Art + Design

Past Exhibits

Department of Art + Design Exhibitions and Lectures

Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday 10 AM - 3 PM; Saturday 1 PM - 5 PM; CLOSED Sundays and University Holidays

WINTER 2024

Rob McKirdie: Mechanical Gestures

Exhibit on View January 11—February 3, 2024

Opening Events, Thursday, January 11:
Artist Talk, 4:00 to 5:00 p.m., Randall Hall, Room 117
Reception, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., Sarah Spurgeon Gallery, Randall Hall, Room 141

(Gallery Closed: Jan. 15 in observation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day)

Mechanical Gestures is a body of work by Rob McKirdie that explores our relationship to machines as a metaphor for modern existence. At the same time, it investigates the effect of technology, mechanization, and industrial innovation on consumer culture. McKirdie uses materials that have been scavenged from scrap yards, junk heaps, and dumpsters. As a tactile, visceral experience, the work invites the viewer to explore the gamut of emotions, from reverence to chaotic humor, through direct engagement with the work. McKirdie received an MFA in Sculpture from Rhode Island School of Design and is currently a tenured professor at Spokane Falls Community College.

Mother Tongue: Rafael Soldi and Victor Yañez-Lazcano
Exhibit on View February 15—March 9, 2024

Opening Events, Thursday, February 15:
Artist Talk, 4:00 to 5:00 p.m., SURC Theatre, Room 210
Reception, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., Sarah Spurgeon Gallery, Randall Hall, Room 141

(Gallery Closed: Feb. 19 in observation of Presidents' Day)

Rafael Soldi and Victor Yañez-Lazcano's photography, video, and installation works consider ideas of masculinity, gender, intimacy, violence, and the power of language. The exhibit contemplates their shared interest in these themes and how they are reflected through the unique lens of the immigrant experience, as assimilation impacts traditional customs and upbringing. Soldi is a Peruvian-born artist and independent curator based in Seattle. Yañez-Lazcano is a third-generation Mexican American and an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington School of Art + Art History + Design.

Rafael Soldi, mouth to mouth, 2023, Ink on paper

Victor Yañez-Lazcano, Poder, 2018, Neon, 20 in. x 24 in.

FALL 2023

INTERSTATE: Where I-90 meets I-82

November 2—December 2, 2023

(Gallery Closed: Nov. 10 in observation of Veterans Day, and Nov. 22-26, Thanksgiving Break)

INTERSTATE is a biennial juried exhibition organized by the CWU Department of Art + Design. The exhibit subtitle, “where I-90 meets I-82,” locates the exhibition in Ellensburg, Washington, and suggests the flow and exchange of artwork across geographic distances and boundaries. The juror for the 2023 INTERSTATE exhibit is Stefano Catalani, the Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner, Washington.

The list of participating artists includes: Daniel Atyim, Sarah Barnett, Raymond Bonavida, Ruth Bravetti, Jeanne Ciravolo, Paige Clark, Nicholas D’Angelo, Mat Duncan, Erik Fremstad, Olivia Fry, Justin Gibbens, Noble Golden, Erin Robinson Grant, Nena Howell, Louis Hurlbut, Steve Jensen, Bella Kim, Riley Kizziar, Anne Magratten, Katherine McDowell, Dorothy McGuinness, Richard Metzgar, Gordon Miller, Naoko Morisawa, Elizabeth Morisette, Lindsey Myers, Cory Peeke, Cozette Phillips, Haley Prestifilippo, Robert Procter, Carl Richardson, John Richey, Kathy Ross, Lisa Sheets, Marcus Shriver, Jerry Slough, David Smith, Carlos Lee Sullivan, Sharon Swanson, Eric Thompson, John Tronsor, Ryan Wise, and Suze Woolf.

Carlos Lee Sullivan (class of 2019), Deflate!, Latex and acrylic paint on cloth, balloon, and mixed media, 48 in. x 31 in., 2021

Sarah Barnett, Cradle, Oil on canvas, 36 in. x 48 in., 2021

 Erik Fremstad, The Grizzly, Archival ink and watercolor on cold press, 47 in. x 35 in., 2020

FALL 2023

September 28—October 21, 2023

RYAN! Feddersen: SIGNAL TRACES

Opening Events, Thursday, September 28: 4-5 p.m., Artist Talk, SURC Theatre, Room 210; 5-7 p.m., Reception in the Spurgeon Gallery, Randall Hall, Room 141

RYAN! Elizabeth Feddersen creates compelling site-specific installations and public artworks that invite people to consider their relationships to the environment, technology, society, and culture. Utilizing metaphor, historical research, traditional Plateau storytelling, and pop culture influences, paired with printmaking, sculpture, performance, and digital tools, Feddersen creates visual allegories that provide the public with opportunities for exploration, introspection, and epiphany. She is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, from the Okanogan and Arrow Lakes bands, and of mixed European descent.

Fall 2022

Opening Events, Thursday, September 29:

4:00-5:00 p.m., Panel discussion by SOIL Artists Erin Elyse Burns, Jia Jia, Philippe Hyojung Kim, Margie Livingston, and Tyna Ontko, in Randall Hall, Room 117

5:00-7:00 p.m., Reception in the Spurgeon Gallery, Randall Hall, Room 141

Featuring work by: Iole Alessandrini, Sophia Anderson, Nola Avienne, Colleen RJC Bratton, Chris Buening, Erin Elyse Burns, Jasmine Fetterman, Bradly Gunn, Ben Hirschkoff, Jia Jia, Claire Johnson, Philippe Hyojung Kim, Chloe King, May Kytonen, Margie Livingston, Kiki MacInnis, Quinn McNichol, Tyna Ontko, Forrest Perrine, Claire Scherzinger, Genevieve Tremblay, and Ellen Ziegler.

Department of Art + Design Faculty Exhibition

Opening Events, Thursday, November 3:

• 4:00-5:00 p.m., Faculty Artist Talk, Randall Hall, Room 117: Assistant Professor Justin Colt Beckman, Associate Professor Maya Chachava, and Assistant Professor Kyung Hee “Kate” Im, will give short presentations about their work
• 5:00-7:00 p.m. in the Spurgeon Gallery, Randall Hall, Room 141

(Gallery Closed, Nov 11. Veteran’s Day, and Nov. 23-27, Thanksgiving Break)

This biennial exhibit features recent artwork by twenty full and part-time faculty, emeritus faculty, and graduate teaching assistants.