January/February 2025

Most Influential: Matika Wilbur

Most Influential: Matika Wilbur

Photographer, Activist

When Tidelands Gallery opened last September along Seattle’s rapidly evolving waterfront, it was, in a sense, a full-circle moment for photographer Matika Wilbur. The 6,000-square foot Indigenous-owned creative space, comprising an art gallery, production studio, rental space, and boutique, is just steps away from the Pike Place Hill Climb, where Wilbur had her first studio….

Most Influential: David Baker

Most Influential: David Baker

Scientist

David Baker grew up on Capitol Hill with scientist parents. His father, Marshall Baker, was a physicist. His mother, Marcia Bourgin Baker, was a geophysicist. Both were faculty at the University of Washington. But as an undergraduate at Harvard, the younger Baker initially eschewed his famous parents’ paths and focused on the humanities, majoring in…

Most Influential: Nia-Amina Minor

Most Influential: Nia-Amina Minor

Dance

For dancer and choreographer Nia-Amina Minor — a cofounder of Black Collectivity with David Rue, marco farroni leonardo, and Akoiya Harris — collaboration is at the core of her practice. A longtime dancer (Minor moved to Seattle to join Spectrum Dance Theater), it wasn’t until attending grad school at UC Irvine that she seriously dove…

Most Influential: Nick Ferderer

Most Influential: Nick Ferderer

Entrepreneur, Activist

With a background in government relations, legislative advocacy, and business strategy — including stints at the U.S. Department of Commerce and Microsoft — Nick Ferderer admits that he isn’t the first person to come to mind as an art gallery owner. And yet, in just three short years, Ferderer has opened two of the city’s…

Most Influential: Luther Hughes

Most Influential: Luther Hughes

Poet

Luther Hughes was 12 years old when poetry made its first impact on them. “I was in church, and the choir director read a poem about birds,” recalls Hughes, whose work has appeared in major publications including American Poetry Review, Paris Review, and Poetry Northwest. “It was likening birds to human behavior, and it blew…

Publisher's Note: When Purpose and Talent Come Together

Publisher’s Note: When Purpose and Talent Come Together

Seattle’s Most Influential people put community first

Each year, we take the time to highlight some truly remarkable individuals in our “Seattle’s Most Influential” people issue, and it remain one of the most important and rewarding projects we undertake. Frankly, it’s a real privilege for all of us here at Seattle magazine. This issue is about more than just recognition — it’s…