The gallery will be closed on July 4th, with normal hours resuming on Friday.
Please note that the First Thursday Artwalk will take place on the Second Thursday of July. We’ll see you on July 11th, 6-8pm, for the artist reception of “Hib Sabin: The Still Point of the Turning World”.
In honor of Memorial Day, the gallery will be closed on Monday, May 27th. Our normal hours resume on Tuesday, May 28th.
“Glamorous (Breaking the Sound Barrier – Chuck Yeager” by Jeffrey Veregge (Port Gamble S’Klallam) Limited Edition Giclee
Tuesday, May 21st, 6:30pm at Stonington Gallery.
Free to attend, first come first seated.
Join us on May 21st at 6:30pm for an artist lecture by featured artist Jeffrey Veregge (Port Gamble S’Klallam)! Veregge has created art for over 100 Marvel, Valiant and IDW publications, but his current show with us takes his Salish graphic designs in a new direction. Learn about Veregge’s passion and focus that led to this show, his major mural projects for places including the Smithsonian, and his signature Salish Geek style.
Free to attend. First come first seated.
Stonington Gallery proudly welcomes Charles Froelick to give a presentation on the life, legacy and works of renowned artist Rick Bartow (Wiyot) during the run of Bartow’s exhibition at our gallery. Charles worked with Rick as his primary gallerist and archivist for many years, and the two formed a deep and lasting relationship. He has toured the country speaking and presenting on Bartow’s life and art, both during Bartow’s life and since his passing in 2016. Charles was instrumental in the creation of Bartow’s retrospective exhibition–What You Know But Cannot Explain–that opened in 2015 and continues to tour the country even now, and he provides insight of a rare caliber and depth into this enigmatic artist’s canon.
Raven’s Tail robe by Evelyn Vanderhoop (b.1953) Masset, British Columbia / 2017-2018 / Twined wool, sea otter fur, cedar bark fiber, shell, copper threads
Evelyn Vanderhoop (Haida) weaving a contemporary masterwork for the MFA Boston Collection, 2019.
Photo by Bernadette Jarrard.
Two years ago we embarked on an exciting project with curators at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and Evelyn Vanderhoop (Haida): the weaving of a contemporary Ravenstail robe for the Museum’s collection. Vanderhoop–the daughter of renowned weaver Delores Churchill–has spent the last year weaving an exquisite robe for the Museum, and it was formally danced by Vanderhoop at the MFA in February 2019. The ownership and title of the robe was then formally transferred to the Museum.
Vanderhoop dances the Robe at the MFA Boston in February 2019 as her daughter, Tiffany Vanderhoop, drums and sings. Photo by Bernadette Jarrard.
Vanderhoop wearing the Robe on the Grand Staircase at the MFA. Photo by Bernadette Jarrard.
The completed Ravenstail Robe with Assistant Curator Jenn Swope (L), Chair of Textile Arts Pamela Parmal (R),
and Evelyn Vanderhoop (Center).
One of the most celebrated First Nations historic objects is the Swift Blanket, made sometime in the late 1700s in British Columbia, and now held by the Peabody Museum at Harvard University in Boston. Among textile experts the Swift Blanket is an important example of Ravenstail weaving from the height of the “golden age” of Northern Northwest Coast artistry.
The “Swift Blanket.” Ceremonial blanket woven of mountain goat wool, Mid-eighteenth century AD, Northwest Coast. Collection of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University.
Evelyn Vanderhoop writes eloquently on the importance of the Swift Blanket:
“Referred to as the Swift Robe after its collector, fur trader Benjamin Swift, it is the only full and complete early ravenstail textile of its kind in the United States. This robe’s inner designs are separated vertically with very distinctive designs left and right. In its former life as a chief’s robe, the fur-topped rectangular garment would have draped over a chief’s shoulders with a division down the wearer’s back. It would appear as a totally different robe viewed from one side to the next. The dual elements of The Swift Robe would have added to the wearers’ ability to convey more than one message. It would have been the physical manifestation of a chief’s increased authorities as well as the ability to proclaim different intentions. Shifting from one side to the other would give a chief the animation of transforming from one form to another; telling two stories, concealed and revealed in consecutive motion. The Swift robe threads together a duality that is found in the ancestor stories and early chiefs’ fashions at the time of contact.”
Across the river at the MFA, curators at the MFA’s textile department sought a contemporary weaver who could create a modern Ravenstail blanket, opening a direct and rare dialogue between historic and contemporary masterworks. After a search of many weavers, Vanderhoop was chosen to create the robe. Evelyn’s mother is the famed weaver Delores Churchill of Ketchikan, Alaska. Delores assisted weaver Cheryl Samuels in weaving the first Raven’s Tail blanket made in contemporary times. Delores taught Evelyn Raven’s Tail weaving, and Evelyn is now considered a master.
Stages of the weaving process, showing Evelyn Vanderhoop at work. All photos by Bernadette Jarrard.
About Robes and Blankets:
Robes and blankets are emblematic of the flourishing, robust cultures of the Northwest Coast, where the resources available were bountiful, the climate was mild, trade routes were quick and open, and cycles of salmon allowed for stability and solidity. These robes represent a great society, where “well-made objects”* of both utilitarian and ceremonial purposes were the standard, and an artisan could reasonably expect to spend an entire year weaving a Chilkat or Ravenstail robe without interruption. The cultures of the Northwest Coast collapsed tragically and near-completely, but have recovered through the tenacity and perseverance of their members. In many ways, the weavers have been a significant part of this revival and rebirth. The cumulative knowledge required to weave the complex objects of the Coastal cultures is the sum of years-long apprenticeships, and more than just technique is passed from generation to generation. Core ideas of cultural history and identity are also transmitted, making weavers the heart of these tribal nations.
