MoNA Moments Museum of Northwest Art

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. Transcript coming soon on our website.

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.