becomes stressful and hinders their decision-making. In my work, I overlayed two images. One of me lying in bed and the other of me sitting up in bed. This photo represents the way I feel when I am overwhelmed. Often, I have found myself in bed instead of finding something to do. I hope to let others who understand this feeling know that it’s okay to be overwhelmed easily, especially during a time where social media is controlling our lives.
Shedding Light
I want to comment on the ignorance and lack of empathy our society shows towards homeless people. I believe we should engage in justice-oriented acts for people struggling in situations like this. I captured this picture to remind everybody, including myself, that even in the beautiful parts of where we live, there are deep inequities that we need to solve. The longer we continue to avoid finding a solution for this concern, the more we risk it becoming a norm in our society.
My image is of a place near Civic Stadium. Nearly every day I drive to the Stadium—a place that holds community track meets, graduation celebrations, and lively concerts—yet…still, I freeze for a second as I glance at these homes that are overshadowed by Civic’s presence. As a community, we have enjoyed the space of Civic so much, without realizing the homeless that also take refuge in this space. My hope is that by examining this image, and how it juxtaposes the two spaces, our community will give this pressing inequity the attention it deserves. Actions need to be taken, because everyone deserves a home.
Action Statement: I can help this happen by engaging in homeless outreach programs, instead of pretending I don’t notice them. You can do this by calling attention to the homeless population and treating them like people, so that we all understand we need to find solutions around mental health & affordable housing.
Katazome Today presents contemporary visions of a unique and historically significant Japanese textile-dyeing process. Traditionally used for kimono dyeing, katazome involves the application of a rice-paste resist using special stencil papers with complex designs. Both the techniques of katazome, and those of the intricately hand carved stencil papers (katagami), have been passed down through generations of artisans over several centuries.
Although there is less demand for katazome products in Japan today, many artisans still practice it in its traditional form. The technique is increasingly gaining attention globally as contemporary artists explore katazome in new ways and see it as a form of artistic expression.
In this exhibition seven national and international artists share fresh perspectives on katazome through their current interpretations. They present a range of pictorial imagery, and non-traditional expressions such as large-scale installations and free-form painting techniques, relating katazome to themes of personal identity, shifting environments, and the globalization impacting the cultural landscapes of their home countries. The works preserve an endangered traditional technique while envisioning endless possibilities for dynamic cultural exchange.
Artists featured include Akemi Cohn (Illinois), Melinda Heal (Australia), Fumiyo Imafuku (Japan), Cheryl Lawrence (Washington), John Marshall (California), Yuken Teruya (Germany), and Mika Toba (Japan). Katazome Today is co-curated by Seiko A. Purdue, Professor in Fibers/Fabrics at Western Washington University and Amy Chaloupka, Curator of Art at the Whatcom Museum. A 48-page exhibition catalog highlights the artists’ work in depth and is available for purchase at the Museum Store. A print and digital version of our gallery guide is also available for more information.
Top image credit: Cheryl Lawrence; Snowstorm (diptych details), 2011. Katazome with indigo pigment on silk; 44 x 35 in. each panel. Courtesy of the artist.
Also on display:Daidai: Generation After Generation
Lightcatcher building Lighthall
Check out artworks created by Western Washington University’s Department of Art, ART360, Fibers & Fabrics class, led by Seiko A. Purdue. This collection of work is made using the traditional Japanese process of katazome and presented in the spirit of Daidai, a concept that expresses an appreciation for handing down valued techniques from generation to generation.
Support for Katazome Today is generously provided by Jean Andresen, the Whatcom Museum Foundation, the City of Bellingham, and Museum members. Funding for new work by Yuken Teruya is supported by Toshiaki Ogasawara Memorial Foundation, and for new work by Melinda Heal by artsACT project funding from the ACT Government. Additional support from a City of Bellingham Tourism Promotion Grant. Media sponsorship provided by Cascade Public Media KCTS-9.
The Whatcom Museum collects, safeguards, and makes accessible thousands of artifacts which we hold in trust for the community. But why keep this stuff? What do these artifacts tell us? The exhibition There Was a Time: Whimsical Relics & Eclectic Images will showcase a diversity of items from the Museum’s history collection and photo archives that rarely see the light of day. What these objects tell us about our shared sense of place, the past, and ultimately ourselves, is available for public interpretation. And it is a lot of fun!
Un/Natural Selections: Wildlife in Contemporary Art considers the diverse ways that contemporary artists employ animal imagery to address humanity’s interconnectedness and ever-changing relationship with the natural world. Comprising of approximately 50 artworks (c. 2000-2019) traveling exclusively from the permanent collection of the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, WY, this exhibition offers a wide range of works in a variety of media divided into four thematic sections: Tradition, Politics, Science, and Aesthetics. These sections act as overlapping chapters, investigating the ways we use animal imagery to tackle human concerns.
Un/Natural Selections is organized by the National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, Wyoming and generously sponsored by Art Bridges. Additional support provided by Heritage Bank, Jean Andresen, a Pandemic Relief Grant from ArtsWA (sub-granted from the National Endowment for the Arts), the Whatcom Museum Foundation, and the City of Bellingham. This exhibition is presented in both Spanish and English.
Member Preview Reception
Fri., Sept. 9, 5 – 7pm; Lightcatcher building
Members, join us for our opening reception and enjoy wine, appetizers, and music while getting a sneak peek of this exhibition.
Featured image (above): Julie Buffalohead (Enrolled Member of the Ponca Tribe, United States, b. 1972); Six-Pack Colonialism, 2018; Oil on canvas; 29.25 × 82 in. Gift of the 2019 Blacktail Gala, National Museum of Wildlife Art. © Julie Buffalohead. M2019.006
Selecciones Un/Natural: Arte Contemporáneo de Vida Silvestre compuesta exclusivamente de obras pertenecientes a la colección permanente del Museo Nacional de Arte de Vida Silvestre en Jackson, WY. Esta exposición ofrece una amplia variedad de obras en una diversidad de medios que se dividen en cuatro secciones temáticas: tradición, política, ciencia y estética. Estos campos actúan como capítulos superpuestos e investigan las maneras en que utilizamos la imaginería animal para afrontar preocupaciones humanas.
Selecciones Un/Natural fue organizado por el Museo Nacional de Arte de Vida Silvestre en Jackson, Wyoming y es generosamente patrocinado por Art Bridges, ArtsWA, Jean Andresen y Heritage Bank. La exhibición es presentado en español y ingles.
The Whatcom Museum acknowledges that we gather on the traditional territory of the Lhaq’temish – Lummi People – and the Nuxwsá7aq – Nooksack People – who have lived in the Coast Salish region from time immemorial. The Museum honors our relationship with all of our Coast Salish neighbors and our shared responsibilities to their homeland where we all reside today.
El Museo Whatcom reconoce que nos reunimos en el territorio tradicional de las personas Lummi y Nooksack, que han vivido en la región de Coast Salish desde tiempos inmemoriales. El Museo honra nuestra relación con todos nuestros vecinos de Coast Salish y nuestras responsabilidades compartidas con su tierra natal donde todos residimos hoy.
Shown for the first time here at the Whatcom Museum, this group of autobiographical paintings by Andrea Joyce Heimer reflect on states of loneliness, both in herself and in others.
Over the course of the pandemic the artist spent many hours in nature—as much as she once did in childhood. Having grown up in Montana, she is familiar with land that stretches out in all directions under a big sky and where pine covered mountains skirt brutally desolate badlands.
The Montana landscape is omnipresent in her densely populated, story-filled paintings. Each mountain, stream, prairie, and butte is as much a character in the work as the human figures that teem within.
Now a resident in Washington, where the impenetrable terrain emits a different kind of claustrophobic loneliness, the ferns, moss, mushrooms, and trees of this place make their way into her work. A multitude of encounters and experiences unfold through the varied painted scenes, leaving Heimer, as she puts it, “both bigger and smaller, more lost and more found.”
Learn more about Heimer’s work from Nino Mier Gallery in Los Angeles, CA, or visit her website, www.andreajoyceheimer.com.
