Honoring complexity in the Northwest arts

Three months after stepping into leadership of the Museum of Northwest Art (MoNA), Executive Director Stefano Catalani has his eye on how the museum can best reflect the complexity of artists’ voices, cultures and artistic mediums in the Northwest. As someone who has transited continents and careers, he is focused on the expansiveness of the art world today. That focus centers on the Northwest in the present, and historically. With that said, he’s quick to point out that the first phase for a director is learning about the community and the potential for the Northwest arts.

Catalani’s vision for the 40-year-old La Conner museum is to ensure the collection grows and the historical pieces continue to be featured. But history requires perspective.

Art of previous generations fell short of reflecting the different communities, cultures and values that reside not just in the Skagit Valley but in the Northwest and beyond, Catalani said.

“I want to activate the collection to speak of the past but also to serve as the foundation for the future,” he added.

Art complexity includes the mediums a museum represents. While MoNA, like most art museums, has traditionally centered around painting, other art forms have been evolving that are critical in defining the Northwest art scene.

That includes glass and ceramics for instance, Catalani notes. The additional mediums can further represent the local environment, providing a sense of grounding, a connection with the earth.

Catalani’s career started a world away. A native of Genazzano, Italy, he earned his master’s degree in mining and petroleum engineering at Sapienza University of Rome. He worked on an oil rig four weeks at a time, then curated art in Rome during his time off. His first show in 1996 took place in the Royal Dutch embassy in Rome.

“I had this Doctor Jekyll, Mr. Hyde life for two years, working on the rigs for 28 days and then creating shows,” Catalani said.

That all changed in 2001 when he moved to Seattle, made art his sole pursuit and never left. However, he doesn’t leave his scientific experience behind, instead he uses it.

“I think at the end of the day it gives you a very practical pragmatic approach of optimizing resources,” he said.

Catalani gained his US citizenship two years ago and calls himself an American with an accent. He comes to MoNA from the Gage Academy of Art where he was also executive director, and before that, director of art, craft and design for a decade at the Bellevue Arts Museum. MoNA first drew his attention in 2019 when he juried the annual art auction.

“I think it takes at least six months for any director or leader to come into an organization and get a sense of what the organization is, the internal culture, the aspirations of the board and the staff. These are all constituents that I need to take into consideration,” Catalani said.

He asserts that art, and the museum that displays it, should be a place without boundaries.

“Whether it is art as an expression of Native American cultures and nations, or art as an expression of migrant communities, or art as an expression of certain European settlers,” he noted, “even of immigrants who came here long ago, or recently, all these art forms have a seat at MoNA’s table.”

Catalani’s first exhibition at MoNA is on display upstairs. It is a small arrangement named “Super Natural, a Northwest Tradition” that pays homage to nature, as part of a conversation with MoNA’s current exhibit: “A Precarious Edge” featuring artists Meg Holgate and Steve Klein. Each of the works he selected speaks of the Pacific Northwest with views that include Native American, female and Asian artists.