Making Our Mark, which opens November 10 at the Bellevue Arts Museum, commemorates the 40th anniversary of Pratt Fine Arts Center, a mainstay and incubator of the visual arts in Seattle. It was named for slain civil rights leader Edwin T. Pratt.

I got my start as a teaching artist at Pratt Fine Arts Center, and taught there from 2006 until 2015. I met so many artists there, colleagues and students, who went to to become lifelong influences and friends. I also worked there as a model in the 1990’s, notably for Drake Deknatel, who became a professional mentor, studio-mate, and friend. (I made sure work from his estate was included in this show.)

At Pratt, I taught lots of beginning drawing and painting classes for adults, but I also learned to be a mentor myself, working with advanced painters who were on the verge of breaking out of the world of art classes and ready to start painting in their own language. Another perk was being able to use Pratt’s printmaking facilities, expanding my own practice to include screen-printing and etching.

There are 250 artists in the show; I will have a piece there from my Floor Plan for the American Dream series. The show runs through April 2018. There is a preview party on November 9 from 6:30-9:30 PM, free to members, $10 for non-members.

Above: a giant collaborative master copy (Honore Daumier) by one of my Pratt classes.