In conjunction with Un/Natural Selections: Wildlife in Contemporary Art, five new additions to the Whatcom Museum Collection by Seattle artist Carl Chew will be on display in the Lightcatcher building first floor hallway. Carl Chew has long studied the world through an absurdist lens. Known primarily for his “mail art” and collage, in 2019 the artist decided to apply his wild imagination to our regional landscape. The resulting imagery feels immediately familiar, and upon further inspection, also highly produced. The symmetry and cathedral-like compositions begin to become clearer. These works beg the question, how do we as humans respond to nature, understand nature, and organize it for our own spiritual and aesthetic consumption?
Carl Chew; Skagit Delta: Wetlands, 2019; Archival inkjet on paper, Gift of the Artist; Whatcom Museum Collection.
In Chew’s artist statement he says: Every April for 37 years my wife and I have taken a birdwatching walk along Wiley Slough, where the South Fork of the Skagit River enters Puget Sound. The glimmering wetlands there, rich with wildlife diversity, are for me a mystical place. In 2019 I wondered if an artist who had devoted most of his career to imaginative curiosity and humor could create a body of work worthy of the natural setting found in the Skagit Delta. Through the use of symmetry and layering of up to 20 mixed media images in each work, I felt I was able to penetrate into a realm where crows and landscape could share their secrets. And as I began to look at and share my new creations with others, I realized that those “secrets” had different and profound meanings for each viewer. The grand scale of the delta seemed to also demand artwork on a grand scale, so I decided to make some large tapestries. I located a weaver in North Carolina with a Jacquard loom controlled by a computer which could take my digital files directly and we began working together. The current result of this endeavor is four different tapestries and eleven prints.
From string bands on steamboats in the 1890s to alternative/indie rock bands today, for more than 100 years Bellingham’s music scene has embraced genres ranging from folk to classical to rock and roll and beyond. Located between the big cities of Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, Bellingham was and continues to be the sweet spot for performers both well-known and up-and-coming, where they can share their music with appreciative listeners in a more intimate environment. This exhibit presents a timeline of the styles, musicians, and venues that helped put Bellingham on the “music map.”
“Seattle — what? New York — who cares? It’s all about Bellingham. That period of a year or two, I never wanted this scene to fall apart. I wanted this to live forever, because it felt so organic and special.” —Ben Gibbard, lead vocalist and guitarist, Death Cab for Cutie, The Seattle Times article “It’s all about Bellingham: How stars Death Cab for Cutie and ODESZA got their starts locally,” May 11, 2019, by Michael Rietmulder
How do you take something so personal, vibrant, experiential, emotional, exhilarating, engaging, creative, and ethereal and tack it on a wall? That’s the challenge the Museum faced when trying to tell the story of Bellingham’s music scene. Through archival material, photographs, personal papers, oral histories, and more, curators added layers to the incredible stories that make up Bellingham’s musical history. Sandwiched between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., it makes sense that singers, musicians, bands, and other performers would want to make a stop in Bellingham along their tour routes. Through the decades, our community has been able to experience a variety of performers and musical styles, sparking interest and curiosity—from classical to blues, jazz to opera, and folk to rock. We hope this exhibit offers a brief, but entertaining overview of Bellingham’s rich musical history, and legacy.
The Whatcom Museum acknowledges that we gather on the traditional territory of the Lhaq’temish – Lummi People – and the Nuxwsá7aq – Nooksack People – who have lived in the Coast Salish region from time immemorial. The Museum honors our relationship with all of our Coast Salish neighbors and our shared responsibilities to their homeland where we all reside today.
Bonnie MacLean was just fine with designing handbills and taking tickets at her husband’s music venue, The Fillmore. But a falling out between husband Bill Graham and poster artist Wes Wilson plunged her into the psychedelic art world of San Francisco in the mid-1960s. It was MacLean who stepped in to create posters promoting the bands who would become iconic with the counterculture movement of the time. MacLean initially borrowed from the Art Nouveau style of Wilson, but soon developed her own designs, featuring elaborate plumes, curving letters, and stoic faces. While MacLean was not recognized among the “big five” Haight-Ashbury poster artists who came to be associated with the iconography of the counterculture scene – Wes Wilson, Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelley, Victor Moscoso, and Rick Griffin – she stood out as one of the only women in the field. This exhibit pulls from the Museum’s incredible collection of psychedelic music posters from 1967.
The Whatcom Museum acknowledges that we gather on the traditional territory of the Lhaq’temish – Lummi People – and the Nuxwsá7aq – Nooksack People – who have lived in the Coast Salish region from time immemorial. The Museum honors our relationship with all of our Coast Salish neighbors and our shared responsibilities to their homeland where we all reside today.
Ideas about the American West, both in popular culture and in commonly accepted historical narratives, are often based on a past that never was, and fail to take into account important events that actually occurred. The exhibition Many Wests: Artists Shape an American Idea examines the perspectives of 48 modern and contemporary artists who offer a broader and more inclusive view of the West, which too often has been dominated by romanticized myths and Euro-American historical accounts.
This exhibition presents an opportunity to examine previous misconceptions, question racist clichés, and draw attention to the multiple communities and histories that continue to form this iconic region of the United States. Working in various media, from painting and sculpture to photography and mixed media, the artists featured bring a nuanced and multifaceted history into view. Many Wests highlights many voices, including artists who identify as Black, Indigenous, Asian American, Latinx, and LGBTQ+, who stake a claim in the American West.
The exhibition is presented in both English and Spanish, and organized around three central themes, Caretakers, Memory Makers, and Boundary Breakers. “Caretakers” examines how artists can redefine what it means to take care of themselves, their communities, and their futures. Featured artists include Ka’ila Farrell-Smith (Klamath Modoc), Awa Tsireh/Alfonso Roybal (San Ildefonso Pueblo), Patrick Nagatani, and Marie Watt (Seneca).
“Memory Makers” explores how artists act as transmitters of cultural memory as they bring forth neglected histories of the West through their work, and includes artists Jacob Lawrence, Roger Shimomura, Christina Fernandez, and others.
“Boundary Breakers” includes artists whose representations break away from myths of the West and assert their continued presence despite centuries of omission and erasure by mainstream culture. Featured artists include Angela Ellsworth, Raphael Montañez Ortiz (Apsáalooke/Crow), and Angel Rodríguez-Díaz.
Ongoing through Exhibition in the Lightcatcher first floor hallway
Auburn-based artist Marita Dingus initiated a new art piece related to the exhibition for a community art experience called, “Rip, Write, Reflect.” Using found and repurposed materials, Dingus constructed a mixed-media wall tapestry. Visitors are invited to add their thoughts through words or drawings on torn map pieces, responding to a prompt about the West. Watch this video to learn more about this project, which is generously supported by Art Bridges.
Many Wests is organized jointly by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and four nationally accredited art museums located in some of the fastest growing cities and states in the western region of the United States. It is the culmination of a five-year exhibition partnership made possible by the Art Bridges Foundation. The partner museums are the Boise Art Museum in Idaho; the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art in Eugene, Oregon; the Utah Museum of Fine Arts in Salt Lake City; and the Whatcom Museum. E. Carmen Ramos, acting chief curator and curator of Latinx art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum has led the collaborative curatorial effort.
Many Wests features artwork drawn from the permanent collections of all five collaborating museums and the exhibition will be presented at all five venues. The multi-city national tour began at the Boise Art Museum (July 31 to Feb. 13, 2022). It travels to the Whatcom Museum (March 19 to Aug. 21, 2022), the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (Sept. 26 to Dec. 31, 2022), and the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (Feb. 4 to June 11, 2023). The Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC, will be the final stop on the tour, where the exhibition will be on view from July 28, 2023 to Jan. 14, 2024. Learn more about this exhibition from the Smithsonian Voices blog or read a review from Essential West Magazine.
This is one in a series of American art exhibitions created through a multi-year, multi-institutional partnership formed by the Smithsonian American Art Museum as part of the Art Bridges Initiative.
