MoNA Moments

This episode is being released as part of Behind the Curtain: 100 Years at the Historic Lincoln Theatre, an exhibition celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln Theatre as a cultural hub of Skagit Valley. In this episode you’ll hear from eight people who share what the Lincoln Theater means to them and how they first got involved. Behind the Curtain will be on display in MoNA’s Outside In Gallery from January 24 - May 3, 2026. You can find out more information about the exhibition on our website: https://www.monamuseum.org/outside-in-gallery-behind-the-curtain

This episode of MoNA Moments was recorded as part of Energy Transitions, an exhibition curated by the Skagit Valley Clean Energy Alliance. You will hear SVCEA’s Technical Advisor Greg Whiting and artist Don Wesley talk about some of the historical transitions that our outdoor lighting systems have been through. Energy Transitions is on view in MoNA’s Outside In Gallery from October 11, 2025 through January 11, 2026. You can view more information about this exhibition here: https://www.monamuseum.org/outside-in-energy-transitions

This episode of MoNA Moments was recorded as part of Through the Light: The Sublime in Contemporary Northwest Art, an exhibition at MoNA on view from June 28-September 28, 2025. You will hear guest curator Chloe Dye Sherpe provide historical context for Through the Light and interview artists Weston Lambert and Adam Sorensen about their work and their connections to the sublime. You can read more about Through the Light on our website: https://www.monamuseum.org/through-the-light This episode mentions the Met Exhibition Caspar David Friedrich: The Soul of Nature. You can read more about this exhibition & Friedrich and see the piece Wanderer above the Sea of Fog on their website: https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/caspar-david-friedrich-the-soul-of-nature

This episode of MoNA Moments was recorded as part of the What Were You Wearing installation in the Expression Exchange Gallery, on view during April 2025 as part of Sexual Assault Awareness month. What Were You Wearing was curated by high school student, Nivea Ho in collaboration with Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services of Whatcom County. In this episode, you’ll hear Marjie George and Athena Frantz from DVSAS Whatcom interviewing Nivea about what she hopes visitors will take away from this installation and the stories contained within. The themes in this exhibition can be difficult to process or might have an intense impact on visitors. Please visit the websites of Brigid Collins Family Support Center (www.brigidcollins.org/) and Skagit Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services (www.skagitdvsas.org/) to find resources should you need support, including SDVSAS’s Get Help page (www.skagitdvsas.org/get-help/). The Expression Exchange space at MoNA has more information on resources, advocacy and self-care. You can read the transcript on our website: https://www.monamuseum.org/mona-moments-podcast

This episode of MoNA Moments was recorded as part of the Creative Response to Trauma: A Community Response Exhibition in the Outside In Education gallery, open from October 12, 2024-January 12, 2025. Curated by Brigid Collins Family Support Center and Skagit Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services (Skagit DVSAS), the Creative Response to Trauma exhibition is a collaboration between these two organizations as a testament to the powerful process of healing from trauma through a range of creative expressions. In this episode, Heidi Roy (Executive Director of Skagit Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services) and Jenn Lockwood (Executive Director of Brigid Collins Family Support Center) discuss how their organizations overlap to support survivors in our community and what they hope visitors will take away from the Creative Response to Trauma exhibition. The themes in this exhibition can be difficult to process or might have an intense impact on visitors. Please visit the websites of Brigid Collins Family Support Center ( https://www.brigidcollins.org/) and Skagit Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services (https://www.skagitdvsas.org/) to find resources should you need support, including SDVSAS’s Get Help page (https://www.skagitdvsas.org/get-help/). The Expression Exchange space at MoNA has more information on resources, advocacy and self-care.

