LIED CENTER
FOR THE
VISUAL ARTS
THIS IS WHERE
YOU CAME IN
INTRODUCTION
You are the reason the Ernst F. Lied Center for the Visual Arts exists. The building – whose
spacious galleries and sun-flooded studios first welcomed Whitworth students in fall
2008 – was long awaited, eagerly anticipated, and sorely needed.
During Whitworth’s early years in Spokane, the art department lived belowground, in
the library basement. In 1947 the department relocated to a ward building from Baxter
General Hospital that had been moved to campus, remodeled and bricked up. This
structure served as the art department’s home for the next 40-plus years, during which
time the department shared the space with the science program and then with the
mathematics & computer science department.
While Whitworth’s art students and faculty likely raced to relocate from the library
basement to the fine arts building, later generations of art students experienced the
old hospital ward as cramped, confining, dark, cluttered, creaky, drafty, uninspiring and
downright depressing.
This is where you entered the story and recast the future of the visual arts at Whitworth.
Thanks to your generous support, the Lied Center grew from a need to a plan to
a building. That building welcomes countless Whitworth students and art faculty,
members of the campus and Spokane communities, other visitors from near and far, and
professional artists from around the globe who create, teach, engage, discuss, enjoy,
debate, critique and appreciate art.
The Lied Art Center stands and serves because of you, and we’d like to say thanks. Please
enjoy this palette of images and words highlighting the impact of your gift – past, present
and future.
ART MAJORS OFFERED
Art
Track I: Two-Dimensional
(Drawing/Painting and
Printmaking)
Track II: Graphic Design
Track III: Three-Dimensional
(Ceramics, Sculpture,
Glass)
Track IV: Art Education
Arts Administration
Art History
Visual Design in Computing
ART MINORS OFFERED
Art
Art History
Community Arts
THE CENTER
The $7.1 million, 20,000-square-foot Lied Art Center houses six studios, two gallery
spaces, a state-of-the-art computer lab, and inspiring interior and exterior views. The
two-story facility can accommodate long-term expansion and will serve Whitworth
students for generations to come.
Darkness rarely falls in Lied. The building remains open to students from 6 a.m.-1 a.m.
every day that classes are in session. While Whitworth art majors claim the center as
their home away from home, most students taking classes are non-art majors who are
attracted to the facility and to the artworks on display, and who heed the advice of their
friends to try an art class or two. Many of these students decide to pursue an art minor or
area of concentration.
Whitworth’s professionally active art faculty members, whose works are exhibited locally
and nationally, encourage students to immerse themselves intellectually and spiritually
in the creative process and to investigate the relationship between their worldviews and
their work. Whitworth art majors also become prepared to excel in a variety of careers,
from museum curator and professional photographer to 3D animator, art teacher and
video producer.
Christina Hixson, pictured here touring the building, administered the Ernst F. Lied
Foundation Trust, which provided the lead gift for and is the namesake of the art center.
NEW MAJORS
Visual Design in Computing
Launched in 2015, Whitworth’s
visual design in computing major
addresses the growing demand
for tech professionals who
are equipped with significant
computing and graphic-design
skills. The interdisciplinary major
is supported by the Lied Center’s
25-station iMac computer lab,
which also includes scanners, a
color-laser printer, a professional
photograph printer, and a full
photography studio. An essential
component of the new major is
Bradley Oiler, who joined the art
faculty in 2015 as Whitworth’s
first tenure-track professor in
graphic design.
Art History
Whitworth began offering an
art history major in fall 2016.
Associate Professor of Art
Meredith Shimizu, a 1993 alumna
who joined the Whitworth faculty
in 2008, was instrumental in
designing the major, and she
teaches many of the art history
courses. Shimizu was named a
Most Influential Professor by the
Whitworth Classes of 2015, 2014
and 2012.
STORIES OF IMPACT
Every space has natural north
light and lots of it. Even the
Bryan Oliver Gallery has
the ability to use natural
light. Complementing the light
are the air and height in the
facility, which gives the light a
space to live in.
“THE NEW BUILDING IS DESIGNED FOR LIGHT.”
