Staff Picks
Whether you rejoice at the following news or Google “cheap flights warm weather” — holiday shopping is upon us, judging by the art market calendar. While I belong to the “sunny escape” camp, buying local art for friends and family is an excellent idea.
A few art markets are below, along with several can’t-miss museum exhibits. They’re worth visiting at any time but feel especially poignant in November: National Native American Heritage Month.
“Woven in Wool: Resilience in Coast Salish Weaving”
Coast Salish weavers have kept their art form alive for thousands of years, creating blankets and garments from mountain goat wool, dog wool and plant fibers. This expansive new exhibit showcases historical and contemporary woven blankets, tunics, hoods and skirts. A few unique pieces are on loan from museums like the Field and the Smithsonian, such as the only known Salish woolly dog pelt in existence.
Through Aug. 30; Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, 4303 Memorial Way N.E., Seattle; free-$24; burkemuseum.org
Indigenous focus at the Frye
The fall lineup at Frye Art Museum has an Indigenous focus, with three distinct and remarkable exhibits.
Two local artists make their museum debuts: Duwamish artist Camille Trautman in the “Boren Banner Series” (through April 12), a public art project on the museum’s exterior as well as an exhibition of related works inside. In Trautman’s striking black-and-white photos, shadows hide, their body blurs and LCD screens obscure.
Priscilla Dobler Dzul draws from her Maya and multicultural heritage for her ambitious first solo show “Water Carries the Stories of Our Stars” (through April 19). Created with materials from her homelands, in the Pacific Northwest and the Yucatán Peninsula — local red clay; blown glass vessels filled with Azul Maya pigment or water from Chambers Bay; fabrics woven with jute, western red cedar and henequén fibers — the artist invites visitors to reflect on the ecological crises these landscapes are facing.
“Insatiable Beings” (Oct. 25-Jan. 18) is the first U.S. museum survey of the late Beau Dick, the celebrated Kwakwaka’wakw chief, activist and master carver. It features his masks — often supernatural, shapeshifting characters made for ceremonies — carved from western red cedar paired with horsehair, bark and other natural materials.
Frye Art Museum, 704 Terry Ave., Seattle; free; 206-622-9250, fryemuseum.org
Teamwork makes the dream work
Faced with economic pressures, market consolidation and a splintered society, the U.S. cultural sector is leaning into collaboration, mergers, “strategic alliances” and other partnerships. Together is often better creatively, too. Here’s a list of exhibits that put this credo into practice.
The sprawling show “Telephone” — featuring 1,388 original, interconnected works by artists from more than 65 countries — is the result of an international game of art relay in which hundreds of artists created poems, music, film, paintings and more based on other works from anonymous peers. (Through Nov. 30; Base Camp Studios, 2407 First Ave., Seattle; show continues through Dec. 13 at Base Camp Studios 2, 1901 Third Ave., Seattle; basecamp206.com)
“Comin’ in Hot!” is an out-of-this-world show by local artists and friends Amara Eke (who makes irresistible acrylic paintings of eggs) and Jade Knox (who makes ceramics and paintings with a tendrilous energy); it’s a self-declared “cosmic collaboration.” (Oct. 30-Dec. 12; Galley 4Culture, 101 Prefontaine Place S., Seattle; free; 206-296-7580, 4culture.org)
Last but not least is “LAnd SEA,” a reference to Eleana Del Rio (of Koplin Del Rio gallery) and McLean Emenegger’s (of AMcE Creative Arts) shared history of exhibiting in Los Angeles and Seattle. For this show, the gallerists are pairing local artists — including Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes, Eirik Johnson and Christine Nguyen — to create new collaborative artworks. (Nov. 8-Jan. 10; AMcE Creative Arts, 612 19th Ave. E., Seattle; free; 206-518-1046, amcecreativearts.com)
Weekend art events
Ghost Gallery opens its 19th annual Holiday Mini Art Exhibit, featuring smaller, affordable works by mostly local artists. The work is viewable and shoppable online, too. And if you’re curious about how to purchase and gift local art, I’ve got a guide for you at this link! (Nov. 14-Jan. 4; Ghost Gallery, 600 Pine St., Suite 253, Seattle; free; ghostgallery.org)
I saw the inaugural 2024 edition of the Rock Paper Scissors: Festival of Handmade Animation, curated by animator, artist and teacher Stefan Gruber, and I’ll tell you now: Don’t walk, run to the second edition. Featuring handmade animated films from around the world, it was a delightful — and often moving — testament to the power of a “slow” art form in a world of artificial intelligence slop. (8 p.m. Nov. 14-15; The Grocery Studios, 3001 21st Ave. S., Seattle; $10-$25; thegrocerystudios.com)
And during the November Native Art Market, more than 30 Native artists and vendors from across the region will sell handmade jewelry, prints, fine art, traditional crafts, clothing and more at Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center at Discovery Park. (10 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 22-23; Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center, 5011 Bernie Whitebear Way, Seattle; free; unitedindians.org)
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yakimaherald.com ’
