Seattle Art Blog - News, Discussion, and Events

On view at the Frye Art Museum through January 2, 2011 is “Tête-à-tête,” featuring 150 paintings from the Frye Art Museum’s Founding Collection, recreating the viewing experience enjoyed by visitors to the art gallery Charles and Emma Frye had in their home. The Fryes’ salon-style exhibitions, which showcased artists of the renowned Munich Secession and the “stars” of the preceding Artists’ Association, the Munich Künstlergenossenschaft, literally filled the walls of their large home. Is it any wonder they decided to open a gallery? The undated picture here is from their home.

See folk art items pulled out of the Washington Historical Society's collection, and get a sneak peek at the kind of art that will be seen during the Washington State History Museum’s “World Folk Art Festival,” April 17-18. On  view: jewelry made out of hair, a picture frame crafted from matchsticks, a handmade Norwegian violin inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and more. Shown: Detail from a painting of Ruston, Wash., by Orlin Coughlan. (Washington State Historical Society)

Bellevue Arts Museum  brings to light the work and life of one of the greatest shoe designers of the 20th century: Beth Levine. Featuring ephemera and over 100 shoes and boots, Beth Levine: First Lady of Shoes will open its doors February 18, 2010 and run through June 6, 2010. Originally organized by The Dutch Leather and Shoe Museum, BAM is the only U.S. venue to showcase this fascinating exhibition.

SAM has really landed a coup. Not only will this be the Northwest’s first major presentation of Pablo Picasso’s work, but it will also be the American debut of these works after they are seen  at the Atheneum Art Museum in Helsinki, Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow and the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Drawn from the collection of the Musée National Picasso in Paris, the largest and most important repository of the artist’s work in the world, the exhibition covers nearly every phase of Picasso’s career, and features  some 150  works of art, including approximately 75 paintings and sculptures complemented by an important selection of prints, drawings and photographs. “Picasso:Masterpieces from the Musée National Picasso, Paris” is scheduled to show at the downtown Seattle Art Museum from October 8, 2010 through January 9, 2011.

Shown: Portrait of Marie-Thérèse, 1937 Oil on canvas,100 x 81 cm Pablo Picasso, Spanish, worked in France, 1881-1973 © 2010 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo Credit: Jean-Gilles Berizzi / Réunion des Musées
Nationaux / Art Resource, New York.

Four fun-filled weeks of imagination and creativity for children in Grades 1–6. Each week is a different experience. Kids can attend one week or all four. The Seattle Art Museum  guarantees they'll make art and new friends at SAM Camp 2010!   The schedule is Monday – Friday from 9:30am – 3:30pm July 12-16, July 19-23, July 26-30 and August 2-6. Classes are $325 per week for SAM members and $340 for the general public. Register right here by March 15 as the price will go up after that date.

A project that began at School 52 in the South Bronx in 1981 between Tim Rollins and a group of students described as “academically or emotionally at risk” turned into a collaboration where they produced art and found an interest in doing their schoolwork. Rollins or one of the students read aloud from the selected text while the other members drew, relating the stories to their own experiences. Their signature style was born as Rollins and K.O.S.—Kids of Survival—began producing works of art directly on the pages of these books, cut out and laid in a grid on canvas. Today there are active K.O.S. members in Philadelphia, Memphis, San Francisco, and New York, and their work has appeared  throughout the world. The exhibition will be on view until May 31 at the Frye Art Museum, 704 Terry Avenue in Seattle. Robin Held, Frye Deputy Director, has scheduled a talk about the exhibit at 2pm on February 20.

Museum of Glass, 1801 Dock Street in Tacoma, welcomes glass artists Beth Lipman (Sheboygan, WI) and Ingalena Klenell (Sunne, Sweden) to the Hot Shop for a two-week Visiting Artist residency beginning  January 20. During this session, the two artists will work on elements for Glimmering Gone, an exhibition organized by MOG opening in October, 2010.

From January 13 through March 28, the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum, 703 S. 2nd. Street in La Conner, is showing  Lura Schwarz Smith’s art quilts, “Imagery and Imagination.” Also featured is  "On the Surface" with textile artists from the Whidbey Island Surface Design Association. Schwarz Smith will give a lecture and tour of the exhibit on January 16 at 1pm. Shown is a quilt by Lura Schwarz Smith.

