Image: Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU, Pullman
The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU in Pullman, Washington, will mark the opening of three exhibitions on September 3, 2026, with an evening reception launching its new Arts First Thursdays series. The free event, scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m., will feature food, live music, gallery access and appearances by museum staff, special guests, and collector and philanthropist Jordan D. Schnitzer.
The exhibitions are ‘The Mirror that Nature Holds: From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation,’ ‘Jim Hodges: Unearthed (a work in progress),’ and ‘JSMA Collects.’ The opening celebration will take place at the museum’s building on the Washington State University Pullman campus, located at 1535 NE Wilson Road.
‘The Mirror that Nature Holds’ brings together more than 90 works drawn from the collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and his family foundation. The exhibition spans painting, print, sculpture and installation, and examines the natural world as a site of wonder, memory, unease and potential. The museum’s description places the exhibition in dialogue with the philosophical legacy of the sublime, focusing on contemporary artistic responses to landscapes that inspire awe while also signaling environmental precarity.
A curatorial tour will precede the reception from 4 to 5 p.m. Executive director Ryan Hardesty will lead the tour with guest artists Michael Brophy, Zorawar Sidhu and Rob Swainston, offering insight into the curatorial decisions behind ‘The Mirror that Nature Holds.’ Jordan D. Schnitzer is scheduled to provide an introduction. The tour and reception are both free and open to the public.
The exhibition ‘Jim Hodges: Unearthed (a work in progress)’ centers on Hodges’s monumental bronze cast of an uprooted tree stump. According to the museum, the work’s truncated form carries both majesty and a mournful reminder of human impact on the natural world. The sculpture was previously displayed in 2019 at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, where it was accompanied by rites of faith, musical performances, readings and community participation. Its presentation at WSU is described as its second residency.
The museum plans to develop that presentation through a fall performance series. On September 23, WSU School of Music faculty member Ruth Boden will respond to ‘Unearthed’ with cello and spoken word during a free, drop-in performance from noon to 1 p.m. Additional programming listed by the museum includes a performance by the Palouse Choral Society Chamber Choir on October 10.
Arts First Thursdays will continue with after-hours programming at the museum, combining access to current exhibitions with live local music and small bites from Palouse-area restaurants. The museum has listed further evenings for October 1 and November 5, 2026, and February 4 and March 4, 2027. The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU has 10,000 square feet of exhibition space and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
