I'm not terribly fond of the Eastside. Traffic is impossible, and I invariably get lost, especially in Bellevue. I don't even know what Bellevue is. It seems too large to be a suburb, and too close to Seattle to be a separate city. So I usually try to avoid it. But now, with the opening of the wonderful Bellevue Arts Museum, I'm going to have to go to Bellevue more often because this is a museum worth visiting again and again.
The museum is a fortunate rebirth. Two years ago its predecessor closed its doors because of a lack of funds, wrangling in the inner circles and a muddled mission. The new institution has a clear vision: it celebrates the fine art of craft and design. It also has sufficient monies to cover its first year of operation, and a dynamic new director who seems to have rejuvenated and united the various constituencies just as he has the museum itself.
The story of this reincarnation goes all the way back to the days of World War II when Bellevue was a sleepy little village of fewer than 1,000 souls. There was at least one family, however, who saw the future. The Freemans bought up tracts of land along Bellevue Way and in 1946 opened Bellevue Square Shopping Center. It was tiny compared to today's retail complex, but for the time it was an impressive development.
In 1947, the Center sponsored its first outdoor art show. The event was run by volunteers, featured 70 artists and drew a sizable crowd. That was the beginning of the Pacific Northwest Arts and Crafts Fair, which has been an annual event ever since.
Our region is ideally suited to enterprises related to arts and craft because it is home to so many artists, more than in any other state except, perhaps, North Carolina. These artist neighbors work in all media, and many are nationally and internationally recognized as leaders in their field. For this reason, and because of a growing interest in craft as an art form, the fair grew and prospered over the years. Today it is the largest on the West Coast.
From the outset it attracted superb artists whose work was juried by leading experts. Many of the region's socially prominent citizens volunteered their services and sat on the board. Children's activities were initiated. A gallery was established in Bellevue Square. A foundation was established. Glamorous benefit parties were held. A film festival and school came into being. The gallery metamorphosed into a museum. And in 2001 a new museum building was completed across from the shopping center where it all began.
It's a story of ambitious growth, perhaps too ambitious. The modern new museum building had some problems with display spaces. The schedule of exhibitions lacked focus. The crowds that were expected just didn't come. By 2003, there was no money to continue operations. The museum closed. The director and curator resigned, as did some important board members. An interim manager was hired to plan the reorganization.
Scores of community members were interviewed in an effort to learn what went wrong and how it might be made right. It became evident that the time had come for the museum to go back to its roots in the craft world. The reborn museum would be an institution devoted to art, craft and design. With that mission in clear view, the resolute souls who were determined to revive the museum mounted a nationwide search for a new director.
They had the extraordinary good luck to engage Michael Monroe, one of the nation's leading craft experts. Monroe brought talent as a museum director, university teacher, international lecturer and juror, curator and designer. And as a former President of the American Craft Council, he has ties with or is aware of its 30,000 members. He knows museums; he knows crafts, and he knows his constituency.
For the past year, Monroe has been working with the board, his staff and devoted volunteers and donors to bring about the museum's renascence. When they opened the doors for the pre-opening parties and the inaugural weekend, more than 5,000 visitors came.
The four opening exhibits are dazzling, and they give a sense of what will come in the future: glass in the Pilchuck Room, a major traveling exhibit and a complementary display on the third floor, and a presentation of the work of a single artist on the second floor. The ground floor has a limited number of large works that represent various craft media.
The third-floor teapot exhibit is the major opening show. Its objects range from elegant to outlandish. They are made from every possible material, including money, beads and bottle caps, as well as the more traditional porcelain and ceramics. The works evoke laughter as well as awe, and the accompanying display of ethnic artifacts associated with teas of the world broadens our understanding of the culture of teas.
In addition to the glass and the teapots, there's a retrospective show of the work of Albert Paley, who is particularly known for his forged iron furniture and objects that evoke the design sensibilities of Art Nouveau. It provides an excellent contrast to the other displays.
Each of these exhibits shows particularly well because of the new lighting system installed before the opening. The lights and good use of wall paint have transformed the galleries. They are now more intimate settings in which the objects are displayed in a manner that draws visitors' attention and rewards their interest. It's a great improvement, as are the bold wall graphics.
The next major exhibit will be "Looking Forward Glancing Back: Northwest Designer Craftsmen at 50." It's to feature more than 100 works by members of the Northwest Designer Craftsmen organization, which originated in Seattle. The exhibit has been traveling for the past year and should be of special interest to us non-Eastsiders when it opens this fall at Bellevue. Works by four artists from Queen Anne are included.
So, I guess I'll be going to Bellevue more in the future. The new Bellevue Arts Museum is unique in the region, a good complement to the rich inventory of museums here in Seattle.
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