This episode of MoNA Moments was recorded as part of the SOMOS: WE ARE Exhibition in the Outside In Education gallery, open from June 22 to September 29, 2024. SOMOS:WE ARE features work from the Catholic Community Services (CCS) Farmerworker Center Children’s Art Studio program, a free weekly after school program in Mount Vernon for children and families to participate in art-making activities. The CCS Farmworker Center provides a welcoming place for Skagit Valley Indigenous/Latinx families to connect with educational and community resources and receive support to become effective advocates for their community’s needs. The Farmworker Center also provides a venue for cultural expression, enabling the entire community to benefit through the creation and exhibition of artistic works and celebrations. In this episode you will hear from Marta Martinez Olivera, the CCS Farmworker Center Supervisor, and volunteers Heidi Epstein, and Christine Wardenburg-Skinner about the Children’s Art Studio program and the SOMOS exhibition at MoNA. Read the transcript on our website: https://www.monamuseum.org/mona-moments-podcast

MoNA Moments is excited to welcome three guests from Children of the Valley (COV), a non-profit after school program dedicated to providing academic assistance, social-emotional learning, enrichment experiences, and mentorship to children in need. Children of the Valley curated a show in the Museum of Northwest Art's Outside/In Gallery called My Roots: Honoring the Cultural Identity of Skagit Valley’s Under-Resourced Children, featuring art from students in the COV program. My Roots is on display at MoNA from February 3-May 12, 2024. Read the transcript on our website: https://www.monamuseum.org/mona-moments-podcast

In this episode of MoNA Moments, guest curator Chloe Dye Sherpe interviews artist, Jackie Qataliña Schaeffer, and scientist, Dr. Jamie Donatuto, about their collaboration for the 2023 Surge Exhibition at MoNA. Surge: Mapping Transition, Displacement, and Agency in Times of Climate Change is the fourth iteration of this exhibition at the Museum of Northwest Art, where an artist and a scientist collaborate to produce work around climate change and its impacts. Read the transcript on our website: https://www.monamuseum.org/mona-moments-podcast

This episode of MoNA Moments highlights the original vision and evolution of MoNA Link, MoNA's School Partnership Program through a conversation with three individuals who shaped the program over the past two decades. You'll hear from the founder of the program, Margaret Groff, a studio artist currently living in Port Townsend. She was the first Education Director at MoNA, from 2000 to 2008. She has also worked as a museum educator at the WSU Museum of Art in Pullman, WA and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, WI. You'll also hear the perspective of Christine Wardenburg-Skinner, who lives in Edison. She worked at the MoNA from 2010-2014, first as MoNA Link Education Director then as the first Director of Outreach. She is a practicing artist and has spent the last four decades as an art educator in both Skagit and Whatcom Counties. Finally, you'll hear Nicolette Harrington, the current coordinator of the MoNA Link Program and textile artist, painter and printmaker working out of Wingshadow Studios in La Conner. She has an MS in Art Education from Mass College of Art, and was the Art Specialist in Fairfax County, VA and Oak Harbor, WA for many years. The conversation is facilitated by Ellie Cross, MoNA's Community Outreach Coordinator. MoNA Link is a two-year professional development program for teachers focused on art education that offers multiple teacher training days, as well as museum visits and classroom visits with standards based, integrated art lessons for their students designed by museum educators. Established in 2003, this program is a partnership between the Museum of Northwest Art and local school districts designed to provide comprehensive art education for students ranging from Pre-K to High School. Since its start in 2003, the MoNA Link program has served over 8,953 students and provided training for 181 teachers in school districts throughout Skagit, Whatcom and Island Counties. MoNA Link encourages students to become confident communicators, engaged listeners, active observers, and creative problem solvers. Thank you for listening to this MoNA Moment! Read the transcript of this podcast episode on our website: https://www.monamuseum.org/mona-moments-podcast

