GALA BENT (b. 1975 Pontiac, Michigan, USA)
galabent@gmail.com
EDUCATION
MFA (Master of Fine Arts), Interdisciplinary Visual Arts : State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY) Buffalo, New York, 1999
BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts), Painting, Art History minor: Ball State University Muncie, Indiana, 1997
SOLO/Two-person EXHIBITIONS
2027 (upcoming) Solo exhibition Whitworth University, Spokane, WA
2026 A Woman Awash J.Rinehart Gallery
2024 Greening: Sabbatical Work The Behnke Family Gallery, Seattle WA
2023 The Garden at Night solo exhibition at J.Rinehart Gallery, Seattle, WA
2022 Quiet Moments w/ Anne Hirondelle and Ellen George. J.Rinehart Gallery, Seattle WA
Visiting Artist Exhibition Mount Angel Abbey, Alvar Aalto Library, Mount Angel, OR
2020 At the Edge of the Sky Foster White Gallery in partnership with G.Gibson Projects for Seattle Deconstructed Art Fair, Seattle, WA
2019 UnderWaterOuterSpace Nightingale Gallery, Eastern Oregon Univ, LaGrande, OR
You Go Ahead (No You First) Round 2 4Culture Gallery, Seattle, WA
2017 Particle Playlist G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
2016 Biographic G.Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
Everything Seems to be Coming Together Whitworth University Bryan Oliver Gallery, Spokane, WA
2015 A Chorus for the Multiverse G.Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
2013 The Ether and the Mantle G.Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
A Building for Breathing collaborative exhibition with Serrah Russell at Gage Academy
Violet Strays digital exhibition in conjunction with “36 Chambers” Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA
2012 Geology of Longing G.Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
2011 O Mountain G.Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
2009 Plans for the New City Half/Dozen Gallery Portland, OR
Overgrown Gallery 4Culture, Seattle, WA
2008 Warm Blooded Seattle Pacific Art Center, Seattle, WA
Home on the Range Studio Intensive Residency (with Zack Bent), Crawl Space Gallery, Seattle, WA
2007 Lark Books Asheville, NC
2006 Naturelle Harrison Center for the Arts, Indianapolis, IN (with Penelope Dullaghan)
2004 Underpinning Harrison Center for the Arts, Indianapolis, IN (with Zack Bent)
2002 Fruition: New Work by Gala Bent Taylor University in Upland, IN Gordy Fine Art in Muncie, IN
2000 Dynamic Stabilization Exercises Mitchell Place Gallery, Muncie, IN
1999 MFA Thesis Exhibition Center for Research + Culture, SUNY Buffalo, NY
RECENT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 (upcoming) The Understory National Cathedral, Washington DC
2025 Telephone A juried art game including 1,388 original, interconnected works by artists from more than 900 cities in 65 countries.
Tempo/Tempus STG Gallery at Kerry Hall, curated by Gayle Clemans, Seattle, WA
2024 Dark Times J.Rinehart Gallery, Seattle WA
Spotlight North Artists Shoreline City Hall, Shoreline, WA
MAD Studio MADArt, Seattle, WA
2021 Off the Wall J.Rinehart Gallery, Seattle WA
Always On: Art and Motherhood (Curated by Kelda Martensen) SOIL gallery, Seattle, WA
Shaun Kardinal Art Museum (SKAM) Museum of Museums (MoM), Seattle, WA
2019 Coiffed (Curated by Nola Avienne) SOIL gallery, Seattle, WA
Fell from the Sky G.Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
2018 Seattle Art Fair Seattle, with G.Gibson Gallery, WA 2017
Sunnudagssíðdegi Með Listamönnum (Sunday Afternoon Exhibition) Blue Bank, Þingeri, Iceland
2016 Matched Makers: Northwest Artist Couples Northwest Museum of Art, La Conner, WA
Nine Evenings Squared (9e2) King Street Station, Seattle WA
2015 Knew Normal (curated by Nancy Zastudil and including Dario Robleto, Mel Chin and Ryan Pierce) 516ARTS, Albuquerque, NM