The Whatcom Museum presentation of Many Wests is sponsored by Peoples Bank and Rafeeka & Neal Kloke. Additional support is provided in part by a Pandemic Relief Grant from ArtsWA (sub-granted from the National Endowment for the Arts), the Whatcom Museum Foundation, and the City of Bellingham. Media support funded through a City of Bellingham Tourism Promotion Grant. Generous support for the youth docent program and Marita Dingus’s community art installation is provided by Art Bridges.
The Whatcom Museum acknowledges that we gather on the traditional territory of the Lhaq’temish – Lummi People – and the Nuxwsá7aq – Nooksack People – who have lived in the Coast Salish region from time immemorial. The Museum honors our relationship with all of our Coast Salish neighbors and our shared responsibilities to their homeland where we all reside today.
Curated by Amy Chaloupka from the Collection of Driek and Michael Zirinsky
The extended isolation of the pandemic has undeniably affected our collective consciousness, especially our heightened awareness of the body and its vulnerabilities.
Sharing life “in person” once again is a celebratory moment, but also cause for self-reflection. How will we wish to operate moving forward within our own bodies, and also in caring for and considering the bodies of others?
The exhibition Up Close & Personal examines the human body through the expressive lens of 60 artists. Some explore the many ways we communicate with one another—through facial expression, body language, self-presentation, and performance. Others boldly envision narratives and representations of the self through the use of their own bodies in their work. Artists are acutely aware that all bodies reside at the dynamic intersection of gender, class, race, sexuality, age, and ability. These compelling portrayals of the figure are situated at these crossroads of identity and point toward countless possibilities for human connection and understanding.
Up Close & Personal is generously presented from the renowned collection of Driek and Michael Zirinsky. The dynamic selection of work, expressing a range of processes and ideas, allows visitors to get up close and personal with the mindset of the artists as represented in the selections of these lifelong collectors of art.
This exhibition is supported in part by Heritage Bank, the Whatcom Museum Foundation, and the City of Bellingham. Media sponsorship provided by Cascade Public Media KCTS 9.
To complement the exhibition, the Museum will host a companion exhibit at Old City Hall, Artists x Artists, that explores intimate portraits of artists by artists. The exhibition, on display Nov. 20, 2021 – April 10, 2022, draws from the Museum’s permanent collection and presents a variety of expressive gazes, each one giving hints toward the ways artists convey and construct the creative persona of the artist.
Featured Image credit: Samantha Wall; Dark Matter (Universal Body 1, 2, 3 and 4), 2016; Two-color lithographs (silver over black) on Arches 88 white collaborative Master Printer Frank Janzen; 30 x 22 inches each (unframed). Images courtesy of Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts.
Saturday, February 5, 1pm
Thursday, February 10, 1pm
Thursday, February 24, 1pm
Take a docent-guided tour of Up Close & Personal to gain in-depth insights and knowledge about some of the 60 artists featured. Their works offer compelling portrayals of the figure and point toward countless possibilities for identity, human connection, and understanding. Docents will discuss the techniques and processes utilized by artists, focusing on specific works in the exhibition. Each tour can accommodate 8 people, begins in the lobby of the Lightcatcher, and lasts one hour. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged, but walk-in visitors will be accommodated as space allows. Included with admission/Members free.
Fridays, Dec. 10, Jan. 14, and Feb. 11, 1pm
Included with admission/Free to members
We’re excited to offer in-person curator tours of Up Close & Personal. Learn more about the artists and artwork featured in this stunning exhibition from the Museum’s Curator of Art, Amy Chaloupka, who organized this exhibition from the renowned collection of Driek and Michael Zirinsky. Tours last one hour and will be limited to eight people per tour. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged, but walk-in visitors will be accommodated as space allows. Participants will need to wear face coverings while visiting the Museum and participating in the tour.
Magdalena Abakanowicz (Poland, 1930-2017), David Airhart (American, b. 1953), Paolo Arao (Filipino, b. 1977), Natalie Ball (Klamath/Modoc, b. 1980), Algis Balsys (b. 1948), Joe F. Brubaker (American, b. 1948), Lordan Bunch (American, born 1967), Mark Calderon (American, b. 1955), Phillip John Charette (Yup’ik, b. 1962), Long-Bin Chen (Taiwanese, b. 1964), Drew Daly (American,, b. 1973), Noah Davis (American, 1983–2015), Lesley Dill (American, b. 1950), Jane Dixon (British, b. 1963), Olafur Eliasson (Danish-Icelandic, b. 1967), Vernon Fisher (American, b. 1943), Till Freiwald (German, born Peru, 1963), John Grade (American, b. 1970), Lee M. Hale (American, b. 1958), Jane Hammond (American, b. 1950), Markus Hansen (German, b. 1963), Judy Hill (American, b. 1953), Susan Hiller (American, 1940–2019), Hosup Hwang (Korean, b. 1955), Titus Kaphar (American, b. 1976), William Kentridge (South African, b.1955), Käthe Kollwitz (German, 1867–1945), Marianne Kolb (Swiss, b. 1958), Cynthia Lahti (Polish, b. 1963), Isaac Layman (American, b. 1977), Dinh Q. Lê (Vietnamese, b, 1968), Susie J. Lee (American, b. 1972), Kalup Linzy (American b. 1977), Hung Liu (American, born China, 1948–2021), Beth Lo (American, b. 1949), Robert Longo (American, b. 1953), Benoît Lorent (Belgian), Marilyn Lysohir (American, b. 1950), Robert Ernst Marx (American, born Germany, 1925–2020), Steven Miller (American, b. 1968), Brian Murphy (American, b. 1970), Scott Myles (Scottish, b. 1975), Ronna Neuenschwander (American, b. 1954), Bertjan Pot (Dutch, b. 1975), Julia Randall (American, b. 1968), Wendy Red Star (Crow/Apsáalooke, b. 1981), Jena Scott (American, b. 1967), Paul Shambroom (American, b. 1956), Roger Shimomura (American, b. 1939), Lucy Skaer (British, b. 1975), Kiki Smith (American, born Germany, 1954), Akio Takamori (Japanese and American, 1950–2017), Lena Takamori (American, b. 1990), Josephine Taylor (American, b. 1977), Storm Tharp (American, b. 1970), Terry Turrell (American, b. 1946), Friese Undine (American, b. 1965), Samantha Wall (American, born Korea, 1977), Kumi Yamashita (Japanese, b. 1968), Wanxin Zhang (Chinese, b. 1961)
The Whatcom Museum acknowledges that we gather on the traditional territory of the Lhaq’temish – Lummi People – and the Nuxwsá7aq – Nooksack People – who have lived in the Coast Salish region from time immemorial. The Museum honors our relationship with all of our Coast Salish neighbors and our shared responsibilities to their homeland where we all reside today.
Exhibition by George Rodriguez
Ceramic artist and sculptor George Rodriguez embarks on a collaborative iteration of the Chinese Zodiac. In an homage to its origins in Chinese folklore, Rodriguez has reimagined the classic zodiac animals as analogous creatures of Mexican origin, bridging cultures and creating new narratives.
El Zodíaco Familiar—the fifth iteration of Rodriguez’s Mexican Zodiac series—invites 13 Mexican and ChicanX/Chicane artists of various artistic disciplines to respond to Rodriguez’s animal sculptures with the forms, tools, and aesthetics of their own artistic practices. Each artist has imbued their collaboratively-imagined sculpture, corresponding to the zodiac animal of their birth year, with personal perspective, folk tradition, and an intimate feeling of celebration. While each sculpture is as distinct as its maker, taken together, the twelve pieces vibrate with deep resonances of the familiar.
The Participating Artists and their zodiacs:
Moises Salazar–Chapulín
Marilyn Montufar–Toro
Alejandra Carrillo-Estrada–Jaguar
Samirah Steinmeyer–Cacomixtle
Yosimar Reyes–Quetzalcoatl
Eric J. Garcia–Iguana
Christie Tirado–Burro
Carolina Jiménez–Venado Azul
Gabriela Ramírez Michel–Mono
Jon Gómez y Javier Barboza–Águila
Gabriel Marquez–Chihuahua
Gustavo Martinez–Cabra
Also on display are several of Rodriguez’s guardian figures that demonstrate the artist’s ongoing exploration of community, culture, identity, and ornamentation.
