Northwest Collage Society
"You Have Arrived at your Destination"
September 8-November 13, 2025

  
          At the Party - Kim Weers               Laissez-Faire by Kathleen Levine
 
     Stepping into the Beyond by Colleen Foye Bollen

The Kenmore City Hall Gallery is pleased to host an exhibition of artworks created by the Northwest Collage Society (NWCS) September 8-November 14, 2025.

The exhibition is comprised of fifty original collages with the theme “You Have Arrived at Your Destination”, created by members of NWCS. Artwork from twenty two artists celebrate every interpretation of the theme from abstract to realistic, from futuristic to scenes of daily life. Come along for the ride!

The exhibition was juried by City Hall Gallery Curator and artist, Shannon Tipple-Leen.

About the Northwest Collage Society: The NWCS provides a forum for the exchange of ideas among members through bi-monthly meetings, which include presentations by local artists or similar programs, workshops, annual retreats, opportunities to enter juried and non-juried exhibitions, circulation of an online newsletter and other publications, and recognition of members’ accomplishments.

Next up in the Gallery!

G.G. Silverman & Isabella Smedley - “Wild Women of Photography”
November 22, 2025 – January 31, 2026
Reception, Saturday, November 22, 1-3pm. All are welcome!

Welcome to Wild Women of Photography, showcasing the unique perspectives of Isabella
Smedley and G.G. Silverman, two bold photographers living in the Pacific Northwest. Isabella
will be showcasing stunning imagery captured at Yellowstone National Park and beyond, and
G.G. brings us her surreal, dream-like images of the Pacific Northwest, Iceland, and more.

Please join us for our opening reception on Saturday, November 22, 1-3pm to hear the captivating stories behind the creation of these breath-taking images.

Isabella bio / artist statement
I was born in SW Pennsylvania and have lived for the past 30 years in Seattle. As a retired nurse,
my love of nursing is owed to the emotion of caring for people in their worst and best moments.
Photography, for me, is about evoking emotion. I hope my photos create quiet, exhilarating,
joyful, and tender moments for you. I spend much of my time in Yellowstone National Park but
have traveled the world experiencing extraordinary wonders. To see more of Isabella’s work,
visit Isabella's website.

G.G. Silverman
I moved to the Pacific Northwest 20 years ago, and immediately fell in love with its raw, moody
landscape. I am a writer as well as an artist, and to me, all landscapes and their natural
inhabitants have stories to tell, and there’s always more than meets the eye, a deeper tale waiting
to be told.

Featuring explorations of beloved places like the Pacific Northwest, Iceland, and beyond, my
photography is intentionally soft-focused to induce a dream-like state in the viewer. I use a very
simple means to capture my photos, then I crop, distress, blur, and colorize until I discover the
scene’s true nature: a mythic image that asks me to look deeper within myself. Gazing closely, I
find myself in a dialog that nourishes me, and asks me to ally myself with the mysterious. There,
I find the pieces of myself that were lost, and I’m stronger for the journey ahead. To learn more
about G.G. please visit G.G's website.

 
    Isabella Smedley                                   G.G. Silverman

City Hall Gallery Schedule 2025

September 12 - November 13, 2025
NW Collage Society Annual Show
"You Have Arrived at Your Destination”

November 22, 2025 – January 31, 2026
G.G. Silverman & Isabella Smedley 
“Wild Women of Photography”
Reception, Saturday, November 22, 1-3pm - All are welcome!

City Hall Gallery Schedule 2026

February 2 – March 27, 2026
Susan Cook/Lisa Alden – Collage
Ekaterina Mikhaylova – Ink Drawings
Reception TBD

March 31 – May 8, 2026
Michele Marquardt – Fused Glass 2D
Miwa Gardner – Watercolor Portraits
Reception TBD

May 15 - June 12, 2026
Student Poetry and Art
Reception TBD

June 19 - August 28, 2026
Melinda Hurst Frye – Photography
Elena K. Abbott - Collage
Reception TBD

August
Kenmore Art Show in Council Chambers

September 7 - November 13, 2026
Diane Walker – Abstract Paintings
Kaitlin J Robinson – Landscape Paintings
Reception TBD