The ventilation system and
ventilation booths make it
possible for students to use
a variety of materials and
processes safely, and all of
the studios are designed to
accommodate the subjects and
processes we teach. The studios
are arranged to encourage
students to move easily from
one to another to create works
with a variety of media.
And the Mac computer lab is a
significant asset – it’s used by
multiple academic departments
and fosters collaboration.
The oil painting What Peter Saw, above, by Whitworth Professor of Art Gordon Wilson
(pictured at left), was purchased with Ruby Funds. It depicts the Apostle Peter’s
vision described in Acts 11. There is a degree of humor in the painting, since some of
the “unclean” creatures would be dinner for others.
– Gordon Wilson
Professor of Art and
Department Chair
(joined Whitworth faculty in 1976)
“THE BUILDING HAS BECOME A HAVEN FOR THE CREATIVES ON CAMPUS.”
In my history as an artist, I have
never had the opportunity to
work in a building that was
designed for the visual arts,
like our Lied Center is. Lied is
also designed to encourage
safe studio practice and to be
conducive to learning, and the
building is adaptable for a wide
range of creative practice.
– Katie Creyts
Associate Professor of Art
(joined Whitworth faculty in 2008)
Creyts received a McMillen Foundation grant, “Making as Knowledge,” which brought
five selected artists to the Lied Center to exhibit their work, present a lecture, and
lead hands-on workshops with Whitworth students in fall 2015.
The space makes it possible
for me to clear my head and
work. Every part of the building
feels expansive, with balconies
and windows opening the
architecture so that it may
be filled with the students’
creativity. At the same time, it’s
an intimate space.
“LIED HAS BEEN MY HOME FOR NEARLY FOUR YEARS.”
To create artwork frequently
means approaching your own
vulnerabilities, which is more
easily done in a familiar place. I
have worked in all of the studios,
and the pieces I create belong
to each space nearly as much as
they belong to my hands. Every
artist needs a studio to collect
her inspiration and vision, and
Lied has given me that.
– Elise Stoner, ’17
After graduating from Whitworth, Elise plans to work in a graphic-design position
in Norway for a year. Long term, she plans to work as an in-house graphic designer.
I always say to people that the
Lied Art Center is unique. The
building is open until 1 a.m.,
giving students the opportunity
to come in and express
themselves at any time.
Immediately, as I step into
the art building, I feel happy,
because it is quiet. The artwork
displayed on the walls and
bulletin boards is saying,
“Welcome to Expression Land, a
place where you can bring your
ideas and creativity to life.”
“THE LIED ART CENTER IS A BUILDING WHERE ALL THE MAGIC HAPPENS.”
I notice a lot of details in each
piece of artwork displayed in
the building, and this gives me
inspiration to express myself.
Immediately, when I get these
ideas, I walk down to my favorite
spot: the computer room.
– Ayobami Adedeji, ’19
Ayobami plans to earn a master’s degree and then return to Nigeria, where
she will build an art school and gallery, with branches in Africa and abroad.
Everyone will be welcome to come in and express themselves, whether in
fashion, drawing, painting or music.
“IT IS A BEAUTIFUL AND EXCITING PLACE TO WORK AND EXHIBIT.”
The old art building was
definitely the biggest downside
to enrolling at Whitworth
because of how cramped the
studios were. When the Lied Art
Center opened my senior year, I
was floored by the change. Not
only did each disciplinary area
get much-needed upgraded
equipment, but the shift from
working in a half-buried bunker
to an amazing facility facing a
beautiful pine forest cannot be
understated.
The natural light in the building
is just incredible, and I, even
seven years out from graduating,
still find that I miss it. I noticed
a shift when we moved into the
new art building: The energy
and professionalism of my peers
seemed to grow to match the
new location. I think it
really raised the bar for
students.
– Bryan Putnam, ’09
Bryan earned an MFA from the University of Oregon and taught printmaking at
that university for two years. He now lives in Twisp, Wash., where he owns and
operates Woodshed Ink, a design and screen-printing business, and Pinetooth
Press, which features his artwork. He also does freelance illustration and design.
Studying in the old building vs.
the new building was like night
and day.
“EVERYTHING IN LIED IS OPEN, AIRY AND LIGHT.”
The old building really had
no place to study; it was dark
and depressing and only had,
I think, two or three working
computers. The only time I
spent in there was for classes –
nothing more.
