Ruth Esther Penington (1905-1998) was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado; her family moved to Seattle in 1907. After graduating high school, she went on to study art at the University of Washington, receiving a B.F.A. in 1927 and an M.F.A. in 1929. Penington continued her studies in summer sessions at Columbia University Teachers College, Carnegie Summer School at the University of Oregon, and at the California College of Arts and Crafts. A faculty member of the University of Washington School of Art, Penington also served as director of the University's Henry Gallery and created her own summer art program, the Fidalgo Summer School of the Allied Arts (located in La Conner, Washington).
Although Penington worked in a variety of media, including painting and printmaking, she was best known for her metalwork and jewelry. She was involved with organizations such as Lambda Rho, Northwest Printmakers, and Friends of the Crafts. These groups worked to promote the arts and to organize exhibitions and sales featuring artists and craftspeople from the Pacific Northwest and beyond. She also was active as craftsman-trustee of American Crafts Council, New York.
The collection consists of seventeen black and white portrait photographs, as well as one color photograph, three pencil sketches of Seattle scenes, and two woodcuts. Only a few of the portraits, made circa 1880, are identified; also included is a modern photograph of Ruth Penington. The pencil sketches depict scenes on Denny Hill in Seattle and appear to have been made circa 1928; the prints date from 1929 and 1936.
The collection is arranged in three series: Photographs, Pencil Sketches, and Woodcuts.
Collection is open to the public.
Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Contact Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries for details.
Ruth Penington donated materials to the University of Washington College of Architecture and Urban Planning in April 1992; the items in this collection were subsequently given to the Plestcheeff Institute for the Decorative Arts.
Donor: Robert Dishmond, Plestcheeff Institute, June 1992.
Processed by Shannon B. Lynch, 2005.
Photographs were relocated from the Ruth Penington Papers, Manuscripts Accession No. 2837-002 in the repository in 2005.
Caption lists the names Mrs. Pennington [sic], Manning, Virginia, Mary, and Florence. The short-haired middle child is probably Mary; the infant may be Manning. Presumably, Virginia or Florence is the first name of the woman.
One caption reads "Laura and John," but another insists that the
woman is "
Item 22 depicts Sacred Heart Church on Denny Hill.
Three nude women among trees.
Abstracted figure.