MEET THE ARTISTS | 2026 - 2027
The Schack Artist in Residence program supports emerging and established artists across disciplines in the exploration and development of new work.
Nic Boshart (b. 1994, Harrisonburg, VA) is a painter whose work looks to the intersection between the majesty of the natural world and the absurdity of the mundane–his practice tends to grand philosophical concerns with a sense of humor and whimsy. Boshart often begins with a preciously articulated line drawing which is subsequently obliterated in a generative process of layered abstraction. Representational elements are present within an abstracted context, as Boshart fragments and fractures the picture plane. Accompanying Boshart's painting is a diverse practice including sculpture, printmaking, digital rendering, and audio. Innately curious about the world, Boshart pursues his many and multiple interests with an intensity befitting his expansive interior world. Boshart received his BA in painting and drawing from James Madison University, a Master's in Natural Resources from Virginia Tech, and lives and works in Everett, WA.
PAINTING + DRAWING
Many of the themes repeated in my artwork are related to science, nature, and the human experience. I try to express these ideas through my artistic practices, typically taking the form of sculpture. I use many techniques to create my sculptures, such as wire wrapping, basket weaving, metalworking, bead working, lapidary, ceramics, and painting. I make an effort to use a wide variety of unique materials in my work. I often use dinosaur bones, minerals from around the world, meteorites, fossils, antiques, everyday objects, and even edible ingredients. I hold all of these different materials together using wire, concrete, resin, glue, and paint. Where I place materials within each artwork is meant to express the concepts, play with light, utilize color, and draw connections between the objects. The major things that inspire me are the natural world and the many aspects of being human. It is my hope that my artwork can inspire a greater appreciation for the natural world and our shared humanity.
LAPIDARY
Miles Labitzke is an artist and educator based out of Everett. Coming from a multidisciplinary background, his studio practice encompasses drawing, painting and printmaking. He engages with themes of time and memory, connecting time and place. Miles approaches art as a form of exploration, his work reflects an ongoing investigation into process, material, and experience.
PRINTMAKINGMiles Labitzke
I am Maren Oates, an artist based in the Seattle area working in collage and gel plate printmaking. Using a gelatin-like plate and acrylic paint, I create monoprints and monotypes without a press, embracing a process rooted in experimentation. My printing tools are often discarded or overlooked objects—tape spools, bubble wrap, cardboard, vintage utensils, and forgotten toys. I use these materials to stamp, scrape or alter the painted surface of the gel plate, introducing unexpected marks and textures. Even after thousands of pulls, the results still offer surprises as the marks created by these unconventional materials remain unpredictable, reinforcing a sense of discovery and play. My work aims to highlight the creative potential and visual richness embedded in everyday objects that might otherwise be ignored.
PRINTMAKINGMAREN OATES
I am Maren Oates, an artist based in the Seattle area working in collage and gel plate printmaking. Using a gelatin-like plate and acrylic paint, I create monoprints and monotypes without a press, embracing a process rooted in experimentation. My printing tools are often discarded or overlooked objects—tape spools, bubble wrap, cardboard, vintage utensils, and forgotten toys. I use these materials to stamp, scrape or alter the painted surface of the gel plate, introducing unexpected marks and textures. Even after thousands of pulls, the results still offer surprises as the marks created by these unconventional materials remain unpredictable, reinforcing a sense of discovery and play. My work aims to highlight the creative potential and visual richness embedded in everyday objects that might otherwise be ignored.
PAINTINGDARLA SEWALL
As I was winding down my career as a Deaf Ed teacher, in 2024, I spotted a woodblock print of a peasant child in a vintage shop. The artist was Kiyoshi Saito, who had come to Seattle for an exhibition in 1955. I purchased it. When I moved to Mukilteo, I put this up in my living room with two other Japanese woodblock prints I’d picked up in Japan, as a sort of goal-setting. Saito’s woodblock print speaks to me the strongest because in its familiarity and simplicity, I feel it is something I could aspire to and achieve. I took up my first printmaking class at Schack Arts Center with Leslie Moon where I was introduced to an art medium that I became not only intrigued with, but obsessed with. I started carving furiously. And I found that I had a need to carve images of people, but particularly children. I have come to accept my unrefined style as my own at this stage in my journey, but hope to mature into a style I can rest in.
PRINTMAKINGCYNTHIA PATSCHKE
My paintings are a process of self-discovery and storytelling, where each brushstroke, color choice, and symbolic element is a reflection of the internal dialogue I carry with myself and the world around me. The use of color in my work is intentional, serving as a language of emotion, and I experiment with hues that feel both personal and universal. The themes of identity and beauty are intricately woven into my work. As an artist with decades of lived experience, I reflect on the ways that time shapes the way we see ourselves, the way others see us, and how we project ourselves into the world. My work is a continual process of searching and redefining, both within the canvas and within my life.
PAINTINGSELENA Tacazon
Dimitri Tasakos is an Everett, WA based Graphic Designer, Illustrator, and Fiber Artist. From crocheting, sewing, rug-making, to fabric collage, his love for textiles is evident in all his work. His interest in cartoons, video games, and character design shows through his ability to blend youthful illustration with seasoned craftsmanship. His unique perspective and attention to detail make for interesting and creative pieces that command attention in any space. With a skein of yarn and a 5 mm crochet hook, Dimitri weaves his imaginations into reality and invites you to join in the fun!
FIBER ARTDIMITRI TASAKOS
My work asserts that jewelry can function as a site of emotional repair, and that self-care can exist as a material practice rather than an abstract concept. This shift is not thematic; it is procedural. I use metal fabrication, enamel, and engraved marks as actual mechanisms to stabilize and reorganize my internal state. Color, surface, and repeated operations become a system of incremental recalibration. I am not representing emotion; I am using craft processes to metabolize it in real time. Each piece is evidence of sustained attention and small acts of tending. When worn on the body, the work becomes a portable tool for ongoing repair. I am interested in how jewelry can hold this dual function clearly and without sentimentality: as a rigorous craft practice—and as a lived site where internal states can be processed, transformed, and carried forward.
SILVERSMITHING/JEWELRYDANNI XU
Adam Wallace is a Pacific Northwest–based glass artist, fabricator, and educator whose work explores the relationship between people and the natural world. Working across kiln cast glass, borosilicate flameworking, and fused glass, he creates pieces inspired by plants, animals, and environments rooted in memory, observation, and personal connection. Influenced by the forests, gardens, and farms that served as childhood safe spaces, Wallace’s work reflects an ongoing fascination with natural form and ecological beauty. He is drawn to the subtle complexities of the organic world, using glass to reinterpret and elevate these forms through material, light, and detail. Through his practice, Wallace seeks to foster a deeper appreciation for nature’s fragility, intricacy, and beauty, inviting viewers to strengthen their own sense of connection to the environments around them.
GLASSADAM WALLACE