In Lied I was working and
studying all the time. The Mac
lab is by far my favorite part
of the new building, especially
since I was a graphic-design
major.
I also love the different rooms
for different art mediums,
because it changed up the
scenery when I took ceramics
or screen printing or
mixed media.
– Kat Wagner, ’10
Kat owns and operates Kat Skye Photography, in Spokane.
“I LOVE THE LOFTED CEILINGS THAT ALLOW ARTISTS TO THINK, BREATHE AND CREATE.”
The tearing down of the fine
arts building felt like a tearing
down of part of my spirit. I had
invested so many all-nighters in
dim light finishing oil paintings
or sculpture projects. I explored
each of the building’s small and
quirky rooms, and, most of all, I
discovered there how to be an
artist and photographer.
Yet I was overjoyed to become
acquainted with the Lied Art
Center. The center is everything
the fine arts building wasn’t. It
is spacious, it has professional
gallery space, and it allows
students the freedom to
express themselves.
The expanded and upgraded
computer lab gives graphic
designers and photographers
a fantastic
opportunity
to grow with a
modern toolset.
– Thomas Robinson,
’09
Thomas owns and operates Zoomdak Photography; he is also a front-end web
developer for web-design firm Crowerks, and he is in the process of opening
exploregon co-lab, a fine-art gallery in Bend, Ore.
IMPORTANT
ACQUISITIONS AND
THE COLLECTIONS
Ben Frank Moss Gift to the Permanent Collection
In 2014, alumnus Ben Frank Moss, ’59, made a gift
to Whitworth of nearly two dozen works spanning
his six-decade career as a visual artist. The framed
works in oil, acrylic and ink are displayed throughout
campus, including in the president's office and home,
in the institutional advancement office, and in the new
Cowles Music Center.
Whitworth’s most prominent alumni artist, Moss is a
nationally known landscape painter and the former
George F. Jewett Professor of Studio Art at Dartmouth
College, in New Hampshire. He has exhibited
extensively throughout the United States for more than
30 years.
Moss has received numerous honors and awards, and
his work has been shown in nearly 60 solo exhibits and
359 group exhibits throughout the U.S. In 2009 and
2012, Whitworth showcased collections of his work in
the Bryan Oliver Gallery.
Jordan Works Join Permanent Collection through Daniel Endowment
In 2015, Whitworth added five photographs from Chris Jordan’s groundbreaking Midway series to the university’s
permanent collection. The acquisition was made possible by the Floyd and Shirley Daniel Endowment, which the Daniels
established in 2008 to support
photography and its role in the
arts, creation-care programs, and
environmental and sustainability
education for students. Four
of the life-size photographs
feature the decaying carcasses
of albatross chicks that died
after consuming plastic from the
polluted Pacific Ocean. The fifth
photo shows an adult albatross
caring for a hatchling.
“Like the albatross, we FirstWorld humans find ourselves
lacking the ability to discern
anymore what is nourishing from
what is toxic to our lives and our
spirits. Choked to death on our
waste, the mythical albatross
calls upon us to recognize that
our greatest challenge lies not
out there, but in here.”
– Chris Jordan, February 2011
Robert Ruby Collection and Endowment
In 2008, Dr. Robert Ruby, a 1943 Whitworth alumnus, donated numerous
pieces to the Lied Center from his wide-ranging
personal collection. Ruby was inspired to make the
donation because of Whitworth’s brand-new arts facility
and the university’s enhanced capacity to house and
care for works of art. Whitworth’s Ruby Collection
features paintings and sculptures valued at more than
$400,000, as well as artifacts and ephemera including
books written and signed by every U.S. president since
Herbert Hoover, two of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’
chairs, and space-program memorabilia.
Through sales of some of the donated items and an estate gift funded
in 2014, after Ruby’s death, Whitworth established the Robert H. Ruby
Endowed Permanent Art Collection Maintenance Fund. This endowment
ensures an ongoing source of funding to support Whitworth’s growing
collection. The fund provides for the maintenance or refurbishment of
works in Whitworth’s permanent collection, supports the costs associated
with the installation and security of artwork from the collection displayed
on campus, and provides for the annual purchase of a work by a living
artist.
