Been meaning to get to BIMA to see Alfredo Arreguín’s solo exhibition Life Patterns? Already seen it and can’t get enough? Originally scheduled to close on Sunday, February 3, BIMA is please to announce that Afredo’s show will be open an extra two weeks through Sunday, February 17.

If you haven’t seen this exhibition, don’t miss your chance to get lost in his intricately patterned paintings!

“While taking in one of Arreguín’s paintings, it’s easy to get lost in the details. His work is best viewed as if you’re on a stroll outdoors, when you have time to ponder and pause.” — Lisa Edge, Real Change

We are sad to learn of the passing of a Northwest Legend, photographer Mary Randlett. For decades, Randlett captured some of the most iconic landscape and portrait photography from the region. Born and raised in Seattle, Randlett graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla followed by an apprenticeship with Hans Jorgensen.

As a documentarian of the Northwest School of artists, Randlett captured portraits of notable artists including Mark Tobey, Morris Graves, Guy Anderson, and Jacob Lawrence, as well as writers and poets Theodore Roethke and Tom Robbins among others.

Randlett’s mysterious nature photography focused on the unique landscapes of the Pacific Northwest. Her expansive photographs of water and land formations are rich in energy, contrast and reverence for the region’s beauty. Of particular note to local audiences, Randlett documented many areas of Bainbridge Island, including the early years of the gardens at Bloedel Reserve.

Her photographs are held in more than forty permanent collections nationally including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, Seattle Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington and numerous others including Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (BIMA). Her work is included in BIMA’s Permanent Art Collection — four nature photographs are currently on view in BIMA’s 1st Floor Exhibition. Randlett’s work was also included in BIMA’s inaugural exhibition First Light in summer 2013, and in Women in Photography in summer 2017.

Her work has appeared in more than 175 books and catalogs and she received numerous awards including the Washington State Governor’s Art Award and Anne Gould Hauberg Artist Images Award.

The Northwest art scene has lost a legend.

“My life is my work; my work is my life.” — M. Randlett

BIMA is proud to announce that it is the recipient of a grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust of Vancouver, Washington, to support the further development of the Museum’s cultural programming. The Murdock Charitable Trust is a highly competitive grant offered to nonprofits in a five-state region of the Pacific Northwest: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. The Trust has been a true game-changer in the region since its establishment in 1975; more than $900 million has been distributed through more than 6,000 grants.

“Wow! We couldn’t be happier,” said Sheila Hughes, the Executive Director for BIMA. “The timing of this grant — right at the end of our fifth anniversary — goes such a long way to validate everything we have worked so hard to accomplish.”

BIMA received the Murdock Trust grant to support its burgeoning cultural program, specifically to provide over $150,000 over three years in seed-funding for a new Cultural Impact Initiative, including the creation of a new position—Cultural Programs Manager. This new position will oversee the thoughtful and continued development and expansion of the organization’s diverse and lively showcase of arts, cultural and humanities programs.

BIMA’s robust year-round calendar of events is designed to complement and enrich the museum’s top-notch exhibitions and education programs. Along with BIMA’s free admission and welcoming ambiance, its combination of offerings has become a key component to the museum’s recent success in establishing itself as the “cultural living room” of the West Sound and a top regional cultural destination.

The Murdock Trust Grant award, in concert with the encouragement and support of other donors and supporters, is the first step in the creation of a larger Cultural Impact Initiative.

“The stars have aligned for BIMA to be a huge resource to the greater Kitsap community and beyond—and we’re completely committed to making that happen,” said Hughes. “Considering that we’re located at the crossroads of King and Kitsap County, our excellent exhibitions have already made BIMA an established destination for cultural tourism by visitors from around the globe—over 100,000 in 2018. And because of the generosity of its early supporters, BIMA has a world-class facility with gallery, classroom, meeting, workshop and Auditorium space. Our goal is to be in further service to the region—by lighting up this space with the most interesting, exciting and culturally adventurous program of arts, humanities and cultural events that we can create.”

Jesse Ziebart has joined BIMA’s team as the new Cultural Programs Manager. Jesse’s experience includes arts programming, event coordination, hospitality, television production and sponsorship. After fifteen years in various aspects of programming and producing, Jesse is excited to return to her hometown of Bainbridge Island.

“I am honored to join the BIMA family and to have the opportunity to give back to the artistic community that has shaped so many of us who grew up here,” Ziebart said. “Everyone wins with a Cultural Impact Initiative like this—residents receive more access to world-class arts and humanities programs, artists are supported and spotlighted, even our local economy gets a boost when visitors come attend things like music, theater and film. I am so thankful the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust has chosen to fund programs like these. It will be exciting to see cultural programs at the museum continue to grow!”

