Barbara Earl Thomas
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Barbara Earl Thomas (born 1948[1]) was the executive director of Seattle's Northwest African American Museum from 2008 until 2013 and is a noted painter and writer.
Background
Thomas was the granddaughter of southern sharecroppers who migrated to Seattle in the mid 1940s.[2] She is a Seattle native.[1] She graduated from the University of Washington (U.W.) in 1973, then studied at the University of Grenoble in France (1976) before returning to U.W. to complete a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1977.[1] Her parents died in a fishing accident in 1988.[1][3]
Career work
Thomas was the executive director of the Northwest African American Museum (2006–2013). She stepped down from her full-time job in January 2013 and has become NAAM's Deputy Director/Major Gifts Officer, a part-time post.[4]
Artwork
Thomas studied art under Jacob Lawrence.[5] She works in many mediums including doing egg tempera paintings and linocuts and woodblock prints. In 2013, she had a solo show at Paper Hammer where she displayed 14 prints from two series, The Reading Room and The Book of Fishing.[3][6] Thomas has exhibited artwork at the Seattle Art Museum,[1] The Tacoma Art Museum, and Whatcom County Museum and in museums throughout the US.
The Judkins Park light rail station, located adjacent to the Northwest African American Museum, will feature artwork from Thomas as part of Sound Transit's public art program.[7]
Books
Storm Watch: The Art of Barbara Earl Thomas (published 1998 by University Washington Press)[2]
Selected solo exhibits
- Art Center Gallery, Seattle Pacific University, "For Women Who Sleep With Crocodiles", 1983[1]
- Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle: 1984, 1990, 1984, 1998[1]
- Mitchell Museum, Mount Vernon, Illinois: "Talking Back to the Storm: New Figurative Work by Barbara Thomas", 1990[1]
- Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Bellingham, Washington: "Barbara Thomas: The Fallen House", 1994[1]
- Skagit Valley College, Mount Vernon, Washington: "A Fire in the Heart", 1995[1]
- Seattle Art Museum: "Testimonies: Barbara Earle Thomas", 1998[1]
- Bainbridge Island Museum of Art: "Barbara Earl Thomas: Heaven on Fire" (retrospective), 2016[8]
Private and public collections
- Safeco Corporate Collection
- The Microsoft Corporate Collection
- The Seattle Art Museum
Awards
- 1998 & 2000: The Seattle Arts Commissions award for new non-fiction[9]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Program for "Testimonies: Barbara Earle Thomas", exhibit August 20, 1998 - January 24, 1999 at Seattle Arts Museum as part of Documents Northwest: The PONCHO Series. Includes an essay by Vicky Halper.
- 1 2 "Storm Watch". University of Washington Press. Archived from the original on May 21, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
- 1 2 Graves, Jen. "Diet of Worms". The Stranger. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
- ↑ Upchurch, Michael. "Barbara Earl Thomas' linocuts blend the surreal with the lyrical". Seattle Times. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
- ↑ Lieberman, Michael. "The Reading Room by Barbara Earl Thomas". Seattle Pi. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
- ↑ Vozza, Valerie. "Art Zone segments". Seattle Channel. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
- ↑ "Light Rail Review Panel: Judkins Park Station" (PDF). City of Seattle Design Commission. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
- ↑ Michael Upchurch (2016-07-06). "Barbara Earl Thomas retrospective looks back at 30 years of artist’s inventive works". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
- ↑ Manitach, Amanda. "Mayor's Arts Award: Barbara Earl Thomas". City Arts Online. Retrieved May 20, 2015.