DYNAMIC DISCUSSIONS WITH SAM CURATORS

Hear directly from the curators and creative forces behind SAM’s exhibitions and installations from the comfort of your home. We’re happy to offer this popular member-only series exclusively online via Zoom for the 2021 season, allowing our members to access these fantastic talks for free from anywhere they have an internet connection!

Kicks off on Thursday, January 21, and runs every third Wednesday, February through August (two more talks than our 2020 series!)
5-5:45 pm live lectures followed by 15 minute Q&A, via Zoom
All lectures will be recorded and made available for viewing at a later date.

Registration Info

Register below for individual lectures in the series. Your confirmation email includes a link to complete Zoom registration and access the webinar. Watch your email to be notified when registration opens for future lectures.

Your confirmation email includes a link to complete Zoom registration and access the webinar. If you can't find your confirmation email, contact us at customerservice@seattleartmuseum.org or 206.654.3210.

Manuscript of the Sutra on Solemn Attainment of Buddhahood (Datong Fangguang Chanhui Miezui) (detail), 7th–8th century, Chinese, attributed to Dunhuang, Mogao.

Photograph of a figure covered in fishing nets standing in shallow water

Sea Monster, 2018, Vasantha Yogananthan.

Feb 17

Storytelling Redux: South Asian Art

Natalia Di Pietrantonio / Assistant Curator of South Asian Art

In 1843, the Padmashali community in Telangana, India commissioned two cloth scroll paintings. Originally part of a larger artwork than spanned 25 feet in length, the scroll paintings entered SAM’s permanent collection in 1976 as two fragments. The scrolls inhabited a performative space, serving either as a fixed backdrop, or unrolled in segments in correspondence for particular live performances. As we analyze this interplay between performance and pictorial narrative, we’ll explore how South Asian contemporary artists, Naiza Khan and Vasantha Yogananthan, embody narrative through their staged video and photographic performances similar to the visual operation of the scrolls.

Image of black and white photograph of close up of two lillies in the center, surrounded by their leaves

Two Callas, before 1929, Imogen Cunningham.

Image of square greyscale abstract painting with dark brushstrokes in the center and lighter brushstrokes surrounding

Monolithic Impasse, 1964, Paul Horiuchi.

APR 21

Abstract Expressionism: Alternative Histories and Expanded Conversations

Theresa Papanikolas / Ann M. Barwick Curator of American Art

Abstract Expressionism is typically seen as a decisively American alliance of ruggedly independent, stridently self-professed, and always male artist-heroes, whose signature painterly styles are marked by extreme individualism, the absence of external referents, and the cultivation of universal resonance. This model excludes the many artists who also practiced abstraction and moved in avant-garde circles during the mid-20th century, but who—due to gender, race, chosen medium, or geographic location—operated on the critical margins of Abstract Expressionism. Explore these alternative histories of American modernism through a selection of artists from SAM’s collection.

Image of a tall glass and bead sculpture, with skull on the bottom, a middle made of green beads, and a fgiure standing on top

WAR WOMAN III, 2014/2019, JOYCE J. SCOTT.

Image of a ivory mask depicting the face of a woman and carved with lattice-like detail surrounding her face

BELT MASK OF IYOBA (MOTHER OF THE OBA) IDIA, CA. 1517–1550, NIGERIAN, BENIN KINGDOM.

Some/One, 2001, Do Ho Suh.

Basket, 2010, Viola Riebe.

Aug 18

Lair of the Red Lizard: Discoveries in Quileute Art

Barbara Brotherton / Curator of Native American Art

In 2010, the Seattle Art Museum quickly organized an exhibition about the Quileute tribe, their art and culture, in the wake of uninvited attention given their small community of La Push. Portrayed as “werewolves” in the popular Twilight series, the Quileute people fought to defend their culture and the misinterpretations of it in the media. Behind the Scenes: The Real Story of the Quileute Wolves, focused on their art and oral traditions, as a sovereign people descended from supernatural wolves at the beginning of time. Ongoing research among the Quileute and in museums across the country reveals new dimensions of their artistic heritage and demonstrates how artifacts take on new meanings when they leave their original settings and circulate in different arenas.

Registration coming Soon

Images: Manuscript of the Sutra on Solemn Attainment of Buddhahood (Datong Fangguang Chanhui Miezui) (detail), 7th–8th century, Chinese, attributed to Dunhuang, Mogao, ink on mulberry fiber paper, Clara Ching, Provenance: Jao Yü Ai (unknown), to Anne Matilda Bille (d. 1942), 1920s–ca. 1937, to Fook-Tan Ching (b. Honolulu, 1987), late 1930s, to his son, Yi-Chuan Ching, 2017.21, Photo: Elizabeth Mann. Sea Monster, 2018, Vasantha Yogananthan, archival inkjet print on Canson print making rag, 81 x 64 cm. Two Callas, before 1929, Imogen Cunningham, American, 1883–1976, gelatin silver print, 12 3/4 x 9 3/4 in., Seattle Art Museum, Gift of John H. Hauberg, 89.26, ©️ (1929), 2009 Imogen Cunningham Trust. Monolithic Impasse, 1964, Paul Horiuchi, casein on mulberry paper mounted to canvas, 77 9/16 x 78 9/16 in., Gift of the Seattle Art Museum Guild, 79.6, ©️ Estate of Paul Horiuchi. War Woman III, 2014/2019, Joyce J. Scott, American, hand-blown Murano glass, beads, thread, wood, plastic dice, 31 x 9 x 8 in., Benaroya Glass Art Acquisition Fund and Plestcheeff Endowment for the Decorative Arts, 2020, 2020.1. Belt Mask of Iyoba (Mother of the Oba) Idia, ca. 1517 - 1550, Nigerian, Benin Kingdom, ivory, 4 3/4 x 9 3/16 in., Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company, 81.17.493. Some/One, 2001, Do Ho Suh, stainless steel military dog-tags, nickel-plated copper sheets, steel structure, glass fiber reinforced resin, rubber sheets, diam. at base: 24 ft. 4 in.; height: 81 in., Gift of Barney A. Ebsworth, 2002.43 © Do Ho Suh, photo: Adam Hunter/LMN Architects. Basket, 2010, Viola Riebe, cedar bark, raffia, 11 1/2 × 10 × 6 in., Native American Art Support Fund, 2013.5, ©️ Artist or Artist's Estate.

Seattle Art Museum acknowledges that we are on the traditional homelands of the Duwamish and the customary territories of the Suquamish and Muckleshoot Peoples. As a cultural and educational institution, we honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future. We also acknowledge the urban Native peoples from many Nations who call Seattle their home.