This episode of MoNA Moments is connected to the “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls: Honoring Our Stolen Sisters” art exhibition, on view in Outside In Gallery at the Museum of Northwest Art until February 5, 2023. Curated by Pat Paul and Candice Wilson, this exhibition was created to remember, honor, and bring awareness to the thousands of Indigenous women and girls who go missing or are murdered each year. This podcast and the artwork in the exhibition represent the many tribes in Washington, Alaska, and British Columbia. In this episode, you will hear from Hilary Edwards, a member of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and descendant of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation. After a social justice trip to Nepal focusing on ethical tourism and the prevention of human trafficking, Hilary learned of the then-grassroots movement of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. She dedicated a majority of her research work in law school to this very issue. Her lifelong goals are to continue bringing awareness to MMIWG and to provide a voice for our Indigenous relatives that are no longer with us and are still missing. This podcast uses the term Indigenous to refer to Native Americans, American Indians, and Alaska Native people in the United States and Canada. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls is often referred to as MMIWG. However, we acknowledge that this is an issue affecting all Indigenous people, including our 2 spirited relatives. Thank you for listening to MoNA Moments. Read the transcript on our website: https://www.monamuseum.org/mona-moments-podcast

This episode of MoNA Moments is connected to the exhibition, “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls: Honoring Our Stolen Sisters”, on view in the Outside In Gallery at the Museum of Northwest Art from October 22, 2022 to February 5, 2023. Curated by Pat Paul and Candice Wilson, this exhibition was created to remember, honor and bring awareness to the thousands of Native women and girls who go missing or are murdered each year. This podcast and the artwork in the exhibition represent many tribes in Washington, Alaska and British Columbia, Canada. In this episode of MoNA Moments, you will hear Rena Priest, member of the Lummi Nation and the incumbent Washington State Poet Laureate, share a poem and story excerpt in connection with the topic of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. Thank you for listening to this MoNA Moment.

In this episode of MoNA Moments, you will hear an interview conducted by the co-curators of the current exhibition featured in MoNA's OutsideIn Gallery. This interview is with artist Burke Smithers. The exhibition Standing, Still was co-curated by Danielle New and Hanna Corneliussen, emerging museum professionals and students at the University of Washington Museology Graduate Program. Standing, Still uses the documented link between storytelling and empathy to promote mutual understanding and compassion for others. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this podcast belong solely to the speaker/contributor, and not necessarily to the Museum of Northwest Art or another group or individual.

In this episode of MoNA Moments, you will hear interviews conducted by the co-curators of the current exhibition featured in MoNA's OutsideIn Gallery. This interview is with artist barry johnson. The exhibition Standing, Still was co-curated by Danielle New and Hanna Corneliussen, emerging museum professionals and students at the University of Washington Museology Graduate Program. Standing, Still uses the documented link between storytelling and empathy to promote mutual understanding and compassion for others. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this podcast belong solely to the speaker/contributor, and not necessarily to the Museum of Northwest Art or another group or individual.

In this episode of MoNA Moments, you will hear an interview conducted by the co-curators of the current exhibition featured in MoNA's OutsideIn Gallery. This interview is with artist Ries Niemi. The exhibition Standing, Still was co-curated by Danielle New and Hanna Corneliussen, emerging museum professionals and students at the University of Washington Museology Graduate Program. Standing, Still uses the documented link between storytelling and empathy to promote mutual understanding and compassion for others. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this podcast belong solely to the speaker/contributor, and not necessarily to the Museum of Northwest Art or another group or individual.

In this episode of MoNA Moments you will hear an interview conducted by the co-curators of the current exhibition featured in MoNA's OutsideIn Gallery. This interview is with artist Miggie Wong. The exhibition Standing, Still was co-curated by Danielle New and Hanna Corneliussen, emerging museum professionals and students at the University of Washington Museology Graduate Program. Standing, Still uses the documented link between storytelling and empathy to promote mutual understanding and compassion for others. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this podcast belong solely to the speaker/contributor, and not necessarily to the Museum of Northwest Art or another group or individual.