Rodriguez was featured in the 12th season of Craft in America. Watch the episode here.
This exhibition is supported in part by the Whatcom Museum Foundation, the City of Bellingham, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Media sponsorship provided by KCTS 9, a service of Cascade Public Media.
The Whatcom Museum acknowledges that we gather on the traditional territory of the Lhaq’temish – Lummi People – and the Nuxwsá7aq – Nooksack People – who have lived in the Coast Salish region from time immemorial. The Museum honors our relationship with all of our Coast Salish neighbors and our shared responsibilities to their homeland where we all reside today.
This year marks the return of the Whatcom Artist Studio Tour Showcase to Old City Hall. See a selection of artworks from several participating Studio Tour artists. Each year the two-weekend event offers visitors insight into the creative processes and work lives of nearly 40 artists in a self-guided tour throughout the county. To learn more, visit the Studio Tour website.
On Friday, Sept. 3, some of the participating artists will be at Old City Hall to kick-off the exhibition during the Downtown Art Walk. Learn more about the Art Walk here.
Featured image: Karen Theusen; Chicken Bus Stop; Acrylic on canvas.
The Whatcom Museum acknowledges that we gather on the traditional territory of the Lhaq’temish – Lummi People – and the Nuxwsá7aq – Nooksack People – who have lived in the Coast Salish region from time immemorial. The Museum honors our relationship with all of our Coast Salish neighbors and our shared responsibilities to their homeland where we all reside today.
Organized by Amy Chaloupka, Whatcom Museum Curator of Art
Celebrating a rich legacy unique to our region, Fluid Formations features the art of fifty-seven contemporary artists working in glass.
The Pacific Northwest is the epicenter of glass, spurred by the establishment of Pilchuck Glass School on a remote tree farm in Stanwood, Washington in 1971. Fifty years later, the region’s glass community has expanded significantly, defined by shared knowledge, teamwork, and an experimental spirit.
Drawing from the Museum’s permanent collection, loans from artists, and working in close partnership with Museum of Glass (Tacoma, Wash.), Fluid Formations celebrates the innovation and striking range of processes and ideas that could only come from decades of generous exchange and shared passion for the material of glass. Check out the Gallery Guide to see the variation of works that were featured in this exhibition.
Also on exhibit:
Kids Design Glass is a longstanding program that Museum of Glass has hosted since 2002 where kids aged 12 and under can submit their creative drawings to be transformed into glass sculptures. The Whatcom Museum has several of these kid-designed glass artworks located throughout our campus, including Green Guy, designed by Duncan Noah (age 11) and made by Museum of Glass Hot Shop team members. Come search our buildings and galleries to find all seven!
Gallery Tours with Curator of Art Amy Chaloupka
Thursdays, May 20 (only 12:15pm), June 24, July 22, Aug. 26, Sept. 16, and Oct. 7, 12:15pm and 2pm
Included with admission/Free to members
We’re excited to offer in-person curator tours of Fluid Formations. Learn more about the artists and artwork featured in this stunning exhibition from the Museum’s Curator of Art, Amy Chaloupka, who organized this exhibition in partnership with Museum of Glass, galleries, and individual artists. Tours last one hour, will be limited to six people per tour, and require pre-registration. Participants will need to wear face coverings while visiting the Museum and participating in the tour.
Docent-Led Tours
Thursdays, July 8 (canceled) & 29, Aug. 5, 12, & 19, Sept. 2, 9, 23, & 30 at 1pm
Saturdays, Sept. 4, 11, 18 & 25 and Oct. 2 & 9 at 1pm
Included with admission/Free to members
Discover the artists and artwork featured in this exhibition, which celebrates the rich legacy of glass art in our region. Our docents will provide insight into the techniques and processes utilized by artists, focusing on specific works in the exhibition. Tours last one hour.
Artists Featured in Fluid Formations:
Rik Allen, Shelley Muzylowski Allen, Bennett Battaile, Ben Beres, Jeremy Bert, Sonja Blomdahl, Nancy Callan, Ned Cantrell, Sydney Cash, Doris Chase, Dale Chihuly, Benjamin Cobb, Norman Courtney, Amber Cowan, Max Cregar, Erik Demaine, Martin Demaine, Jen Elek, Dan Friday, Ann Gardner, Sarah Gilbert, Suzanne Head, Mildred Howard, Jasen Johnsen, Karen Willendbrink-Johnsen, Claire Kelly, Joey Kirkpatrick, Sabrina Knowles, Walter Lieberman, Beth Lipman, Flora C. Mace, Dante Marioni, Paul Marioni, Richard Marquis, Benjamin Moore, William Morris, Richard Notkin, Kelly O’Dell, Marvin Oliver, Deborah Oropallo, Jenny Pohlman, Kait Rhoads, Joseph Gregory Rossano, Richard Royal, Ginny Ruffner, Preston Singletary, Raven Skyriver, Ethan Stern, April Surgent, Lino Tagliapietra, Cappy Thompson, Oiva Toikka, Norwood Viviano, Randy Walker, Dick Weiss, Erich Woll, Ellen Ziegler
Reciprocal membership with Museum of Glass (Tacoma, WA)
In honor of this exhibition, Museum of Glass and the Whatcom Museum are offering reciprocal membership benefits for free entry. Museum of Glass members can receive free admission to the Whatcom Museum and 10% off purchases at the Museum Store by presenting a current Museum of Glass membership card at the front admission desks. Whatcom Museum members can receive free entry to Museum of Glass by showing their membership card at the admission desks. For more info about Museum of Glass hours of operation, please visit their website.
The Whatcom Museum acknowledges that we gather on the traditional territory of the Lhaq’temish – Lummi People – and the Nuxwsá7aq – Nooksack People – who have lived in the Coast Salish region from time immemorial. The Museum honors our relationship with all of our Coast Salish neighbors and our shared responsibilities to their homeland where we all reside today.
The Whatcom Museum is offering free admission to the Lightcatcher building to Indigenous Peoples upon request at the attendant desk inside the Lightcatcher building, 250 Flora St.
This exhibition is organized in partnership with Museum of Glass and is supported in part by Peoples Bank, the Whatcom Museum Foundation, the City of Bellingham, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Media sponsorship provided by Cascade Public Media KCTS9.
Oiva Toikka; Pileated woodpecker. Museum of Glass collection.
As part of this series, the Whatcom Museum is also featuring a collection of glass birds in the John M. Edson Hall of Birds at Old City Hall. Birds by Toikka, made by renowned Finnish artist and designer Oiva Toikka (1931 – 2019) for the design company, Iittala, are on loan from Museum of Glass Collection, and the Paul Kangas Collection, which is a promised gift to Museum of Glass. The glass birds are interspersed among our mounted bird display cases. Image credit: Oiva Toikka; Pileated Woodpecker; 2011; Blown glass; 10 × 4.5 in. Collection of Museum of Glass, Tacoma, Washington.
Curated by Maria Coltharp, Collections Curator
When one thinks about the Whatcom Museum collections, many things may come to mind: The John M. Edson Hall of Birds, the contemporary masterpieces in the art collection, the Photo Archives, or the treasures in the history collection. Perhaps lesser known is the incredible clothing collection that includes examples of historic garments spanning from the 1800s through the mid-20th century.
Historic clothing has the ability to transport people to a different time or place, to sense that these items were worn by real people, and to imagine oneself in their midst. All Dressed Up… highlights some of the more colorful examples of artistry as fashion in the Museum’s collection. The exhibit showcases items of clothing that would have been worn “out on the town,” such as a stunning blue striped silk dress with off-white satin banding from the 1910s and the dramatic 1928 lavender full-length chiffon gown worn by the artist Helen Loggie.
An array of vintage designer evening shoes will also be on display, as well as an assortment of antique fashion accessories. Allow yourself to be immersed in the styles and color palettes of the past century and to contemplate the significance of getting “all dressed up” for an occasion, for company, or just for oneself.
Collections Curator Maria Coltharp offers a quick overview and tour of some of the garments in this exhibition. Watch the video!
Support for collections photography provided by Art Bridges Bridge Ahead Initiative.
