When Seattle Art Museum opened its expanded downtown building in 2007, some people thought the main entrance on First Avenue was a little undistinguished.
One of those people was the late arts patron Bagley Wright. His wife, Virginia, says he thought the museum entrance needed to be marked in a dramatic way. "Because it looked like the entrance to an office building," she recalls.
Nobody would argue over the fact that women have made significant contributions to the art world. But a major new exhibition at Seattle Art Museum not only highlights contemporary women artists; it puts them front and center.