Dwell (with Eirik Johnson, Lori Nix and Julie Blackmon et al) G.Gibson Gallery Seattle, WA
Out of Sight (Curated by Kirsten Anderson, Sierra Stinson, Sharon Arnold and Greg Lundgren) King Street Station, Seattle, WA
The Work In Between (curated and commissioned by Karen Brummund) Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI
2014 Sitka Invitational Portland, OR
NEPO 5K Seattle, WA
Strange Coupling with Nicholas Strobelt, Seattle, WA
2013 Concerns for the Environment Vessel Gallery, Oakland, CA
TEDxPDX exhibition and auction TED conference, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, OR
Stormy Weather Archimedes Gallery, Cannon Beach, OR
APRIL fest Vignettes, Seattle, WA
Atmospheric Weather Exhibition of Artwork from Seattle Public Utilities Collection, Seattle, WA
GALLERY AFFILIATION J.Rinehart Gallery – Seattle WA
AWARDS + RESIDENCIES
2022 Mount Angel Institute, Mount Angel Abbey, Oregon
2018 Two Dot Residency, Two Dot, Montana
2017 Westfjords Residency, Þingeri, Iceland
2016 NEPO Travel Agency Residency, Brno, Czech Republic
2014 Nomination for Northwest Art Awards Portland Art Museum
Inaugural Print Residency Seattle Pacific University
2013 CityArts Best of Fall Art Walk Awards First Place
2012 The Neddy at Cornish Finalist
2011 Jordan Schnitzer Printmaking Residency, with Master Printmaker Julia D'Amario, Sitka Center for Art and Ecology (Oct 2011)
Artist Trust GAP grant, Seattle WA
4Culture Individual Artist Grant, Seattle WA 2011
2008 CityArtist Grant Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, City of Seattle 2010
Artist Trust GAP grant, Seattle WA
Crawl Space Gallery Residency, Seattle WA
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Microsoft Art Collection – Redmond, WA
Washington State Art Collection – Seattle, WA
Seattle Public Utilities Portable Works Collection – Seattle, WA
Swedish Hospital – Seattle, WA
Jordan Schnitzer Print Collection, Portland, OR
Taylor University - Upland, IN
Ball State University –College of Arts – Muncie, IN
Peninsula College- Port Angeles, WA
S E L E C T E D P U B L I S H E D I L L U S T R A T I O N / A N I M A T I O N
John Allen Taylor: To Let the Sun (cover art) University of Arkansas Press, 2025
Presence: An International Journal of Spiritual Direction-Companionship (cover art) 30.2 June 2024
A World from Dust: How the Periodic Table Shaped Life (28 illustrations in support of biochemistry text) Dr. Ben McFarland, Oxford University Press, March 2016
REI: Force of Nature (commissioned illustration for t-shirt series benefiting girls’ access to the outdoors), campaign with products in all REI stores nationwide, 2017
Poetry Northwest (cover art and Back/Draft) Volume VII, Issue 2, Fall & Winter 2012-13
Polyphonic Spree: Happy Xmas (War is Over) (animated music video), 2012
Yen Magazine (commissioned illustration/interview), issue 56 (p.56), Australia 2012
Madison Journal of Literary Criticism (cover art), Spring 2012
Helado Negro: Obra Uno (animated music video) 2011
Our Beautiful Robotic Hearts (cover art), Writers in the Schools: A Program of Seattle Arts & Lectures, Student Poetry & Prose 2010/11
Shannon Stephens Self-titled album (art and design for CD/LP), Asthmatic Kitty Records, 2010
Magnética Magazine issue 21 (pg. 71), Lisbon, Portugal, August 2010
Maguila Magazine issue #14, Sao Paolo, Brazil, January 2010
Paper Spaceship (cover and feature) Brooklyn, NY, December 2009
The Stranger (cover art) Nov 19 - 25, 2009 Vol. 19, No. 11 Seattle, WA
Harvey Danger: Dead Sea Scrolls (cover art) 2009
Castanets: City of Refuge + Castanets vs. Ero: Dub Refuge (cover art and design for 2 CDs/LPs), Asthmatic Kitty Records 2008
Encyclopedia Asthmatica, Vol I + II (design, animation and illustration for DVD collection), Asthmatic Kitty Records, 2008/2010
Rivet Magazine R19 The Power Issue July 2007 Ill. “Redcloud” p.26
