Welcome to MoNA!

On view October 11, 2025 - January 11, 2026

Vitamin P:NW
Recent Painting in the Pacific Northwest

A sculpture that looks to be an ellipsoid cut in half to reveal layers of color reminiscent of a planet model.

Margie Livingston, Large Wrap Over Organic Shape, White to Black, 2010, acrylic paint, 6.5 × 3 x 16 inches, Courtesy of the artist and Greg Kucera Gallery

In much the same way that the body requires a diverse variety of vitamins to remain healthy, function properly, and to grow, the visual arts rely on a regimen of media and practices that are integral to its well-being. Steadfast among those visual and material supplements is “Vitamin P”- Painting.

A central pillar of Western art, over the past century the practice of painting has undergone seismic transformations, been declared dead, revived, and been used as an ideological battleground for artistic and cultural discourse. Today the power and relevance of painting remains as strong as ever, as artists continue to turn to brush and canvas as the chosen tools to brave investigations of their natural and cultural environments, the self, and the material aspects of their chosen medium.

William Turner:
Conversations with the Elders

William Turner’s work is defined by bold plains of color, energetic brushwork, and a sharp sense of humor. As an artist, Turner was a careful observer and passionate student of art history, translating lessons from past masters into his own vibrant visual language. In William Turner: Conversations with the Elders, the artist took inspiration from a powerful encounter with El Greco's painting 'Vincenzo Anastagi' in the Frick Collection, New York. Entering into conversation with El Greco’s painting, Turner reimagines Anastagi in a variety of situations, some humorous, others more serious, but all alive with color and vigor.

William Turner, Casual Friday Vincenzo Anastagi (after El Greco), 2012, Acrylic on canvas, 36” x 34”

Detail: The William Cumming Mural of Skagit County Agriculture, 1941, casein and/or tempera or oil on primed canvas, unstretched, 71" X 318"

At the Seam: The Museum of Northwest Art's Permanent Collection

At the Seam: The Museum of Northwest Art’s Permanent Collection is an ongoing engagement with the collection as the place of contact of the many artistic identities of the region. The exhibition asks to look
not only at the individual works but also at the ‘seams,’ where works representing different artistic trends and cultural identities come in touch with each other. When they come in contact with each other, these works tell stories of coexistence, contrast, and difference within the social fabric of the Northwest region, past and present.