Northwest Designer Craftartists - NWDC

06/13/2026

“Handwork 2026: Northwest Designer Craftartists”
Postmark Center for the Arts
Auburn, WA
July 11 - October 10, 2026

NWDC joins over 250 organizations across the country to celebrate the beauty and evolution of craft in America on the eve of the country’s 250th anniversary. In this exhibition, you will experience how contemporary artists stretch and strengthen the craft tradition. Using a wide range of materials, media, and techniques, they have created a rich array of works often unified by imagination and function. We invite you to leave the outside world behind and share in moments of beauty, humor, and awe.

NWDC honorary member, Barbara Matilsky, serves as juror. Barbara Matilsky was curator at the Whatcom Museum in Bellingham from 2009-2018 where she organized the international traveling exhibition Vanishing Ice: Alpine and Polar Landscapes in Art 1775-2012. For the past three years, she has been curating the Women Rising art exhibition in conjunction with the Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival. For more information, see: barbaramatilsky.com
arts

06/11/2026

NWDC is pleased to share the art and ideas of Tom Gormally in our latest NWDC Member Artist Interview.

Tom Gormally is an award-winning American sculptor working primarily with wood and mixed media. He has exhibited nationally and internationally for four decades, in galleries, museums, and outdoor sculpture exhibitions, with numerous publications and reviews. Gormally was awarded the NEA/MAAA Fellowship in Sculpture, and an International Residencies for Artists travel grant. He lives in Seattle with his wife, artist Malayka Gormally. Learn more about Tom Gormally here: https://www.tomgormallysculpture.com/

Images:
"Empty Suit", 2026, Wood, paint, LED light, plastic labware, 24” x 24” x 65”, Photo: Mark Woods / "Saint Doesn’t Know Whether He Is Coming Or Going", 2026, Wood, cast glass, LED light, gold leaf, resin, 28” x 28” x 82”, Photo: Mark Woods / "Descending Storm", 2025, Wood, steel, LED lights, paint, stain, pickling solution, wiring, porcelain, 102" x 40" x 40", Photo: Mark Woods / "Communication Breakdown" with Stellar's Jay, 2024, Wood, steel, stain, paint, LED lights, wiring, porcelain, 84" x 35" x 35", Photo: Mark Woods

06/08/2026

Two of Ann Chadwick Reid's hand cut paper pieces will be included in the exhibition "Decades in the Making: 10 Years of SOLA Awardees" at the Tacoma Art Museum opening July 18- February 14.

Decades in the Making: 10 Years of SOLA Awardees
Opens July 18, 2026

This exhibition marks SOLA’s 10th Anniversary and will celebrate the creative legacies of ten years of SOLA Award recipients — mature women artists whose vision, mastery, and resilience continue to shape Washington’s cultural landscape. The show includes other NWDC artists such as and .

https://www.tacomaartmuseum.org/home/upcoming-exhibitions/

"Deluge", mixed media, 26”x27”x4”, 2022
"Blizzard", mixed media, 20”x28”x4”, 2022

05/27/2026

NWDC Member Artist Talk
Patti King: Confessions of a Thread Head
Presented on Zoom
Sunday, May 31st at 3PM

REGISTER at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/GV4A6y90ScuwLABGWBu_Yw #/registration

Patti King has been working as a textile artist for over 40 years. For 25–30 years, King wove custom rugs for the design trade and individual clients. Over the past 17 years, her practice has transitioned to working in the tradition of the Korean wrapping cloth, generally known as bojagi, with some overlap between the two bodies of work.

This newer medium reflects the geometric structure and color relationships present in King’s earlier rugs, while operating on a smaller scale and using only needle and thread.

Over the past 14 years, King has also curated three exhibitions: two focused on Korean wrapping cloth and one co-curated with Misik Kim in 2022, centered on contemporary Korean quilting. Two of these exhibitions were presented at the Pacific Northwest Quilt and Fiber Arts Museum in La Conner, Washington. Most recently, Bojagi Journey 2023, an international exhibition, ran for 10 weeks during the summer and fall.

In addition to her studio practice, King has taught weaving and, more recently, has led workshops in the art of bojagi. Through this teaching, she guides students along a path of discovery and process-based creativity using needle, thread, and small fabric scraps.

King’s artistic focus centers on the interplay of color and design within a geometric framework, both in weaving and hand stitching. Her work has also, at times, incorporated natural dyeing and shibori techniques.

Watch “Stitching A Life.” This video captures the final stages of a bojagi-jogakbo curtain created by textile artist Patti King for a friend. As she works, Patti reflects on her creative process and her passion for preserving the stories held within inherited cloth—stories that find new life in each carefully placed stitch

05/21/2026

'NWDC Member Artist Talk
Patti King: Confessions of a Thread Head
Presented on Zoom
Sunday, May 31st at 3PM

REGISTER at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/GV4A6y90ScuwLABGWBu_Yw #/registration

Patti King has been working as a textile artist for over 40 years. For 25–30 years, King wove custom rugs for the design trade and individual clients. Over the past 17 years, her practice has transitioned to working in the tradition of the Korean wrapping cloth, generally known as bojagi, with some overlap between the two bodies of work.

