BIMA is proud of the support has received from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust for support of our community and cultural programming. This year, BIMA was featured in the Trust’s annual video series that tackled the subject of “Why The Arts?”

“For our 2022 Annual Video Project, we wanted to take a closer look at some of the ways the arts help the Pacific Northwest flourish and thrive and hear from some of the individuals and organizations who invest in this sector every day.”

Created by Windrider, the series explores everything from contemporary art to Native & Indigenous Art and Cultural Preservation, Performing Arts, and Arts for Children.

Thanks to Windrider and M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust for including BIMA!

What do you hope grows in your life this spring?

Inspired by the imagery of Kimberly Trowbridge: Into the Garden and the beauty of native flora and fauna, seniors across Bainbridge Island contributed to this community art installation celebrating the abundance of spring. Collectively their sentiments of hope, joy, and connection flourish, coming together to decorate the leaves of a Pacific Dogwood tree. Visit this botanical banner hanging in the windows of BIMA’s Museum Store and take a closer look as you spot birds hiding in its branches and community wishes adorning its foliage.

The project was a collaboration with Island Volunteer Caregivers, as part of BIMA’s Creative Aging programming. If you would like to contribute a wish or dream for growth, but were unable to take part through IVC’s Art Kit initiative, please email creativeagining@biartmuseum.org, and we will craft and add a leaf in your honor.

On view through Sunday, May 16, 2021.

BIMA is super excited to be participating in Refract, The Seattle Glass Experience from October 17-20, 2019!

Refract celebrates the region’s luminaries of glass art with epic exhibitions, festive art parties, fascinating talks, tours & demos, scores of open studios and exclusive collector events over four days. Glass artists, collectors, enthusiasts and more will converge on the Puget Sound region to give credit where credit is due in the Pacific Northwest’s role in advancing the art form.

To participate, BIMA is opening its first-ever exhibition exclusively dedicated to the many glass pieces in the Museum’s Permanent Art Collection. The exhibition opens October 12, 2019 and will remain up through February 23, 2010. It is also holding over its popular solo exhibition Carol Milne: Knit Wit which features kiln-cast glass techniques. Her sculptures defy the meticulous processes employed to complete the work. Milne’s ‘knitted’ sculptures go beyond realism and re-creation — they also weave personal memories and stories.

Chihuly Garden and Glass and Visit Seattle set out to answer the question of why the PNW has become such a center for glass art by creating Refract: The Seattle Glass Experience, which is the nation’s newest festival highlighting creative uses of glass. Refract brings together more than 50 art organizations and artists to host events throughout the region. Tour local studios, get up-close to the art of glassblowing at live demonstrations, explore exhibitions and museums, attend evening parties, and more.

See where glass art is created with obsessive passion, beauty, and who-knows-what’s-next creativity. Explore the magic and depths of this fascinating material. Celebrate alongside the artists who put this region on the map. We hope to see you there.

Our dedicated Install Crew which is made up of staff and our handiest of volunteers is hard at work hanging our Summer Exhibitions which open this Saturday, June 29. Come see their hard work and hundreds of beautiful works of art at the public reception from 2-5pm or any day between June 29 and September 29 from 10am-6pm.

In honor of our upcoming Mojo Rhythm & Blues Festival (July 11-14), BIMA Cultural Programs Manager Jesse Ziebart put together this awesome YouTube playlist with music by featured artists:

Turn up your speakers (or headphones) and get your mojo workin’!

All of us at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art are still recuperating from an amazing BIMA Bash! auction weekend in support of the Museum’s exhibitions, programs and operations. While we take a minute to gather our thoughts and photos, we thought we’d share out the video that played during the Saturday night event. We feel fortunate to work with so many wonderful organizations and individuals to help us realize our mission “to inspire curiosity, wonder and understanding by connecting people with the contemporary art and craft of the Puget Sound region.”

Thanks for your support!

BIMA is proud to announce a new arts festival, DogEar—a celebration of Artist’s Books, print works and paper arts that invites the audience to participate in the fun. This event happens in conjunction with the opening of BIMA’s Spring Artist’s Book exhibition, Open Sesame! The Magic of Artist’s Books Revealed. On March 2 and 3, the Open Sesame! exhibition and DogEar festival will take over the entire museum, including the galleries, Bistro, and auditorium.

Open Sesame! The Magic of Artist’s Books Revealed is a major look into the special world of Artist’s Books, and celebrates one of the most extensive and diverse collections of this art form in the United States—from collector Cynthia Sears. The exhibition includes collection and loaned works by Diane Jacobs, Daniel Smith, and Carletta Carrington Wilson among many others, and is co-curated by Cynthia Sears, Amy Goldthwaite (BIMA Curatorial Associate), and Catherine Alice Michaelis (Artist). Artist’s Books combine many art forms and media, including drawing, painting, printmaking, collage, gluing and binding, sculpture, photography, textiles, creative writing, and storytelling. BIMA’s commitment is to make this unique art form more visible and accessible to the broader public.

