May/June 2024
Is Honesty the Best Policy in Relationships? Uh, Sometimes
All 'rules' have exceptions
I know that there is generally an ironclad sentiment that honesty is always best. But I would like to propose a reexamination of that “always” word. Because I think, no matter how much we all want to know the truth about everything, that the absolute truth is sometimes too brutal, and sometimes too destructive, to
Picture Perfect, Inside and Out
The Friedman home serves as a rotating art gallery
"Canoe Trails Residence” is a home art gallery designed with velvet gloves and without velvet ropes. For decades, Ken and Jane Friedman have been serious curators and creators of art. Jane formerly co-owned Friedman Oens Gallery on Bainbridge Island, acquiring notable pieces from around the Northwest and world. Their collection includes...
The First Sculptor of Seattle
James Wehn's work can still be seen all over the city
My first encounter with the work of James Wehn occurred in the 1980s during a family trip to the Seattle Center. At some point that day we found ourselves walking around in the nearby Belltown neighborhood when someone in the group pointed to a statue of Chief Seattle. The 400-pound bronze statue sits at Tilikum…
Trailblazing Women: Angela Dunleavy
CEO, Gourmondo
Years ago, when my children were very young, I attended an extended education seminar at the University of Washington to learn about corporate board governance. One of the lecturers was a founder of a venture fund, and a woman I deeply admire. She was successful, poised, self-assured. If there was anyone who could impart wisdom…
Trailblazing Women: Julie Pham
Founder, CuriosityBased
After deciding to leave my career as an academic in 2008, I returned to Seattle to help my family run the newspaper. I got my real-life MBA trying to find ways to survive the Great Recession. I brought together different ethnic media, and I chaired the MLK Business Association to facilitate collaboration among small businesses
Unmatched Ingenuity
Edwin Fountain’s artistic innovations can be seen all over south Seattle
This tree is dead — Seattle Parks and Recreation had decapitated it — but to Edwin Fountain, it is a canvas. A piece of marble. A sculpture waiting to emerge. I ask him what it’s going to be. “I don’t know,” he says. “I’m waiting for it to tell me.”
Trailblazing Women: Brenda Leaks
Head of school, Seattle Girls' School
Teaching middle schoolers to accept themselves during adolescence sets the groundwork for acceptance at all stages of life — of ourselves and others. This radical acceptance is critical for women as our roles, lives, and bodies change as we age. Go ahead, take up your space!
Trailblazing Women: Shin Yu Pai
Civic poet of Seattle, Host KUOW's Ten Thousand Things
I made the decision to move back to Seattle in 2012, after working in arts jobs in the Austin, Texas, and Little Rock, Arkansas, areas. I’d worked here as a grad student in the University of Washington museology program and loved the small, community-based cultural organizations that characterize our city — like the Wing Luke