Art

April 4, 2024

Buddhist Bug

UW Bothell Senior Artist-in-Residence Anida Yoeu Ali donned her orange worm-like costume at a recent Seattle Asian Art Museum performance.


March 22, 2024

Highest achievers

The organization that honors Rosa Parks, Elie Wiesel and Jane Goodall has also celebrated three members of the UW community.


March 19, 2024

In focus

Tina Dang and Miguel Laureano Damian combine their skills to create striking imagery and videos.


March 15, 2024

Thermal creatures

In her current Seattle exhibit, Saya Moriyasu, ’91, imagines magical mineral spirits in paper and clay.


February 27, 2024

A Black woman sits in an Adirondack chair with her chin resting on a fist.

Colleen McElroy, 1935-2023

Colleen McElroy, 1935-2024, was the first Black woman to be promoted to a full professorship at the UW.


February 23, 2024

A museum visitor brings her fact close to Anida Ali, who is wearing a giant orange tube that winds around the room

Art in action

UW Senior Artist-in-Residence Anida Yoeu Ali opens a solo show at Seattle Asian Art Museum.


People relaxing in a bright yellow museum room. They're staring at the ceiling, which has a large panel of acetate and tape made to look like stained glass.

Dazzling display

Artist Raúl de Nieves blends mystical symbols and Mexican craft in a Henry Art Gallery exhibition.


February 7, 2024

Close up on a mural of a colorful bird

Beauty after chaos

The Wing Luke Museum unveils a new mural across Canton Alley after the museum's windows and doors were vandalized in an alleged hate crime in September.


January 18, 2024

Artist Anida Ali stands in front of a picture of herself wearing a sparkly red chador.

Out of the ordinary

UW Artist-in-Residence Anida Yoeu Ali opens her show at the Seattle Asian Art Museum, which runs through July 7.


December 12, 2023

Two mannequins (without heads, arms or legs) painted with imagery of roads, people and objects.

East and West

Cheryll Leo-Gwin, '75, '77, draws on her history with fabric and jewelry arts in her new Jack Straw exhibit "Larger than Life."


November 29, 2023

Seattle's sounds

Daniel Pak, who calls himself the "executive homie" for Totem Star, builds a legacy at their new home.


November 26, 2023

Wit and whiteout

Haidee Merritt charms readers with her droll and deprecating illustrations about Type 1 diabetes.


November 25, 2023

Portrait of an artist

The UW School of Art + Art History + Design unveiled a portrait of Jacob Lawrence created by Seattle-based artist Barbara Earl Thomas, ’77


November 24, 2023

Cells of cedar

Seattle-based artist John Grade created the dynamic sculpture “Union” for the Washington Park Arboretum.


Forest chorus

Byron Au Yong, ’96, went to the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island to sing with the trees at an outdoor, participatory research event.


November 17, 2023

Small canvas, big impact

Kela Wong celebrates her Asian American identity through Kela Designs, her small business, selling stickers, pins and more.


October 27, 2023

Ways of knowing

A new podcast produced in partnership with the UW is dedicated to humanities research and thought.


Stories to tell

See how three museums from the Seattle area draw upon their UW ties and engage in evolving conversations around race, history and identity.


Stories to tell: Sea Mar

The 4-year-old Sea Mar Museum is the first in the Pacific Northwest to represent Chicano and Latino culture.


Stories to tell: NAAM

The Northwest African American Museum, which opened in 1998, has many ties to the UW.


Stories to tell: Wing Luke Museum

The Wing Luke Museum is part of Seattle's community of culturally specific museums that build empathy, promote equity and tell more complete histories.


October 6, 2023

Community visionary

From canvases in coffee shops to Brooklyn streets, Hoa Hong’s art and impact are far-reaching.


September 2, 2023

Shaping the future

Five industrial designers, five decades of influence and one message for tomorrow’s designers.


August 29, 2023

Museums are magical

After 15 years leading the Henry Art Gallery, Sylvia Wolf shares her thoughts on the magic of museums.


July 10, 2023

Ordinary to extraordinary

Nathan Vass slows down time with his photography and writing.


