Annie Polack Collection on the University Unitarian Fine Arts Gallery, 1961-1982

Annie Polack (1908-2009) was the chairperson and director of the University Unitarian Fine Arts Gallery in Seattle, Washington from 1961 to 1980. Annie Ried Polack was born in Vienna, Austria in 1908 and married Hans Max Polack in 1934. The couple immigrated to the US in 1938 and settled in Seattle, Washington. Polack’s parents were both painters and her sister, Trude Ried Hirschmann, worked as a professional artist. Polack’s interest in the arts led her to volunteer at the University Unitarian Fine Arts Gallery where she worked to bring in new artists, install shows, and plan logistics for events. Polack also worked in exhibit installation, exhibit curation, and art selection with the Frye Art Museum, Moldrem Gallery, and Seattle Art Museum. In 1980 the Mayor of Seattle selected Polack as the “First Citizen of the City of Seattle” in recognition of her work for Seattle’s art community.

Sources:

The National Archives at Seattle; Seattle, Washington; ARC Title: Petitions for Naturalization, 1890 - 1991; NAI Number: 592779; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685 - 2009; Record Group Number: 21.

Polack, Annie. “The History of the University Unitarian Fine Arts Gallery.” Seattle, Washington, 1982.

U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014. Provo: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2011.

The University Unitarian Fine Arts Gallery in Seattle, Washington was founded in 1961 with the stated purpose to enrich the lives of University Unitarian Church congregants "through the presence of the fine arts and to provide a showing place for the deserving, the young, or unknown regional artists.” The gallery director Annie Polack stated that the gallery was for “young and unknown artists who had a hard time getting their work shown.” She noted that the gallery was for artists that were not shown in other Seattle galleries due to racial and political discrimination. The gallery was run by a committee of congregants including the gallery chairperson and director Annie Polack, artist and art teacher Dee Raible, and architect Morris Jellison. The gallery featured a number of artists such as Alfredo Arreguin, Richard Gilkey, Sister Miriam Clare Murphy, Kanchoo, Glen La Fontaine, and Cecilia E. Todd. Beginning in 1978 the gallery began showing art less frequently. Today the University Unitarian Church features monthly art exhibits in the church’s Gilmartin Gallery and chapel.

Polack, Annie. “The History of the University Unitarian Fine Arts Gallery.” Seattle, Washington, 1982.

“Volunteer Opportunities.” Accessed December 14, 2017. http://www.uuchurch.org/get-connected/volunteer-opportunities/.