Justin Gibbens
E D U C A T I O N
2003 Scientific Illustration Certificate – University of Washington, Seattle, WA
2002 Traditional Chinese Painting Exchange Program – Anhui University, Hefei, China
1998 Bachelor of Arts, Art (drawing, painting); Art History Minor – Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA
S E L E C T E D S O L O E X H I B I T I O N S
2022 Animal Spirit – Clymer Museum, Ellensburg, WA
Stuffed Animals – PUNCH Projects, Thorp, WA
2021 Birds and Beast – Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, Spokane, WA
2020 Turn Around Time – Eveleth Green Gallery, Gallery One, Ellensburg, WA
2019 Liminal Spaces – Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
2018 Stranger Things – Centennial Center Gallery, Kent, WA
2017 Sea Change – G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
2016 Weird Science – Boswell Corner Gallery, North Idaho College
Peaceable Kingdom – Confluence Gallery and Art Center, Twisp, WA
2015 unNatural Histories – Clymer Museum, Ellensburg, WA
Sepulchre – MAC Gallery, Wenatchee Valley College, Wenatchee, WA
2014 Shapeshift – Loft Gallery, Ellensburg, WA
Avatars and Shapeshifters – PUNCH Gallery, Seattle, WA
2013 Wonderland (w/ artist Renee Adams) – the brink gallery, Missoula, MT
Are we not drawn onward to new erA (w/ artist Renee Adams) – PUNCH Gallery, Seattle, WA
2011 Spiderland – G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
Peaceful Death and Pretty Flowers (w/ artist Renee Adams) – PUNCH Gallery, Seattle, WA
2010 Hydras and Basilisks – PUNCH Gallery, Seattle, WA
Birds of Paradise – Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
2008 Unnatural History (w/ artist Nealy Blau) – G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
Animal Spell (w/ artist Amy Ross) – PUNCH Gallery, Seattle, WA
2007 Relations – Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
Birds and Bees – PUNCH Gallery, Seattle, WA
2005 Specimens – Chase Gallery, Spokane, WA
2004 Barnacle Dogs and Zebra Mussels – Gallery 423, Ellensburg, WA
2003 Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny – Gallery One, Ellensburg, WA
Beetle, Branch and the Biologic – Artemis Gallery, Seattle, WA
2002 Fin, Flipper, Flounder – Stewart and Williams Funeral Home, Ellensburg, WA
2001 Various works – Esvelt Gallery, Columbia Basin College, Pasco, WA
Great White Silence – Gallery One, Ellensburg, WA (w/ artist Renee Adams)
1998 Walkabout – Sarah Spurgeon Gallery, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA
1997 A Balance Between Forces – Sarah Spurgeon Gallery, Ellensburg, WA
S E L E C T E D G R O U P E X H I B I T I O N S
2023 Re-Imagining Conservation – National Museum of Wildlife Art in conjunction with Creature Conserve, Jackson, WY
Regional Watercolor Invitational – Gonzaga University Urban Arts Center, Spokane, WA
Cascadia: A more than human experience – MAC Gallery, Wenatchee Valley College, Wenatchee, WA
La Ghoulerie d"Art – PUNCH Projects, Thorp, WA
Don't Kill the Buzz: A Celebration of Insects – Confluence Gallery and Art Center, Twisp, WA
Fluid – Emerge, Coeur d'Alene, ID
Hiraeth – Confluence Gallery and Art Center, Twisp, WA
2022 Undomesticated – Gallery One, Ellensburg, WA
Bait and Switch – Collapse Gallery, Wenatche
2021 Sitka Art Invitational – World Forestry Center, Portland, OR
Cascadia: Flora and Fauna of the North Cascades – Confluence Gallery, Twisp, WA
Images of the Shrub-Steppe – Boxx Gallery, Tieton, WA
2020 Metamorphosis – Columbia Center for the Arts, Hood River, OR
Picturing Science in Illustration and Art – Blue Galleries at the Center for the Visual Arts, Boise State University, Boise, ID
The Beginning of Everything: An Exhibition of Drawings – Katherine E. Nash Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
2019 Boxing Day (PUNCH Projects) – Discovery Lab Warehouse, Ellensburg, WA
Gallery One Instructors Show – Eveleth Green Gallery, Gallery One, Ellensburg, WA
Strange Birds | Group Invitational Show – Smith and Vallee Gallery, Edison, WA
