The Evergreen State College’s House of Welcome Cultural Arts Center is part of the House of Welcome, the first longhouse built on a U.S. College Campus. Our work as a public service center is to support and promote Native arts and cultures and engage with Indigenous cultures throughout the world.

We support studio arts specifically in fiber art and carving on our Indigenous Arts Campus which includes a fiber arts studio and a carving studio complex. The work includes college classes, short and long term arts workshops and residencies, locally. We also support a artist workshop program in Native American communities in a four state region including Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. We provide grant support to colleges and universities who are seeking to improve or begin work in a similar fashion with Tribal artists from Tribal communities within their own service regions.

The Evergreen State College’s House of Welcome Cultural Arts Center is part of the Handwork 2026 Artist Residency Program, pairing master craftspeople, both local and national, with top educational institutions to teach specialized techniques, promote cultural dialogue, and explore American craft traditions.

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Curated by Colette Gaiter, this exhibition offers a broad view of artists’ books by Black artists, combining words, images, and materials in both traditional and experimental ways. Some works share personal stories, others explore history and identity. These books challenge narrow views, honor past creators, and invite reflection on Black experiences—expanding the boundaries of book art through powerful and creative expression.

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Pratt Fine Arts Center, founded in Seattle’s Central District and named for civil rights leader Edwin T. Pratt, has been a creative hub for 50 years. Offering year-round, affordable classes and studios, Pratt supports artists of all ages and skill levels. Disciplines include glass, sculpture, jewelry, paper, and 2D media. This exhibition features work by Pratt students, instructors, board members, and staff, reflecting the center’s vibrant and inclusive arts community.

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Co-Curator Robin Little Wing Sigo (Suquamish Tribe) partners with BIMA to present a survey of Indigenous (Native American and First Nations) craft artists, working in traditional and contemporary forms. Media will include fiber/textiles, wood carving, ceramics, glass, and jewelry art. Wearables will include both ceremonial regalia and fashion items.

More than twenty artists who have lived and worked in the Salish Sea region are featured, including Larry (Ulaaq) Ahvakana, Peg Deam, Joe Feddersen, Denita and Joey Holmes, Barbara Lawrence, Betty Pasco, Preston Singletary, and Jennifer Angaiak Wood.

Sigo is the Director of the Suquamish Research & Strategic Development Department, which includes the Suquamish Foundation. She has advised and assisted BIMA with previous Indigenous exhibitions and programs, and is on BIMA’s Advisory Council. Indigenous Craft is the fourth major Indigenous exhibition BIMA has produced since opening in 2013.

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BIMA is planning a retrospective of the late master metalsmith Heikki Seppa, originally from Finland, who passed away in 2010.

After decades teaching at Washington University in St. Louis, he retired and later married Bainbridge Island jewelry artist Laurie A. Lyall.

Through a major legacy gift from Lyall and other collectors, BIMA acquired over 45 signature works, including jewelry, hollowware, and decorative art, showcasing techniques Seppa taught and pioneered.

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The Puget Sound region is rich with educational and studio-based resources for artists. This group exhibition is curated with members of regional Craft-based programs and professional groups.

These include Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network (BARN), Bainbridge Arts & Crafts, BIMA, Bloedel Reserve, Hilltop Artists, Lakeside School, Museum of Glass, Northwest Designer Craftartists, Seward Park Clay Studio, and Suquamish Tribe.

Artists include:

• Kristina Batiste
• Jacob Foran
• Peter Jacobsen
• Ian Lawrence
• Jacki Moseley
• Anna Nardelli
• James Nelson
• Lynnette Sandbloom
• Stephanie Tayengco

The adjacent gallery features select craft artworks from BIMA’s Permanent Art Collection.

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Cloth, Paper, Stitches brings together a selection of artists’ books from the Cynthia Sears Artists’ Books Collection that foreground the tactile and expressive possibilities of cloth, paper, and thread. Through processes such as sewing, weaving, cutting, and folding, these works expand the idea of the book beyond a purely visual or text-based object into something materially intimate and physically engaging.

At this moment—a time marked by fracture and uncertainty—this exhibition highlights artworks where material itself becomes the language of care, community, and transformation. The artists represented in the exhibition use both traditional and experimental techniques, merging handwork with conceptual approaches to storytelling. Some of this work was created slowly over time and other pieces were produced in urgency, but all function as vital acts of shelter and resistance.