This newer medium reflects the geometric structure and color relationships present in King’s earlier rugs, while operating on a smaller scale and using only needle and thread.

Over the past 14 years, King has also curated three exhibitions: two focused on Korean wrapping cloth and one co-curated with Misik Kim in 2022, centered on contemporary Korean quilting. Two of these exhibitions were presented at the Pacific Northwest Quilt and Fiber Arts Museum in La Conner, Washington. Most recently, Bojagi Journey 2023, an international exhibition, ran for 10 weeks during the summer and fall.

In addition to her studio practice, King has taught weaving and, more recently, has led workshops in the art of bojagi. Through this teaching, she guides students along a path of discovery and process-based creativity using needle, thread, and small fabric scraps.

King’s artistic focus centers on the interplay of color and design within a geometric framework, both in weaving and hand stitching. Her work has also, at times, incorporated natural dyeing and shibori techniques.

Watch “Stitching A Life.” This video captures the final stages of a bojagi-jogakbo curtain created by textile artist Patti King for a friend. As she works, Patti reflects on her creative process and her passion for preserving the stories held within inherited cloth—stories that find new life in each carefully placed stitch

05/14/2026

IN RECOGNITION AND GRATITUDE for Ron Pascho‘s decades of contributions to NWDC, the board has established a new legacy fund in his name, seeded with $10,000 from our long-term savings. The income from the fund will go to the creation of a new national juried exhibition featuring the work of NWDC members and selected juried entrants. All current NWDC members will be invited to participate.

LINK TO DONATE: https://buy.stripe.com/6oUfZi2sOejNbX2gEW6Ri0a?locale=en&__embed_source=1

The principal will never be spent, only the income in support of these exhibitions. We encourage others to consider contributing, making a designation in your will, or through your IRA, or other means to build this fund and build a legacy for NWDC that will create a vibrant exhibition of fine craft in our region for decades to come.

Contact us at [email protected]

05/04/2026

NWDC is pleased to share the art and ideas of James Nelson in our latest NWDC Members Artist Interview.

https://nwdesignercraftartists.org/artist-int/james-nelson

Drawn from his background in architecture and time spent in nature, Nelson approaches furniture as a meeting point between the structural and the organic. His process favors precision and patience - qualities that allow each piece to carry a sense of lasting presence.

All photos by Erik Sven

04/29/2026

WATCH NOW ON YOUTUBE

https://youtu.be/dpKkrl-R2iI

Originally presented on Zoom
Sunday, April 26 2026

We will take a look at the key work that has shaped Kristina’s career as an artist to date. This talk is open to the public and part of Handwork 2026.

Kristina is a minimalist ceramic artist based in Tacoma and Los Alamos, CA, making sculptural and functional work, incorporating concepts and ideas from social commentary and has been in the NWDC since 2023.

1 like. "NWDC Member Artist Talk | Kristina Batiste: A Story in Eight Pots"

04/16/2026

NWDC Member Artist Talk
Kristina Batiste: A Story in Eight Pots

Presented on Zoom
Sunday, April 26, 3:00 PM

ZOOM REGISTRATION LINK: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/4mYo1imWR1OaXid5BF1xOw

Join NWDC Members and other craft lovers on Sunday, at 3 PM for our next NWDC Member Artist Talk presented on Zoom. We will take a look at the key work that has shaped Katrina’s career as an artist to date.

This talk is open to the public and part of Handwork 2026: a nationwide Semiquincentennial initiative to showcase the importance of the handmade both throughout our history and in contemporary life.

Kristina is a minimalist ceramic artist based in Tacoma and Los Alamos, CA, making sculptural and functional work, incorporating concepts and ideas from social commentary and has been a member of NWDC since 2024.

NWDC’s Mission is to educate the public about Craft. It is also our intention for members to know each other – to have community. Our Zoom Artist Talks address both of these purposes. The Zoom talks grew out of a tradition from in-person meetings where members presented their life story and their work. It was a way to share with each other and to get to know each other in depth. A strong Crafts community is essential to promoting Craft in our wider culture.

When the talks moved to Zoom during the pandemic, we immediately saw a new advantage: far-away members could participate in real-time, the public could tune in, and we could make a permanent record of the talks on YouTube.

The support team for the Zoom talks include Executive Director Daniel Wallace, President Nancy Loorem Adams, Katherine Lewis, Lois Harbaugh, and Denise Snyder.

IMAGES:
Kristina Batiste, five feet, four inches forward, 2024, stoneware, 5'4" x 17" x 4"
Kristina Batiste, part of still there, 2025, porcelain, 9.5" x 6" x 0.75"
Kristina Batiste, even a woman or a slave, 2025 stoneware, pine plinth. 3.75" x 3.75" x 3.75"