The Debut of Seattle’s First Art Association
A look back at the 1885 exhibition that showcased local painters and brought the fine arts to a frontier town.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Seattle Art Association has achieved significant progress since its formation last May. It has been holding monthly meetings at which papers were read and where drawings from the hands of members were exhibited. Katherine Almond was elected president; Prof. O.P. Lee, Vice President; Mrs. W.A. Jennings, Secretary; and May Thornton, Treasurer. The exhibition represents the work of many local artists and several who have earned enviable reputations at home and abroad. Among the works noted are a large head of an Oriental girl by Tojetti, formerly of San Francisco; pieces by H.H. Brooks, known as the best painter of fruit and still life on the Pacific coast; and scenes by Harrison, a friend of Judge Thomas Burke, who has exhibited at the Salon of Paris. The association’s exhibition also includes works by local talent like Mrs. M. Kershaw, Miss May Thornton, and young artists like Kate Robertson and Miss Forth. The music, flowers, and decorations all added to the pleasure of those visiting this, the first exhibition of the Seattle Art Association.
“All these paintings are the cherished property of our citizens, who have kindly loaned them to the managers of the exhibition to aid in the success of this enterprise.”
This exhibition marks the early cultural infrastructure of Seattle, showing a frontier city hungry for refinement. It rhymes with modern-day Seattle, where local arts organizations continue to struggle for visibility against the backdrop of a booming commercial economy.
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