Curated by Julia Sapin, Ph.D., Professor of Art History, Western Washington University
Americans and Europeans were crazy for kimono, and garments based on kimono, beginning in mid-nineteenth century, including fashionistas in Whatcom County. This exhibition focuses on kimono-inspired objects that have come into the Whatcom Museum’s collection over the last fifty years.
Primarily from Bellingham community members, this collection shows their strong interest in this fashion trend. These textile creations reveal American designers’ ingenuity in adapting aspects of the kimono for Western use. They also show the savvy of Japanese designers in anticipating Western demand and creating clothing designed to suit American and European lifestyles.
From a child’s pink crepe robe to an evening gown with “kimono” sleeves, these garments offer us a glimpse of this fashion frenzy, and the various ways in which it translated into novel patterns of wear in our very own community.
The Whatcom Museum acknowledges that we gather on the traditional territory of the Lhaq’temish – Lummi People – and the Nuxwsá7aq – Nooksack People – who have lived in the Coast Salish region from time immemorial. The Museum honors our relationship with all of our Coast Salish neighbors and our shared responsibilities to their homeland where we all reside today.
Exhibition by Matika Wilbur
In 2012, critically acclaimed photographer and social documentarian Matika Wilbur (Tulalip & Swinomish) sold her belongings and set out on the road to launch Project 562, a crowd-funded initiative to visit, engage, and photograph people from 562+ sovereign Tribal Nations in the United States.
Seeds of Culture: The Portraits and Stories of Native American Women features 28 photographs of Native American women, along with interviews, written narratives, and a compelling sound-scape of voices and original music. Wilbur has selected the striking photographs from among the thousands of portraits she has taken in recent years, including a new special selection from local Tribes. Elders, activists, educators, culture-bearers, artists, and students have shared with Wilbur their realities as Native women to convey how ancestral and contemporary identities shape their hopes and dreams.
As Wilbur explains, “I believe the viewers will experience great insight and connection with these remarkable women, just as they have enlightened and inspired me. Native women are traditionally the stewards of the vital relationship with land, and have remained principal advocates for Mother Earth, from fracking protests to upholding vital matrilineal values. By sharing the astonishing variety of the Indigenous presence and understanding, we will build cultural bridges, abandon stereotypes, and renew and inspire our national legacy.”
About Matika Wilbur
Matika Wilbur, one of the Pacific Northwest’s leading photographers, has exhibited extensively in regional, national, and international venues such as the Seattle Art Museum, the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, The Tacoma Art Museum, the Royal British Columbia Museum of Fine Arts, and the Nantes Museum of Fine Arts in France. She studied photography at the Rocky Mountain School of Photography in Montana and received a bachelor’s degree from Brooks Institute of Photography in California. Her work led her to becoming a certified teacher at Tulalip Heritage High School, providing inspiration for the youth of her own Indigenous community. Wilbur, an Indigenous woman belonging to Swinomish and Tulalip Tribes, is unique as an artist and social documentarian in Indian Country—the insight, depth, and passion with which she explores the contemporary Native identity and experience are communicated through the impeccable artistry of each of her silver gelatin photographs. Her collection of photographs and narratives from Project 562 is soon to be published by Ten Speed Press/Random House. Learn more about Matika at www.matikawilbur.com, Project 562 at www.project562.com, or check out her Instagram account. Wilbur is also the co-host of the podcast, All My Relations.
Seeds of Culture: The Portraits and Stories of Native American Women, was originally shown at the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University. The Whatcom Museum’s showing of the exhibition is presented by the Lhaq’temish Foundation, Lummi Nation, with additional support from Jean Andresen, Rafeeka & Neal Kloke, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Whatcom Museum Foundation, the City of Bellingham, and Grantmakers for Girls of Color.
Community Photo Project: Celebrating Our Matriarchs
Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold power—politically, morally, socially, and economically. A matriarch shapes family, holds community, and makes space for inclusion. Before colonization, Pacific Northwest peoples thrived for millennia in matriarchal social systems. Many Indigenous scholars and activists are calling for rematriation in Tribal nations. But what does that look like? In Matika Wilbur’s exhibition, rematriation is unpacked. In honor of her exhibition, the Museum hosted a community photo project inviting people to submit an image that celebrates a matriarchal figure in their life. See the stunning photographs submit to this virtual exhibition.
The Whatcom Museum acknowledges that we gather on the traditional territory of the Lhaq’temish – Lummi People – and the Nuxwsá7aq – Nooksack People – who have lived in the Coast Salish region from time immemorial. The Museum honors our relationship with all of our Coast Salish neighbors and our shared responsibilities to their homeland where we all reside today.
The Whatcom Museum is offering free admission to the Lightcatcher building to Indigenous Peoples upon request at the attendant desk inside the Lightcatcher building, 250 Flora St.
The story of women’s suffrage is a story of voting rights, of inclusion in and exclusion from the franchise, and of our civic development as a nation. In 2020, the Smithsonian celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment with Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence. This dynamic poster exhibition explores the complexity of the women’s suffrage movement and the relevance of this history to Americans’ lives today.
This exhibition is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery. This project received support from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative.
Curated by Amy Chaloupka, Curator of Art
To mark ten years since the Lightcatcher building’s construction, the Whatcom Museum celebrates the works of art welcomed into the permanent collection during this time. We also acknowledge the long-standing relationships with area artists and patrons who have helped to shape and expand the collection through gifts of art. Their generous contributions support the Museum’s mission to stimulate inquiry about our changing cultural, natural, and historical landscapes by diversifying our exhibition and education programming.
Anatomy of a Collection also reflects the Museum’s goals to extend into new areas of collecting, centered around expanding conversations and interests of today’s audiences. Many acquisitions focus on under-represented artists with a multiplicity of perspectives, variety of themes, and diverse media. Additionally, the exhibition provides a unique look at the internal workings of museum collecting practices, making this process transparent to the community. The Museum values the idea that the artworks preserved in its buildings are held in public trust and serve as important visual connection points for education, critical analysis, preservation of culture, and storytelling.
Many recent acquisitions and promised gifts expand existing holdings of significant works by artists of the Pacific Northwest including works by Wendell Brazeau, Susan Bennerstrom, Mary Henry, Clayton James, Mark Tobey, and more. Other acquisitions are tied to important solo exhibitions hosted by the Museum that delve deep into an artist’s practice and career, such as Ed Bereal, John Cole, John Grade, and Lesley Dill. More than seventy works will be on view, many for the first time at the Museum.
Funding for this exhibition has been provided by the Whatcom Museum Foundation, the Museum Advocates, the City of Bellingham, and Mary Summerfield & Mike O’Neal. This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) with additional support provided by Humanities Washington and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act economic stabilization plan of 2020.
Featured image: Fay Jones; Lotus-Eaters, 1993; Aquatint; 31.5 x 43 in. Gift of the Washington Art Consortium through gift of Safeco Insurance, a member of the Liberty Mutual Group.
For the past several years, the Museum has helped celebrate Whatcom County artists by providing a showcase of select artworks by those participating in the annual Whatcom Artist Studio Tour (WAST). This year, we are sharing this artistry through a virtual showcase, rather than in our Old City Hall galleries.
WAST was founded in 1995, with 10 artists participating, to bring the public into artists’ working studios for a two weekend self-guided tour and sale. Over its 25 year history, that number has grown to upwards of 40 artists, with sometimes more than 30 participating studios. The Studio Tour offers visitors insight into the creative process, work life, and work environment of area artists.
While a bit different this year, the Studio Tour will still have participating artists working in a variety of mediums — clay, painting, mixed media, photography, sculpted glass, and more. Artists will open their studios by appointment only from October 3 through 17, and all visitors must wear masks and maintain social distancing guidelines. New for this year on the WAST website will be a virtual photo gallery of artists in their studios. Visit the WAST website for more information about this year’s tour and guidelines and to see more works by our Whatcom artists.
Generous support for this virtual project provided by Art Bridges.
Click on an image below to enlarge it.
