Seattle Art Blog - News, Discussion, and Events

May 30, 2006 Sue Peters' guide to galleries and museums was just posted on the Seattle Weekly site. She has brief descriptions of the shows and links to gallery websites, a mighty handy guide for anyone trying to decide which galleries to go to Thursday night. She's also written American Gothic, a piece on the Robyn O'Neil exhibit at the Frye Art Museum. If you recall, Carolyn Zick highly recommended this exhibit a few days ago.

May 30, 2006 What a great title for the book Barbara Johns just wrote and called Anne Gould Hauberg: Fired by Beauty. This woman, Anne Gould Hauberg, has done more for the arts in this city than just about anyone I know. Not only is she one of  the founders of the Pilchuck Glass School, but she is one of the most important collectors and supporters of artists in our area. Just to show you what a humble and unassuming lady she is, I want to share a small personal story about her. A couple of years ago I asked Regina Hackett to write a story in Art Guide Northwest in celebration of the original Seattle Art Museum's 70th birthday, a building that was designed by Anne Gould Hauberg's father, Carl Gould. Soon after the issue came out, a lady called my office one afternoon and asked if I would mind  sending her a few extra copies of the issue to send to some of her friends and relatives. "I'll be happy to pay for them," she said. When I asked her name and address and found out who she was, it was my pleasure to send her a whole case--at no charge. Read more about this remarkable woman in R. M. Campbell's story in the Seattle P.I.

May 27, 2006 Once upon a time there was only one Seattle Art Museum  located in Volunteer Park overlooking a spectacular view of the city.  An adoring public lined up by the thousands to see the newly-crowned bastion of Seattle culture when she opened in the middle of the Great Depression in 1933. The bulk of the museum's inventory centered around an impressive Asian collection and a small but growing collection of Northwest contemporary art purchased by Dr. Eugene Fuller who, along with his mother Margaret, founded the museum.

She reigned supreme for almost 60 years until an interloper came along with the express purpose of stealing her thunder. Amid a splash of rave reviews, the sexy Robert Venturi-designed building in downtown Seattle opened as the Seattle Art Museum in 1991 while the elegant old museum on the hill was renamed the Seattle Asian Art Museum and forced to abdicate in favor of her flamboyant sister. She has, however, been given a second chance to rule. Now that the downtown museum is closed for remodeling, the old museum can shout loudly from the hilltop that she is still queen with all kinds of glamorous shows and publicity intended to bring the public back to her.

Steven Vroom, writing in the Capitol Hill Times, reviews some of the offerings this summer and says, "These four exhibits represent a return to the roots of the Volunteer Park museum. Hopefully the administration at SAM will take heed and continue to diversify the offerings at this facility in the future." Long live the queen!

May 27, 2006 There's an interesting discussion about Jay Steensma going on over at Artdish that you might want to read as a couple of the posters who knew him are sharing their stories of this immensely talented but troubled artist. The exhibit at the Davidson Antique Print Department, closes tomorrow. Pictured is N.W. Extinction Series, 1985.

May 24, 2006 First of all, do you know the last Saturday in the month is free at the Henry Art  Gallery on the University of Washington Campus? From May 27 to June 18 they're showing the art of the students in the MFA program. Be on the cutting edge and discover tomorrow's stars today. The Studio Notebook blog went to the opening last night and has a few comments. The Vroom Journal has a lengthy essay and loads of great pictures of the exhibit.

May 24, 2006 Art lovers who attended the 24th. annual Pratt Fine Arts Auction last weekend contributed $600,000 to the Pratt Institute community-based art education and studio access programs and got some great art in the bargain.

Highlights of the evening included the sale of a painted metal sculpture by local artist Larry Calkins which fetched six times fair market value with animated bidding escalating to $9,000. Two glass art aficionados paid $10,000 each for the opportunity to host parties featuring renowned glass artist Dante Marioni crafting globlets and vessels in Pratt studios.

According to Mimi Pierce, longtime Pratt Board Member and former Executive Director of the Pilchuck Glass School, “In a city where auctions are a dime a dozen, Pratt Fine Art Center’s auction was one in a million.”

May 24, 2006 Pat Kimzey is closing the gallery at the end of this week after 30 years in business. Two years ago, when he lost his partner, Terry Miller, the fun went out of the business according to Pat. It was also tough going home alone to the lovely house they had recently completed in Madison Park. Through it all Pat was sustained by the love and support of his sister, who he also lost this past December to cancer. It's been a tough couple of years, but now Pat is looking ahead to starting a new life and new projects.

I've known Pat Kimzey for 18 years, both as a friend and as an advertiser in Art Guide Northwest. He's one of the finest gentleman it has been my pleasure to know, and although I'll miss seeing him in the gallery, he will still remain in my life.

Located right next to the downtown Seattle Art Museum on the corner of Second and University, the gallery closes at the end of this week. Go in and say goodby to Pat.