In this episode of MoNA Moments, you will hear an interview conducted by the co-curators of the current exhibition featured in MoNA's OutsideIn Gallery. This interview is with artist Jody Jolderesma. The exhibition Standing, Still was co-curated by Danielle New and Hanna Corneliussen, emerging museum professionals and students at the University of Washington Museology Graduate Program. Standing, Still uses the documented link between storytelling and empathy to promote mutual understanding and compassion for others. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this podcast belong solely to the speaker/contributor, and not necessarily to the Museum of Northwest Art or another group or individual.

In this episode of MoNA Moments, you will hear an interview conducted by the co-curators of the current exhibition featured in MoNA's OutsideIn Gallery. This interview is with artist Lorena Krause. The exhibition Standing, Still was co-curated by Danielle New and Hanna Corneliussen, emerging museum professionals and students at the University of Washington Museology Graduate Program. Standing, Still uses the documented link between storytelling and empathy to promote mutual understanding and compassion for others. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this podcast belong solely to the speaker/contributor, and not necessarily to the Museum of Northwest Art or another group or individual.

In this episode of MoNA Moments, you will hear an interview conducted by the co-curators of the current exhibition featured in MoNA's OutsideIn Gallery. This interview is with artist Blair Goldstein. The exhibition Standing, Still was co-curated by Danielle New and Hanna Corneliussen, emerging museum professionals and students at the University of Washington Museology Graduate Program. Standing, Still uses the documented link between storytelling and empathy to promote mutual understanding and compassion for others. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this podcast belong solely to the speaker/contributor, and not necessarily to the Museum of Northwest Art or another group or individual.

In this episode of MoNA Moments, you will hear an interview conducted by the co-curators of the current exhibition featured in MoNA's OutsideIn Gallery. This interview is with artist Lynn Whitford. The exhibition Standing, Still was co-curated by Danielle New and Hanna Corneliussen, emerging museum professionals and students at the University of Washington Museology Graduate Program. Standing, Still uses the documented link between storytelling and empathy to promote mutual understanding and compassion for others. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this podcast belong solely to the speaker/contributor, and not necessarily to the Museum of Northwest Art or another group or individual.

In this episode of MoNA Moments, you will hear an interview conducted by the co-curators of the current exhibition featured in MoNA's OutsideIn Gallery. This interview is with artist Lisa Sheets. The exhibition Standing, Still was co-curated by Danielle New and Hanna Corneliussen, emerging museum professionals and students at the University of Washington Museology Graduate Program. Standing, Still uses the documented link between storytelling and empathy to promote mutual understanding and compassion for others. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this podcast belong solely to the speaker/contributor, and not necessarily to the Museum of Northwest Art or another group or individual.

In this episode of MoNA Moments, you will hear an interview conducted by the co-curators of the current exhibition featured in MoNA's OutsideIn Gallery. This interview is with artist Dawn Laurant. The exhibition Standing, Still was co-curated by Danielle New and Hanna Corneliussen, emerging museum professionals and students at the University of Washington Museology Graduate Program. Standing, Still uses the documented link between storytelling and empathy to promote mutual understanding and compassion for others. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this podcast belong solely to the speaker/contributor, and not necessarily to the Museum of Northwest Art or another group or individual.

In this episode of MoNA Moments, you will hear a conversation between Maggie Paul, MoNA’s Registrar, artist Rachel Lodge, University of Washington Museology graduate Lianna Hamby, and University of Washington professor & scientist, Dave Peterson, who worked collaboratively on the current Outside In Gallery exhibition, titled Finding Balance: Carbon Storylines 1.1. This show features the artwork of Rachel Lodge and was curated by Lianna Hamby & Dave Peterson.

On Saturday, January 25th, 2020, MoNA hosted guest curator, Kathleen Moles, to speak at the exhibition opening of Especially Special: A Celebration of Betty Black and her Collection of Art.