In its short five years of service, BIMA has already developed a reputation for lively community events like the Museum’s annual Dia de los Muertos celebration and Black History Month festivities, which draw large regional crowds, while on-going programs like the Tuesday night smARTfilm series, summer Inspired Chef dinner series and quarterly Pop-Up Art & Craft Fair draws a regular local following of engaged arts-lovers. Newer programs like the Within/Earshot Jazz Festival, Momentum Festival, Frank Buxton Silent Film Festival, and DogEar are drawing sell-out crowds and establishing the museum as a go-to destination for first-class cultural activities.

For more information on BIMA’s programs, visit BIMA’s calendar.

About M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust:

M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust was created by the will of the late Melvin J. (Jack) Murdock, who was a co-founder of Tektronix, Inc. in Beaverton, Oregon, and a resident of Vancouver, Washington. Since its establishment on June 30, 1975, with a bequest of about $90 million, the Trust has focused its grantmaking efforts primarily in five states of the Pacific Northwest: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. The Trust’s current assets are valued at about $1 billion, and over the life of the Trust, more than $900 million has been distributed through more than 6,000 grants.

The Trust’s mission is to enrich the quality of life in the Pacific Northwest by providing grants to organizations that seek to strengthen the region’s educational, social, cultural, and spiritual base in creative and sustainable ways. Grants are awarded to a wide variety of organizations, including those that serve the arts, public affairs, education, scientific research, health and medicine, human services, and people with disabilities.

The Trust’s staff brings a wide range of experiences in the subject areas and activities necessary for thoughtful grantmaking and the investment of Trust assets. In addition to grantmaking activities, it is common Trust practice to convene groups of people to discuss issues of mutual interest. This practice is of great assistance to the Trust in exploring ways of responding to new grantmaking opportunities consistent with its mission, promoting a sharing of ideas and networking among participants, and understanding new developments and best practices in the various sectors in which the Trust works.

BIMA is delighted to announce that community activist and philanthropist—and founding Board Member—Steve Davis has accepted the role of Honorary Chair for BIMA Bash! 2019. The June event, comprised of two nights of parties and auctions, is the Museum’s largest fundraiser of the year—accountable for more than a third of the organization’s annual operating budget. Tickets go on sale in April at www.bimabash.com.

Steve is near and dear to BIMA. He is one of a handful of individuals who joined the founding Board of Directors at the request of Museum Founder, Cynthia Sears. Recently retired from the board after serving the maximum of three terms (9 years), Steve was instrumental in the Museum’s original capital campaign, construction, launch, and has served weekly shifts as a docent since the Museum’s opening in June 2013. While on the board, Steve acted as Treasurer and served on the Building & Grounds, Finance and Fundraising Committees.

A Bainbridge Island resident since 1942, Steve is a graduate of Bainbridge High School. Throughout his career in Trust Management and on into retirement, Mr. Davis has been a dedicated patron of the arts and supporter of his community. He has served on the boards of Bainbridge Community Foundation (Founder and 1st President), One Call For All, Bainbridge Diversion Board, Helpline House Endowment Fund Committee, Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial, Health, Housing, and Human Services Council of Bainbridge Island, Bloedel Reserve, Island Volunteer Caregivers, and Seattle Aquarium as well as a number of other organizations in the region. One of his most visible contributions to Bainbridge Island is The Waypoint—directly across from BIMA—that reclaimed a former gas station site and replaced it with a pocket park that greets everyone who arrives to Bainbridge Island by ferry.

Planning for BIMA Bash! 2019 is well underway. The lively Friday, June 14 party and silent auction features more than 100 one-of-a-kind art pieces including paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, photography, jewelry, plus travel and culinary expenses at all price ranges. The Saturday, June 15 event includes a short silent auction and social hour followed by a seated dinner and live auction. Both events support Bainbridge Island Museum of Art’s mission and ongoing programs, including free admission to the galleries and subsidized field trips for regional students.

More information on the event, including highlights from the 2018 fundraiser, can be found at www.bimabash.com. Information for the 2019 event will be available in March.

 

If you’ve been by the Museum recently, you will absolutely have spotted Patty Grazini’s eye-catching paper sculpture, Elizabeth Lyska, Giantess, in the BIMA@5 exhibition. For Spring 2019, Patty’s work will be featured in her first solo art museum exhibition entitled Forms of Devotion.

We wanted to give you a special preview into this exciting exhibition with a short question and answer session with the artist herself!

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What would you want a museum visitor to know about your work?

In many ways, I’d like for my work to speak for itself. Ideally, a visitor would be able to look at the artwork and be transported to another time and place. When I’m making my artwork, I spend a lot of time imagining and creating backstories about each piece. For certain series, I do a lot of researching about the different time period that I’m trying to evoke in the artwork. Not all of this will be apparent to the visitor, but I’d like for them to be able to see beyond the details in each piece and have a deeper experience with the artwork.

 

What do you find interesting, inspiring, or special about working with paper?

I like working with aged papers that have a history of their own. Paper, in general, is something disposable to most people. I like thinking about how to reuse paper in completely different contexts, using each different paper as a reference point back to the artwork. My most recent series using old uncirculated money was especially fun to use in this way.

 

What kind of research do you do when creating a piece?

The series that I did the most research for was probably the criminals and misfits. I researched the New York Times online archives, concentrating on the period between 1875 and 1915 looking for possible subjects. I found many more people that I wanted to profile, but tried to select a range of crimes, always leaning toward the portrayal of the more unusual person or crime. Whenever my work focuses on a particular time and place, I try to learn as much a possible. I listen to podcasts, watch videos and read a lot, basically anything that will put me in the mood of a particular time period.  The more I research, the better I am able to evoke the mood of that time and place. For every hundred things I learn about each subject, maybe one single detail makes it into the artwork itself—but that’s part of the fun of it for me.

 

Tell us about the particular techniques you use. How did you learn them and when did start using them?

I’m self-taught as a paper artist, but I have a background in making clothing and wearable art. Some of the construction techniques in sewing and garment construction have helped me think about how to apply these to paper. Recently, I’ve been experimenting with natural dyes and really want to explore that more. I think it gives the paper more versatility and naturalness. Another challenge I’ve also confronted is finding ways to make paper look like other materials—like fabric, bark, fur, and all sorts of things. I love this challenge in particular: there’s something a little magical in the act of transforming paper into something completely different. Over the years, I’ve developed more involved ways of achieving this effect. A lot of what I do is intuitive, and comes from years of practice: trying different things, and seeing what works. Often people ask me how I do what I do—it’s something I’ve always had trouble answering, because my techniques have slowly evolved, and it’s been a long process of figuring things out one step at a time.

 

How has your artistic process changed over time?

My work has become more detailed over the years. I spend a lot of time thinking about different methods: like making different types of folds, embossments, and ways of assembling the artworks. The differences are subtle, but to me, keeping the work fresh and interesting, involves making these small adjustments, and always pushing myself to try new things and improve my methods.

 

What memorable responses have you had to your work?

I have had people tell me that they have returned more than once to a show because they were unable to see all the details the first time. People often respond with astonishment and ask if everything is really made out of paper. I like thinking I might have fooled someone into asking me that.

 

In your daily life, what do you find inspiring?

Traveling, and imaginary time traveling. I like going to museums of all types— I especially love viewing museums within historic homes, where the artworks are displayed among other objects and relics from the time period. These places that combine history and biography are really inspiring to me.

 

What are you most looking forward to from your upcoming show at BIMA?

It’ll be exciting to see all of my work from different periods all together in one group.

 

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Be sure to mark your calendars for Patty Grazini’s upcoming exhibition Forms of Devotion open March 9 through June 9, 2019.

 

Photo by M. Sawyer Photography

The award-winning Real Change weekly newspaper provides immediate employment opportunity and takes action for economic, social, and racial justice. BIMA is proud to be regularly covered in this special publication that values a just, caring and inclusive community, where people are no longer marginalized by racism and classism and have the means to live with dignity.

Lisa Edge just reviewed BIMA’s Alfredo Arreguín exhibition:
Life Patterns: Bainbridge Island Museum of Art celebrates artist Alfredo Arreguín

All children benefit from being exposed to art.

Providing accessible art experiences for all is at the core of BIMA’s mission. We are proud to offer FREE field trips to the art museum to students from across the Puget Sound region. Just this past year, we welcomed more than 2,100 students in our door on over 90 field trips. For many students, this is their first visit to a museum in their lives.

This #GivingTuesday, we invite you to help us grow our Field Trip Program with a gift of just $10.

MAKE A GIFT OF $10 TODAY

If 30 people donate just $10, we can fund a FREE field trip for an entire class of students, including an in-classroom pre-visit, transportation to the museum, and supplies for all the students.

#GivingTuesday is your opportunity to give a gift that has a lasting impact, helping to shape the minds and hearts of today’s youth into tomorrow’s compassionate leaders.

Will you give art the power to make a difference in thousands of children’s lives?

BIMA invites learners of all ages to explore the power of contemporary art and craft through creative expression, active engagement, and inclusive dialogue.

Throughout the year, BIMA offers a wide variety of programs and educational experiences to connect you to the people, arts, and culture of the Puget Sound region. Whether you are attending a lecture, trying your hand at a new technique in a workshop, or just dropping into a gallery program, there are options for nearly every age and ability level.

The ArtsGrowth Initiative, which encompasses all of BIMA’s educational offerings, was born from our commitment to providing equitable access to arts and culture in our region. Our diverse array of programs, most of which are offered low-cost or free of charge, invite public audiences into the museum to discover together the relevance of art in our lives and in our communities.

The cornerstone of this work is our partnerships with K-12 schools in Kitsap County and beyond to offer field trips and educator professional development opportunities that use art as a catalyst for developing creativity and critical thinking skills. Aligned with State and Common Core Standards, these programs complement and support classroom curriculum.

Outside of school, youth engage at BIMA through summer camps, explore hands-on Art in Action activities with their families, and attend Art After Dark, an annual teens-only after hours party, hosted by BIMA’s Teen Arts Council.

For adults interested in developing their own artistic skills, we offer weekly figure drawing classes as well as monthly workshops in a variety of media. Lectures, talks, and artists’ demonstrations provide opportunities to delve deeper into art and ideas behind to BIMA’s exhibitions and collections.

At BIMA, art is an essential component of healthy aging. Weekly mindfulness meditations are designed to support pain reduction and overall wellness. Look Again and Meet Me at the Movies offer opportunities for people experiencing early-stage memory loss and their care partners to engage together through art.

When it comes to reflections of gratitude here at BIMA, where do we start?  With our amazing team of docents & volunteers – the more than 150 creative and interesting individuals who give their time and talent to keep this museum humming? With the rich regional tapestry of artists whose work graces the galleries? With the community who lights up this gathering space every day with conversation and conviviality? BIMA is the recipient of so much love and support, expressed in so many different ways, it’s often difficult to comprehend or express.

If you are receiving this Thanksgiving note, you are one of those givers, someone who makes a difference. And if you’re wondering how you make that difference, I have a quick story to share.

This summer, completely outside the world of BIMA, I was volunteering in Seattle on an art project that involved working with a group of thirty homeless and low-income women. When one woman learned that I worked at BIMA, she just lit up and said that she loves this museum and visits regularly. She was quickly joined by others, who told me about how wonderful it is to be invited into such a warm, welcoming space. One woman said she likes to come by herself and walk through the galleries quietly, while others told me that they come as a big, social group. As I was leaving, several women squeezed my arm and said thank you for having this beautiful place, free and accessible to everyone.

Those words were spoken to me, but they are meant for you. Thank you for creating a home for inspirational exhibitions and year-round cultural programs, for making this a special place for all, for supporting a gathering place that encourages ideas and conversation. None of this is possible without you.

Your support brings art to life for thousands of visitors from all walks of life every year, and all of us at BIMA are thankful to be part of the world you make possible.

THANK YOU!

 

Sheila Hughes
Executive Director

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art in collaboration with the San Francisco Silent Film Festival (SFSFF) is proud to present the debut of the Frank Buxton Silent Film Festival, a two-day cinematic excursion exploring the pleasures, history and lost art of American silent film. Spanning classic comedies, dramatic features and rare cinematic treats, these film classics are brought to life with live piano or ensemble accompaniment and original scores. Selected to draw attention to the powerful chemistry that exists between the cinematic image and music, these offerings are outstanding examples of how musical scoring can be more powerful than dialogue, imbuing the cinematic material with rich significance and expression. The Frank Buxton Film Festival takes place Friday and Saturday, November 16 and 17 at BIMA’s Buxton Auditorium.

The Festival is a tribute to Frank Buxton, a longtime champion, advocate and appreciator of the arts. During his lifetime, Frank made significant contributions in film, television, comedy and theater. Beyond his own contributions, Frank was a consummate champion, advocate, historian and fan of the work of other artists. He particularly delighted in sharing special work with others, increasing their understanding and appreciation of adventurous, excellent and innovative cinematic works. The Festival is made possible through contributions in memory of Frank Buxton, including Capital Group Private Reserve, Perkins Coie Law Firm, and VWC Business Management.

The Festival is curated by his friend and program collaborator John Ellis, with collaboration from the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. In celebration of the festival, BIMA’s Orientation Gallery will feature a three-week exhibition of rare and historical posters, photos and ephemera from the Silent Film era from Buxton’s extensive collection.

