Henry Art Gallery
Encyclopedia
The Henry Art Gallery is the art museum of the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...

 in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

, USA. Located on the west edge of the university's campus along 15th Avenue N.E. in the University District
University District, Seattle, Washington
The University District is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, so named because the main campus of the University of Washington is located there. The UW moved in two years after the area was annexed to Seattle, while much of the area was still clear cut forest or stump farmland...

, it was founded in 1927 and was the first public art museum in the state of Washington. The original building was designed by Bebb and Gould
Bebb and Gould
The architectural partnership of Bebb and Gould was active in Seattle from 1914 to 1939. Partners Carl Freylinghausen Gould and Charles Herbert Bebb were jointly responsible for many buildings on the University of Washington's Seattle campus, as well as the Seattle Times Square Building , Everett...

. It was expanded in 1997 to 40000 square feet (3,716.1 m²), at which time the 154-seat auditorium
Auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...

 was added. The addition/expansion was designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects
Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects
Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects LLC is a New York City-based architectural firm founded in 1967 by architects Charles Gwathmey and Robert Siegel. The firm's work ranges from art and educational facilities and major corporate buildings to furniture systems and decorative art objects...

.

Founder

The museum was named for Horace C. Henry
Horace Chapin Henry
Horace Chapin Henry was an early Seattle businessman and founder of the Henry Art Gallery.-Biography:He was born at the Henry House in Bennington, Vermont in October, 1844....

, the local businessman who donated money for its founding, as well as a collection of paintings. Some years prior, Henry had added gallery space to his own home on Capitol Hill
Capitol Hill, Seattle, Washington
Capitol Hill is the most densely populated residential district in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the center of the city's gay and counterculture communities, and is one of the city's most prominent nightlife and entertainment districts....

, and from 1917 until the foundation of the Henry Gallery, he effectively operated a wing of his home as a free museum, open to the public 10 hours a week. In contrast to Charles and Emma Frye of Seattle's Frye Art Museum
Frye Art Museum
The Frye Art Museum is an art museum located in the First Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, USA . The museum emphasizes painting and sculpture from the nineteenth century to the present. Its holdings originate in the private collection of Charles and Emma Frye...

, Henry made no effort to control the future of the museum he financed; indeed, he specifically disavowed any such intention.

Exhibitions

The Henry's exhibition program is largely devoted to contemporary art and the history of photography. Recent exhibitions include solo exhibitions by Maya Lin
Maya Lin
Maya Ying Lin is an American artist who is known for her work in sculpture and landscape art. She is the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.-Personal life:...

 (2006), Lynn Hershman Leeson
Lynn Hershman Leeson
Lynn Hershman Leeson is an award-winning American artist and filmmaker. She was Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Davis, and an A.D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University...

 (2005-06), Doug Aitken
Doug Aitken
-Early life and career:Doug Aitken was born in Redondo Beach, California in 1968. In 1987, he initially studied magazine illustration with Philip Hays at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena before graduating in Fine Arts in 1991. He moved to New York in 1994 where he had his first solo...

 (2005), Axel Lieber (2004-05), and James Turrell
James Turrell
James Turrell is an American artist primarily concerned with light and space. Turrell was a MacArthur Fellow in 1984. He is represented by The Pace Gallery in New York...

 (2003), and group exhibitions such as W.O.W. - The Work of the Work, 2004-05, which explored contemporary art's appeal to non-visual senses and the body of the viewer.

Collection

The Henry's collection includes over 20,000 objects. The collection includes strong holdings in photography, both historical and contemporary, due to the partial gift and purchase of the Joseph and Elaine Monsen collection. In 1982 the Henry inherited a sizable collection from the University of Washington's former Costume and Textile Study Center. The Henry also holds a James Turrell
James Turrell
James Turrell is an American artist primarily concerned with light and space. Turrell was a MacArthur Fellow in 1984. He is represented by The Pace Gallery in New York...

 skyspace, Light Reign, which is illuminated at night by color-shifting LEDs
Light-emitting diode
A light-emitting diode is a semiconductor light source. LEDs are used as indicator lamps in many devices and are increasingly used for other lighting...

 behind frosted glass. Like the Seattle baseball stadium
Safeco Field
Safeco Field is a retractable roof baseball stadium located in Seattle, Washington. The stadium, owned and operated by the Washington-King County Stadium Authority, is the home stadium of the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball and has a seating capacity of 47,878 for baseball...

, the skyspace has a retractable roof.

The Henry has made their collections available for research or general public interest by providing in-house and online public access though the Reed Collection Study Center, new online catalog, and in-house Digital Information Gallery (DIG). These resources allow students and the general public to more fully explore collections for personal or professional research. Though resources online offer general information, DIG provides access to images and data for over 24,000 objects in the collection and can help make better use of the Reed Collection Study Center. Objects in the collection can be accessed on-site, by reservation only, through the Reed Collection Study Center or academic classes, adult study groups, and researchers.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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