The Whatcom Museum is pleased to kick off a five-year exhibition partnership with the Smithsonian American Art Museum, as we present three masterworks from one of the nation’s most treasured collections of American art. Made possible through the support of Art Bridges and the Terra Foundation for American Art, two exhibitions titled Conversations Between Collections highlight the three works on view from the Smithsonian American Art Museum in conversation with works from the Whatcom Museum’s permanent collection.
Fritz Scholder’s Indian and Contemporary Chair (1970) and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s State Names (2000) upend traditional narratives and romanticized portrayals of Native Americans. These two works offer new insights while in dialogue with the Museum’s People of the Sea and Cedar exhibition, which explores the vibrant living history, culture, and art of regional Coast Salish tribes. The two masterworks present themes of identity and power dynamics in the American West and prompt examination and critique of dominant narratives.
The Coast of Genoa (1854), by Hudson River School painter Jasper Francis Cropsey, is featured alongside landscapes from prominent Northwest artists including works by Richard Gilkey, Nell Bradshaw, and Victoria Adams. With the intent to stimulate discussion between what is familiar and what is foreign in a landscape, visitors can observe and share how elements of each work denote place and, specifically, our place within the Pacific Northwest, and how the landscapes we love are deeply rooted to a sense of self.
All three outstanding works on loan from the Smithsonian American Art Museum allow for fresh perspectives around investigations of place and identity that emphasize the preservation and celebration of storytelling.
This is one in a series of American art exhibitions created through a multi-year, multi-institutional partnership formed by the Smithsonian American Art Museum as part of the Art Bridges + Terra Foundation Initiative. For more information about this five-year collaborative project, visit americanart.si.edu/about/american-west-consortium
Conversations Between Collections is generously sponsored by Peoples Bank, with additional support from Heritage Bank.
The Whatcom Museum acknowledges that we gather on the traditional territory of the Lhaq’temish – Lummi People – and the Nuxwsá7aq – Nooksack People – who have lived in the Coast Salish region from time immemorial. The Museum honors our relationship with all of our Coast Salish neighbors and our shared responsibilities to their homeland where we all reside today.
Take a virtual gallery tour with Curator of Art Amy Chaloupka. These video tours are presented in two parts. The first focuses on the work of Jasper Francis Cropsey among highlighted Museum collection pieces. The second looks at the works of Fritz Scholder and Jaune Quick-To-See Smith in the People of the Sea and Cedar Gallery.
Conversations Between Collections aims to get people thinking about their connection to place through art. We’re interested in hearing personal stories and have launched a digital storytelling initiative called the Story Dome project, made possible through generous support from Art Bridges.
We invite you to record a short story about meaningful places or experiences, and to reflect on how they have inspired or shaped you.
Click below to participate!
Two countries – two photographers. This compelling collection of photographs presents two views of internment and incarceration in the early 1940s.
The 1942 incarceration of people of Japanese descent in the United States and Canada following the bombing of Pearl Harbor is portrayed through this stunning collection of black and white photographs. Ansel Adams and Leonard Frank document the conditions and experiences of the Manzanar camp in California, and the camps and beet farms in Alberta, where coastal British Columbia residents were forcibly moved.
The experiences in the U.S. and Canada had many similarities, and also many differences. Ansel Adams took a personal and intimate approach to illustrate the vitality and fortitude of the people. In contrast, Leonard Frank’s photographs are a clinical documentation of the government process.
This collection of more than 60 photographs provides an opportunity to reflect on the nature of forced separation and uprooting that directly impacted our coastal region. Two Views is organized by the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre in Burnaby, British Columbia.
Righting a Wrong poster exhibition traces the story of Japanese national and Japanese American incarceration during World War II and the people who survived it. Young and old lived crowded together in hastily built camps, endured poor living conditions, and were under the constant watch of military guards for two and a half years. Meanwhile, brave Japanese American men risked their lives fighting for the United States. Some 40 years later, members of the Japanese American community led the nation to confront the wrong it had done—and urged Congress to make it right. Based on an original exhibition at the National Museum of American History, the Righting a Wrong poster exhibition centers around eight core questions that encourage viewers to engage in a dialogue about how this happened and could it happen again. Embracing themes that are as relevant today as they were 75 years ago, the poster exhibition brings forth themes of identity, immigration, prejudice, civil rights, courage, and what it means to be an American.
Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II was developed by the National Museum of American History and adapted by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. The traveling exhibition and poster exhibition are supported by a grant from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, the Terasaki Family Foundation, and C. L. Ehn & Ginger Lew.
Image credits: Left: Watanabe family suitcase, Minidoka camp in Idaho. Courtesy of National Museum of American History. Right: The Masuda family, owners of the Wanto Grocery in Oakland, California, proclaimed that they were American, even as they were forced to sell their business before they were incarcerated in August 1942. Dorothea Lange, Courtesy of National Archives.
Sonia Delaunay, Abstract Composition with Semicircles, 1970; Color aquatint; 28 x 22 in. Edition 9/125. Collection of the Whatcom Museum, Gift of George and Pearl Yewell.
As part of their distance learning materials, local students were asked to make artwork in the style of influential, Paris-based artists Robert and Sonia Delaunay. While the Delaunays’ works have been displayed in exhibitions at museums around the world, it turns out that Sonia Delaunay’s work can be found closer to home.
The Whatcom Museum holds a Sonia Delaunay print entitled Abstract Composition with Semicircles in its permanent collection. May is Youth Art Month for Bellingham Public Schools and (virtual) Children’s Art Walk.
In the spirit of celebrating youth art, we are pleased to virtually display this piece in conjunction with the art of local students inspired by the Delaunays’ work, and are thrilled to see how their art is influencing young artists today!
Sonia (Terk) Delaunay (1885-1979), born Sara Stern in Ukraine, was a Paris-based artist who worked alongside her French husband Robert Delaunay (1885-1941). As a couple, they explored color theory and pioneered the modernist art movement Orphism. The Delaunays were central figures in Paris’’’s early twentieth century avant-garde circles, and they influenced the work of many of their artist-friends, including colorists Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee.
Sonia Delaunay wearing Casa Sonia creations, Madrid, c.1918-20. Public Domain. Created: circa 1918.
Melding aspects of Cubism and Fauvism, the Delaunays’ abstract Orphist works are characterized by interconnected blocks of vibrant color combinations, and consist primarily of rhythmically composed geometric forms.
While they both painted, Sonia also designed textiles, clothing, furniture, and print illustrations, all in her characteristic orphic style. After Robert’s death, Sonia expanded her practice to include etching while continuing to paint and design clothing, making her a foundational influence in modern fashion.
The work in the Whatcom Museum’s permanent collection was created sometime between the late 1960s and early 1970s, and illustrates how committed Delaunay was to her signature style. In 1964, she became the only woman to have an exhibition held at the Louvre while still living.
More recently, in 2015 the Tate Modern celebrated Sonia Delaunay with a comprehensive retrospective of her work.
Collection Citation (detail): Sonia Delaunay, Abstract Composition with Semicircles, 1970; Color aquatint; 28 x 22 in. Edition 9/125. Collection of the Whatcom Museum, Gift of George and Pearl Yewell.
The Global Language of Headwear: Cultural Identity, Rites of Passage, and Spirituality presents 87 hats and headdresses carefully selected from a private collection of more than 1300 extraordinary pieces of international headwear. This exhibition features hats from 42 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America, and is a tribute to the stunning diversity of the world’s cultures. With a few exceptions, the pieces are from the mid-to-late 20th century, and many are still worn today in parts of the world for revelry, ritual, and the rhythms of everyday life.
More than utilitarian objects of material culture, each hat is a unique work of art—not merely because of the skill required to make it, but also as a singular expression of creativity and cultural meaning. The profusion of shapes, styles, and materials, as well as the ingenious use of embellishments to decorate the hats, are limited only by imagination.
The Global Language of Headwear is organized into five thematic sections: Cultural Identity; Power, Prestige, and Status; Ceremonies and Celebrations; Spiritual Beliefs; and Protection. Hats and headdresses communicate timeless ideas—not only of beauty, but also of what it means to be human.
The Museum will also present a variety of headwear from its permanent collection in conjunction with this collection, including Northwest Coast cedar bark hats.
