News and Events
Northwind Art Interim Executive Director Martha Worthley is pictured with Soo Hong's artwork at Jeanette Best Gallery.
The State of the Art: a letter from Martha Worthley
Since coming to Northwind as Interim Executive Director in late November 2023, I’ve realized that I’m on a “More Love” campaign. I want to bring more love and care to every aspect of Northwind, from the buildings at Fort Worden, to programming, to the look and content in the gallery and how people feel when they enter our spaces.
I want our team to prepare the kind of experiences that lower your shoulders, make your heart beat sweetly and let your stomach unclench and relax. More Love!
Our messaging over the years has been about the restorative power of making art, of being in community with other creatives, and about the magic of seeing beautiful and unusual work presented in the gallery. This is Northwind’s goal, every day.
We have a focus on our Fort Worden spaces and environs this spring. An example of love in action is when you, our Northwind supporters, provided the funding to install good lighting in Building 324.
Fixing quite unlovely spaces and making them work as classrooms is an ongoing task. These spaces should help every person who walks through the door feel they have entered a cleared and cared-for environment that inspires.
It's been too easy to shrug and say the buildings are not quite up to par, and to feel a certain frustration about making change. This is where love kicks in. Let’s do the best we can with what we have every day and make it better. I see work parties in our future! When you walk through our doors, I want you to experience the care, attention to detail, purposefulness and pleasure of artmaking.
— Martha Worthley
Northwind Art Interim Executive Director
Showcase 2024 artist Leslie Newman, right, talks with a visitor during Art Walk in March.