Legendary multidisciplinary artist Lonnie Holley has devoted his life to improvisational creativity. Spanning sculpture, music, poetry, video and more, his work invites contemplation, reflection, and awe. Like his sculptural practice, his music is an assemblage of genres—blending folk, jazz, blues, and pop sensibilities that are often both deeply personal and universally resonant.

While in the Seattle area, Holley will participate in residencies at Pilchuck Glass School and the Museum of Glass. This special program at the Frye offers an opportunity to hear how he is approaching this new body of work through stories and song, moving seamlessly between performances at the piano and discussions about art with Matt Arnett, Holley’s longtime friend and collaborator.

This event is part of Artists At Large, a new annual program at the Frye featuring conversations, performances, and presentations by nationally and internationally recognized artists participating in local residency programs, including Pilchuck Glass School’s.

About the Artist

Since 1979, Lonnie Holley has devoted his life to the practice of improvisational creativity. His art and music, born out of struggle, hardship, but perhaps more importantly, out of furious curiosity and biological necessity, has manifested itself in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, performance, and sound. Holley’s sculptures are constructed from found materials in the oldest tradition of African American sculpture. Objects, already imbued with cultural and artistic metaphor, are combined into narrative sculptures that commemorate places, people, and events. His work is now in collections of major museums throughout the country, on permanent display in the United Nations, and been displayed in the White House Rose Garden. In January of 2014, Holley completed a one-month artist-in-residence with the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation in Captiva Island, Florida, site of the acclaimed artist’s studio.