Art + Culture Week—from its inception to the event's launch—is confident that this cross-industry collaboration and celebration will highlight Seattle’s standing as a diverse and culturally rich beacon of the arts.

"Seattle Art Fair brings together the best of the vibrant arts community with a unique Pacific Northwest twist, and we couldn’t be more excited to continue the fair’s remarkable legacy," said Kelly Freeman, Director of Seattle Art Fair.

Paper Symphony: Sherry Ying Ruden blends fluidity and serene geometric forms, capturing life's perpetual rhythm and the convergence of diverse experiences.

"Seattle Art Fair brings together the best of the vibrant arts community with a unique Pacific Northwest twist, and we couldn’t be more excited to continue the fair’s remarkable legacy," said Kelly Freeman, Director of Seattle Art Fair.

Sherry invites you to immerse yourself in her captivating exhibition, "Crosscurrents". This exhibition showcases Sherry's unique ability to communicate across cultural boundaries and connect people from different backgrounds through her art.

Drawing inspiration from her experiences bridging the East and West, Sherry explores the innovative use of traditional Chinese rice paper, paint, ink, and cold wax. The delicate yet surprisingly versatile medium of rice paper allows her to embrace the concept of Zì-Rán, representing the interconnectedness of all things in Chinese philosophy. With a specific yet spontaneous artistic process, Sherry's imagery evolves organically, forging a profound connection between her surfaces and our contemporary world.

Through her art, Sherry hopes to inspire a deeper appreciation for the natural world and the importance of living in harmony with nature. Join us in experiencing the captivating beauty, cultural fusion, and thought-provoking ideas presented in "Crosscurrents" as Sherry invites us to embrace the interconnectedness of our world and celebrate the diverse tapestry of human experiences.

Welcome to "Crosscurrents" where art becomes a bridge that connects us all.

Biennial FAPA [Fountainhead Artist Patron Alliance ] Group Show

Connected brings together the work of three Pacific Northwest artists [Sherry Ying Ruden, James M. Lilly, and Don Wesley] and Neda Tavallaee from Iran focused on interpreting and conversing about our shared experiences. 

PREVIEW Highlights by Matthew Kangas [Issue: Nov. 2022 - Feb 2023]:

Shanghai born and educated Sherry Ying Ruden is the featured artist in Connected, the winter group show at GalleryW. Her innovative technical exploration of reversed Chinese ink painting becomes the vehicle for ambiguous imagery that reflects nature as a liquid floating world of impermanence and uncertainty. That is, instead of imagery traditionally following the flow of the ink, Ruden’s imagery emerges out of irregularities in the rice paper, with results that are often magical and subtle.

Juror: Barbara Shaiman

The theme of this show is ICON. What does the word ICON mean to you?  Artists are invited to take the theme in any creative direction.  Come see where the theme has taken them this year.

The Seattle Art Fair had grown to include over 100 local, national and international galleries with steadily increasing attendance and expansive programming. A co-producer of Seattle Art Fair since its beginning, AMP Events will move forward as the sole owner and producer following the sunset of Vulcan Arts + Entertainment.

"Seattle Art Fair brings together the best of the vibrant arts community with a unique Pacific Northwest twist, and we couldn’t be more excited to continue the fair’s remarkable legacy," said Kelly Freeman, Director of Seattle Art Fair.

Solo Exhibition: Artworks, Opening reception (00.00.30)

Consolation won the Bronze/3rd-place award at the 2022 15th International Paintings and Calligraphy Grand Prize Exhibition at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. The first public museum in Japan. This year's exhibition will be displayed in the 3rd exhibition hall on the 2nd floor.

More than 200 works of art are currently on display by artists from China, US, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Syria, Romania, Japan, and more.  Through friendly exchanges between these diverse countries, the exhibit is promoting the revitalization of culture and art to the international stage.

