After thousands of years of use for food, transportation, and trade, the Columbia River’s dynamics have changed, resulting in unforeseen consequences and deeply mixed emotions.
Once there were Five Sisters. Because they loved to eat salmon, the sisters kept a dam at the mouth of Big River to prevent the fish from swimming upstream. Every night they feasted on a wonderful, fat salmon. This didn’t suit Coyote, who thought that the salmon need the people and the people need the salmon. Or maybe he was jealous and wanted some of that fat salmon for himself. So Coyote tricked the sisters to get into their … » More …
Podcasts by Squeak Meisel
If you can’t come to the artist, the artist will come to you, thanks to a series of podcasts produced by Washington State University Fine Arts department chair Squeak Meisel.
Called Fly on the Wall, the artists interviewed on Meisel’s podcast have shown their work at some of the biggest venues in the world, such as the Venice Biennial. They come to the Pullman campus, teach for a few days, work one-on-one with undergraduate and graduate students, and give a public lecture.
But Meisel realizes that not everyone has time or ability to … » More …
The new Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art/WSU, located directly south of the CUB on Terrell Mall, is a stunning addition to the Pullman campus with its unique mirrored glass exterior.
The six galleries of the Crimson Cube will feature visiting exhibitions, featured artists, and works from the museum’s permanent collection. Read about the grand opening of the museum.
(All photos by Robert Hubner except JSMOA entrance by Zach Mazur)
The ornate Washington State University mace, a convocation and commencement fixture, is perhaps the most widely recognizable of artist Tim Doebler’s creations.
But his artwork is interwoven throughout the University. Commemorative and recognition placards in building lobbies. A stone monument on Terrell Mall. Finely crafted tokens of appreciation awarded to University leaders and supporters.
“I see this as part of the fabric of the University,” says Doebler ’84 MFA, who is retiring in November after 38 years as an engineering technician with WSU’s fine arts department.
A Vietnam veteran and survivor of the bloody Easter offensive, Doebler returned to the States in 1972 and … » More …
The creations of Tim Doebler ’84 MFA can be found all over the campus of Washington State University. Doebler is known for his sculpture and metalwork.
Artist Jim Dine gave WSU The Technicolor Heart in 2004. Now he has donated a significant collection of more than 200 of his prints to the University, including the selections in this gallery.
Read more in “Where the heart is.”
Courtesy WSU Museum of Art
An alumna artist brings out the kids in us
Tarah Luke felt like her hands would fall off after completing 120 pages in adult coloring books over five and a half weeks.
Luke ’05 didn’t color the pages, though. The Seattle-based artist designed and drew the images featured in the four books. The Eiffel Tower, a marching band, an octopus, and a movie camera are just a few examples from the series of themed volumes divided into places, music, animals, and inventions.
Luke’s collection is part of a growing national trend. Adult coloring books, usually featuring complex patterns within images, have become an increasingly popular … » More …
A map of sculptures on the WSU Pullman campus.
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Broken Arrow sits in the foyer of the Terrell Library. Thousands pass by it each week, most not realizing it is the work of artist Harold Balazs ’51, or that it was a gift from the Friel family whose lives entwined with the history of the school long after graduation.
Though he planned to be a teacher, Jack Friel ’23 started his 30-year career as the Cougars’ head basketball coach in 1928. As a student, he met Catherine (Matthews) Friel ’23, ’58 MAT in the original college library. They married a few years later and raised their family just a few blocks from campus. Three … » More …