About the Curator:
Stacey W. Miller is an independent curator of ethnographic headwear. She has spent more than 30 years collecting and researching the cultural significance of hats and headdresses. Since 2000, she has delivered educational programs, lectured, hosted special events, and curated numerous exhibitions based on her collection.
Stacey purchased her first hat in 1979 after joining a group of Spaniards driving from Madrid to India on a 4-month overland adventure. Learning more about other cultures—their customs, values, and traditions—with each new acquisition, Stacey realized that hats and headdresses can have a profound significance beyond their decorative qualities. Not only do they instill an awareness and appreciation of diverse cultures, but they can act as a bridge between peoples, reinforcing personal, spiritual, and social values that we as humans all share. Today, Stacey’s collection has grown to more than 1300 hats and headdresses from almost every corner of the world. Her long-term vision is to establish a museum of world cultures as a way to promote cross-cultural interest and understanding.
International Arts & Artists in Washington, DC, is a nonprofit arts service organization dedicated to increasing cross-cultural understanding and exposure to the arts internationally, through exhibitions, programs and services to artists, arts institutions, and the public. Visit www.ArtsandArtists.org.
Featured image credit: Kayapo/Mekranoti Headdress (Akkapa-ri), Brazil; Mid-20th century; Feathers, cotton, reed. Courtesy of International Arts & Artists.
City of Hope: Resurrection City and the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s daring vision for economic justice and opportunity for every U.S. citizen. The poster exhibition examines the Poor People’s Campaign — a grassroots, multiracial movement that drew thousands of people to Washington, D.C. For 43 days between May and June 1968, demonstrators demanded social reforms while living side-by-side on the National Mall in a tent city known as Resurrection City.
Organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) in collaboration with the National Museum of African American History and Culture, City of Hope highlights a series of photographs and an array of protest signs and political buttons collected during the campaign. Featuring 18 posters, the exhibition aims to help visitors engage and contextualize the Poor People’s Campaign’s historical significance and present-day relevance.
Although President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a “war on poverty” in 1964, tens of millions of Americans were denied livable wages, adequate housing, nutritious food, quality education, and healthcare. Led by Drs. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph David Abernathy, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) organized the Poor People’s Campaign in response to poverty as a national human rights issue. Stretching 16 acres along the National Mall between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, Resurrection City housed 3,000 protesters with structures for essential services like sanitation, communications, medical care and childcare. It included a dining tent, cultural center and a city hall along the encampment’s bustling “Main Street.”
The Poor People’s Campaign marked an important moment in U.S. history and set the stage for future social justice movements. Within months after Resurrection City’s evacuation, major strides were made toward economic equality influencing school lunch programs, rent subsidies and home ownership assistance for low-income families,
City of Hope: Resurrection City and the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Image: “Hunger’s Wall,” plywood panels from mural at Resurrection City. Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Vincent DeForest.
Curated by Amy Chaloupka, Curator of Art
The Whatcom Museum is proud to present the work of Bellingham-based artist Ed Bereal for his first museum retrospective, Wanted: Ed Bereal for Disturbing the Peace, which chronicles the full scope of the artist’s diverse practice.
Born in Los Angeles in 1937 and raised in Riverside, California, Bereal was a child who grew up in the shadow of World War II and the segregation and racism that afflicted his immediate community. In the face of this, he was accepted into the renowned illustration program at Chouinard Art Institute and went on to make significant contributions to the arts of assemblage and performance burgeoning in Los Angeles in the 1960s. A shift in his work came in the summer of 1965 during the Watts Rebellion when Bereal was confronted by 10 National Guardsmen, including one pointing a machine gun at him. This profound experience prompted Bereal to step away from making commercially and critically successful artworks and move toward engaging members of his community in social justice work through guerrilla-style street performance. Now living on a farm in Whatcom County, Bereal processes his life’s experiences through a spectrum of provocative imagery and narratives in paintings and installations he terms “political cartoons.”
The exhibition features six decades of artwork, from Bereal’s never before exhibited early journal sketches and self-portraits to his symbolic assemblage to his radical street theater work of the 1960s and ’70s through his troupe Bodacious Buggerrilla. Many of Bereal’s more recent politically charged paintings and installations show a recurring motif of “Miss America,” as he examines racial inequity, gun violence, corporate greed, and political power structures. These issues came into sharp relief for Bereal during the Watts Rebellion and persist at the forefront of our national discourse today.
Now in his eighth decade, Bereal describes a newfound freedom in his practice. He feels unrestricted in the multilingual approach that allows him to express a range of ideas through pop art, abstraction, painterly realism, appropriated imagery, and assemblage. This freedom is visible in his most ambitious project to date, The Five Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Shown for the first time, the sprawling 40-foot-long installation is a visual manifestation of his uncompromising and unapologetic political and social vision of contemporary American society.
Funding for this exhibition is provided by Larry Bell, the City of Bellingham, RiverStyx Foundation, Michael & Barbara Ryan, and the Whatcom Museum Foundation, with additional support from Sharron Antholt, Antonella Antonini & Alan Stein, Patricia Burman, Heritage Bank, Galie Jean-Louis & Vincent Matteucci, Janet & Walter Miller Fund for Philanthropic Giving, Ann Morris, Peoples Bank, Charles & Phyllis Self, Mary Summerfield & Mike O’Neal, Jane Talbot & Kevin Williamson, Nancy Thomson & Bob Goldman, the Whatcom Community Foundation, and the Whatcom Museum Advocates.
Photo credit: Ed Bereal in his studio. Photo by David Scherrer.
Art, Politics, and Community
A Conversation Inspired by Ed Bereal’s Work
Saturday, Sept. 21, 4 – 5:30pm
Free with ticket
Old City Hall | 121 Prospect St.
Join the Whatcom Museum and the Whatcom Dispute Resolution Center for an exciting and collaborative conversation inspired by the exhibition Wanted: Ed Bereal for Disturbing the Peace. Community leaders, including WWU Political Science Professor Vernon Damani Johnson and Bellingham Chief of Police David Doll, will join artist Ed Bereal in leading participants in round-table discussions focused around art, politics, and their impacts in our community. Participants will break out into smaller groups allowing for constructive conversation that promotes tolerance, respect, and nonviolent communication. Ticket information coming soon.
Image credit: Ed Bereal; Untitled (preparatory sketch), c. 1989; Oil and mixed media on board; 14 × 17 in. Courtesy of the artist.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Whatcom Artist Studio Tour. Each year the two-weekend event offers visitors insight into the creative process, work-life, and work-environment of nearly 40 artists. For the third year, the Museum will provide a showcase of select artworks from several participating Studio Tour artists.
Artists include: Don Anderson, Suzanne Averre, Terry Brooks, Rick Bulman, Mary Byme, Nancy Canyon, Deborah Dole, Tom and Jennifer Dolese, Shirley Erickson, Diane Ferree, Frank Frazee, Ria Harboe, Joe Janey, Brian Kerkvliet, Maren Larson, Lorna Libert, Rebecca Meloy, Dave Nichols, Joy Olney, Brian Oneill, Michel Petersen, Liane Redpath, Larry Richmond, Karen Theusen, Stewart Wurtz, and Stefan Straka.
Visitors will get to see artworks in a variety of mediums, including watercolor, acrylic on canvas, sculpted glass, pottery, oil on linen, and more.
In the Spirit of the People: Native Contemporary Artists features works by Native American artists in the Museum’s gallery and public spaces on a rotating basis. The series is meant to highlight outstanding contemporary Native artwork and allow the Museum to work more closely with members of area tribes. Works in the series may also be displayed in the People of the Sea and Cedar exhibit gallery.
Raya Friday, People of the FireLightcatcher lobby
To kick off the series, Lummi Nation glass artist Raya Friday installed her piece People of the Fire in the Lightcatcher lobby in July of 2019. The sculpture is made of glass, bronze, and stone and weighs roughly 2,700 pounds. Friday said the piece represents the spirituality of the elements and the idea that “everything in the natural world has its own energy, its own spirit.”
