Making our Mark is a commemorative exhibition celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Pratt Fine Arts Center. Named after local civil rights leader Edwin T. Pratt and located in the historically diverse Central District of Seattle, the center has a mission to provide access to high quality visual arts training for all. Pratt offers subsidized classes and workshops in a variety of art media including glass, metal, stone, wood, jewelry, metalsmithing, drawing, painting, printmaking and mixed media.

What began as a small arts center with a large vision and ambition has grown to become a beloved resource for thousands of students and hundreds of working artists. Making Our Mark stands in testimony to Pratt Fine Arts Center’s significance in helping shape the vibrant visual arts ecology of the Pacific Northwest.

This exhibition is a collaboration between Bellevue Arts Museum and Pratt Fine Arts Center, and features work from nearly 300 talented teaching artists throughout the organization’s influential history. Both Bellevue Arts Museum and Pratt Fine Arts Center hold educational values at the core of their mission, and are dedicated to promoting emerging talent in art, craft, and design.

Many of the teaching artists represented in the exhibition will be familiar to Bellevue Arts Museum audiences. Notable Northwest artists including Preston Singletary, Tip Toland, Cappy Thompson, and Jana Brevick have all been included in group and solo exhibitions at BAM. Most recently, several artists to be included in Making our Mark were featured in BAM Biennial 2016: Metalmorphosis, including Maria Phillips and Nancy Wordon, respective recipients of the Award of Excellence and People’s Choice Awards.