On Saturday, December 14th, 20019 The Museum of Northwest Art hosted: A Deep Dive into Eve Deisher's Psyche. Eve's husband and exhibition curator, Lanny Bergner, artist Ann Chadwick Reid, and Poet Jane Alynn had a panel discussion focusing on four of Eve Deisher's pivotal works and eve's poetry and writings pertaining to them. Jane Alynn also read her poem Tree/Figure, which she wrote for the exhibit: Eve Deisher: Indicator, a retrospective.

On November 10th, MoNA hosted its second Coffee with Local Artists Event. This time we featured the renowned local artists, Kris Ekstrand & Elizabeth Tapper. 376456

On October 5th, MoNA opened the exhibition, Eve Deisher: Indicator, with a talk by the guest curator, Lanny Bergner. Lanny Bergner was Eve's husband, and he spoke about her art and the exhibition.

On Saturday, May 3, the Museum of Northwest Art hosted a screening of the documentary Dawnland. Dawnland is a powerful documentary about the untold story of stolen indigenous children and the first truth and reconciliation process in the United States. In this MoNA Moment, we have a recording of Rebecca Black who introduced and reflected on this powerful documentary and led a Q & A session. Rebecca Black is a Quileute Enrolled Quinault, Dawnland Community Partner and a 2nd generation Scoop Survivor. For more information about Dawnland and upcoming screenings, see www.upstanderproject.org/dawnland.

On April 28th MoNA hosted coffee with local artists Bob Abrams and Chuck Bankuti. These two artists shared their insights and art from their life and work over coffee. Part two features Chuck, a photographer who photographed many Native tribes around the United States.

On April 28, MoNA hosted coffee with local artists, Bob Abrams and Chuck Bankuti. These two shared their art and insights from their life and work over coffee. Part one features Bob Abrams who was an artist for Disney.

On this MoNA Moment, we spoke with a former MoNA Link Teacher, Rebecca Wietzke, about her experience with our MoNA Link program. MoNA Link is an influential two-year professional development program for teachers. To learn more about this program, visit MoNA's website at www.monamuseum.org .

On this MoNA Moments, Susan Parke, the Director Emeritus and Curator of the current shows, continuum...Works from the Permanent Collection and continuum...Works from the Herb and Lucy Pruzan Collection, talks about the development of these exhibitions.

On February 23rd, MoNA hosted a dancer panel with professional dancers and local dance experts including Alethea Alexander and Victoria Watts. The panelists discussed George Balanchine, his impact on the dance world, and his choreography, Western Symphony.

On January 19, 2019, MoNA opened their new winter exhibitions, the 2016 Luminary Award-Winning Artists and the Spell of the West. The Luminary artists included Denzil Hurley, George Rodriguez, SuttonBeresCuller, and Saya Moriyasu. Spell of the West was curated by Lauren Carroll-Bolger and explores how the West was romanticized in art and features performance art. The opening featured talks by the artists and curator, and also included the opening of the Outside In Gallery.

MoNA recently opened its new community gallery, Outside In, with an exhibition featuring poetry from current and former Anacortes High School students. One of the poets featured is John Harrison. John shared his poem and his inspiration for this MoNA Moment.

MoNA recently opened its new community gallery, Outside In, with an exhibition featuring poetry from current and former Anacortes High School students. One of the poets featured is Layne Woodward. Layne shared his poem and his inspiration for this MoNA Moment.

On January 5th, MoNA hosted an Artist and Scientist Panel as a wrap-up to the 2018/19 Surge Exhibition.

On December 1, 2018, MoNA hosted a Surge Open House which was a day filled with free activities and events. One of the events was an Artist Talk by Surge contributing artist, Suze Woolf. In this MoNA Moment, Suze Woolf discusses her work and process related to her pieces on exhibition for the Surge exhibit, which was a collaboration between artists and scientists studying climate change.

Coffee with Artists and Scientists featured presentations on the integration of art and science by Rachel Lodge, Cynthia Camlin, and Clarissa Callesen, as well as Q&A with other contributing artists and scientists, including Suze Woolf, Alice Dubiel, and Roger Fuller.