This month we explore art, creativity and resilience. These three themes are intertwined and made whole in our feature story about Korean American artist Samantha Yun Wall. Barbara Lloyd McMichael has written an excellent article about this astonishing artist whose first   major solo exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum explores cultural duality, memory, and societal stigma. In the third part of a three-part series, The Roots of Resentment (Revisiting John Rawls), Rosemary Curran examines how to equalize the playing field between the elite oligarchs and all the rest of us. Annie Searle’s article, What Does it Take to Effect Change, reminds us that it’s important to remember that DHS contains not only ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), but also the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Coast Guard.  In Belle’s Big Burden, women have been spurned and rejected since the beginning of time, but unlike Belle Burden, they don’t land a multi-million dollar book deal. The oil painting The Threatened Swan, created around 1650 by Dutch Artist Jan Asselijn, is our top pick for February. A great painting has many meanings. Each month we will feature a work of art that, on some level, speaks to all of us.  ––Patricia Vaccarino

Korean American artist Samantha Yun Wall explores cultural duality, memory, and societal stigma in her first major solo exhibition, which opened earlier this month at the Seattle Art Museum and runs through October 4.

A great painting has many meanings. The oil painting of The Threatened Swan by Dutch Artist Jan Asselijn was created around 1650. The swan appears to be threatened by a dog rearing its ugly head. Some claim the swan is mute. The swan could be protecting its cygnets, as they often ride on their mother’s back, although none are seen.