Artistonish May 2022 Issue [Page 136]

Found in a Hofnar cigar box at Ms. Ying's boarded up fine art studio on Clancy St. in the old abandoned town of Baskerville. (Est: 1868-1932). Ms. Ying was often seen outside with her sketch pad capturing scenes of the eclectic characters that made up the town.

Limited edition Giclee fine art print [20 count] | 10” x 8” [16" x 12” Frame]

My thoughts turn to the brightest lights in our universe, that of the sun, the moon and the stars—a macrocosm of ever-constant life sustaining light — equally available to all living beings, creatures and plants. How wondrous.

During the shorter light-deprived days of Winter I reflect on how I can sustain feelings of hope and confidence. As I look inward to the realm of the microcosm, somehow, I find the wisdom to take correct action, the courage to face difficulties head on and the compassion to engage and find common ground with others. Enveloped by the lights of the macrocosm, the lights of wisdom, courage, compassion well forth lighting my path forward.

Again, how wondrous. Let’s appreciate and celebrate. Put your lights on!

Sue Peterson

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Every year in Seattle, as Summer turns to Autumn, the city collectively and tacitly bids farewell to the long sunny days and we embrace the striking autumnal Pacific Northwest Landscape. My late afternoon walks become a little more frigid, but it’s a small price to pay to enjoy the warm golden hues of the changing leaves. Then, seemingly overnight, the leaves are no longer above my head, but below my feet decaying in the rain. By Winter, the daylight hours grow short, and every step feels a little more depleting.

Even so, each year on a particularly dark evening walk, I’ll turn a corner to see the beginnings of the decorative lights that slowly spread throughout the city streets -- on houses, streetlamps and storefronts. Seeing these lights in the dead of winter feels like a reminder to smile -- to cease mourning the year that was -- to instead feel hopeful for the one to come. For me, this moment happens every year, without fail. It’s the moment when I stop looking down at the muddy leaves on the ground and start looking up at the lights and the people around me.

There’s a world of brightness in those tiny strings of lights. There’s a powerful communal feeling that comes from seeing different parts of a dark city light up the night in their own unique way. Even amidst the eerie silence of last winter, when it seemed like the lights were a little fewer and farther between, encountering an illuminated street or house felt like sharing a smile with a stranger.

It is my wish that our holiday exhibit “Put Your Lights On” will bring forth feelings of optimism, hope and togetherness. May we appreciate the lights in our own lives and anticipate those on the horizon. “Put your Lights On” and share a smile!

Trevor Doak

Juror: Dawn Laurant
The theme of this show is ICON. What does the word ICON mean to you?  Artists are invited to take the theme in any creative direction.  Come see where the theme has taken them this year.

Solo Exhibition Video #1 (00:22) , Video #2 (00:11)

25 Years Anniversary Exhibit

Featuring 25 Artists

Bird’s Eye View
Chinese rice paper mixed media on wood panel
36” x 48”

Juror: Shamim M. Momin - Director of Curatorial Affairs, Henry Art Gallery, Seattle WA

Selected from over 1200 submissions, this exhibition presents the work of twenty-four artists working in a range of mediums and practices. While the selection was not guided by a pre-determined thematic, there does emerge common ground and threads of connection across the diverse works. In particular, there is a strong sense of revealing the unseen—whether a people, a system, a history, or a practice. Translated through transformative layers of materiality, abstraction, or revised modes of representation, the works address concerns from ethnic genocide, the threat of current politics, injustices across gender and sexual preference, the fundamental inequity of social structures, and efforts to reimagine the white-washing of history—among other issues. Other threads tie together across works foregrounding a tactile materiality, those embracing abstraction embedded with social issues or the body as a site of contest, and certainly, resonating in many diverse objects, a ghostly sense of absence and loss linked undoubtedly to our current state of isolation and lack of community connection.

Artist Statements | 11th Annual Juried Show | Gallery110

View Publication [Page #44-#47]

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