Kicking off the exhibition is a weekend festival that showcases the many facets of book, printing and paper arts. Imbued with the spirit of discovery that characterizes Artist’s Books, DogEar has been designed as a playful, immersive and interactive weekend festival, including a heavy dose of spectacle, irreverence and creativity. Most events include a participatory element, whether it is hands-on art creation, fun competitions to all skill-levels, custom art creation through on-demand poetry and improv, or just perusing the works for sale by regional vendors in the exhibitor area.

DogEar is free and open to the public March 2 and 3, from 10am – 6pm with these exceptions:

• Cultivating, Curating, & Encouraging A Book Arts Collection – requires a $5 ticket [https://bpt.me/4056095]

• Participation in the Edible Book Competition requires pre-registration [http://bit.ly/BIMAEdibleBooks].

DogEar is a Community Impact Fund Project of BIMA, a program that brings a wide variety of arts, cultural and humanities performances to Kitsap County throughout the year, and strengthens our service to other non-profit and cultural partners. DogEar is  made possible with support from City of Bainbridge Island Cultural Funding, Kitsap County and City of Bainbridge Island Lodging Tax, as well as in partnership with Path with Art, PBS, and Craft in America.

See the full schedule and information HERE.

The DogeEar lineup:

March 1 – June 9
Open Sesame!: The Magic of Artist’s Books Revealed exhibition

DogEar – Book Arts Festival
March 2 & 3, 10am-6pm
A weekend celebration of Artist’s Books, print works and paper arts, featuring a wide range of vendors, exhibitions, programs, performances, and spectacles.

• Amos Kennedy Poster Pop-Up Exhibition
  An explosion of poster art by American printer, book artist and papermaker Amos Kennedy, best known for social and political commentary.
• BIMA Book Bind Off! – March 2 & 3, 12-1pm
  Competitive bookbinding at its finest! You didn’t know that was a thing? Competitors battle it out in a live bookbinding competition featuring unpredictable materials, audience participation, and unique, on-the-fly craftsmanship. A spectator sport for the art-geek in you.
• Erasure Poetry Drop-In Art-Making with Path with Art – March 2 & 3, 11am-3pm
  Create poems by erasing words from an existing text in prose or verse. Using secondhand books, facilitators will guide guests through the creative process of selecting a page of text, then redacting words and phrases through pen, ink, scissors, or block print images to morph the existing page into a new-found poem.
• Paper Marbling Drop-In Art-Making with Sophie Loubere – March 2 & 3, 11am-3pm
  Come watch and learn about the ancient art of painting on water and creating one of a kind, mesmerizing prints. Artist Sophie Loubere leads a demonstration and answers questions about both Japanese and Turkish traditions of paper marbling.
• Poetry Listening Station with Path with Art
  Drop in and listen to deeply individualistic recordings of Path with Art student artist poetry, written and recorded for the upcoming tour of Hear & Now: Community Perceptions of Homelessness. Get an audio taste of this sound sculpture, constructed by the kinetic sound artist Trimpin in collaboration with Path with Art poetry, visual art, and musical student artists, debuting in full at SAM in April 2019.
• Path with Art Pop-Up Exhibition
  Path with Art presents a showcase of artworks created through their program, designed to use creative arts to transform the lives of people recovering from homelessness, addiction and trauma by harnessing the power of creative engagement as a bridge to community and stability. The exhibition includes a wide variety of works, including a selection of Artist’s Books created during a workshop led by Michelle de la Vega.
• Artist’s Book Improv featuring The Edge Comedy Improv Group – March 2, 11-12pm and 3-4pm
  Your favorite island Improv artists tackle the unlikely subject of Artist’s Books, responding, riffing, and ranting their way through a series of Artist’s Books. Prepare to be surprised or confused, stimulated or stumped – but always entertained in these two performances.
• Craft in America: Spotlight on book, print, and paper artists – March 2, 10am-12pm, 2:30-6pm
  Enjoy a specially curated selection of PBS’s outstanding Craft in America Series, focusing on everything from letterpress to papermaking, on the large screen.
• Seven Bremner, The Poetry Store – March 2, 11am-1pm, 2:30-4:30pm
  Poet Seven Bremner comes armed with her vintage typewriter and wordsmithing capabilities and creates on-the-spot personal poetry for guests. Leave with a little masterpiece.
• Cultivating, Curating, & Encouraging A Book Arts Collection – March 2, 7pm
  In the field of book arts, collectors have a tremendous influence on content, forms, and the artists who create them. What do they or can they do with this important role? How does it impact the development of a broader community and/or support education and diversity of all kinds? Audience members are encouraged to join a thoughtful conversation with the preeminent collectors featured on this panel including Sondra Kroupa, Charles Hobson, and Mary Austin, with moderation by Bonnie Thompson Norman.
• Edible Books Competition – March 3, 3-5pm
  Bookworms grab your oven mitts! Bakers get reading! The Edible Books Competition asks the public to build their tastiest food-based creations inspired by a book–anything from a literal interpretation to a whimsical punny take. Creations are presented, documented, and scored by a panel of local judges and the public for a variety of awards before the creations are consumed in celebration of this mouthwatering literary competition.

