The 42 works — each by a different artist — in South Puget Sound Community College’s 2025 Southwest Washington Regional Juried Exhibition flow together beautifully, filling the college’s Leonor R. Fuller Gallery with currents of color, texture and movement.
So artfully are the pieces arranged that they almost seem to have been chosen for a themed show, even if the themes shift as the viewer moves through the space.
There’s a sense of spaciousness and silence in the in such works as Danny Schreiber’s graphite-on-paper Lost Between the Stars and Foam and Jeanette Jones’ Fire Hazard, a still life that illuminates, as gallery manager Sean Barnes put it, “a quiet moment of rest.” Both are among the works displayed on panels hanging from the ceiling, allowing them to resonate in multiple dimensions.
Works hung one above another relate more intimately. Lynn Helbrecht’s Presence and Daniel Meuse’s Oyster Mushrooms, photographs that bring out new dimensions of natural objects, hang together, as do Maureen Murphy’s Mobility and Stacy Hicks’ Cavalier, related only in that both are printed on metal.
Several visitors to the gallery have mentioned the way the exhibition flows, Barnes said. He and guest juror Janae Huber, who manages the Washington State Art Collection, worked together.
“This was the first year since I’ve been here that a guest juror asked to assist in curating the space,” he said. “Janae and I worked on establishing a follow-through from piece to piece and situating artwork in a way that reflects or echoes design elements or content.”
Huber didn’t set out to choose pieces that would work together. “I was looking for a consistent level of craft but with a variety of subjects and art media,” she said. “The thematic and visual connections came out much more concretely when I saw the artworks in person and started moving them around the gallery. Some of those connections were immediate. Some were quieter and came together more slowly.”
She approached the Merit Awards in similar fashion. “I had preferences from reviewing the submissions, but I waited to make my selections until I saw the works in person,” she said. “I chose the artworks that continued to resonate for me over time. They were the works that charmed me with their craft and the ways the artists seemed to feel deeply about their subjects.”
Helbrecht and Jones were among the winners. Also receiving Merit Awards: Ryker Black for Transforming Roots, a mixed-media piece exploring identity and the trans experience; Parker MacCready for The South Ravine, a detailed landscape in oil; and Neil Peck for Mount Rainier Meadows, an intricately detailed print created with wood engraving.
The winners will be featured in the 2026 Juror’s Invitational, as will Purchase Award winners Michael Diamond, whose Grandfather’s Tools combines cast glass and steel, andNancy Romanovsky for Summer Reflections, an oil painting of a local landscape.
Another Northwest landscape, Jimmy Ulvenes’ Ologies, received the Viewers’ Choice Award. The acrylic painting will be featured on marketing material for next year’s juried show.
The 42 works in the show, nearly all two-dimensional, were chosen from among 210 submissions by 78 artists. It’s not typical for the juried show to include only one work by each featured artist, Barnes said.
“I thought about the unique characteristics of a juried exhibition,” Huber said. “It is a chance for our community of artists to share their works and to be in conversation with each other and the audience. … It is about showcasing what artists in your community can do. … Since all the submissions couldn’t be included, it felt right to me to invite as many people to the ‘event’ as the room would hold. That’s the kind of community I like living in.”
Photos courtesy of Leonor R. Fuller Gallery.
WHAT
SPSCC Southwest Washington Regional Juried Exhibition
WHEN
Through Aug. 28.
The gallery is open noon-6 p.m. Monday through Thursday
WHERE
The Leonor R. Fuller Gallery
at The Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts
South Puget Sound Community College
2011 Mottman Road SW, Olympia
LEARN MORE
https://spscc.edu/art-gallery
ARTIST TALKS
Danny Schreiber, 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14
Parker MacCready, 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28