You’re invited to join us at Northwest Artists Against Extinction’s first gallery exhibit: Honor: People and Salmon.

Honor: People and Salmon, an exhibit of works by artist-advocates who create art to evoke support for restoring salmon and orcas, their lands and waters, and the many communities that honor and cherish these emblematic species. Salmon are intrinsic to the cultures and economies of many Northwest Tribes and an essential food source for endangered Southern Resident orcas.

A project of the Save Our wild Salmon Coalition, Northwest Artists Against Extinction brings artists together to inspire change in perspective and policy that honors past, present and future generations in the stewardship of lands and waters, and fish and wildlife.

Honor: People and Salmon will be shown in the Kittredge Gallery at the University of Puget Sound (Tacoma, WA). The exhibit opened on March 6th and runs through on April 15th with a special evening reception. Gallery hours are Mon.- Fri., 10 am – 7 pm; Sat., Noon - 5 pm PT (closed Sundays).

Please join us to support our incredible participating artists, to view their powerful, beautiful and moving artworks, and to be inspired to act in honor of salmon, orca, and the communities that depend on them.

Please contact Britt Freda, britt@nwaae.org, with questions regarding this exhibit and visit nwaae.org for more information about Northwest Artists Against Extinction.

See below for information on the artists featured in the Honor: People and Salmon exhibit and event details below. 

Save the date for Honor: People and Salmon exhibit special events!

1. March 23rd - Honor: People and Salmon Interdisciplinary Panel Discussion
2. April 15th - Honor: People and Salmon Closing Reception with exhibiting artists and contributing poets from I Sing The Salmon Home: Poems from Washington State

April 15th - Honor: People and Salmon Closing Reception (Tacoma, WA)
When: April 15th, 5pm - 7pm 
Where: Kittredge Gallery at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA
Who: All are welcome. This reception is free and open to the public. Light refreshments and appetizers will be served.
What: You’re invited to the closing reception for Honor: People and Salmon! Register here!

This Saturday, April 15th from 5 - 7pm, artists, salmon advocates and community members will gather for a reception to celebrate the closing of the Honor: People & Salmon art exhibit, and the gift of wild salmon in the Northwest.

This reception will be attended by many of the exhibiting artists. Holly J. Hughes, co-publisher of Empty Bowl Press, will be joined by poets, including Arianne True, the newest Washington State Poet Laureate, Sasha LaPointe, Linera Lucas, Ann Spiers, and Amy Gulick, Kathryn True, who will share their poems from the newly released anthology, I Sing The Salmon Home: Poems from Washington State, edited by Washington State Poet Laureate Rena Priest and published by Empty Bowl Press with a grant from the Academy of American Poets. The anthology will be for sale at the closing reception by the publisher, Empty Bowl Press. Register here! 

Closing Reception Program:

5:00pm Doors Open
5:25pm Welcome and Gratitudes for Participating Artists
5:35pm Introduction of Contributing Poets
5:50pm Poetry readings from Arianne True, Kathryn True, Ann Spires, Linera Lucas, and Sasha LaPointe
6:30pm Q&A
7:00pm Event Concludes

Recent media on Honor: People and Salmon exhibit:

- Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber: “Honor: People & Salmon,” an art show, hosts closing reception

March 23rd - Honor: People and Salmon Interdisciplinary Panel Discussion (Tacoma, WA)
When: March 23rd, 5pm - 6:30pm 
Where: Kittredge Gallery at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA
What: You’re invited to the Honor: People and Salmon Interdisciplinary Panel Discussion featuring local leaders, professors, and contributing artists from Honor: People and Salmon! Panelists will discuss distinct, complementary, and interconnected ways of understanding and advocating for salmon as well as how this keystone species affects and inspires people and communities. Free and open to the public. 

