WHY ART MATTERS is a series of interviews with various artists, most of whom are friends I’ve long known. I’ve witnessed the evolution of their craft, their creative passion, their perseverance, and their generosity. Why do we make art? Why is it important? And what impediments inevitably challenge us and how do we resolve them? These are questions we constantly ask ourselves. Answers are never easy, but they are important. Galen Garwood
Mementos, mixed media on unstretched linen, 32″ x 36″
INTERVIEW WITH STEPHEN YATES / August 2017
Stephen Yates lives and paints in Port Townsend, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula. He has an extensive exhibition history, having participated in over 130 group exhibits and more than 30 solo exhibits. He has received a number of awards including an Artist Trust Fellowship, an Art Matters Award, a National Endowment for the Arts-WESTAF Collectors Project Award, and a Centrum Residency.
RE:COILS : 2010
Stoneware and paint
14 to 16″ tall
ANNE HIRONDELLE INTERVIEW/ SEPTEMBER 2017
Anne Hirondelle has exhibited nationally in one-person and group shows including: New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Scottsdale and Seattle. Her pieces are in myriad private and public collections including: The White House Collection in the Clinton Library, Little Rock, AR; The Museum of Arts and Design, NY; The L.A. County Art Museum and the Tacoma Art Museum.
She was the recipient of an NEA Fellowship for the Visual Arts in 1988. In 2004, Anne was a finalist for the Seattle Art Museum’s Betty Bowen Award. In 2009 her accomplishments were recognized by the Northwest Arts Community with the Yvonne Twining Humber Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement. The University of Washington Press published Anne Hirondelle: Ceramic Art, a book about her work in February, 2012. In 2014, she was one of four Washington State artists selected to participate in the Joan Mitchell Foundation’s Creating a Living Legacy (CALL) Program.