EDMONDS— Cascadia Art Museum’s summer exhibition is well worth a visit.
Start with the photo show, “Northwest Photography at Mid-Century,” which is displayed in two rooms and the main hall.
The region has long been home to artistic photographers who achieved national and international success. The show is focused on photos by those who worked during the mid-century period of 1940 to 1970. The photographers honored include Everett’s Yoshio Noma and Marjorie Duryee, and those works (Noma’s “Composition Circle” and Duryee’s ski shot titled “Jump Turn”) are a “must-see.”
Also spectacular are photos by the late Seattle policeman Austin Seth, who photographed the down-and-out folks in the Pioneer Square area of his beat. See “Chow Line” taken in front of the Salvation Army in about 1940 and “Down with Everything,” a photo of a protest rally, also in 1940.
Noteworthy, too, are Dorothy Smith’s photos from the early 1960s of the Seattle Center.
In the other big exhibit at Cascadia right now, be sure to see John Matsudaira’s “Quiet Motion and Blue,” which was featured at the Century 21 World’s Fair at the Seattle Center in 1962.
“Against The Moon: The Art of John Matsudaira” focuses on a Seattle artist considered one of the finest of his time. But because he was a shy man with a time-consuming job at Boeing, Matsudaira’s art became, by the 1980s, something seen mostly by his family.
Many of his relatives, including his widow, showed up for the invitational opening this past week at Cascadia.
“My father was very mild-mannered and not the type to push his art,” son Peter Matsudaira said. “A few of the pieces in the show, I don’t even remember.”
Be sure to see Matsudaira’s works from the collections of the Tacoma Art Museum and other institutions. Take a look at the simple sumi-e portraits done of him by famous artists Mark Tobey and Paul Horiuchi.
In its first sixth months of operation, Cascadia Art Museum has garnered nearly 600 members, has offered five shows and has big plans for its first anniversary this fall, said founder Lindsey Echelbarger.
“We’re just getting started.”
If you go
“Northwest Photography at Mid-Century” and “Against The Moon: The Art of John Matsudaira” are exhibited through Aug. 23 at the Cascadia Art Museum, 190 Sunset Ave., Edmonds. Admission is $10, with discounts for students and seniors. Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. Call 425-336-4809. More at cascadiaartmuseum.org.
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