University of Washington School of Art

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University of Washington School of Art

Creativity. It’s the Washington Way.

The University of Washington School of Art + Art History + Design is the center for creative innovation and study at one of the world’s leading public research institutions. The School’s focus on interdisciplinary collaboration and the development of new practices enhances both studio-based learning and critical engagement. Our students are inspired to learn through a rigorous classroom experience

, competitive internships, and international opportunities. Learning from influential faculty, alumni, and a network of visiting artists, designers, and scholars, students of our undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs investigate and create in an environment of possibility. Visit our website to learn more about the School at art.washington.edu

Get an inside look at daily life in our spaces + studios, behind-the-scenes at events and artist talks, and a glimpse of student undergraduate and graduate work by following us on Instagram and Twitter:

Instagram.com/uwsoa
Twitter.com/uwsoa

06/02/2026

Introducing our next artist from the 2026 MFA + MDes graduates:

Victoria Mackender (MFA 2026) is an interdisciplinary artist and educator based in Seattle, Washington. Working across painting and expanded media, her practice explores grief, memory, and the instability of the self. Grief collapses chronology and exposes the fluidity of the self. The body becomes interdimensional, caught between past and present, inhabiting multiple realities at once. Her paintings return to these frozen states performing excavations that are both personal and mythic.

Get a closer look at their work as part of the 2026 MFA + MDes Thesis Exhibition, on view through June 14th. Join us for the public opening on June 5, 6–8pm.

Image 1: shapeshifting (detail), 2026. Oil on canvas.
Image 2: shapeshifting, 2026. Oil on canvas. Photo: Jacob Chung.
Image 3: We Are Creatures of This World, 2025. Oil on canvas.
Image 4: going under (detail), 2026. Oil on canvas. Photo: Jacob Chung.
Image 5: going under, 2026. Oil on canvas. Photo: Jacob Chung.

05/28/2026

Introducing our 2026 MFA + MDes graduates:

Stephanie Alacon (MFA 2026) is an artist based in Seattle, Washington. Largely working in sculpture and installation, they are interested in creating precarious compositions that hold a sense of tension, often pushing materials like glass and ceramics, incrementally to their limits, past their breaking point, and employing rituals of care and repair to breathe new life into these structures. This cyclical way of making mimics a natural rhythm we all experience, and is fertile ground to explore what it means when we/things/systems start to break down, and how care and attention affects transformation and healing.

Get a closer look at their work as part of the 2026 MFA + MDes Thesis Exhibition, on view through June 14th. Join us for the public opening on June 5, 6–8pm.

Image 1: Pathways, 2025. Glass, metal.
Image 2: Detail of Stephanie’s work in the CMA North Gallery, 2025.
Image 3: Breaking (detail), 2026. Glass. Photo: Jacob Chung.

05/26/2026

Two recent podcasts to add to your listening list, featuring our faculty!

Art Assistant Professor Rob Rhee recently joined Shin Yu Pai on the podcast Ten Thousand Things to discuss his creative practice through his exhibition Crossings. In the episode, “A Gourd,” Rhee reflects on his process and recent experimentation creating sculptural works from gourds. Listen to the full episode: https://shows.acast.com/ten-thousand-things-with-shin-yu-pai/episodes/a-gourd

Design Professor Karen Cheng is featured on the Designers on Film podcast, joining host and Design alum Jason Tselentis (MFA 2004), now Head of Design at Winthrop University, for a conversation about Working Girl (1988). Listen to the episode: https://www.designersonfilm.com/podcast/working-girl-1988-with-karen-cheng-more-thoughts

05/22/2026

Help us congratulate industrial design major Kat Lew and art major Tom McAlister for being selected as 2026 Bonderman Fellows!�

Each year, the Bonderman Travel Fellowship provides a selected group of UW students a rare opportunity to independently travel the world. Both of their travels will take them to places such as Argentina, Egypt, Mexico, Thailand, China, Morocco, and Japan.�

Congratulations Kat and Tom!��

05/21/2026

We recently sat down with MFA student and curatorial assistant at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery, Chave Pichardo, to talk about their work shaping student programs and events aimed at transforming the gallery into a third space.

Their creative practice, including zine-making, informs their approach as they cultivate community, conversation, and connection through their vision for the space.

Learn more about Chave’s story at https://art.washington.edu/news/2026/04/16/chave-pichardo-spaces-care

05/05/2026

At this year's IHA Global Innovation Awards (centered around Product Design within the household sector) ID juniors Charlie Johnson and Matthew Li were awarded 3rd place for their collaborative work on Streamline. This past March, they traveled to Chicago for IHA's trade show where they presented their work to a group of industry professionals, as well as other student winners.

04/14/2026

Two exciting events happening this week!

On Thursday at 4:30pm, join a conversation with art faculty members Whitney Lynn, Leila Weefur, and Sangram Majumdar at the UW Club (located just east of the HUB at 4020 E Stevens Way NE, Seattle).

On Friday at 6:30 AM (PST), start your morning with a virtual conversation featuring Sangram Majumdar, Meghaa Parvathy Ballakrishnen, and Ranjana Steinruecke, centered on Majumdar’s exhibition "Bad Actors", currently on view at Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke in Mumbai. Register at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc6S2l01ncdKll36z0fERHfGm1DoLImRI60-brJIAXws39KJQ/viewform?pli=1

04/09/2026

Snapshots of art students in New York City during spring break. Thanks to the Endowed Program Support FUNd in Art, a small group of art students got the opportunity to spend a week in one of the world’s most dynamic and diverse creative hubs.

PC: victor yañez-lazcano

04/07/2026

Join us this Friday at our Sand Point facilities from 5-8pm for a unique opportunity to visit the studios of art faculty and the MFA students in Painting + Printmaking and New Genres.

We will also be celebrating the opening of Rebecca Shippee’s show "Bare Assets" in the Sand Point Gallery. As part of her full-time teaching position in the Painting + Printmaking program, Shippee's solo exhibition will feature one 45-foot oil painting made specifically for the gallery.

The Sand Point Studios + Gallery is located on the second floor of Building 5, Bay C at 7527 63rd Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98115. Please use the entrance on the east side of the building on 63rd Ave. An elevator is available for wheelchair access.

03/30/2026

Alum Vivian Cho (BDes 2025) served as the 2025 Artist in Residence at the University Bridge. The program, a collaboration between Seattle’s Department of Transportation and the Office of Arts & Culture, was established in 2005 to support artwork across different mediums, connected to the engineering and cultural significance of the University and Fremont bridges.

Over three months, Cho observed daily life on the bridge from their tower while working on their final project—a traditional animation.

Learn more about their creative process and studio experience on the bridge at https://magazine.washington.edu/feature/between-college-and-the-real-world-design-alum-and-animator-vivian-cho-finds-herself-on-the-university-bridge/

Photos courtesy of University of Washington Magazine.

Address

Art Building
Seattle, WA
98195

Telephone

+12065430970

Website

http://art.washington.edu/

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