2018 The Woods (PUNCH Projects) – Sarah Spurgeon Gallery, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA
2017 BEST IN SHOW: New Works from Kittitas County Juried Artists – Confluence Gallery and Art Center, Twisp, WA
ARTS AT THE PORT Juried Exhibition – Anacortes Arts Fest, Anacortes, WA
Here's to the Future – G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
Kent Summer Art Exhibit – Centennial Center Gallery, Kent, WA
BARNSTORM at the Bluestone (PUNCH Projects) – Model KE building, Ellensburg, WA
2016 Phylogeny Contemporary at the Aqua Hotel – Aqua Art Fair, Miami, FL
Hit and Run – PUNCH Gallery, Seattle, WA
Natural Causes – CASS Contemporary, Tampa, FL
Nature’s Call: Natural History of the West by the GNSI NW – Clymer Museum, Ellensburg, WA
2015 Metamorphosis – Larson Gallery, Yakima, WA
Out of Sight – King Street Station, Seattle, WA
National Juried Exhibition – Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA
WUNDERKAMMER: Artifacts, False Memories and Projections – Foss Waterway Seaport, Tacoma, WA
Westward Bound: PUNCH Gallery meets Clymer – Clymer Museum of Art, Ellensburg, WA
Imaginature – Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, WA
2014 The Scientific Eye: Art & Science – North Seattle College, Seattle, WA
A Contemporary Bestiary – Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University, Salem, OR
2013 Hybrids and other Strange Amalgamations – Seattle Art Museum Gallery, Seattle, WA
Yakima River Diaries – Sarah Spurgeon Gallery, Ellensburg, WA
2012 Make Space – Gage Academy of Art, Seattle, WA
Winging It – Heiner Contemporary, Washington, DC
2011 The Shape of the Problem – Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
Wild/Life – Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, WA
Seattle as Collector – Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
Washington Art Consortium: Northwest Art on Paper – Western Gallery, Western WA University, Bellingham, WA
2010 Bestiary – Manifest Creative Research Gallery and Drawing Center, Cincinnati, OH
Mystic Sons of Morris Graves Invitational Exhibition – Tashiro Kaplan Arts Building, Seattle, WA
Narrative Animal Imagery – San Luis Obispo Art Center, San Luis Obispo, CA
The Secret Language of Animals – Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA
The Fantastical – Project 4 Gallery, Washington, DC
Country Cousins: an Exploration of Contemporary Frontier Myth – Evergreen Gallery, Olympia, WA
2009 Below the Surface: A 21st-Century Look at the Prarie – Faulconer Gallery, Grinnell, IO
Tales from an Imaginary Menagerie – Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA
2008 Nature Freak – Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, WA
Birdwatch – Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Ketchum, ID
2007 Introductions 2007 – Seattle Art Museum Gallery, Seattle, WA
Crawl Space Centennial – Crawl Space Gallery, Seattle, WA
Come Undone – Allston Skirt Gallery, Boston, MA
2006 12th Annual International Exhibition – Soho20 Gallery, New York, NY
24th Annual Juried Exhibition – Pleiades Gallery, New York, NY
Contagion – Washington Ensemble Theatre, Seattle, WA
As the Crow Flies − Tacoma Contemporary’s Woolworth Windows, Tacoma, WA
Seattle Erotic Art Festival – Consolidated Works, Seattle, WA
Emerging Artist Exhibition – Limner Gallery, Phoenecia, NY
Round One – PUNCH Gallery, Seattle, WA
2005 unNatural History – Kittredge Gallery, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA
History and Prophecy: a Bestiary for the 21st Century – SOIL Gallery, Seattle, WA
Point of Departure – Esvelt Gallery, Columbia Basin College, Pasco, WA
Intersections: Works on Paper – Sarah Spurgeon Gallery, Ellensburg, WA
Seattle Erotic Art Festival – Consolidated Works, Seattle, WA
2002 Exhibition of Chinese and American Students – Jiu Liumi Gallery, Hefei, China
Summer Painting in China – Sarah Spurgeon Gallery, Ellensburg, WA
2003 Traces of the Homeostay-puff – Gallery One, Ellensburg, WA
2001 Move On – Arrowspace Gallery, Olympia, WA
M.A.A.G. (McMurdo Anti Art Gallery) – McMurdo Station, Antarctica