It took Raya about eight months to create the sculpture of glass and bronze set into a pedestal of stone, which she completed in 2007. Raya was involved with each element, from mixing the bronze to cutting the stone to pouring the molten glass. The flames get their color from frit, or concentrated crushed glass. This gives the unpolished sides a slightly rough appearance. Raya used sand casting to create each flame, then hand-carved faces into the surface. Located in the Lightcatcher lobby, the sculpture is illuminated by the natural light coming through the large glass windows.
Read more about Raya Friday on the Museum’s blog. The Museum Store is currently featuring a variety of glass art created by Raya for purchase.
Join the Whatcom Museum Wed., Oct. 10, 5:30pm for a free film showing during Doctober at the Pickford Film Center of the documentary, When Elephants Were Young (90 min.), tying into the Museum’s exhibition, The Elephant in the Room: The Allure of Ivory and Its Tragic Legacy. Directed by Victoria, BC, director Patricia Sims, this film is about Wok and his young elephant Nong Mai, who share a life of struggle and street begging in gritty Bangkok. Their tender bond reveals a complex relationship where elephants live with humans even though they are wild animals. Find more info here.
Endangered Species presents the work of sixty artists from around the world who convey both the wonder and fragility of life on Earth through the exploration of five separate themes.
September 8, 2018 – January 6, 2019
Curated by Barbara Matilsky, Whatcom Museum Curator of Art
Endangered Species presents the work of sixty artists from around the world who convey both the wonder and fragility of life on Earth through five interconnected themes. Spanning two hundred years, the exhibition reflects the vital relationship between art and natural science. It also highlights art’s pivotal contribution to the legacy of nature conservation, which is now threatened. The artist’s message is more important than ever.
A calendar of tours, lectures, films, and other related programming is available here.
For more information, see the bibliography, timeline, and list of artists in this exhibition. A complete illustrated exhibition catalogue is available for purchase at the Museum Store.
Celebrating Biodiversity’s beauty and Complexity:
from landscapes to microscopic imagery
We focus on artists who illuminate biodiversity’s stunning variety on its most grand and intimate scales. By examining the shared practices that inspire artists and natural scientists, such as exploration, observation, and documentation, visitors can learn about biodiversity and its importance.
Additional images related to this theme are available here.
From so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.
CHARLES DARWIN
On the Origin of Species, 1859
MAMMOTHS AND DINOSAURS:
interpreting natural extinction
We introduce the concept of extinction—the complete loss of an animal or plant species. When natural scientists first discovered fossils of early life, nineteenth-century artists presented convincing visions of animals roaming primeval habitats in best-selling natural history books and panoramic murals commissioned by museums. The exhibition showcases examples of these illustrated books and paintings. The work of scientists and artists who interpret naturally occurring extinction helps us contemplate the consequences of the current unraveling of biodiversity.
Additional images related to this theme are available here.
Why has not anyone seen that fossils alone gave birth to a theory about the formation of the earth, that without them, no one would have ever dreamed that
there were successive epochs in the formation of the globe.
GEORGES CUVIER
Discourse on the Revolutionary Upheavals on the Surface of the Earth, 1825
PORTRAITS OF LOSS:
extinction by human actions
We explore how artists transform scientific documentation about early human-induced extinctions of species such as the dodo, the great auk, and the passenger pigeon, among others, into stirring portraits and still life paintings. Their artworks reflect meticulous research and observational analysis of specimens from natural history museum collections. By reviving past life in sometimes startling ways, artists imprint their memory on our consciousness and spark awareness about the contemporary extinction crisis.
Additional images related to this theme are available here.
How can you expect the birds to sing when the groves are cut down?
HENRY DAVID THOREAU
Life in the Woods, 1854
ENDANGERED SPECIES:
plants and animals on the edge of survival
We examine threatened ecosystems and the global decline of biodiversity. The artworks call attention to just a few of the 10,000 endangered and critically endangered species classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Artists heighten public awareness about the current condition of life and environmental distress through their artworks, and they offer a unique form of communication that taps into the core of human culture—beauty and emotion.
Additional images related to this theme are available here.
Every seed is awakened and so has all animal life.
It is through this mysterious power that we too have our being, And we therefore yield to our neighbors, Even our animal neighbors, The same right as ourselves, to inhabit this land.
Attributed to SITTING BULL (Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake), Hunkpapa Lakota
AT THE CROSSROADS:
destruction or preservation of biodiversity
Contemporary artists not only portray animal and plant species at risk, they also interpret the human actions that lead to their precarious status: habitat loss, invasive species, pollution, population growth, and over-hunting and fishing. Artists are at the forefront of working with scientists, museums, policy makers, and citizens to envision new and creative strategies for enhancing life and restoring the essential bond between people and the natural world.
Additional images related to this theme are available here.
We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost’s familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress at great speed, but at its end lies disaster.
The other fork of the road, the one “less traveled by” offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of our earth. The choice, after all, is ours to make.
RACHEL CARSON
Silent Spring, 1962
Major funding for the exhibition and catalogue has been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Norcliffe Foundation with additional support from the City of Bellingham, Whatcom Museum Foundation and Advocates, Alexandre Gallery, and Heritage Bank. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.
Richard Diebenkorn; Untitled, c.1988-92; Gouache, pasted paper, graphite, and crayon on paper, 9 1/2 x 6 3/8 in. (24.1 x 16.2 cm). Catalogue raisonné no. 4695 © Richard Diebenkorn Foundation
May 19 – August 19, 2018; Lightcatcher building
This exhibition features fifty-two of Richard Diebenkorn’s (1922–1993) drawings and paintings on paper, which reveal the working hand and mind of one of America’s most respected and admired twentieth century artists. Created while living and teaching in different locations—Albuquerque, New Mexico, Sausalito, Berkeley, Ocean Park, and Healdsburg, California—these works represent a painter of profound lyricism and curiosity.
Diebenkorn developed a reputation for ethereal, large-scale abstractions. Although his early work is associated with Abstract Expressionism and the Bay Area Figurative Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, his vision was truly unique. The later Ocean Park series culminated in his receiving worldwide acclaim. Diebenkorn’s rich, intimate works have inspired generations of artists, as well as art lovers.
This national touring exhibition is organized by the Richard Diebenkorn Foundation. Additional support has been provided by the Whatcom Museum Foundation, the Whatcom Museum Advocates, and the City of Bellingham.
PARTY > Members See it First! Member reception, Friday, May 18, 5 – 7pm at the Lightcatcher
DOCENT TOURS > Offered on select dates based on volunteer availability at 1:30pm at the Lightcatcher. Check our online calendar for specific dates.
CURATOR’S LECTURE > Chester Arnold presents, “Richard Diebenkorn: A Life in Art,” Saturday, June 23, 2pm at Old City Hall.
May 19 – August 19, 2018; Lightcatcher
This exhibition, organized by the Hallie Ford Museum of Art in partnership with the Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts, chronicles the history of Crow’s Shadow over the past twenty-five years as it developed into an important native printmaking atelier in Pendleton, Oregon. Founded by Oregon painter and printmaker James Lavadour (Walla Walla), who envisioned a traditional arts studio focused on printmaking, Crow’s Shadow is the only professional printmaking studio located on a reservation community in the United States.
The exhibition presents more than 70 prints drawn from the Crow’s Shadow Print Archive and focuses on themes of Abstraction, Landscape, Media and Process, Portraiture, and Word and Image. In addition to the prints on display, the exhibition is accompanied by text panels, chat panels, and a video that showcases Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Art. Both Native and non-Native artists who have worked at Crow’s Shadow are featured, including Rick Bartow (Wiyot), Pat Boas (US), Joe Feddersen (Colville Confederated Tribes), Edgar Heap of Birds (Cheyenne), Brenda Mallory (Cherokee), Wendy Red Star (Apsáalooke), and Marie Watt (Seneca), among others.
Support for this exhibition has been provided by Mary Summerfield & Mike O’Neal, the Whatcom Museum Foundation, the Whatcom Museum Advocates, and the City of Bellingham.
PARTY > Members See it First! Member reception, Friday, May 18, 5 – 7pm at the Lightcatcher.
DOCENT TOURS > Offered on select dates based on volunteer availability at 1:30pm at the Lightcatcher. Check our online calendar for specific dates.