* A phrase used by Haida master artist Bill Reid.
Learn more about the process and living history of Naaxiin weaving in this video by Bernadette Jarrard, for the MFA Boston:
The Stonington Gallery employs a full-time framer, the wonderful Terry Upshall, who frames 99% of the flat work you see in the gallery. But did you know that we will also frame works you bring in to us? Terry uses conservation-grade materials and is available each Tuesday-Saturday for consultations*.
From Jan 12- Feb 28:
-Take 20% off all new framing projects, regardless if they are work purchased in or out of the gallery.
-Take 20% off the framing cost of all framed works** in the gallery. We pre-frame many prints, paintings and flat media, and this is your opportunity to knock down the framing price and take home a piece ready for hanging.
-Any flat work you purchase with the gallery automatically qualifies for 20% off the framing costs if you choose to frame it with us.
*we recommend calling ahead to double-check that Terry is available for a framing consultation.
**sale extends only to works that have been framed by the gallery. The vast majority of our work is gallery-framed.
2018 was a busy year for Stonington and our artists, and we wanted to share some of what we’ve been bustling about. From special commissions to museum acquisitions, to some secrets that we still can’t talk about, there have been fantastic projects in the works!
Numerous works from Stonington were added to museum and civic collections this year, including a glass vessel by Dan Friday and Lillian Pitt. Other works include skateboards by Angela Swedberg and Jason Gobin, and pieces by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, Troy Kwakseesthala Roberts, Marika Swan, Crystal Worl, Preston Singletary, Dan Friday, Alison Marks, Alano Edzerza, and Susan Point.
| We were also honored to loan works to a number of institutions this year so that they could be enjoyed in public exhibitions. Raven Skyriver’s glass took a spin through the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Kirkland Art Center, and SeaTac Airport. Marika Swan’s prints resided in a large exhibition on indigenous printmaking at the Tacoma Art Museum. Dan Friday and Lillian Pitt’s collaborative glass is currently on view at the Portland Art Museum, and Preston Singletary’s bronze and glass Raven Steals the Light traveled all the way to the British Museum!
Installation view of “Canoe Journeys: Pulling Together” at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.
|
|
|
In observance of Thanksgiving the gallery will be closed on November 22nd, 2018. We re-open with normal hours on Friday, November 23rd.
“Ember” by Qwalsius Shaun Peterson (Puyallup).
Limited Edition Giclee – 15″h x 13″w
We are devoting our autumn season to back-to-back-to-back exhibits by three of the region’s top Native glass artists, in a celebration of the Northwest Native Art Glass movement. September brings Dan Friday (Lummi), October is Preston Singletary (Tlingit), and in November we close with Raven Skyriver (Tlingit). All three of these artists uses the medium of glass to reflect on aspects of their vibrant Northwest Coast Native heritage, but each does so with a different focus.
Dan Friday Solo Exhibition: Sept 6-30, Opens Sept 6, 6-8pm
Preston Singletary Solo Exhibition: Oct 4-28. Opens Oct 4, 6-8pm
Raven Skyriver – Confluence – Solo Exhibition: Nov 1-30, Opens Nov 1, 6-8pm
L to R: Preston Singletary at a demonstration; Dan Friday working at Cornimg Museum; Raven Skyriver working at Pilchuck.
Dan Friday (Lummi) is inspired by the material culture of the Lummi people: the gear with which they reefnet fish, one of the world’s oldest and most sustainable salmon-fishing techniques; the totem poles carved by his great-grandfather Joseph R. Hillaire (Kwul-kwul’t); and the cedar bark woven baskets and goat fur blankets of the great Lummi weavers.
Preston Singletary (Tlingit) is particularly focused on mythology and legendary characters, rendering stories of the Tlingit, Haida and other northern nations in blown and sandblasted glass. Singletary transforms epic legends along the sides of bentwood boxes, on totem poles made in collaboration with carvers David Svenson (Non-Indigenous) and Dave Franklin (Non-Indigenous), and in 2d prints.
Of the three, Raven Skyriver (Tlingit) draws deepest from the physical environment of the Pacific Northwest Coast. His incredibly life-like blown glass creatures are a celebration of the variety of aquatic and land animals of our region and beyond. He uses them to educate viewers about the ties we have to the creatures who have inhabited this land even longer than humanity, and the responsibility we owe them to keep the ecosystem healthy and sustained.
We know that Pioneer Square and the rest of downtown Seattle are busier than ever, and that parking and transit can be a challenge. So, we’re excited about this new pilot program that just launched for the summer: a free waterfront shuttle that runs for nine stops along the downtown waterfront! It connects our Pioneer Square neighborhood with useful destinations including the Olympic Sculpture Park, the Seattle Aquarium, the West Seattle Water Taxi/ island Ferries, and King Street Station. It runs now through October 1. Check it out, and tell us what you think! Free Waterfront Shuttle info here.
The gallery will be closed this Wednesday, July 4th, in observance of Independence Day. We will be back open with normal hours on Thursday, and will open Hib Sabin’s solo exhibition on Thursday evening from 6-8pm.
Digital design by Jeffrey Veregge for Snoqualmie Casino.