2000 15th Annual Ross Island Art Show – McMurdo Station, Antarctica
S E L E C T E D H O N O R S & A W A R D S
2023 Best of Show – Central WA Artists' Exhibition, Larson Gallery, Yakima, WA
Peggy Schaake Award – Kittitas County Juried Art Exhibit, Gallery One, Ellensburg, WA
2022 Honorable Mention – INTERSTATE: Where I-90 Meets I-82, Sarah Spurgeon Gallery, CWU, Ellensburg, WA
2021 Director's Choice Award – Central WA Artists' Exhibition, Larson Gallery, Yakima, WA
2020 Jordan Schnitzer Printmaking Residency – Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Otis, OR
2019 McMillen Artist Community (MAC) Fellowship, Robert E. McMillen Foundation – Washington State
Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency, Joshua Tree, CA
2017 Harold E. Tayer Memorial Award – Central WA Artists Exhibition, Larson Gallery, Yakima, WA
People's Choice Award – Art's at the Port Juried Exhibition, Anacortes Arts Fest, Anacortes, WA
Peggy Schaake Award – Kittitas County Juried Art Exhibit, Gallery One, Ellensburg, WA
Project Award (BARNSTORM at the Bluestone) CEllensburg Arts Commission, Ellensburg, WA
2016 4Culture Project Grant – 4Culture, Seattle, WA
Honorable Mention – Indiana University East National Juried Art Exhibition: Art + Science – Richmond, IN
2015 Bob & Donna Villbrandt Award – Central WA Artists Exhibition, Larson Gallery, Yakima, WA
2015 Best in Show – Kittitas County Juried Art Exhibit, Gallery One, Ellensburg, WA
2013 Eldean Adams Award for Watercolor – Kittitas County Juried Art Exhibit, Gallery One, Ellensburg, WA
Jeffrey M. Reynolds Award – Central WA Artists Exhibition, Larson Gallery, Yakima, WA
2012 Best in Show – WA State Juried Art Competition, Collective Visions Gallery, Bremerton, WA
Artist Residency – Jentel Artist Residency Program, Banner, WY
2011 Best in Show – 44th Annual Juried Art Exhibition, Allied Arts Center, Yakima, WA
Contemporary Northwest Art Awards finalist – Portland Art Museum
2010 Marge Corman Memorial Award – Kittitas County Juried Art Exhibit Gallery One, Ellensburg, WA
2009 Excellence in Drawing Award – Central WA Artists Exhibition, Larson Gallery, Yakima, WA
2008 Artist Trust Fellowship Award – Washington State
2007 Artist Trust GAP Award – Washington State
2006 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award
Drawing Center’s Viewing Program – The Drawing Center, New York, NY
2005 Best in Show, Best Drawing – Art Guild of Soap Lake’s Winterfest – City Hall, Soap Lake, WA
Karen Raine Memorial Award – Central WA Artists Exhibition, Larson Gallery, Yakima, WA
2004 Board of Directors Award (Best of Show) – Juried Exhibit, Allied Arts Center, Yakima, WA
Peggy Schaake Award – Kittitas County Juried Art Exhibit, Gallery One, Ellensburg, WA
2003 Dr. & Mrs. Aboulhosn Award – Central Washington Exhibition, Larson Gallery, Yakima, WA
2001 Tina Solberg Award – Kittitas County Juried Art Exhibit, Gallery One, Ellensburg, WA
1988 1st Place, Sixth Grade Level – Color-A-Saurus Dinosaur Drawing Contest, Tri Cities, WA
A P P O I N T M E N T S
VP of public relations/marketing – PUNCH Projects, Ellensburg, WA [2016 – present]
Art Instructor for artists with disabilities, Gallery One/Alley Cat Artists, Ellensburg, WA [2009 – present]
VP of public relations/marketing – PUNCH Gallery, Seattle, WA [2006 - 12]
M U R A L S & P U B L I C A R T C O M M I S S I O N S
2024 Slabtown Projects – Tello Interiors, Portland, OR
2023 Mel's Magic – PUNCH Projects, Thorp, WA
2022 [the tap room] – Iron Horse Brewery Tap Room
2021 Nature Calls – Cle Elum City Park, Cle Elum, WA
Birds of a Feather – Central Transit Bus Shelter, Ellensburg, WA
2019 Skulls and Rainbows – Iron Horse Brewery, Ellensburg, WA
2017 Nature/Nurture – Stan Bassett Youth Center in Ellensburg, WA w/ Will Bow; project funded by the Ellensburg Arts Commission
2015 Pacific Northwest Legends: a Natural History – a series of eight 7’ x 17.5’ public murals w/ Will Bow for the City of Spokane, WA, located in the BNSF Tunnel on Post Street; project funded by Spokane Arts Commission
2015 Washington State’s Emblems and Icons: a Natural History – design selected for Kelda Martensen's
Spring Mural painting class on the campus of North Seattle College, Seattle, WA
S E L E C T E D P U B L I C A T I O N S & M E D I A C O V E R A G E
2023 "Cascadia Field Guide." Contributing illustrator. Mountaineers Books, Seattle, WA
2019 Muñez, Stephanie, "Thorp artist illustrates new book by David Guterson." Wake Up Northwest, KNDO 23/KNDU 25
(an NBC-affiliated television station), Yakima, WA, October 21, 2019
Harwood, Rodney, "Turn Around Time..." The Daily Record, October 15, 2019
Guterson, David, "Turn Around Time." Illustrated this book-length walking poem, Mountaineers Books, Seattle, WA
Muir, Pat; “Local artists who are transcending ‘local artist’ status.” Yakima Herald-Republic’s SCENE, Aug. 15, 2019
Shaw, Leslie; “Visiting illustrator adds touch of whimsy to fauna.” Hi-Desert Star, April 17, 2019
2018 Muir, Pat, "Eight Central Washington Artists to Watch in 2018." The Yakima Herald-Republic, January 17, 2018
Upchurch, Michael, "'Sea Change,' allusions to climate change among what's new at galleries.' The Seattle Times, January 5, 2018
Lynx, David, "The Art Scene: Artists take a trip deep into 'The Woods'." The Yakima Herald-Republic, January 3, 2018
2017 "Daisy Chain" selected for cover of The Stranger's Seattle Art and Performance publication, Winter 2017, Vol. 6, No. 4
2015 Peterson, Clyde, “A curated guide to this weekend’s biggest art fairs,” Crosscut.com, July 31, 2015
2015 Ponnekanti, Rosemary; “Museum of wonder: “Wunderkammer” at the Foss Seaport.” The News Tribune, July 21, 2015
2014 “Justin Gibbens: Master Draftsman,” Juxtapoz Magazine blog, February 3, 2014
Nastia Voynovskaya; “Justin Gibbens’ Paintings Celebrate Wildlife.” Hi-Fructose Magazine blog, March 5, 2014
2013 Eben Wragge-Keller; "super natural." Missoula Independent, July 11, 2013
Krysti Shallenberger; "Unnatural by Nature." Missoulian, July 5, 2013
2012 Jenkins, Mark; “Washington’s Best Art Gallery Shows of 2012.” The Washington Post, December 6, 2012
Jenkins, Mark; “Heiner’s ‘Wingin It’: Striking photos, painting, collages of birds.” The Wa Post, July 5, 2012
Williams, Austin; “Where Science and Imagination Collide.” American Artist Watercolor mag., Summer 2012
2011 Williams, Austin; “25 Artists to Watch.” American Artist Watercolor magazine, Fall 2011
2010 Jane Durrell; “Bestiary (Review).” City Beat blog, Wednesday, November 17, 2010
2009 Melrod, George; “Unnatural Selection.” Art ltd., March/April 2009
Samson, Jonah; artist profile posted on Cool Hunting blog, April 16, 2009
ANNALEMMA, Issue No. 4
2008 Norris, Molly; “Unnatural History.” Art Access, December 2008/January 2009, Vol. 17, No. 10
Beal, Suzanne; “Artist Profile: Justin Gibbens” Art ltd., July/August 2008
Farr, Sheila; “Putting and unnatural face on nature.” Seattle Times, Friday, April 18, 2008
Lippens, Nate; “Jumble up your sense of reality and imagination with works by three artists.”
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Friday, April 11, 2008
Studio Visit Magazine, Issue II. February 2008
2007 Lippens, Nate; “Northwest creatures come to life in Gibbens’ Birds and Bees’.”
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Friday, February 9, 2007
2006 Ponnekanti, Rosemary; “Peek into Windows for artful eyefuls.” The News Tribune, Dec. 24, 2006
Scott, Carrie E. A.; “And the Galleries Marched in Two by Two.” Visualcodec, May Issue, 2006
Chansanchai, Athima; “Erotic, Erotic.” Seattle Post Intelligencer, Monday, March 27, 2006
2005 Graves, Jen; “Natural Beauty.” The News Tribune, September 25, 2005, p. E.01
P U B L I C C O L L E C T I O N S
Portland Art Museum
Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture
ArtsWA
CHI Franciscan Harrison Medical Center
City of Kent, WA (Portable Works Collection)
Tacoma Art Museum
Grinnell College
Microsoft
4Culture/King County (Portable Works Collection)
City of Seattle, WA (Seattle City Light, Seattle Utilities: Portable Works Collections)
City of Shoreline, WA (Portable Works Collection)