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Woven Wonders: Textile-based Coast Salish Art Unravels Local History

Indigenous weaving, past and present, on view at the Burke Museum.

A close-up of a knitted cream-colored garment with decorative patterned trim, fringes, and a button-and-loop closure.
Many Hands, overspun shawl, 2025. Haʔməkwitən Kelly Sullivan (Port Gamble S’Klallam). Mountain goat wool, alder cones, red cortinarius mushroom, deer bone, and antler.
Photo courtesy of Burke Museum

This article originally appeared in the March/April 2026 issue of Seattle magazine.

On display now at the University of Washington’s Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Woven in Wool: Resilience in Coast Salish Weaving examines the traditional art form and its importance to Coast Salish communities.

“This exhibition broadens the definition of American art by incorporating Indigenous voices and artistic practices historically marginalized due to biases against Native art and women’s work,” says Katie-Bunn Marcuse, Burke Museum’s curator of Northwest Native Art.

Working with artisans at the Coast Salish Wool Weaving Center, the Burke provides a platform for storytelling and cultural revival. The exhibition features both contemporary and historic items, including blankets, tunics, hoods, and skirts, and examines the seasonal cycle and intricate techniques behind the process.

Two traditional Coast Salish garments: one red and white with fringe on display; the other beige with fringe and a mask, resembling a human figure, featured in "Woven in Wool" at the Burke Museum against a black background.
LEFT: Chiefly Tunic, 2025, Skwetsimeltxw Willard “Buddy” Joseph (Squamish). RIGHT: Mountain Protector, 2025, SiSeeNaxAlt Gail White Eagle (Muckleshoot). Mask used at Dances, 2025, Tyson Simmons (Muckleshoot)
Photo by CHRIS SNYDER / BURKE MUSEUM

Woven in Wool: Resilience in Coast Salish Weaving runs through August 30. Tickets here

WALKDONTRUN Returns This Saturday, Turning Downtown Seattle Into a Sprawling Art Show

WALKDONTRUN Returns This Saturday, Turning Downtown Seattle Into a Sprawling Art Show

In its second year, the free festival brings 200-plus artists to a 20-block route September 19, with a secret garden and a former 7-Eleven stocked with art.

Most walks through downtown Seattle involve trying to get somewhere. On September 19, the crosswalk itself might be the reason to stop. Heap Troupe will turn a four-way crossing into a performance, one of dozens of encounters planned for this year’s WALKDONTRUN. The free, all-ages art walk stretches across more than 20 blocks. From 11…

At Two Dot Schoolhouse, Ruth Marie Tomlinson Builds an Artistic Community

At Two Dot Schoolhouse, Ruth Marie Tomlinson Builds an Artistic Community

For nearly 20 years, the Seattle artist and her husband have welcomed artists, writers, and musicians to a historic Montana schoolhouse. Now they’re searching for its next stewards. 

At her solo exhibition last year at The Vestibule, Seattle artist Ruth Marie Tomlinson presented a new series of work inspired by her close readings of British nature writer J.A. Baker’s The Peregrine and Icelandic author Sjón’s The Blue Fox. As if on sheets torn from a sketchbook, her pages included excerpts and outtakes of…

Rearview Mirror: Seahawks Off the Field, Seattle on the Board, and Smoked Oysters

Rearview Mirror: Seahawks Off the Field, Seattle on the Board, and Smoked Oysters

Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).

HOOKED ON KNOCKS Admittedly, I am late to this one. The Seahawks’ first season of Hard Knocks, the HBO series that follows NFL teams through training camp, premiered in August, but until last week, I had never heard of it. To be honest, my football knowledge starts with knowing what a touchdown is and doesn’t…

Studio Sessions: Colleen Louise Barry  

Studio Sessions: Colleen Louise Barry  

Multi-hyphenate artist Colleen Louise Barry on discipline, the arts ecosystem in Seattle, and saving abandoned trampoline from the side of the road. 

It’s hard not to smile around artist and writer Colleen Louise Barry. Bubbly and bright, she radiates optimism and cheer that would put most stereotypical Seattleites on edge. I think she is an absolute delight. Originally from Albany, Barry received her MFA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, before moving to Seattle in 2016. Once here,…