Jewelry artist weaves her way to award, $10,000 prize

Jewelry artist Mary Lee Hu will receive the eighth Irving and Yvonne Twining Humber Award, a $10,000 prize given in Seattle each year to honor a female artist over 60.

Hu, known for her basketry technique of gold work, has long taught metalsmithing at the University of Washington and is represented by the Facèré Jewelry Art Gallery in Seattle. Her work has been collected by the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery, among others.

Previous recipients of the Twining Humber Award include Mary Randlett, Patti Warashina, Ramona Solberg, Doris Chase and Fay Jones.

Hu will be honored at a public reception from 6-8 p.m. May 28 at the Bellevue Arts Museum. (Reservations required; 206-467-8734 ext. 16 or www.artisttrust.org).

Sheila Farr, Seattle Times art critic