May 28, 2023

The Jake awakes

In 1994, the art school’s instructional gallery was dedicated to Jacob Lawrence, recognizing his influence and vision. The time had come for a refresh and a slight relocation.


Exuberant abstraction

Artist Sarah Cain transforms the Henry’s two-story East Gallery into the monumental painting, “Day after day on this beautiful stage.”


Creative flow

The Chihuly Workshop has produced a photo-rich book, “The Boathouse: The Artist’s Studio of Dale Chihuly,” to tell the story of a building with UW ties.


May 19, 2023

Full of surprises

As UW mourns the loss of a beloved artist, we talk with a fellow Husky who saw first-hand how much the acclaimed painter cared about our campus and community.


April 27, 2023

Not quite by the book

Preston Wadley explores new truths in old objects through "Abstract Truth" at the Bellevue Arts Museum.


April 21, 2023

Better hustle

Over the past two years, MFA candidate Abdiel Jacobsen has brought their love of hustle to the UW.


February 25, 2023

Department of what?

What is that silver structure on the UW campus? It's a “department” of sorts.


Body language

“Body Language: Reawakening Cultural Tattooing of the Northwest,” submerses visitors in traditional tattooing practices and their modern expressions.


September 20, 2022

A body in motion


September 3, 2022

Glowing observations

Willem Volkersz, ’65, will have an exhibit of his work, “The View From Here,” on display at the Boise Art Museum from Oct. 8 to Jan. 8.


August 31, 2022

The Poet Laureate

Ada Limón, the 24th poet laureate of the United States, gives UW Magazine a glimpse into her process.


July 22, 2022

Ada Limón, ’98, named 24th U.S. Poet Laureate

The 1998 drama graduate received the nation's highest honor in poetry.


May 29, 2022

Immersive art

The Henry Art Gallery’s commissioned work from Bolivian-American artist Donna Huanca is on display through April 2023.


March 5, 2022

‘You Deserve the World’

Ally Ang is a 2021 graduate of the UW Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing, with a focus on poetry.


March 4, 2022

Biodiversity in a box

Nature photographer David Liittschwager captures biodiversity in one cubic foot of space.


March 1, 2022

A woman stands in front of a craft booth holding fabric

Preserving crafts in India

Judy Frater, '87, put her UW museology degree to good use by seeking out and empowering local Indian artisans.


December 4, 2021

Dancer Abdiel Jacobsen poses wearing dark blue pants, a light blue tank top and a pink cardigan.

Stepping up

Dance students and faculty once again get a chance to strut their stuff.


Imogen Cunningham takes a black-and-white self portrait in a storefront window.

Imogen exposed

Imogen Cunningham was an innovative and influential fine art photographer. A retrospective features nearly 200 of her works.


A smiling woman, wearing a black shirt and red patterned skirt, crosses her arms and looks off into the distance.

The art of curiosity

As she curates an exhibit at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery, doctoral student Brittney Frantece examines art through a critical lens.


Portraits of justice

Alfredo Arreguin has painted the official portraits for three justices on the Washington State Supreme Court. At 86, the master of Mexican-American art remains a source of colorful ideas and vivid canvases.


November 19, 2021

Headshot of Jane Wong holding a bouquet of flowers

From pain to poetry

Poet Jane Wong isn’t afraid to lay her emotions bare as she explores ways beyond the written page to reach audiences.


September 11, 2021

Art and exploration

“Fly Your Own Thing,” a celebration of the late Alden Mason, ’42, ’47, is on exhibit at the Bellevue Arts Museum.


Ballet in the Cold War

The Cold War played out on exotic battlegrounds. Perhaps none were stranger—and had more unexpected outcomes—than cultural-exchange ballet tours.


September 8, 2021

Visual music

Through the interplay of light with her creations, artist Barbara Earl Thomas creates ‘ordinary magic.’ Her extraordinary work explores childhood, race and religion.


September 4, 2021

A life in design

Nin Truong brings creativity and sustainability to the world of public art, skateboarding and apparel.


June 10, 2021

The B-Side

“The B-Side,” on display at the Henry Art Gallery, is a large-scale wall painting, is one of Gary Simmons’ “erasure drawings.”


