Program areas at The Henry Gallery Association
The Henry is globally recognized for bold and challenging exhibitions, pushing The boundaries of contemporary art, and being The first to premiere new works by established and emerging artists. Our exhibitions and programs present narratives often absent from public discourse, centering works by those marginalized by inequitable structures and systems, including artists who identify as women, people of The global majority (pgm), and lgbtq+. Education is fundamental to The Henry's mission to connect our community to The power of art. We design public and educational programs around exhibitions as points of access to The museum and to artists. We strive to ensure that offerings reflect and attract The full spectrum of our community and that communities of color see The Henry as inviting and inclusive.still recovering from The impacts of The covid-19 pandemic, The Henry re-opened on february 27, 2021 and served 23,435 visitors in fy2022. In this fiscal year we introduced pay-what-you-wish admissions to lower financial barriers to access and we are always free for youth, students, and uw faculty and staff. Free online programs also helped maximize public benefit 5,000 people have participated in online programs. Service accommodations include mobility access, listening devices, live and closed captioning, transcripts, braille and low-vision signage, and all-gender restrooms.a) representative exhibitionsgary simmons: The engine room: for this exhibition we collaborated with langston to curate music residencies with live-streamed shows from within The exhibition space. The installation riffed off american suburban garage architecture, referencing The garage as a site for invention, creativity, and experimentation.packaged black: derrick adams and barbara earl thomas: a collaborative, multi-media installation developed from The artists' shared dialogue about representation, black identity, and practices of cultural resistance.diana al-hadid: archive of longings: al-hadid's work explores The interplay between The female body and The european art canon; syrian, muslim, and immigrant histories and mythologies; and architectural icons and The natural world.queer visibility: dean sameshima & anthony white: this integration of "viewpoints" reflects on queer desire and visibility. And explore The merging of queer history, found imagery, and gay and personal pleasure from The expansive surface of The canvas to The intimate space of The printed page.el sueno: The flowers that bloom: The exhibition included opportunities for The public to participate in The construction of mexican paper flowers that became part of The exhibit and offered movement workshops and community discussions.ektor garcia: materia prima: garcia challenges The hierarchies of gendered and racialized labor, combining a queer punk sensibility with The handcraft traditions of mexico, his ancestral homeland.henry teen art collective: The fall: a collaborative exhibition made by The Henry teen art collective. Inspired by The concept of wealthy roman elite, The installation plays along The themes of nonsense and irony to make a larger comment on our current capitalist society and wealth inequality.university of Washington mfa + mdes thesis exhibition: The Henry presents The university of Washington's school of art + art history + design master of fine arts and master of design thesis exhibition. These fine arts and design students work with advisers and other artists to develop advanced techniques, expand concepts, discuss critical issues, and emerge with a vision and direction for their own work.b) public and educational programsartventures offers free, monthly, onsite and online workshops that draw from themes in our exhibitions to link school-aged children, families, caregivers, and people with disabilities with opportunities to experiment with new materials and modes of making.the Henry teen art collective connects 14 diverse youth from ten regional schools with innovators in The field around experiential learning. Participants meet weekly during The academic year for artist-led workshops, independent research, collaborative brainstorming, art making, and conversations with art professionals. Participants receive a $599 stipend.k-12 tours invite school groups to visit and engage in dialogue that sparks students' imaginations and connects contemporary art to their classroom curriculum. Staff work with educators to customize The experience to meet their goals and needs.the Henry artist fellowship program commissioned new work and provides artists with up to two years of support, including opportunities to experiment and collaborate with uw faculty and students in The process of building an exhibition. A one-year pilot was launched in fy2022. As The first fellowship recipient, ektor garcia worked with faculty and students at The uw ceramic and metal arts building to create a series of linked-chain sculptures made in ceramic, copper, and glass for The exhibition matria prima.the Henry art liaisons program provides a paid internship for eight students to learn museum practices and develop Gallery tours that they conduct with a social-justice lens.the publication of interpretive guides invites members of The uw community and partner organizations to contribute responses to current Henry exhibitions. Contributors receive a stipend.
The Henry's permanent collection is a distinct cultural asset supporting scholarship and The interests of The public. It comprises over 28,000 objects, including significant holdings in photography, mid-19th to 21st-century painting, works on paper including european master prints, a textile and costume collection, and a growing body of works in new media formats. The collection's searchable online database, accessed through The Henry's website, is designed to provide many points of entry to information and images associated with collections objects. Annually, our collection is accessed by approximately 8,600 researchers online. We host visitors in our eleanor reed collection study center, where students, scholars, and The public may view works of art from our permanent collection, free of charge.the Henry has a growing collection of important works from The 15th century to The present, including The renowned joseph and elaine monsen collection of photography, and new acquisitions reflecting The dynamic range of contemporary art being created worldwide. Sub-collections of note are: The stimson-bullitt collection of 19th century prints; japanese folk pottery and northwest ceramics; The thomas and frances blakemore collection of japanese prints; The burt and jane berman collection of contemporary art; The william and ruth true collection of contemporary art; The albert feldmann collection of european master prints, and The Washington art consortium collection of american photographs, 1970-1980. The Henry is able to present a nearly comprehensive survey of printmaking, grounded in its social and political history.