The panel will feature: 

• • Paige Pettibon, Visual Artist
  • Archie Cantrell, Native American Education Liaison for the Puyallup School District
  • Peter Wimberger, University of Puget Sound Biology Professor and Slater Museum of Natural History Director 
  • Britt Freda, Artist, Creative Director for Northwest Artists Against Extinction, and Curator of Honor: People and Salmon
  • Elise Richman, University of Puget Sound Art Professor and Interdisciplinary Panel moderator 
  • Joseph Bogaard, Save Our wild Salmon Coalition Executive Director

About the panelists: 

Paige Pettibon, Visual Artist
Paige Pettibon is an artist based in Tacoma, Washington. Her work is in the fine visual art. Woking with multiple mediums such as acrylics, oils, watercolor, fiber art, jewelry, digital design, and other media. Paige is Black, White, and Salish (from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes). Paige is influenced by her multicultural background. Her work has been shown at the Tacoma Art Museum, Smithsonian, and art galleries in the Puget sound region.

Archie Cantrell, Native American Education Liaison for the Puyallup School District
Archie Cantrell was born and raised in Tacoma, WA and is an active member of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians. He worked in Natural Resources at the Puyallup Tribal Fisheries, as a Fisheries Sampler and then a Fisheries Specialist. This work allowed him to participate in, and further his appreciation of, all aspects of salmon culture—which is the Puyallup Tribe’s most valued natural resource. Throughout his employment within the Puyallup Tribe, Archie has been active with tribal youth, serving on the Puyallup Tribal Youth Committee from 2005-2015 and as Chairman for eight years. Archie then became a Youth Coordinator at the Puyallup Tribal Youth Center where its language center sparked his interest in the Lushootseed movement. In 2016 Archie transferred departments and began working for the Puyallup Tribal Language Program. As a full-time advocate for the Lushootseed movement, Archie is able to work with tribal community members of all ages, and directly with Chief Leschi Schools. In his spare time, Archie is an active hunter, and commercial harvester of salmon, crab, shrimp, and geoduck. Archie and his wife, Hope, have 3 children. Archie is a licensed foster parent, and holds a Master's Degree in Business Administration.

Peter Wimberger, University of Puget Sound Biology Professor and Slater Museum of Natural History Director 
In terms of work - I am an evolutionary and conservation biologist, a teacher, and a natural history museum director. I used to think that salmon were scientific black holes that sucked biologists in and never let them out. And then I started learning more about them and understood why. To borrow from ecology - one could consider them a pedagogical keystone species. Since then, I have developed environmental and evolution curricula for high school and college students that use salmon to convey fundamental environmental and evolutionary lessons.

Britt Freda, Artist, Creative Director for Northwest Artists Against Extinction, and Curator of Honor: People and Salmon 
Britt Freda is an artist and the Creative Director for Northwest Artists Against Extinction which is a new project of Save Our wild Salmon Coalition. Britt’s paintings focus primarily on environmental impact, endangered species and social justice. Her work can be found in museums, galleries, pubic spaces and private collections, nationally and internationally. Britt and her family live and work on Vashon Island on the traditional lands of the sx̌ʷəbabš or Swift Water Coast Salish people.

Elise Richman, University of Puget Sound Art Professor and Interdisciplinary Panel moderator 
Elise Richman is a Tacoma-based artist and painting professor at the University of Puget Sound. She learned about the campaign to remove the four lower Snake River dams while earning her MFA at American University in Washington,DC. This was over two decades ago when this seemed like a radical proposition, now this large scale river restoration seems achievable. Since 2019, Richman has been visiting sites of environmental importance to these salmon’s future as a means of communicating their plight and epic journey through place. Richman has exhibited her work regionally and nationally at commercial, university, and nonprofit spaces. 

Joseph Bogaard, Save Our wild Salmon Coalition Executive Director 
Joseph Bogaard has been working for SOS since 1996. Joseph first got hooked on Northwest salmon restoration efforts while in graduate school where he authored a paper in the early-1990s, exploring the then-relatively recent Snake River salmon listings under the Endangered Species Act, and how it might impact the region and its federal lands and dams. Before joining the SOS team, Joseph spent many years teaching and working in the forests and mountains of the West. Today, Joseph lives on Vashon Island with his partner Amy and two children Liesl and Jeremiah.

The Honor: People and Salmon exhibit showcase artwork from the following artists: