Arts Division

Natural history museums have entered a new stage of discovery and accessibility â one where scientists around the globe and curious folks at home can access valuable museum specimens to study, learn or just be amazed. This new era follows the completion of openVertebrate, or oVert, a five-year collaborative project among 18 institutions to create 3D reconstructions of vertebrate specimens and make them freely available online. The team behind this endeavor, which includes scientists at the University of Washington and its Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture, published a summary of the project March 6 in the journal BioScience, offering a glimpse of how the data can be used to ask new questions and spur the development of innovative technology.

The neon sign outside of the Henry Art Gallery reveals different words as they illuminate in a cycle: LOVE. RULES. LOVE. OVER. RULES. This work of art from 2020 is by Hank Willis Thomas, the much-lauded, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based conceptual artist, and is also the title of a new, commanding exhibition at the Henry, featuring more than 90 works spanning 20 years from the collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and his family foundation.

Many terms in the Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI) field are frequently used but rarely understood fully. A 10 part video series, entitled “On Our Terms,” was released by the Burke Museum, aiming to reflect on these DEAI terms and offer community-based definitions.

Ada Limón is no stranger to good news. In 2022, she was appointed the 24^th poet laureate of the U.S. Last spring, she was granted a two-year second term. And in October came the announcement that she’d won a MacArthur “genius” grant. Ada Limón, UW School of Drama alumna, is featured.

Museums across Washington state may no longer display some Native artifacts without permission under a new federal rule. The UW's Justice McNeeley, repatriation coordinator and assistant registrar at the Burke Museum; and Sara Gonzalez, associate professor of anthropology and curator of archaeology at the Burke Museum, are quoted.

The Seattle Art Museum will remove five Native American cultural items from public view, a spokesperson said Thursday. The museum said the items are all of Tlingit origin, a group Indigenous to what is now Southeast Alaska. They include three headdresses, a dagger and a staff. The UW's Justice McNeeley, repatriation coordinator and assistant registrar at the Burke Museum; and Sara Gonzalez, associate professor of anthropology and curator of archaeology at the Burke Museum, are quoted.

Alejandro Rico-Guevara, assistant professor of biology at the UW and curator of ornithology at the UW Burke Museum, has dedicated his life to looking at hummingbirds in ways other people can’t. What he’s learned changed the world’s understanding of hummingbirds and, at times, has been of great use to humans.

To build a brand—and to fill a room—Ms. Bodnar has played not on her name but on consumers’ desire to do good with their dollars and belong to something bigger than… well, beauty. Call her the Estée Lauder that hustle culture built. Karissa Bodnar, School of Art alumni, is featured.

Holly Barker, a University of Washington teaching professor of anthropology, and three current members of the UW football team â Ulumoo Ale, Makell Esteen and Faatui Tuitele â are studying how the skills they develop to maximize their chances of victory on the field have applications outside the stadium. Their work, which is ongoing, is showing that the research methods and analytical abilities of student-athletes are applicable in academic and research settings, as well as jobs in a variety of fields.

As a dialect coach, Tré Cotten (MFA, 2017, Acting) has gained national attention for his ability to help actors bring authenticity to their characters. 

Three new faculty books from the University of Washington cover wide-ranging topics: life in the Rio Grande Valley, fossils of Washington state and the colonial roots of contemporary intersex medicine. UW News talked with the authors to learn more. Collection highlights life in Rio Grande Valley “Puro Pinche True Fictions” is a collection of short...

World-renowned Spanish dance company Noche Flamenca recently stopped at the Meany Center for Preforming Arts for a performance debuting their new show and celebrating World Falmenco day. Writer Dany Villarreal sat down with the minds behind the company, telling the story of their rise to success. 

The gallery dedicated to late UW Art Professor Lawrence was relocated from the basement to a space at the front of the building facing Stevens Way. With new lights, better internet connectivity, security, and climate control, contributing writer Corissa Bradley explains how the new facility will serve as a gathering place for artists and students.

Building upon the curriculum of the new course, “Cinema and Feminism in the Middle East”, the department of Middle Eastern languages and cultures and the Henry art gallery collaborated on film screenings from a renowned Iranian director. The films “[serve] as a window into a culture rich with history that is worth learning about”, according to writers Shireen Aryana and Madhavi Karthik.  

This week, attend the Diversity Lecture Series “Unveiling Maternal Morbidity and Mortality in the United States”, celebrate the Jacob Lawrence Gallery Reopening, listen to Indigenous storytellers at Sacred Breath, and more. November 13, 3:00 – 4:30pm | Diversity Lecture Series: “Unveiling Maternal Morbidity and Mortality in the United States: Disparities and Challenges in Women’s Health”,...