Indian Landscape, a lithograph by Fritz Scholder and a gift to Whitworth
from Robert Ruby, ’43, was featured in the Lied Center’s grand-opening
exhibit, Old Bones in a New Vernacular: Selections from Whitworth’s
Permanent Art Collection.
The Francis L. and Vir Harrison Collection
In early September 2009, a team of students and faculty gathered at the Lied Center to accept an
exciting gift from Vir Harrison: the Francis L. and Vir Harrison Collection, comprising 54 works
of art featuring biblical themes and imagery. After visiting the new Lied Center and touring
Whitworth’s permanent collection, Vir said, “I can think of no other place I would like to
have our art.” Most of the works are limited-edition lithographs; the Harrison Collection also
includes a painting and a textile piece. Artists represented include noted Northwest artist
Kenneth Callahan, as well as Salvador Dali, Sunol Alvar, Charles Bragg and Shlomo Katz.
The Harrisons’ avocation was sparked when they began attending a Christian church that had
no art displayed in the building. Vir and her late husband, Francis, began purchasing art for
their church, including works designed for children,
which were installed in the children’s ministry area. The
Harrisons then began collecting out of a shared passion
for the role art could play in teaching the Gospel. This
passion led them to operate a gallery in the Seattle area from the late 1970s to the
early ’80s that featured liturgical art. When the Harrisons found pieces they loved,
they’d purchase two: one for their home and one for the gallery. The Lied Center is
the beneficiary of many interesting artworks the Harrisons acquired during this era.
The Harrisons’ connection with Whitworth developed through one of their
daughters and a son-in-law, Whitworth alums Patricia (Harrison, ’68) and Ron
Cramer, ’69. It was important for Vir to know where Francis’s and her artworks were
going, and how they would be housed and used. The Lied Center provided the
ideal home for the Harrison Collection.
Above, Moses in the Basket, by Shlomo Katz. Right, Untitled (Evolution with Fish),
by Kenneth Callahan; the Whitworth Permanent Art Collection includes several
works by this significant painter and muralist.
PROMINENT ACQUISITION
Premier Mexican-American artist
and educator Ruben Trejo’s twopart sculptural series, Codex for
the 21st Century #4 and Codex
for the 21st Century #5, was
acquired by Whitworth and now
graces the stairwells in the Lied
Art Center. Trejo worked in media
including sculpture, mixedmedia installations, painting
and drawing, and his artwork
was influenced by formalism
and the folk traditions of Mexico
and American popular culture.
Trejo, who taught art at Eastern
Washington University, in Cheney,
was renowned across the country;
his work is part of the permanent
collections of the Smithsonian
American Art Museum, the
National Hispanic Cultural Center,
in Albuquerque, and the National
Museum of Mexican Art, in
Chicago.
THE EXHIBITS
The Lied Center features a professional exhibit space – the Bryan Oliver Gallery – and the Cowles Student Gallery.
In October 2016, paintings by Leslie Barlow were exhibited in the Cowles Student Gallery as part of Barlow’s month-long
residency funded by a McMillen Foundation Grant. “We would not have the opportunity for this residency without sufficient
studio space for Ms. Barlow to work in and a second gallery for her artworks,” says Professor of Art Gordon Wilson.
The Bryan Oliver Gallery is the namesake of the late son of Whitworth Trustee Walt Oliver, ’67 (left), and his late wife,
Shirley, ’77, who gave a significant gift to the Lied Art Center. The gallery
hosts an annual exhibit by Whitworth seniors, as well as a biannual exhibit by
Whitworth art faculty members.
Each year, the Bryan Oliver Gallery also features multiple exhibits by
regional, national and international artists, who make full use of the gallery’s
professional height, space, lighting and display opportunities. Each exhibit
kicks off with an opening reception and a lecture by the artist; some artists
also visit campus for week- or month-long grant-funded residencies during
which they create new works and lead workshops with students.
