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My work explores human stories and rituals implicit in everyday objects. I consciously draw from indigenous design principles, oral traditions, and personal experience to shape the inner logic of the work I make. My recent work explores the history of wool blankets. As I fold and stack blankets they begin to form columns that have references to linen closets architectural braces, memorials (Trajan); sculpture (Brancusi for one), the great totem poles of the Northwest and the conifer trees with which I grew up. These blanket forms also present themselves in other mediums of my work – such as with printmaking, bronze, and cedar. In the case of my wood cuts, I appreciate the warm tactile quality of the material. There is a familiarity and intimacy with wood that again reminds me of blankets. The material offers another layer of story that is physically and metaphorically woven into the work, like with cedar, which is considered to be a sacred natural resource for indigenous people of the Northwest or the hope chests in which blankets are stored.
Education
1994-96
MFA in Painting and Printmaking, Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CN
1990-92
AFA in Museum Studies, Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, NM
1986-90
BS in Speech Communications and Art, Willamette University, Salem, OR
Residencies, Awards & Fellowships
2008
Contemporary Northwest Art Award, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR; Curated by Jennifer Gately
2007
Anonymous Was A Woman Award, New York, NY
Fabric Workshop + Museum, Artist Residency, Philadelphia, PA
2006
Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship, New York, NY
2005
Seattle Art Museum Betty Bowen Memorial Award, Seattle, WA
Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Artist Fellowship, (Jurors: Patterson Sims, Amei Wallach, Margaret Archuleta, Rick Bartow), Curated by Jennifer Campo McNutt, Indianapolis, Indiana
Crow's Shadow Institute Printmaking Residency, Pendleton, Oregon
2004
Visual Artist Fellowship, Oregon Arts Commission, Salem, Oregon
Tamarind Institute Printmaking Residency, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
Regional Arts and Culture Council, Project & Professional Development Grants Recipient, Portland, OR
2003-2004
Full-year Professional Sabbatical, Portland Community College, Portland, OR
2003
Crow's Shadow Institute, Printmaking Residency, Pendleton, OR
Oregon College of Arts and Crafts Senior Residency & Fellowship, Portland, OR
2002
Crow's Shadow Institute, Printmaking Residency with Frank Janzen, Tamarind Institute Master Printer, Pendleton, OR
2001
Vermont Studio Center Full Fellowship, Johnson, VT
Regional Arts & Culture Council, Individual Artist Project Grant, Portland, OR
2000
Regional Arts & Culture Council, In Situ Portland Project Grant, Portland, OR
1996
Elizabeth Cranfield Hicks Award for Drawing, Yale University, New Haven, CT
College Art Association Professional Development Fellowship
1995
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Full Fellowship, Skowhegan, ME
1994-96
Seneca Nation of Indians, Academic Scholarship, Irving, NY
Philip Morris Foundation Graduate Fellowship
American Indian Graduate Center Graduate Fellowship, Albuquerque, NM
1994-95
Ambassador and Kellogg Fellow, Americans for Indian Opportunity
1991-92
National Gallery of Art Internship, Design, Installation and Education Department, Washington, DC
Solo Exhibitions
2009
New Works, PDX, Portland, OR
2008
Blanket Stories: Homestead, Center for the Arts, Jackson Hole Art Association; Jackson Hole, WY
Kimball Art Center, Park City, UT
Heirloom, Curated by Stephen Glueckert, Missoula Museum of Art, Missoula, MT
Fort, Installation, Portland Building, Portland, OR
2007
Tread Lightly, PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, Oregon
Blanket Stories: Compass, Wright Museum of Art, Beloit College; Beloit, WI
Custodian,Think Tank; Seattle Art Museum; Seattle, WA
2006
Blanket Stories: Canopy, Nicolaysen Museum of Art, Curated by Ben Mitchell, Casper, WY; traveled to Boise Art Museum, Curated by Sandy Harthorn, Boise, ID
Blanket Stories: Almanac, Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Curated by Jennifer Gately, Ketchum, ID
2005
Blanket Stories: Ladder, Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, Curated by Margaret Archuleta, Director of Tamarind Institute, Santa Fe, NM
Blanket Stories: Receiving, Eric & Ronna Hoffman Gallery of Contemporary Art, Curated by Linda Tesner, Lewis and Clark College, Portland, OR
Everything is Drawing, Hallie Ford Museum, Curated by Rebecca Dobkins, Willamette University, Salem, OR
2004
Continuum: Blanket Stories, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Curated by Truman Lowe, New York, NY