November 22, 2026 – January 15, 2027
Caryn Vainio – Abstract Paintings
Cooper Miller – Photographs
Reception TBD

Kelly Liedtke - Drawings
Sharon Gottula - Mixed Media Encaustic 
Matt Wolpin - Photography
 
June 23 - August 27, 2025

    Kelly Liedtke                                            Sharon Gottula


    Matt Wolpin

 

Kelly Liedtke
Art has always been there, I discovered ink in high school and pointillism about the same time, then I was hooked! Working with ink is both forgiving and very not forgiving at the same time, I fell in love with the challenge as well as the journey each drawing takes you on. Sometimes it is fast and crazy and other times its simple and easy. I love the way their own energy and mine work into the final piece just like how it should be. It is important that you understand this haunts me and keeps me awake, even though I'm busy with the other passions and responsibilities in my life the drawings are working in my head and waiting for their moment. I have told many people the drawings take time 15-45 hours, but the real struggle is in the planning that can take months or years.

Sharon Gottula
My earliest memories are of light—dancing across my bedroom in the morning or filtered through the green canopy of trees above as I lie in the grass looking through the leaves. This early connection to nature fuels my exploration of the delicate balance between the manmade and the natural world in my artwork. In this body of work, I celebrate the tree—not just as a solitary entity but as a symbol of life's intricate processes. Through the interplay of collage papers, infrared photography, and encaustic medium, I examine the transformative power of light and its role in photosynthesis. My use of infrared photography captures trees in a realm beyond visible light, revealing their hidden energy and vitality. These images are juxtaposed with collage papers—products of deforestation—creating a dialogue between destruction and regeneration. Encaustic, with its layers of beeswax and damar gum, serves as a metaphor for the fragility and resilience of trees. The wax encases both paper and imagery in a delicate yet enduring embrace, echoing the trees' ability to persist despite human impact. Each layer of encaustic represents the complex layers of interaction between nature and human intervention, highlighting both the ephemeral and lasting aspects of our environment. Through this work, I aim to honor the beauty and strength of trees, while also reflecting on the consequences of our actions. The result is a visual narrative that invites contemplation on the interplay of light, life, and the enduring spirit of nature.

Matt Wolpin
Matt Wolpin's Mindful Wander Studio aims to spark wonder and encourage all to wander. Its imagery is an exploration of the landscapes found in our backyard and across the world. The simplicity of walking among trees, conquering mountains, wading in crystal clear rivers, and being present in nature impacts everyone differently.

_______________________________________________

Kenmore Poet Laureate
Elizabeth Wang
and
Kenmore Middle School 7th & 8th Grade Students
 
May 6 - June 13, 2025

Celebrate the talent of Kenmore youth! The gallery is pleased to present poems by Kenmore Youth Poet Laureate Elizabeth Wang, using the nom de plume R.S. Rosendell. Also featured are reverse value drawings in colored pencil, tempera paint and wax crayon by the talented 7th and 8th grade art students at Kenmore Middle School under the direction of teacher Amanda Spartz.   

   

________________________________________

Susan Christensen - Watercolor and Ink
Devin Elle Gaan - Photography

March 3 - April 30, 2025

Susan - I paint out of my head, to quote one of my grad school professors. Supernatural beings and spirits of all ethnicities are welcome in my work as a visual storyteller. I am especially invested in interpreting the myths of matriarchal cultures. I seek to express the resilience of our lovely mother
earth, our interbeing with her and the beautiful impermanence of every moment.

Devin - Hey you. Yes, you. Come over here. Check this out. I know you’re in a hurry… everyone is. But just take a minute. I made this for you. Actually, it’s for everyone who doesn’t feel like they have time to stop. The world is moving so fast, and society acts like it’s still not fast enough. And maybe cause we all have some place we gotta be, some thing we must do, there is no time to take a second look. Well, I’m just trying to slow it down for a bit. I’m taking that second look for us. This series is entirely of ordinary, everyday type stuff. It’s mostly forms and colors… little, easy to miss things. Some of it are things I’ve seen countless times before but never noticed cause I was moving too fast. But when I finally slowed down, I realized there was more beauty to appreciate than I ever knew. Beautiful objects and moments are everywhere and go by unnoticed. I captured them in photos to share with you because maybe you’ll start taking second looks. And maybe… you’ll start seeing a lot more beauty in your world.

