Ahead of the 10th edition of the Seattle Art Fair, Josh Baer sits down with Scott Stulen, director of the Seattle Art Museum, for a conversation on Seattle’s artistic legacy, its underrated collector base, and what a decade of the Seattle Art Fair means for the Pacific Northwest art scene. As one of the only major museum directors with a working artist’s background, Stulen brings a unique dual perspective to the conversation—on indigenous art, evolving collector generations, and how Seattle’s cultural institutions are navigating a complicated political moment.
Images courtesy of Seattle Art Museum and Seattle Art Fair. Artworks pictured include:
‘Modal Tide’, 1940, Mark Tobey, American, oil on canvas, 34 1/2 x 47 3/8 in., Overall h.: 39 1/2 in. Overall w.: 52 3/4 in., Gift of the West Seattle Art Club, Katherine B. Baker Memorial Purchase Prize, 26th Annual Exhibition of Northwest Artists, 40.58, photo: Paul Macapia
‘The 1920’s…The Migrants Arrive and Cast Their Ballots’, 1974, Jacob Lawrence, American, 1917-2000, ink on paper, 32 x 24 5/16 in. (81.28 x 61.76 cm), Gift of the Lorillard Co., N.Y., 75.70 © Jacob Lawrence. Photo: Scott Leen
‘Áakiiwilaxpaake (People of the Earth)’, 2022, Wendy Red Star, Native American, Apsáalooke/Crow, born 1981, Archival inkjet prints, dibond,
LED lights, electrical components, wood, milk plexiglass, 84 x 62 x 12 in., Seattle Art Museum Commission, Bruce Leven Acquisition Fund, 2022.44. Portrait Photography: Native Light Photography Seattle, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, Tree Line
Photography: kamchatka (Galyna Andrusko), Printing: Pushdot Studios, Design:
Corson Androski and Ditroën Inc. Photo: Scott Leen.
