A new AAWAA chapter is developing to support the work of visual, literary, and performing artists in the Pacific NW. The new AAWAA-Pacific NW organization is devoted to helping artists, writers, performing and performance artists, as well as digital artists get their work seen and heard from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia.

Anita Merina from Bellingham has accepted the position to Chair the new AAWAA-PNW.

Merina is a Filipino-American glass artist based in Bellingham, Washington. She creates contemporary art glass and jewelry for the gallery, home, and personal adornment and is inspired and influenced by her Ivatan/Filipino heritage, experiences as a Filipina-American, and the elements of fire, water, earth, air, and culture.

A writer and editor for 30 years and advocate for diverse voices in children’s literature, she discovered kiln-formed glass in 2008 and hasn’t looked back. Her work includes kiln-forming, casting, screen and powder-printing and imagery She is member of the National Capital Glass Guild and Glass Art Society. She served as a studio artist for Kari Minnick studios and at the Art Glass Center at Glen Echo in Glen Echo, Maryland. In 2019, she participated in CollaboratioNZ in Whangarei, New Zealand and returns there for CollaborationNZ 2023. She is inspired by artists Pacita Abad, Sylvia Aditi Levenson, and Ruth Asawa. She is a member of Crafting the Future, an organization dedicated to paving the way for more BIPOC artists in Glass and other mediums.

Now a Pacific Northwest artist, she is a member of the Whatcom County Artists Guild, Waterfront Artists, and Whatcom Artist Studio Tour.

AAWAA-PNW also just held their first meeting on Tuesday, February 21st on Zoom! If you are interested in joining, meeting up with AAWAA-PNW members and learning how to support AAPI arts in the PNW, contact Anita at merinastudio@gmail.com.

You can also find her at the links below:

merinastudio.com
facebook.com/amerinaglassworks
@merinaglasswork on IG