The historic Whatcom Museum of History and Art has overlooked Bellingham Bay for more than a century.
The handsome Victorian-style building, a red-brick masterpiece of craftsmanship and style, is an appropriate setting for a summer exhibit that celebrates a half century of fine art and craftsmanship on a smaller scale.
“Looking Forward, Glancing Back: Northwest Designer Craftsmen at 50” is a wide-ranging exhibit that marks the 50th anniversary of the Northwest Designer Craftsmen, an organization of artists from a five-state region (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska) dedicated to promoting and preserving the craft movement in the Northwest.
This exhibit of works by 55 artists is a testament to the group’s success at maintaining a high standard of design and craftsmanship over the past half century.
“Northwest Designer Craftsmen at 50” is a diverse exhibit of more than 100 contemporary and historical works that includes jewelry, fabric art, ceramics, furniture metal work, weaving, painting and much more. The variety of art is amazing and the level of design and craftsmanship high. It seems these artists are limited only by their imaginations.
The studio craft movement came about in America as artists, reacting against the machine-made objects of the Industrial Age, began to design and make crafts from such materials as ceramics, wood and textiles.
The Pacific Northwest offered a nurturing environment for the designer-craft movement thanks in large measure to the Northwest Designer Craftsmen.
Among the founding members of the organization were such influential Northwest artists as ceramic artist Robert Sperry; furniture maker Evert Sodergren; and Russell Day, who from 1948 to 1976 led the art department at Everett Community College. Works by early members are an important part of the exhibit.
Sodergren’s 1957 pierced screen of laminated walnut and a stunning walnut chair from 1953 that embodies the sleek, contemporary look of the “Danish modern” movement are on view.
Two early 1950s works by Russell Day include a combination silver pin/pendant of forged silver and a knotted pile wool rug executed in a brilliant geometric pattern of red, yellow, black, rust and blue.
Jewelry artist Romona Solberg, a pioneer in the contemporary jewelry movement, has been making exquisite jewelry for a half century, as demonstrated by her works in this show.
Guest-curator Lloyd Herman, an expert on the contemporary craft movement in the United States, has brought together a lively selection of arts and crafts, from the fanciful to the functional, that offers an in-depth view of the modern crafts movement.
“To Mukilteo, with Love”: An exhibit of recent paintings of Mukilteo by Russian artist Alexksandr Kargopoltsev opens at the Point Elliott Art Center Gallery in Mukilteo with a reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Kargopoltsev, inspired by the beauty of Mukilteo, takes the viewer on an artistic stroll through the town of Mukilteo, its historic buildings, the parks and beaches. The artist paints in oil, favoring loose, vigorous brush strokes and soft, luminous colors rendered in an impressionist style.
The gallery will contribute its commission of $100 per painting to the Mukilteo nonprofit organization that the buyer chooses, according to Carol Harkins, director of the Point.
Where to see it
“Looking Forward, Glancing Back: Northwest Designer Craftsmen at 50”: Noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays through Oct. 23 at the Whatcom Museum of History and Art, 121 Prospect St., Bellingham. Free. 360-676-6981, www.whatcommuseum.org.
“To Mukilteo with Love”: Noon to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, or by appointment, Thursday through Sept. 5 at the Point Elliott Art Center Gallery, 724 First St., Mukilteo. Free; 425-268-9697.
Where to see it
“Looking Forward, Glancing Back: Northwest Designer Craftsmen at 50”: Noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays through Oct. 23 at the Whatcom Museum of History and Art, 121 Prospect St., Bellingham. Free. 360-676-6981, www.whatcommuseum.org.
“To Mukilteo with Love”: Noon to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, or by appointment, Thursday through Sept. 5 at the Point Elliott Art Center Gallery, 724 First St., Mukilteo. Free; 425-268-9697.
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