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Aimee Lee (Ohio) is an artist who makes paper, writes, and advocates for Korean papermaking practices. Her initial Fulbright research helped her build the first hanji studio in North America and write her award-winning book, Hanji Unfurled. Her second Fulbright award as a senior scholar focused on further research of Korean papermaking tools, and continued her training since 2009 with various national and provincial Intangible Cultural Property Holders.

Lee trains the next generation of papermakers in the Korean tradition from the Korean diaspora and beyond in her private hanji studio east of Cleveland and in workshops around the world.

This solo exhibition will highlight several works from our Cynthia Sears Artists’ Books Collection, in addition to lent artist’s books by this internationally engaged and recognized artist. Tethered includes artist’s books, paper garments, and sculptures that highlight paper as both material and storyteller, offering conversation between plant fibers and personal tales, within the ancient legacies of handmade paper.

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This retrospective exhibition showcases the legacy of garden designs and sculptures of George and David Lewis, formerly known as Little and Lewis.

Their story of love and labor began in the 1980s, when David moved from Washington, D.C. to Bainbridge Island, and George moved subsequently from Houston, Texas. Their separate interests in art, ancient architectural ruins, gardens, and water features combined into a thriving and well-documented creative business.

This retrospective is titled Deeply Rooted in honor of their well-documented career as artists, and their community service and ties to Bainbridge Island and beyond.

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Experience intensive workshops with nationally renowned artists celebrating American craft traditions. Transform your practice as you explore techniques that define our creative past, present, and future.

Handwork Week brings accomplished artisans from our region and beyond to BARN for an unprecedented week of deep learning and exploration.

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The Columbia Gorge Museum was established in 1995 to house historically significant objects from the Columbia River Gorge area of Washington and Oregon.

Its amazing collections contain quilts, lace pillows, lace, wedding dresses, and handmade household materials, as well as the “world’s” largest rosary collection, historical lumber industry objects, indigenous people’s cultural objects (all media); Japanese cultural objects, and a collection of art and rare objects once belonging to a Russian Baron, originator of the Lightbearers philosophical and spiritual organization. The collection is housed in an award-winning building on 18 acres on the banks of the Columbia River.

The Museum is recognized for its exhibitions and programs, especially those that support emerging artists; highlight historical contributions; and connect communities throughout the region.

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BARN (Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network) is a regional center for craft on Bainbridge Island, Washington. Our dedicated volunteers and staff provide fun, welcoming spaces where everyone can explore creativity, learn new skills, work with others, and give back to the community.

BARN operates eleven member-run studios spanning woodworking, glass arts, fiber arts, metal fabrication, culinary arts, jewelry making, and more. Since opening our 25,000-square-foot facility in 2017, we’ve grown to serve over 1,400 members with 2,700+ classes and events annually. BARN’s mission centers on growing and inspiring creative community through craft, learning, and service.

Beyond skill-building, BARN members actively contribute to the region through dozens of community service projects—from building furniture for at-risk youth to preparing meals for community events. We believe everyone can be creative, and we offer comprehensive tuition assistance and programming designed to remove barriers to participation. Whether someone is a complete beginner or seasoned artisan, BARN provides the tools, expertise, and supportive community to help creativity flourish.

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Northwest Designer Craftartists (NWDC) was founded in 1954 to promote excellence of design and craftsmanship and to stimulate public appreciation and interest in fine craft. Artists in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska, who work professionally in clay, wood, glass, metal, fiber, and/or mixed media, are members. Other members support the crafts in the Pacific Northwest as educators, managers of non-profit arts organizations, or buyers of art for public or private collections. Northwest Designer Craftartists is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

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Maryhill Museum of Art occupies a historic Beaux-Arts mansion that is situated high above the Columbia River in south-central Washington state. Conceived in 1917, it was dedicated by Queen Marie of Romania in 1926 and opened to the public in 1940.

The museum collection contains European and American paintings, works on paper, and decorative arts; a sculpture collection with many works by Auguste Rodin; gilded furniture from Romanian royal palaces; ecclesiastical arts (especially Russian icons); an international array of chess sets; and the Théâtre de la Mode—miniature mannequins that are displayed in stage sets and attired in mid-1940s Paris fashions.

Maryhill is also home to Balkan and Central American folk clothing (most notably Romanian and Macedonian garments), numerous vintage women’s hats, and more than 1,200 baskets from Indigenous North America.

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The Moses Lake Museum & Art Center is a program of the Moses Lake Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services Department. Originally founded as the Adam East Museum in 1958, the Museum is home to local history exhibits, a fine art gallery, Museum store and a giant Columbian Mammoth metal sculpture. It offers classes in craft and fine art for all ages. The Museum is housed in the Moses Lake Civic Center. Admission is free.

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