Current Exhibitions

Fire: Rebirth and Resilience

April 5 – September 28, 2025

Fires have long been symbols of both devastation and renewal, shaping the landscape of the west throughout history. In 1889 a catastrophic fire ripped through Spokane destroying much of the downtown core and business district and making national headlines. Today, regional fires reshape communities, affect individuals in lasting ways, and force us to think about how we live within our own changing landscapes. This exhibition explores historic and contemporary regional fires, illustrating how destruction can be a catalyst for rebirth and resilience.

^{Banner image: Ruins of the Hyde Block the morning after the Great Fire (detail), August 5, 1889. Photograph printed by the Minneapolis Art Studio in Seattle, Washington. Photographer unknown. Gift of Durant I. Morrison, 1950, Joel E. Ferris Archives and Research Library, Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture (L89.108).}

Exhibition Info

Melissa Lang: Keep Feeling Fascination

May 10-June 29, 2025

Melissa Lang’s paintings reference nature, science, and poetry to translate human experience into an abstract visual language. Negotiating between the artistic process and her aesthetic will, she captures the sensual experience that is felt rather than seen, experienced rather than known. Each piece becomes a visual record of making art, a synthesis of thought and feeling, and a conversation between observation and imagination, demonstrating a fascination with the expressive power of line.

Melissa received a BFA in painting at Eastern Washington University in 1991 and a MFA in painting and drawing from the University of New Orleans in 1994. Her work has been exhibited nationally in galleries and museums and is in private and public collections throughout the United States and in Tokyo, Japan.

In addition to working full-time as a professional artist, Lang has taught as an adjunct and served as a visiting artist lecturer/reviewer at colleges and universities in Washington and Idaho.

^{Melissa Lang, In My Nerves, oil on canvas. Photo courtesy of the artist.}