June 7, 2021

Curiosity and clay

From the start, Seattle artist George Rodriguez explored identity, culture and community in his work.


May 11, 2021

‘Guests’ at the Burke

Artists Tony Johnson (naschio) and Adam McIsaac installed their sculpture, “Guests From the Great River,” just outside the Burke Museum.


Radical works

A little-seen series by Jacob Lawrence, one of the country’s most celebrated Black artists and one of the UW’s most beloved art professors, is now on view at the Seattle Art Museum.


April 17, 2021

Frontline photographer

Photographer David Ryder, ’06, ’11, was recently recognized as UW Bothell's Alumni of the Year recipient.


March 13, 2021

Surveying the Native art of the Pacific Northwest

Here's what it's like to be a student in the University of Washington's class about Indigenous art.


March 11, 2021

Bracing artistry

Residents in the School of Dentistry’s orthodontics program crafted wire sculptures using the materials of their profession.


Native knowledge

Native art is prominent in the life of Miranda Belarde-Lewis, an assistant professor in the University of Washington Information School.


March 9, 2021

Culture crew

Their commitment to equity brought three UW alumni to 4Culture—and it has remained the agency’s North Star in its pandemic response.


December 16, 2020

Honoring our roots

In celebration of the Seattle Japanese Garden’s 60th birthday this summer, a number of local artists created works honoring the landscape and the people involved.


November 12, 2020

A new face teaches American portraiture

Assistant Professor Juliet Sperling, pictured here, began teaching American art history at the University of Washington this fall. She took us on a tour of U.S. history by looking at 18 portraits over four centuries.


September 21, 2020

Future facing

A sculpture by Kenyan-American artist Wangechi Mutu will move to its new home at the UW in front of the plaza of the Hans Rosling Center for Population Health.


August 21, 2020

Make fine art with a UW professor, from his kitchen to yours

The chair of UW’s Printmaking Program designed a popular new class during the pandemic, stamping out doubt about how effective remote learning can be.


June 10, 2020

The Wright eye

Virginia Bloedel Wright, 1929-2020, brought the Broken Obelisk to the UW and funded countless shows at the Henry Art Gallery.


Meet the photographer: Jackie Russo

A portrait photographer in Mexico City photographed eight UW teachers for our June 2020 issue.


May 4, 2020

A brush with depth

Jake Prendez, ’00, knows what it's like to feel like an outsider. Now he offers fellow Latinx artists a place to showcase their work.


March 13, 2020

A life study

A devastating fire makes painter Grace Flott struggle for control of her body—and her life.


March 5, 2020

Wonder of Warashina

The Smithsonian honors Patti Warashina, ’62, ’64, whose humor and innovative perspectives on the human condition put a new face on ceramics.


June 2, 2019

Northwest dressed

From timber territory to tech hub, the Northwest passion for fashion has flourished.


March 7, 2019

Editor’s Eye: Unease

I fear that part of the University is in peril—the humanities, arts, social sciences, museums, libraries.


May 24, 2018

Meet the artist: Miha Sarani

The painter behind our June 2018 cover is a UW master's student.


October 19, 2017

Painting labor

Arely Morales, '17, took inspiration from Latino artists and a poet in developing her style.


March 1, 2016

KEXP rocks its new digs

KEXP and its predecessor KCMU have been a staple of the Seattle music community for four decades. With new digs at the Seattle Center and a 30-year cooperative agreement with the UW, the station enters its next phase as an independent nonprofit.


September 1, 2015

25 years of dance

The UW's unique master's program influences dance education across the country.


June 1, 2015

I, too, am America

The first time I visited the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, I was swept with grief. It was the first point during our UW-led Civil Rights pilgrimage where we faced the reality that the price of being black had been paid with innocent lives.


March 1, 2015

‘I am art'’

“I am not a painter or a sculptor or a glass artist. I am art.” Anyone familiar with the work of American Indian Studies professor Marvin Oliver understands that this is not an egotistical statement, but a reflection of a vision that embraces an astonishing range of materials, styles and techniques.


