Joey Veltkamp: SPIRIT! is on view at Bellevue Arts Museum May 20–October 23, 2022

Bellevue, WA—Bremerton-based artist Joey Veltkamp is bringing his colorful quilts and multimedia works to Bellevue for a new solo exhibition at BAM. Joey Veltkamp: SPIRIT!, which opens at Bellevue Arts Museum on May 20, celebrates the artist’s decorated career working in the Pacific Northwest.

The exhibition will feature over 30 works by Veltkamp—including an array of soft paintings, quilts, flags, and sculptures. The exhibition will also feature a resurrection of Pantry, Veltkamp’s ongoing collaboration with his partner Ben Gannon, in which local berries and flowers are used to make conceptual jams and jellies.

Veltkamp’s work is heavily influenced by the beauty of the Puget Sound, its myriad quirky places, and the people who call this region home. He elevates mundane objects—a roadside milkshake menu board, or the names of retired Washington state ferries—into nostalgic reminders of happy moments. Often combining image and text, the tone of Veltkamp’s work is usually cheeky, sometimes darkly humorous, but always optimistic.

Veltkamp’s quilts have previously appeared at BAM in Bellwether 2018 and as part of the Museum’s rotating display of featured objects by emerging and established artists. SPIRIT! is his first solo museum exhibition.

About the artist

Joey Veltkamp is a multimedia queer folk artist whose work centers fiber arts. Born in Montana, Veltkamp has lived in the Seattle area for over half his life and has been active in the local arts scene for the past fifteen years. Veltkamp produces most of his art in his home studio in Bremerton, Washington.

About Bellevue Arts Museum

Bellevue Arts Museum provides a public forum for the community to contemplate, appreciate, and discuss visual culture. We work with audiences, artists, makers, and designers to understand our shared experience of the world. bellevuearts.org.

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