Arts & Entertainment
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.
March 1, 2008
One popular geek
Call it “Revenge of the Nerd.” Rainn Wilson was, by his own admission, a hopeless misfit in high school. But when he made a recent appearance at a Kane Hall event, the adoring undergrads had to be turned away by the hundreds.
December 1, 2007
Comedy mind
For comedian and 1996 alumnus Drake Witham, the road to success has been a long, bumpy and filled with detours.
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.
December 1, 2006
100 books by Huskies
To celebrate the literary achievements of our UW community, the editors of Columns asked 15 faculty, alumni and book publishing professionals to help choose 100 outstanding books by 100 UW authors.
The black TV book
Kathleen Fearn-Banks once worked in TV, and now has written the dictionary on an important part of its history.
Book report
For a long time we’ve wanted to celebrate the creative power of the University of Washington by presenting 100 top books by 100 UW authors. While the idea sounds great on paper, coming up with the final list was no easy task. What follows is an editor’s diary of the selection process.
Changing the game
Ward Serrill found his passion in the form of a documentary called "The Heart of the Game," a film that chronicles seven years with the Roosevelt High School girls’ basketball team and its unconventional coach. Film Critic Roger Ebert called it “a triumph.”
June 1, 2006
‘Common book’
“Mountains Beyond Mountains” was named the UW's first-ever "common book." Every member of the incoming freshman class will be reading the book this summer, and thinking, talking and writing about it this fall.
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, 2005
Scene change
Can graduates of the UW’s prestigious acting program find fulfillment away from the footlights? Four PATP alumni share their stories.
June 1, 2004
Role of a lifetime
This spring, Jim Caviezel hit the big time playing Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson’s controversial movie The Passion of the Christ.
Idol in the making
Matt Rogers, ’01, first tasted the limelight when he played on the Husky football team that won the 2001 Rose Bowl. This year, he reveled in more adulation as a finalist on the TV show American Idol.
March 1, 2004
Dancing the classics
The UW has one of the only dance programs that re-create modern dance classics — despite roadblocks from choreographers and problems documenting each step.
December 1, 2003
Author's inspiration
Michele Torrey, '88, was having trouble finding books for her three teen-age sons. She decided to fix that problem by writing one herself.