Lita Bacus, Junior Studio Art major and Art History minor, shares about their internship The Cotton Wool in Walla Walla, WA
“My name is Lita Bacus, and I’m a rising junior studio art major and art history minor and this summer, I have been interning at The Cotton Wool. The Cotton Wool is a “hyper-local”, modern art gallery in downtown Walla Walla that highlights art based in traditional craft. Its selection rotates regularly and showcases about a dozen craftspeople and artists at a time. The mediums include (but are not limited to) textile craft, woodworking, basket-weaving, ceramics, embroidery, and paper craft. The mission is to provide a space for art that doesn’t fit into the current modern art gallery space. Craft has always been seen as a lesser form of art in the contemporary art world. There is a fascinating history, with sexist and racist roots. This history still holds up the systems that are in charge of displaying art today. The mediums alone continue to have connotations, even when used in contexts more in line with contemporary art.
The gallery gives a space for local Walla Walla craft-based artists to show and 
sell their work, creating a local community of makers. The gallery is also Kim Nemeth’s full weaving studio. While I haven’t yet had the chance to use the loom, I’ve had a glimpse into the life of an artist juggling the demands of making work, doing commissions, and running a small business.
One of my main projects has been interviewing our artists, documenting their creative spaces, and turning these insights into artist biographies for our website. Something that our gallery is known for is the local, personableness of the items that we sell. Customers like knowing about who they are buying from, this allows them to be able to see the hand crafted item from start to finish. The bio’s have also been a great way for me to meet Walla Walla artists and have great conversations with them and about my future after this internship.
We recently opened a new show, which gave me an opportunity to network with the showcased artists, other local creatives, and gallery supporters. The process of curating and setting up a themed show was a valuable learning experience, exposing me to the extensive backstage work required, from coordinating with artists to arranging the artwork in the space.
This internship has given me a deeper understanding of the complex history of craft, and has changed the way I view fine art. This new knowledge has encouraged me to explore more mediums in my own work and has forced me to think about the connotations that the specific chosen medium has. I’ve met interesting people and had great conversations about art. And I’ve gotten to experience the fun and the not-so-fun nitty gritty of having a small business.”