Tickets will be available at the door prior to each screening. Ticket proceeds will help underwrite the year-round film program at BIMA, which Frank Buxton championed.

The Festival offers special thanks to John Ellis, Rob Byrne and the leadership at San Francisco Silent Film Festival, Rachelle Benbow, Joe Lumarda, Jovino Santos Neto, Erin O’Hara, and Seattle Theater Group’s Vicky Lee.

WEEKEND PROGRAM

Friday, November 16, 7:30pm

Blackmail (1929) – Alfred Hitchcock’s silent film, starring Anny Ondre, with original score from Erin O’Hara

The Frank Buxton Silent Film Festival kicks off with a rare screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s silent version of Blackmail, one of his earliest and most atmospheric films. The dark drama is orchestrated by Erin O’Hara, who created the entire score from the point of view of Alice, Anny Ondre’s character who murders her would be rapist with a bread knife. With an ensemble of electric and acoustic instruments and voices, O’Hara expresses the interior voice of heroine Alice, as she navigates her way through a journey of assault, survival and the murky search for justice. One reviewer said, “Her soundtrack is both a singular contribution to Hitchcock’s art and a bold rejoinder to it.”

Saturday, November 17, 10:00am

Classic Comedy Shorts: One Week (1920), The Immigrant (1917), Battle of the Century (1927) – Delightful musical accompaniment is provided by “Miles and Karina” – David Miles Keenan and Nova Karina Devonie.

This lively selection features three of the most memorable, classic comedic works of the silent repertoire. In One Week, Buster Keaton and Sybil Seeley star as newlyweds who receive a portable house as a wedding gift. This vintage physical comedy gets more and more improbable as he tries to construct the house, and then move it.

Written and directed by Charlie Chaplin, The Immigrant is an American silent romantic comedy short. Chaplin‘s Tramp character is an immigrant coming to the United States, who is accused of theft on the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, and falls in love with a beautiful young woman along the way. The film has was deemed to be “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant,” and it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. 

The selections culminate in a special screening of the restored version of Laurel & Hardy’s The Battle of the Century. The hilarious film claims a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for famously using over 3,000 creampies in the film’s climactic pie fight. For many years its second reel, containing the fight, only survived in fragments that were included in the documentaries of Robert Youngson, but the complete reel was rediscovered in 2015 and restored.

 

Saturday, November 17, 2:00pm

Louise Brooks Tribute: It’s the Old Army Game (1926), Now We’re In the Air (1927) – Delightful musical accompaniment is provided by “Miles and Karina” – David Miles Keenan and Nova Karina Devonie.

It’s the Old Army Game is an American silent comedy film starring W. C. Fields and Louise Brooks. The “army game” is another word for the shell game, a con-trick which W. C. Fields observes being played. This uproarious silent film is a non-stop comedy of errors. Fields plays Elmer Prettywillie, a druggist kept awake by clamorous garbage collectors, a nosy woman seeking a 2-cent stamp, bogus land deals, and phony fortunes.

BIMA’s proud to present a special feature that’s been “Saved From the Flames.” Long believed to be a lost film, fragments of Now We’re in the Air featuring Raymond Hatton and Wallace Beery, were discovered through the work of SFSFF’s Robert Byrne. A search through a Czech archive revealed an incomplete and badly deteriorated 22 minutes of the film, suffering nitrate decomposition, out-of-order scenes and Czech-language titles in place of the original American titles. Byrne spent more than eight months reconstructing the surviving material, including restoring the film’s original English-language inter-titles and original tinting. The preserved print was shown for the first time at SFSFF on June 2, 2017. The delightful World War I comedy follows a pair of fliers who wander onto a battlefield near the front lines and get tangled up with a traveling circus and a spy.

 

Saturday, November 17, 7:30pm

The Unknown (1927) – with original score composed and performed live by Jovino Santos Neto Quarteto.

The Unknown is an American silent horror film directed by Tod Browning, a story of yearning, frustration, resentment and betrayal. Lon Chaney stars as carnival knife thrower “Alonzo the Armless” and Joan Crawford is the scantily clad carnival girl he hopes to marry. The film is brought to life by a live score composed and performed by Jovino Santos Neto Quinteto, a five-piece local jazz ensemble led by Brazilian jazz pianist Jovino Santos Neto. Neto offers a fresh take on the musical conventions of silent film accompaniment by mining the deep, dark melancholy conveyed by the actors’ facial expressions to create a 50-minute suite that blends sounds, textures and improv from vibraphone, bandoneon, bass, drums, percussion, piano, flute, melodica and electronics. Special thanks to Seattle Theater Group. Join film-goers for a short after-party.