May 22, 2006 Microsoft has tours of its art collection on the last Thursday of each month. You need to register at artevent@microsoft.com if you want to go.

Go to www.nwfolklife.org to find out more about the Northwest Folklife Festival which takes place May 26-29. This is the largest multi-cultural event in the region and is held at the Seattle Center with lots of art, food, music, you name it.

For any of you planning on a trip to the San Juans this weekend, there's the Art and Nature Festival at Westcott Bay Sculpture Park in beautiful Roche Harbor on Saturday, May 27. Their website has a great map.

Art Guide Northwest Calendar of Art Events has a complete list of events with lots more information.

May 19, 2006 Thursday Bryan Rubino, one of the glass artists named in the Chihuly lawsuit,  asked the court to be able  to continue making glass art in any way he chooses. According to an article in the Seattle Times, "The countersuit alleges Chihuly is trying to claim 'a monopoly on any and all glass art that is curved, nested or uses certain kinds of colors. [Chihuly] cannot use copyright registrations to protect an idea or process that is so elementary that it would preclude any other glass artist from working or creating any glass art at all.'

To illustrate the potential impact of a court ruling on the question, Rubino's lawyer, Scott Wakefield, attached images from a dozen glass artists and studios around the country whose work is both asymmetrical and colorful like Chihuly's."

The article includes information about a fax from Chihuly to Rubino in 2003 wherein Chihuly wrote, "Here's a little sketch but make whatever you want. We'll get everything up to Tacoma when you're done and I'll try to come down while you're blowing." Read the whole article to find out more.

May 17, 2006 Tucked away in the picturesque town of Edmonds is the oldest cooperative gallery in the Seattle area, Gallery North. On view in the upstairs gallery for the next month is the work of well-known local, Josephine Pfleger.  Josephine has painted all her life and enjoys working with traditional oil and canvas with a contemporary twist. Pictured is Mountains.

May 17, 2006 And so the story continues. Getty directory Michael Brand just released a joint statement with the Greek culture minister, George Voulgarakis, stating that Brand would "recommend to the board of trustees of the museum the return of some of the claimed antiquities in the near future." One of the contested items is a funerary wreath dating to 400 B.C. said to be the pride of the Getty antiquities department. Part of the deal will include the long-term loan of antiquities from Greece, pretty much the same deal the Italians made with the Met in New York. You can read more about it in the NY Times and in the LA Times. 

May 12, 2006 The Seattle Weekly has an excellent list of galleries and museums in the Seattle area along with a brief description of the shows. Emily Page and Sue Peters call it in "An opinionated guide to this week's gallery and museum shows."

If you're planning on a trip to one of the smaller towns in the Greater Puget Sound area and want to check out the galleries, then go to the Art Guide Northwest directory, a complete list of galleries and museums indexed alphabetically by city.

If you haven't checked out  the gallery/museum scene in Tacoma, you should. It's a happening place right now as the art community continues to grow, particularly since the Museum of Glass and the new building for the Tacoma Art Museum hit town. After you read the article in the Seattle P.I. by Rosemary Ponnekanti, you'll see why we've been high on Tacoma for quite a while.

Remember, visiting galleries reduces stress.

May 10, 2006 As of May 13, and after 26 years, Carolyn Staley Fine Japanese Prints closes the doors on its Pioneer Square location and moves to the Pike Place Market area. The new address is 2001 Western Avenue, Ste. 320. The gallery structure will also change as they cease to show monthly exhibits but will feature instead a small browsing studio with select prints on the walls. The browsing studio will open to the public on June 13. Hours will be noon to 5, Tuesday through Saturday, and by appointment.

May 9, 2006 So very politely, Carolyn, writing in her Studio Notebook, says, "May I recommend between now and July 30th that you stop by the Frye Art Museum, and spend a quiet moment with Robyn O’Neil’s work…?  I would particularly recommend you do this if you have any interest in drawing to see what the humble hand and a graphite pencil can do."

May 6, 2006 Robert Kaindl, the Redmond glassblower currently under Chihuly legal fire for copyright violations, came roaring back in court  yesterday. According to an article by Susan Kelleher in the Seattle Times, "Among other things, Robert Kaindl alleges in a counterclaim filed in U.S. District Court that Chihuly is not involved in conceiving, creating, designing or even signing a "substantial number of artworks that bear his name."  He's even claiming that Chihuly buys work from other glass artists and claims them as his own designs. I'm telling you folks, this is really getting messy. This reminds me of a friend of ours who got a divorce a few years ago. Both sides went around town saying vicious things about the other to the point where friends couldn't even mention the name of the former mate without listening to hours of horrid gossip we didn't want to hear. I wish Chihuly had never filed this lawsuit. His tireless promotion efforts have been very good for the art community in this area in general and a real shot in the arm for glass artists everywhere.