Blanket Stories, PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
Blanket Stories: Sewing Bee, Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center, Portland, OR
Letter Ghosts and Recent Work, Clatsop Community College Gallery, Astoria, OR
2003
Stack, Evergreen Galleries, Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA
2002
Bookend/Sieve, PDX Window Project, Portland, OR
Governors Gallery, Coordinated by the Oregon Arts Commission, Salem, OR
Sleep and Sleeplessness, PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
2001
Courier, Skagit Valley College, Mount Vernon, WA
2000
Pedestrian, An In Situ Portland Project, Overlook Park, Portland, OR
1999
Courier, PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
Navigation, Friendly House, Portland, OR
Introductory Show (two-person exhibit), PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
Group Exhibitions
2008
Reimagining the Distaff Toolkit, Bennington Museum,Traveling show originating in Bennington, VT, Curated by Rickie Solinger
Women’s Work: Contemporary Women Printmakers, The Art Gym, Marylhurst University, Marylhurst, OR; Curated by Terri M. Hopkins (The Art Gym) and John Olbrantz (Director, Hallie Ford Museum of Art)
Tradition and Change, Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, Spokane, WA
2007
8th Northwest Biennial, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA
Blanket Stories: Compass, Wright Museum of Art, Beloit College; Beloit, WI
Custodian,Think Tank; Seattle Art Museum; Seattle, WA
Oh So Iroquois,The Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Curated by Ryan Rice
2006
Building Tradition, Whatcom Museum of History & Art, Bellingham, WA
Crow’s Shadow Institute Print Biennial, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University; Salem, OR
No Reservations, Curated by Richard Klein, Aldrich Museum of Art, Ridgefield, CT
Migrations, University Gallery, Organized by Marge Devon, Director Tamarind Institute, Albuquerque, NM (traveling exhibit)
Neo-Sincerity: The difference between the comic and the cosmic is a single letter, ApexArt, Curated by Amei Wallach, New York, NY
Crow's Shadow Institute Print Biennial, Hallie Ford Museum, Willamette University, Salem, OR
2004
Artists Select, Cumberland Gallery, Nashville, TN
2003
Artists in Residence, Oregon College of Arts and Craft, Portland, OR
Craft Biennial, Juried Group exhibition, Oregon College or Arts and Craft, Portland, OR
Building Tradition, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA
Form to Function, Kohler Gallery, Sheboygan, MI
18 Women Artists, Clatsop Community College, Astoria, OR
2002
Sitka Center Invitational, The World Forestry Center, Portland, OR
Sitka Collaboration Exhibition, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, OR
Slowness, The Art Gym, Marylhurst University, Marylhurst, OR
New American Paintings, Juried Exhibition-in-Print, Curated by Lisa Dennison, Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the Solomon Guggenheim Museum, Open Studios Press, Boston, MA
Faculty Exhibition, North View Gallery, Portland Community College, Sylvania Campus, Portland, OR
Inaugural Exhibition, Open Studios Gallery, Boston, MA
2001
The Bellevue Annual, Bellevue Museum of Art, Bellevue, WA
Horse Tales, Katonah Museum of Art, Curated by Ezra Shales, Katonah, NY
Contemporary Skeins, Contemporary Craft Gallery, Curated by Heather Rogers, Portland, OR
PDX at CCC, Clatsop Community College, Astoria, OR
2000
Open Walls, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
Traditional & Contemporary Native Women Artists, Museum of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA
Circle of Friends, Bush Barn Gallery, Curated by Lillian Pitt, Salem, OR
1998
Time and Materials, The Art Gym, Marylhurst University, Marylhurst, OR
1997
The Uncommon Book, Sun Valley Center for the Arts and Humanities, Sun Valley, ID
The Oregon Biennial, Portland Art Museum, Curated by Katherine Kanjo, Portland, Oregon; Schneider Museum of Art, Ashland, OR; University of Oregon Museum, Eugene, OR; Hallie Ford Museum, Willamette University, Salem, OR (traveling exhibit)
State of the Nations, Plan B Evolving Arts, Santa Fe, NM
1996
Traditions and Transitions, Brattleboro Museum of Art, Brattleboro, VT
MFA Thesis Exhibition, Yale University Art and Architecture Gallery, New Haven, CT
Collections
2007
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
2006
Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Washington DC
Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, OR
Fidelity Corporate Art Collection, Boston, MA
2005
Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon
Eiteljorg Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN
Art 4 Culture, Seattle, WA
2003
Wright Museum of Art, Beloit, WI
Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA;
Portland Community College, Portland, OR
2002
Hallie Ford Museum, Willamette University, Salem, OR
Crow's Shadow Institute, Pendleton, OR
Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Otis, OR
2001
Ecotrust, Portland, OR
1999
Friendly House, Portland, OR
Selected Bibliography
2007
Rachel Neugarten, "Blanket Statement", The Oregonian, March 16, Friday's A & E
2006
Alison Leigh Cowan, "A Pile of Blankets, With Personal History Woven Into Fabric", Arts & Leisure, The New York Times, August 25, 2006
Sue Taylor, "Blanket Stories: Ladder," Art in America
Andrea S. Norris, "American Indian Painting and Sculpture in Santa Fe" Review Magazine, March, pp.54-59
Simon Ortiz, Blanket Stories: Almanac, exhibition catalogue, the Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper, WY
Kathleen St. John, "Woven Wonders," The Weekender insert, Casper Star-Tribune, April 21, 2006, pp.6-7
Holly Strother, "Cover yourself in Blanket Stories at the NIC," Casper Journal, No. 27, pp. 27
2005
James H. Nottage, Ed., "Into the Fray," Eiteljorg Museum
Matt Feranto, "Marie Watt: The Blanket Project at the National Museum of the American Indian," Art on Paper, January/February, Vol.9, No.3, pp.80
Linda Tesner, "Blanket Stories: Receiving," Hoffman Gallery, Lewis and Clark College, Portland, OR
2004
The Oregonian: "Blanket Coverage," Inara Verzemnieks, 08 August, Section E1 and E8
2003
Southwest Art: "The Next Generation", Bonnie Gangelhoff, August 2003
Building Tradition: catalogue, essays by Ivan Doig and Rock Hushka, Tacoma Art Museum
Stuart Horodner, Slowness: catalogue, The Marylhurst Art Gym, Marylhurst University Press
2002
Willamette Week: "Sleep and Sleeplessness," WW Pick, p.56, 16 January
The Oregonian: "Slowness," D.K. Row, 01 March
Art Papers: Portland: essay on the exhibit "Slowness" by Lois Allen, July/August
New American Painting: Curated Exhibition-in-Print, Open Studios Press, Number 37, Volume 6
2001
The Katonah Museum of Art, "Horse Tales: American Images and Icons," essay by Ezra Shales
2000
The Oregonian: "Well-Rounded," Bob Hicks, 05 June
Artweek: "Marie Watt at PDX," Pat Boas, Vol. 30, No. 12
The Oregonian: "Of Myth and Personal Histories," D.K. Row, 08 October
1999
The Oregonian: "Of Cornhusk and Cedar," D.K. Row, 29January 1999
1998
Willamette Week: "July Jems: Marie Watt and Julie Swan" Kate Bonasinga, 22 July
Portland Art Museum: "The Oregon Biennial," essay by Katherine Kanjo
The Oregonian: "Art for Biennial: A Fresh Look," Randy Gragg, 27 July
Employment
1996-2006
Art Instructor, Portland Community CollegeÑSylvania Campus, Portland, OR
1992-94
Curator of Education, Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, Santa Fe, NM
1991-92
Design and Installation, and Education Department Intern, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Community Involvement
2006
Diverse Voices/Diverse Media panelist, moderated by Rocio Aranda-Alvarado, Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ
Visiting Artist, Department of Art and Design, Montclair University, Montclair, NJ
Artist Talk and Art Collaboration, SunValley Art Center, Ketchum, ID
Juror, Professional Development Fellowships, College Art Association, New York, NY
Visiting Artist, Visual Arts Center, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho
2005-06
Art Instructor, Journeys in Creativity, Oregon College of Arts and Crafts, Portland, OR
2005
Visiting Artist lecturer, BA Students, Oregon College of Arts and Crafts, Portland, OR
2004
College Art Association: Annual Conference, Session Chair, Seattle, WA
2003
The Evergreen State College: Visiting Artist Guest Speaker, Olympia, WA
Clatsop Community College: Visiting Artist Panelist, Astoria, OR
Cascade Aid's Art for Life: Art Donation and Catalogue Participant. Portland, OR
2002
Crow's Shadow Art Institute: Youth Mentor and Community Presentation, Pendleton, OR
Native American Youth Association: Pedestrian, a presentation to summer camp students, Portland, OR
Native American Youth Association: Volunteer Instructor, 8-week art and stone carving class, Portland, OR
2001-02
Regional Arts and Culture Council: Juror, Wapato Corrections Facility, Portland, OR
2001
Native American Art Studies Association, Biennial Conference, Guest Speaker
Metropolitan Learning Center: Guest speaker on public art with high school students
1999-2001
Portland Community College: Chair, Welcoming Pole Project: commissioned/raised 30-foot totem pole by Kwaguilth carver Richard Hunt.
Involved fundraising, educational programs, and community outreach.
Pacific Northwest College of Art: Visiting artist, lecturer and guest critic
1996-2002
College Art Association: Member