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New Exhibit Explores the Legacy of Cornish College of the Arts

Unveiling the history of Cornish College of the Arts

A group of people looking at art in a museum.
A group of people looking at art in a museum.

This article originally appeared in the April 2016 issue of Seattle magazine.

THROUGH 5/1  David Martin, curator of the newly opened Cascadia Art Museum in Edmonds, may well be our region’s leading authority on Northwest art history.

His extensive knowledge, which encompasses the many forgotten strains of local painters and photographers, has been put to great use in creating Looking Back, Moving Forward: A Centennial Tribute to Nellie Cornish and Cornish College of the Arts, a show that explores the legacy of Cornish on its 100th anniversary. The exhibit, which includes artworks, archival photographs and ephemera—much of it newly uncovered and never before shown—focuses on both the school’s visual and performing arts traditions, frequently highlighting their glorious and often chance intersections.

This remote location, far from the centers of the era’s art world, where choreographer Martha Graham and painter Mark Tobey taught, and dance legends Robert Joffrey and Merce Cunningham studied, is brought vividly to life as we are introduced to the countless other artists and educators who laid the groundwork for Seattle’s now vibrant art scene.

Times and prices vary. Cascadia Art Museum, 190 Sunset Ave., Edmonds; 425.336.4809; cascadiaartmuseum.org

 

Rearview Mirror: Spinasse at Home, a New Spa Experience, and Seattle Mag’s Reader’s Choice Awards 

Rearview Mirror: Spinasse at Home, a New Spa Experience, and Seattle Mag’s Reader’s Choice Awards 

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

YOUR VOTE MATTERS Everyone has a favorite restaurant, coffee shop, or local boutique. Call me old-school, but I will die on the hill that Caffe Vita has the best coffee in town. Disagree with me? Now’s your moment to speak up. Each year, we survey Seattle magazine readers, asking them to weigh in on everything…

Studio Sessions: Ling Chun

Studio Sessions: Ling Chun

The Seattle-based artist brings playful color to ceramics and neon while exploring memory, transformation, and life between cultures.

For Ling Chun, creating begins with something sensed before it can be named. Working with clay, glass, light, and sometimes synthetic hair, the Hong Kong-born artist gives physical form to things that words cannot always hold. “For me, the magnitude of making goes far beyond the object that is eventually produced,” Chun says. “The object…

The Magic of PAX Is Stronger Than Ever

The Magic of PAX Is Stronger Than Ever

PAX West draws more than 100,000 people to Seattle each year. Co-founder Jerry Holkins reflects on what the gaming convention set out to change, how its community has grown and why gathering face to face still matters.

Access to game news as it was happening was difficult back in the day. Even with the advent of the internet, communication between game publishers and journalists was still a very elite affair.  I used to fake credentials—via fax machine!—to attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo, mostly just known as E3. It was simultaneously as loud…

Your Guide to Bumbershoot 2026

Your Guide to Bumbershoot 2026

Navigate Seattle’s wildest end-of-summer weekend with 20 picks spanning Death Cab for Cutie, Blood Orange, wrestling, skateboarding and—obviously—movies made in 48 hours.

Four years after Bumbershoot returned with its quirkiness revivified, Seattleites broadly acknowledge the two-day multimedia extravaganza as a welcome finale to the summer festival season. Fests like Bumbershoot are designed around a choose-your-own-adventure model, but if you’re the kind of person who looked at this year’s sprawling lineup—featuring multiple bands, artists, and exhibits happening at…