Quick hits from the Seattle visual-arts world:

• Loretta Pettway's handwork became well-known when it traveled the country a few years ago with the exhibition "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," which spotlighted the traditions of generations of African-American women in rural Alabama.

Pettway's first solo show, of both quilts and etchings, runs Aug. 25-Oct. 1 at Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third Ave. S., Seattle (206-624-0770 or www.gregkucera.com). Also at Greg Kucera during that time is "Layered Coils," an exhibition by Portland painter Michael Knutson.

• Rock|DeMent art space has been saluting a different kind of arts community with "619@306: you can tear down a building but not the art community": artists who have been working in the not-long-for-this-world building at 619 Western. About 100 artists there have been told to move out to make way for the Highway 99 tunnel project. (They expected to move next spring but have to pack up by Oct. 1 instead because the state says the building is unsafe.) Included in the show are artists such as Paul Young, Peter de Lory, Justin Mata and Janet Miller. Noon-5 p.m. Aug. 20 and 27, 306 S. Washington St., No. 104, Seattle (www.rockdement.com).

• Looking ahead to fall and winter, Hotel 1000 and Seattle Art Museum announce the fourth year of the SAM in the Studio series. One Wednesday a month, from September to March, a museum curator offers insight into a current or upcoming exhibition for patrons gathered in the hotel's Studio 1000.

First up is a talk at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 14 by city of Seattle curator Deborah Paine, who will discuss the continuing SAM exhibit "Seattle as Collector: Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs Turns 40." Also during the series, curators will talk about SAM's Asian art collection; Japanese painters of Seattle's landscapes; the works of Theaster Gates; and the upcoming show of works by Gauguin, which opens Feb. 9, 2012.

All talks are free (1000 First Ave., Seattle; 206-957-1000 or www.hotel1000seattle.com).

Seattle Times staff