LIED CENTER
GALLERY
EXHIBITS:
My Family Is
Everything, Mi
Familia Es Todo
Artist-in-Residence
SAGE PAISNER
LESLIE BARLOW
11.8.16-1.27.17
10.2016
2016
Between the Shadow & the Light
A traveling exhibit featuring the
works of 20 artists produced
through R5: A Visual Arts Seminar
and Studio in South Africa
9.13.16-10.28.16
Everything
Seems to Be
Coming Together
The Devil Is in the Details
Selected Works
GALA BENT
JOHN
HOLMGREN
BENJAMIN DEMOTT, CLAIRE
HEDDEN, JOETTA MAUE, ANDY
MESSERSCHMIDT, ELISABETH
HIGGINS O’CONNOR
2.9.16-1.1.16
11.10.15-1.29.16
9.15.15-10.30.15
2015
Seattle-based photographer Chris Jordan examines American
culture and mass consumption through the austere lens of
statistics.
Force Drift
KATHERINE
SULLIVAN
2.10.15-4.3.15
Running the Numbers:
Portraits of Mass Consumption
Ceramics Invitational
CHRIS JORDAN
MATT BOLAND, GINA FREUEN,
TERRY GIEBER, LISA NAPPA,
CHRIS TYLLIA
9.11.14-10.31.14
2.18.14-4.4.14
2014
Pauline Haas was a talented artist who produced
paintings, pastels and mixed-media work. She
also inspired and mentored many Whitworth
students and faculty, as well as community
members. Haas taught in the Whitworth Art
Department from 1964 to 1986, and after her
retirement she remained
deeply connected to the
art program and to the
Whitworth community.
Many of Haas’s paintings are
displayed throughout campus
and are part of Whitworth’s
permanent collection.
Poetics and Public
Projection: Layered
History – Redrawn
Memory
Compulsive Continuation:
A Celebration of Her 90th Year
A Pathetic
Adventure
ROSE BOND
PAULINE HAAS
ZACH BENT
11.12.13-2.7.14
9.10.13-11.1.13
2.19.13-4.6.13
2013
Ben Frank Moss, ’59, the 2009 Whitworth
Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient, is a
renowned landscape painter. In his work, he seeks
to establish a sense of place by observing light
and space as they are shaped by time and season.
He brings these observations into his paintings
using color, form and gesture to evoke memories.
Gray/Grey:
New Works
Mythical
Landscapes
Infinitesimal
MICHELLE
FORSYTH
BEN FRANK MOSS
GERRI
SAYLER
11.13.12-2.9.13
9.10.12-11.2.12
2.21.12-4.5.12
2012
Bruce Herman, one of the most significant
living Christian artists, is a painter and
educator who holds the Lothlórien
Distinguished Chair in Fine Arts at Gordon
College (Mass.), where he has taught and
curated exhibits since 1984. His artwork
has been exhibited in solo and group
exhibitions nationally and internationally.
Face to Face
The Embodied Project
Bridges
Underpinnings
BRUCE
HERMAN
KENT ANDERSON
BUTLER
ROGER
FELDMAN
AMANDA
KNOWLES
9.13.11-11.5.11
2.22.11-4.8.11
11.16.10-2.11.11
9.14.10-11.5.10
2011
Art + Text: Images, Concepts and Ideas
CIVA TRAVELING EXHIBITION: ZACH BENT, WAYNE ADAMS, ANDREW BARCHUS,
SANDRA BOWDEN, SANDRA JEAN CEAS, AMY DAY, GUY CHASE, RICO GATSON,
JENINE HARD, JERRY HOLSOPPLE, JOHN REID PERKINS-BUZO, WAYNE ROOSA,
GENE SCHMIDT, KAREN SWENHOLT, MARK PHILIP VENEMA, ALI WUNDER
High Noon
Recovery (Twenty
Years) 2009
NIK MEISEL
THOMAS O’DAY
2.22.10-4.2.10
9.22.09-10.29.09
2.17.09-4.3.09
2009
History and
Histrionics
Old Bones in a New Vernacular: Selections
from Whitworth’s Permanent Art Collection
New/Like New
LANNY
DEVUONO
ROSS SAWYERS
BRYAN OLIVER GALLERY
GRAND OPENING
1.6.09-2.07.09
10.28.08-12.5.08
9.9.08-10.19.08
2008
THE NUMBERS
GIFTS TO THE LIED ART CENTER
NUMBER OF ART DEGREES GRANTED
(WITH TRENDLINE)