September 1, 2014

Prey for the senses

Ann Hamilton delves again into the world of animal-human relationships in her upcoming show at the Henry Art Gallery.


September 1, 2013

The inspiration inquiry

Expanding the boundaries of knowledge in dance, theater and other performing arts requires research of a different stripe.


September 1, 2012

Passion for nature

In their new book, nature artist Tony Angell and UW professor of wildlife science John Marzluff disabuse the notion that the family of birds known as corvids—crows, jays, magpies—possess mere “bird brains.”


March 1, 2012

'Arts den mother'

It’s easy to feel like Nancy Guppy, ’82, is a personal friend even if you have never met her.


June 1, 2011

Maestro steps aside

Matt Krashan, the UW’s maestro of music, dance and more, will retire in September from his position as director of the UW World Series, a program that is recognized nationally for its excellence and innovation in the performing arts.


December 1, 2010

Market man

Ben Franz-Knight, '96, is executive director of the Pike Place Market Preservation & Development Authority, the organization that oversees the 103-year-old Seattle institution.


March 1, 2009

Just call her a scholar

Ellen Dissanayake is working in a field she invented: evolutionary aesthetics, the study of art-making as an innate human behavior that helps us survive.


Evolution of art

Ellen Dissanayake came up with a paradigm-changing theory: Art-making evolved as a behavior that contained advantages for human survival-and those advantages went far beyond what Charles Darwin ever imagined.


The healing arts

Last fall, the UW School of Medicine and the Henry Art Gallery teamed up to offer a new course to help medical students develop their diagnostic skills by visiting art museums.


December 1, 2007

UW ceramic arts program is in good hands with Patti Warashina

The UW’s ceramic arts program is ranked among the top five in the nation. Ceramic artist Patti Warashina, ’62, ’64, is one of the reasons why.


March 1, 2006

The mountain mover

From the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to her new topographical installations at the Henry, Maya Lin has permanently altered the landscape—and the way we look at it.


September 1, 2005

High-tech art

When the UW’s Center for Digital Arts and Experimental Media (DXARTS) started four years ago, it set the standard for digital arts education and became the envy of other institutions around the world.


June 1, 2005

Dream weaver

From Lever House to the White House, from Fallingwater to the Louvre, Jack Lenor Larsen’s fabrics have graced the world’s most inspiring spaces.


Magic carpet

When Meany Hall opened its doors in 1996, there was plenty of drama in the lobby as well as on stage. The carpet was extraordinarily beautiful.


March 1, 2002

Making it work

He transformed an obscure theater group into a legend; he nurtured three Pulitzer Prize-winning plays; he may even masquerade as a female playwright—but drama professor Jon Jory insists it's all in a day's work.


September 1, 2001

The magic realist

After childhood abandonment and heartbreak, Alfredo Arreguin became one of the foremost Mexican-American painters of his generation.


December 1, 2000

Tift retrospective

Mary Dreher Tift's vision of taking family objects—cut glass bowls, cigar boxes, carafes—and turning them into works of art will be on display in an exhibit.


Stepping out

It isn't just her personality that makes Hannah Wiley ideally suited to run the UW's summer arts festival. It's her choices in the earlier chapters of her life.


September 1, 1998

Touchable art

Georgia Gerber, '82, who has become one of the most well-known and sought-after bronze sculptors in America.


March 1, 1998

George Tsutakawa, 1910-1998

George Tsutakawa was a longtime art professor at the University of Washington who was one of the Pacific Northwest's most talented and prolific artists.


June 1, 1997

Art and resilience

The 1997 UW Alumnus Summa Laude Dignatus and pioneer in photorealism survived a spinal blood clot to paint again.


March 1, 1997

Artistic expansion

The Henry will take a major step forward as the familiar red brick building is joined with a new, modernist three-level structure.


December 1, 1994

George stands tall

For 18 years of humiliation at the University of Washington, the Father of Our Country had his feet in the mud.


June 1, 1993

Chihuly’s world of glass

For his distinguished career in the arts, Dale Chihuly, '65, is the 1993 UW Alumnus Summa Laude Dignatus.