New MIVAL Show Opening at MICEC
COMMUNITY
Curating the Curators at MICEC
Show Dates:
Monday, March 2 – Friday, April 24, 2026
Reception:
Wednesday, March 11th, 5 – 7 PM
“Art creation involves producing original work, while art curation is the process of selecting, organizing, and presenting existing work to create new meaning, context or value.” - AI Overview
“The task of curating is to make junctions, to allow different elements to touch. I see a curator as . . . a bridge builder, creating a bridge to the public.” - Hans Ulrich Obrist, Swiss art curator, critic, and art historian, author of Ways of Curating (2014)
In Curating the Curators, MIVAL curators combine the art of seven abstract artists who also curate art in our community, thus exponentially impacting our local arts culture.
Anna Macrae, June Sekiguchi, Lynda Swenson, and Stephanie Hargrave all curate for Era Living in their Aljoya locations, including Mercer Island.Amanda Knowles teaches at North Seattle College and curates their gallery.
Meghan Thréinfhir curates the M. Rosetta Hunter Art Gallery at Seattle Central College.
Judith Rayl’s exhibition design focuses on wellness and inclusion, including projects for Harborview Hospital.
Please come meet these artists at our March 11th reception at MICEC on Wednesday March 11th from 5-7 pm.
More About the Artists
June Sekiguchi
June Sekiguchi was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas and received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Studio Art from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She works primarily with scroll cut wood in her studio practice making sculptures and site-specific installations. She makes pattern-based sculptures, large scale immersive installations, and public art. Her process starts with researching the culture, history, and environment of a site or project. She is currently an independent art curator for Era Living and curates for the gallery at Asia Pacific Cultural Center in Tacoma, WA where she serves on the board. She is represented by ArtX Contemporary in Seattle.
www.junesekiguchi.com
Anna Macrae
I am a British born artist living in Seattle since 2001, and a maker of beautiful messy imperfections using oil paint, found objects and recycled materials. I studied in Civil Engineering and am interested in texture and surface and playing with non-precious unconventional materials. I curate exhibitions for Era Living, to bring a rich variety of rotating quality arts exhibitions to their retirement communities. I am represented by the SAM Gallery and Shift Gallery in Seattle and a member of the Northwest Designer Craftsmen.
www.annamacrae.com
Amanda Knowles
Amanda’s work explores infrastructure and human ingenuity through abstractions of the urban environment. She uses photography to document and explore the built environment and these images are the basis of her investigations, sometimes finding their way into the work, but many times are used as the point of departure and a way of thinking. Amanda was raised in Philadelphia, PA. She earned a BA in Fine Art from the University of Pennsylvania and a MA and MFA in Printmaking from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Knowles teaches printmaking and drawing at North Seattle College and is the director of the North Seattle College Art Gallery. Her work is represented by J. Rinehart Gallery.
www.amandaknowles.com
Stephanie Hargrave
Hargrave has been painting and working in clay since college, where she studied ceramics, color theory, sculpture, drawing, painting and writing. Hargrave’s work is about biology – the science of life in all its forms especially with reference to origin, growth, reproduction, structure, and behavior. Hargrave has a studio in Pioneer Square’s Art District in the Tashiro Kaplan Building where she makes encaustic paintings, clay/encaustic sculpture and works on paper. Her process aligns with scientific discovery; ever unfolding, open to restructuring with new information. Hargrave curates art for Aljoya Thornton Place in Seattle.
www.stephaniehargrave.com
Judith Rayl
Judith Rayl is an award-winning artist, curator, and physician. Her unique, image-based multigenre artwork offers an experience of connection and shared emotion. Dr. Rayl’s curatorial philosophy foregrounds belonging and inclusion. She is the creator and curator of two wellness-based programs that deliver authentic community impact.
Her portfolio may be viewed at judithrayl.com.
Lynda Harwood-Swenson
Lynda Harwood-Swenson is an artist whose work explores the intricate connections between social relationships, beauty, and the environment within our emotional landscape. She translates these themes into her curatorial practice by using images and objects to weave compelling narratives. With a focus on residential spaces, her curatorial work emphasizes how color, mood, and beauty define the lived experience of a place.
lyndaharwoodswenson.com
www.instagram.com/lyndaswnartist
Meghan Thréinfhir
Meghan Thréinfhir is a Seattle-based artist whose work materializes invisible systems, electric, gravitational, ecological, and computational, through sculpture, installation, and diagrammatic forms. Working across encaustic, copper, seaweed, bog substrates, and electronics, her practice bridges organic matter and electronic infrastructure, translating fields and logic structures into materially grounded works. She is the Curator of the M. Rosetta Hunter Art Gallery at Seattle Central College and the founder of Moss Art Space, a home-based gallery and performance venue established in response to the pandemic.
meghanthreinfhir.com
Claudia Zimmerman
My abilities in the art world of Seattle have centered around the Pioneer Square area and more recently, Mercer Island. Having graduated from Smith in Fine Art, I spent many years back East showing in galleries in New York and Massachusetts. I curate shows each year for the Mercer Island Community Center, the MIVAL Gallery, as well as spaces in the Tashiro Kaplan Building in Seattle’s Pioneer Square.
Cvonz1@gmail.com
206-829-9299
What is MIVAL?
Founded in 1961, The Mercer Island Visual Arts League (MIVAL) is a volunteer-run non-profit dedicated to fostering the appreciation of the visual arts through education, exhibitions, and community outreach. From seasoned professionals to enthusiastic hobbyists, the league provides a supportive ecosystem where local artists can collaborate, sharpen their skills, and bring world-class culture to our backyard.
A Collaborative Vision
The MICEC Art Gallery program is a dedicated effort to fill the community center’s walls with engaging, thought-provoking work. By transforming a municipal space into a rotating gallery, MIVAL and the City provide residents with a constant "happiness boost" right in the heart of the Island.
The program currently hosts six major exhibitions per year, ranging from prestigious local collections to the beloved Junior Art Show, ensuring that every generation of Islander sees themselves reflected on the walls.
