Bellingham National 2017 Juried Art Exhibition and Awards @ Whatcom Museum

June 11 – September 10, 2017, Lightcatcher

Juror: Catharina Manchanda, Jon and Mary Shirley Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seattle Art Museum

This exhibition is supported by the Whatcom Museum Advocates, the Whatcom Museum Foundation, and the City of Bellingham.

The Whatcom Museum is hosting the second Bellingham National Juried Art Exhibition and Awards. Featuring more than 60 artworks by 29 artists from around the country, the artwork represents interpretations on the theme of “drawing practice” in a variety of media. The top three artists, chosen by the juror, received cash awards, and the exhibition includes a popular choice award. The artwork selected features modern ideas of language, writing, notation, mapping, movement, dance, performance, as well as connections to space and architecture.

Juror’s Choice Award Winners:
1st Place, Dawn Cerny, Seattle, WA
2nd Place, Lou Watson, Portland, OR
3rd Place, Ann Leda Shapiro, Vashon, WA

Popular Choice Award Winner:
Jenna Lynch, Mahopac, NY

The flood of images disseminated on the internet, and with it the attendant information overload, invite renewed attention to drawing as a comparably “slow” medium. Traditionally tied to the conception and development of ideas, drawing remained the stepchild to the more durable mediums of painting and sculpture well into the 1960s. The subsequent interest in process and fragment rather than the finished product allowed drawing to assume a far more influential position. In our contemporary moment, drawing practices warrant particular attention as they open new avenues for artistic thought and expression, especially vis-à-vis digital modes of communication and information sharing. 

About the Juror:
Catharina Manchanda joined the Seattle Art Museum in 2011 as the Jon and Mary Shirley Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art. A native of Germany, she received her undergraduate degree from the University of Stuttgart and her Ph.D. from the City University Graduate Center in New York. Recent exhibitions at the Seattle Art Museum include Pop Departures, Miró: the Experience of Seeing, and Big Picture: Art after 1945. She also mounted a series of contemporary projects and site-specific installations by John Luther Adams, Moyra Davey, Harun Farocki, Victoria Haven, Martha Rosler, Guido van der Werve, and others. Prior to her time in Seattle, she worked at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum in St. Louis, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

PARTY > Members see it first at the member reception! Saturday, June 10, 5 – 7 PM at the Lightcatcher building.

JUROR’S GALLERY TOUR > Catharina Manchanda will lead a gallery tour of the exhibition and discuss her selections. Sunday, June 11, 1 PM in the Lightcatcher building.

POPULAR VOTE > Visitors can cast a vote for their favorite artwork June 11 – September 3 at the exhibition. The winning artist will receive a $500 prize and will be announced September 6.

INVITED ARTISTS IN BELLINGHAM NATIONAL 2017 JURIED ART EXHIBITION & AWARDS @ WHATCOM MUSEUM:

Bert Bergen, Brooklyn, NY
Kelly Bjork, Seattle, WA
Lisa Blas, New York, NY
Lisa Blatt, San Francisco, CA
Joan CawleyCrane, Ellensburg, WA
Dawn Cerny, Seattle, WA
Mark Danielson, Seattle, WA
Lacy Draper, Seattle, WA
Klara Glosova, Seattle, WA
Victoria Haven, Seattle, WA
Eva Isaksen, Seattle, WA
Michael Johnson, Seattle, WA
Selena Jones, Portland, OR
Lita Kenyon, Edmonds, WA
Fei Li, Long Island City, NY
Margie Livingston, Seattle, WA
Jenna Lynch, Mahopac, NY
Christen Mattix, Bellingham, WA
Shaw Osha, Oympia, WA
Christopher Patton, Bellingham, WA
Jesse Eric Schmidt, Fayetteville, NY
Masha Sha, Boulder, CO
Ann Leda Shapiro, Vashon, WA
James Simpson, Rock Hill, SC
Cayla Skillin-Brauchle, Salem, OR
Dylan Jonas Stone, Vashon, WA
Whiting Tennis, Seattle, WA
Lou Watson, Portland, OR
Kirk Yamahira, Seattle, WA