More presentations, workshops and drop-in activities related to Artist’s Books and Open Sesame!: The Magic of Artist’s Books Revealed will be announced in early March.

A rich tapestry of arts, culture & humanities programs

Described as “refreshingly edgy” and a “fresh interdisciplinary concept” when it debuted in 2018  Momentum Festival returns in March & April 2019 to light up Kitsap County with an immersive program designed to stimulate your senses. Spotlighting the talents of artists, poets, musicians, composers, filmmakers, thespians, historians, social activists, and more, Momentum breaks the winter hibernation with this curated selection of more than two dozen events spanning concert, workshops, lecture, film and immersive arts experiences.

“We wanted to produce a festival of the unexpected, a lively program that mentally shakes off the winter and breathes in spring – with its inherent sense of discovery and emergence,” shared Sheila Hughes, Executive Director of BIMA. “This year’s Momentum features a wide array of formats, disciplines, perspectives, media and message, but they all share the ability to get audiences thinking – that’s our common thread.”

Momentum is a Community Impact Fund Project of BIMA, a new program that brings a wide variety of arts, cultural and humanities presentations to Kitsap County throughout the year, and strengthens the Museum’s deep commitment to our non-profit and cultural partners. Momentum is made possible by support from the City of Bainbridge Island Cultural Funding, Kitsap County and City of Bainbridge Island Lodging Tax and through partnership with Path with Art, PBS’s Craft in America, BARN, Bainbridge Island Observatory, Port Townsend Film Festival, Spacecraft, Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community, Robert Chinn Foundation, Bainbridge Island Historical Museum, Bloedel Reserve Creative Residency Program, Humanities WA, and inD Theatre, as well as countless individual artists and authors.

For a complete lineup and information on tickets, visit www.biartmuseum.org/momentum/.

MOMENTUM SCHEDULE:

March 2 & 3
DogEar: A Weekend Book Arts Festival Celebrating Artist’s Books, Printmaking & Paper Arts (Festival)
In partnership with PBS’s Craft in America, Path with Art, BARN

Saturday, March 2
Cultivating, Curating, & Encouraging A Book Arts Collection (Panel Discussion)

Thursday, March 7
Cielo (Film)
In collaboration with the Bainbridge Island Observatory

March 17
Jon Green & Friends in Concert (Music)

smARTfilms: Best of The Port Townsend Film Festival (Film)
In collaboration with the Port Townsend Film Festival
March 19 – WELCOME directed by Philippe Lioret
March 26 – BELLE AND SEBASTIAN directed by Nicolas Vanier
April 2 – PADDLE TO SEATTLE directed by JJ Kelly & Josh Thomas
April 9 – YELLOW IS FORBIDDEN directed by Pietra Brettkelly
April 16 – BALLETS RUSSES directed by Daniel Geller & Dayna Goldfine

March 22
Art After Dark (Teen-only Event)
In collaboration with Kitsap Regional Library

March 24
Spring Into Words: The Poetry of Keetje Kuipers, Erika Meither, and Geffrey Davis (Poetry)

March 29
Plastic Plate Engraving Workshop with Fred Hagstrom at BARN (Workshop)
In partnership with BARN

March 30
Within the Silence by Ken Mochizuki: A Living Voices Performance on the Japanese Exclusion (Presentation)
With support from Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community, and funded by the Robert Chinn Foundation

March 30
Sparks and Catalysts: Social Justice and the Role of Book Arts (Panel Discussion)

March 31
Art Talks: Fred Hagstrom (Lecture)

April 10
An Evening with Edward S. Curtis by Clay Jenkinson (Performance)
Presented by the Bainbridge Island Historical Museum A Historical Museum Fundraiser

April 13
Let’s Talk About Race with Clyde Ford (Lecture)
Presented by Humanities WA

April 14
Earthbound: Exposing Environmental Issues through the Artists Books (Panel Discussion)

April 20
A Dialogue with Nature: Artist Talk with ZZ Wei (Lecture)
in association with Bloedel Reserve Creative Residency Program

April 27
Superhero America: The Comic-Book Character as Historical Lens with T. Andrew Wahl (Lecture)
Presented by Humanities WA

April 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27 and 28
A Walk in the Woods by Lee Blessing (Performances)
Presented by inD Theatre

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