It has been said that the difference between men and boys is the price of their toys, so this exhibit is guaranteed to be a hit with “boys” of all ages -- the 14th Annual  Model Train Festival at the Washington State History Museum, 1911 Pacific Avenue in downtown Tacoma, just off 1-5. From scaled-down steam engines weighing 1,000 lbs. to people the size of a fingernail, check out model train displays on every floor of the museum during the annual Model Train Festival. Nine displays include a variety of holiday-themed layouts, tiny pop-culture dioramas, and miniature depictions of everyday life. The exhibition runs from December 26 through January 2, 10am – 6pm every day.

The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture,  has collaborated with celebrated artist Ray Troll and Seattle-born paleontologist Kirk Johnson to present an exhibit exploring the abundance of fossils in our midst and how fossils shed light on earth’s past. On view through May 31, 2010, the exhibit also features twenty framed originals and five large-scale murals of Troll’s whimsical, fossil-inspired artwork, all of which were created for a book of the same title, published by Troll and Johnson in 2007. The book records the “epoch tale” of the duo’s 5,000-mile road trip through the American West as they sought to explore the fossil record. The museum exhibit combines visuals and stories from the book with real fossil specimens from the Burke’s own paleontology collection. Also on view will be a video highlighting Troll’s artistic process.Cruisin’ the Fossil Freeway will travel nationally after closing in Seattle in late May 2010. Night of ammonites, by Ray Troll.

It’s that time of the year again. Aunt Gertrude is in town for the holidays, and you know she expects to be entertained even though she says otherwise. Not to worry, for the Seattle Art Museum knows exactly what to do with her, and they’ve extended their hours just for you. From Saturday, December 26 through Sunday, January 3 SAM will be open from 10am-9pm. The only day they will be closed Is January 1.  Two great shows she will enjoy are Alexander Calder’s From Monumental Sculptures to Intimate Miniatures and Michelangelo Public and Private Features 12 Original Sketches by the Master Artist . How’s that for a great solution?

The Henry Art Gallery, located at 15th Avenue NE and NE 41st Street on the western edge of the University of Washington campus, commemorates Photographer Milton Rogovin’s life’s work as a social documentarian as he turns 100 years old this winter with a selection of his  black-and-white photographs. In an exhibition on view from December 10 through April 25, Rogovin engages with a variety of people - factory workers, miners, citizens of Cuba and Zimbabwe, and the poor in his hometown of Buffalo, New York - through the filter of political action, a devotion to social justice, and an abiding sympathy for his fellow human beings. Shown: Milton Rogovin. Lower West Side [from Lower West Side, Buffalo series].

Visit the Tacoma Art Museum  through December 13 to see innovative creations of culinary and architectural genius.  Celebrating the theme of Tacoma Landmarks: Past and Present, the gingerbread village features seven larger-than-life displays created by local designers, students, and artists from Affairs Chocolate & Desserts, BCRA, Bellarmine Preparatory School, Jonz Catering, Korsmo Construction, Paprika Catering, and local tile artist Claudia Riedener. The display is free with museum admission. This annual holiday event educates the community about a life-changing disease that millions of children and adults live with every day— type 1 (or juvenile) diabetes. Local businesses and individuals sponsor the event with proceeds going to JDRF.

Washington State History Museum, 1911 Pacific Avenue in Tacoma,  Director David Nicandri has picked out more than 65 items from the Washington State Historical Society’s collection that represent Washington for the new exhibit “Icons of Washington History.” This selection of symbolic events, features, people, and landscapes will be on display November 11 through July 3, 2010. Many items have been restored for their debut exhibition.

For the first time in 20 years, the Tacoma Art Museum has assembled its collection of impressionist paintings, works on paper and sculpture. “The Movement of Impressionism: Europe, America, and the Northwest,” on view through October 9, 2010, explores the varied forms impressionism took as it traveled from Europe to America and into the Northwest. The exhibition showcases the collection and honors longtime supporters of the Tacoma Art Museum as it celebrates its 75th anniversary. Stephanie A. Stebich, Director of Tacoma Art Museum, said “Local families such as the Lindbergs, Baskins, Murrays, Wagners, and Weyerhaeusers were active collectors and the impact of their gifts to the museum is very much a part of the history of this community. As well, this exhibition speaks directly to the museum’s mission by looking at Northwest art in national and international contexts.” Shown: Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Portrait of Mlle. Lerolle, c. 19th century. Oil on canvas, 13 1/8 x 9 7/8 inches. Tacoma Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. W. Hilding Lindberg.