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 2023

February 16—March 11, 2023

Cozette Phillips: om·ni·di·rec·tion·al

Opening Events, Thursday, February 16: 4-5 p.m., Artist Talk, Randall Hall, Room 117

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

(Gallery Closed February 20, Presidents Day)

Engaging within the context of modern ecological consciousness, this body of work by Cozette Phillips references tensions between nature, industrialization, and residual loss. Drawing upon observations of the world around us from climate change to deforestation and loss of habitat, the investigation moves in all directions between the tangible and the finite. The influence of industry and development are referenced by combining metal alloys, plastics, and concrete to create a variety of sculptures. Cozette Phillips earned her MFA in Metals from the State University of New York, New Paltz, in 2010. She currently works at Spokane Falls Community College as Fine Art Instructor and Gallery Program Director. 

SPRING 2023

April 6—29, 2023

Rob Rhee: Roote Wordes

Opening Events, Thursday, April 6: 4-5 p.m., Artist Talk, Randall Hall, Room 117

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

Dreamlike encounters with natural materials proliferate in Roote Wordes. Inspired by animist texts and experiences, this exhibit works with language as an emergent phenomenon. Blackberry roots turned sculptures are arranged in dioramas akin to the wildlife habitat displays of natural history museums. These dioramas imagine a nearby world, an animate landscape clicking and turning with language. Rhee’s poem Beringia, an in-progress text that will be written and rewritten over the exhibition, is expressed in foam on the gallery’s outer walls. In concert with the dioramas and allegorical poem, an artificial network trained on the blackberry roots is used to generate an animation entitled present world lyves space.

Rob Rhee's artwork encompasses sculpture, performance, and critical writing. Rhee has exhibited nationally at the Portland Art Museum, Oregon; the Hunterdon Art Museum, New Jersey; White Columns, New York; Fort Worth Contemporary Arts, Texas; and the Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles. He has also exhibited internationally at the 10th Berlin Biennale and the Ilmin Museum of Art, South Korea. Rhee received his MFA in Sculpture and New Genres from Columbia University in 2010 and has been Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Visual Art at the University of Washington since 2020. 

May 11—June 3, 2023

2023 Juried Undergraduate Student Art + Design Exhibition

Reception and Awards Ceremony:
Thursday, May 11, 5-7 p.m.; Awards will be announced at 6:00 p.m. 
(Gallery Closed May 30, Memorial Day)

An annual exhibition showcasing outstanding undergraduate student artwork.