   

__________________________________________

Camilla Bell – Holga Photography
Gary Rubin - Drawings

December 6, 2024-February 28, 2025

Camilla - The body of work I am presenting contains black-and-white photographs taken on medium format film using a plastic camera called a Holga. While technically considered a “toy” camera, the Holga is a surprisingly capable tool making photographs characterized by their square format, as well as the vignetting, distortion, and light leaks. The limitations of this type of camera have pushed me to create some of my best work to date. My photography is centered around interesting compositions of light and shadow, symmetry, and repetitive textures. 

Gary - While in isolation for two years, my connection with the outside world was primarily through the art I created. I selected subjects that inspired me - that evoked an emotion or tapped into one of the many feelings I had, fueled by the challenges of the COVID and racial injustice pandemics. The subjects all lived within the frame of my television. And, from these subjects, I created compositions with a sketchbook, set of pencils, and an eraser that all reside on a TV tray. 

        

__________________________________________

Alan Dale Riley Memorial Show

September 10-November 30, 2024

Alan Riley
1928 – 2023

Alan Riley was born and raised in Minnesota. He received degrees in Art and later a second degree in Social Work in 1960. He and his wife Jo Ann left Minnesota for the west coast in the 1960’s. Halfway to the coast they flipped a coin – California or Seattle. They arrived in Seattle and in 1968 purchased their life-long home in Kenmore.

Alan worked at Queen Anne High School as an art teacher then for the Seattle Model Cities Program, community organizer, environmental consultant and advocate. Alan was always creating. He practiced woodcuts, oil, acrylic and watercolor painting as well as line drawings. He also wrote plays and books. He self-published many books of sociology, philosophy and poetry.

Alan and Jo Ann were avid naturalists. They spent a great deal of time hiking in the Pacific Northwest mountains with their Newfoundland dogs.

Alan and his wife were founding lifetime members of the Arts of Kenmore. The Riley Estate donated the bulk of Alan’s artwork to support the Arts of Kenmore.

This show features a variety of his works including watercolors with ink, woodcuts and acrylics on board. All work is original and for sale. All proceeds from the sale of his work go to support the Arts of Kenmore.

     

_____________________________________________

Maren Oates

July 5-August 31, 2024 

Maren Oates is a self-taught, mixed-media artist trying to manage the chaos of motherhood through layers of color, texture, and thread. Her process begins by rolling acrylic paint onto a gel plate for printmaking. Before pulling a print, she’ll press found objects into the paint, creating interesting marks and textures. She repeats this process to build several unique printed layers, often masking sections using hand-cut stencils or leaves from the garden. Some of these prints become material for collage, but many are finished with lines of machine or hand stitching.

Though she mainly sews on paper, Maren’s work is influenced by the patterns, shapes, and colorful combinations in quilting designs. She also finds great inspiration, and interesting printing textures, from the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

Maren’s artwork has been exhibited regionally at the Schack Art Center (Everett, WA), Parklane Gallery (Kirkland, WA), Jansen Art Center (Bellingham, WA), Arts at the Port (Anacortes, WA), Columbia City Gallery (Seattle, WA), and Edmonds Arts Festival Gallery. She regularly teaches workshops on gel plate printmaking through the Schack Art Center and Red Sky Gallery in Lake Forest Park.

Learn more about her work at marenoates.com.

The Call for Artists for 2026 Gallery Show is closed. We will seek artists for the 2027 schedule beginning in August 2026.

Gallery shows are approximately two and a half months long and can be a solo, two-person or a group show. Artists or Creative Groups may submit a request for a group show using one form.

The gallery, located in the lobby of the Kenmore City Hall, is a beautiful wood slat wall in a well-lit area. The hanging space is 30 linear feet and uses a wire and hook hanging system. All work submitted must be professionally presented and wired on the back unless otherwise arranged. Sawtooth hangers on the back of your piece will not work on our system. The gallery is accepting 2-Dimensional works only at this time. Minimum size display size is 8” X 8” and maximum weight is 20lbs.

Gallery questions - stippleleen@gmail.com