Longtime Schack Art Center Curator Carie Collver Announces Retirement

Carie Collver, the chief curator and longtime gallery director at the Schack Art Center in Everett, is preparing to retire. She will conclude her career at the institution after 35 years of dedicated service. Collver’s journey with the organization began in the early 1990s, starting as a volunteer before rising to become one of its most prominent figures in the local arts community.

In her early twenties, Collver lived in Stanwood and worked as a glass artist at the Pilchuck Glass School. She frequently drove to Everett to purchase glass supplies. During these trips, she often stopped by the Arts Council of Snohomish County, which is now known as the Schack Art Center. At that time, the nonprofit was a small operation with only two employees. Collver described the space as a little hole in the wall. When she found the shop closed, she would volunteer to keep it open, a habit that eventually led to her permanent employment.

Collver recalled the moment she officially joined the staff in an interview on Oct. 13. An employee asked if she could take over the position, and the former employee quit that same day. Collver described the transition as hilarious, noting that was how her long tenure began. Since then, the nonprofit has undergone significant changes, including moving to four different buildings and rebranding as the Schack Art Center in honor of philanthropists John and Idamae Schack.

The center currently occupies a multipurpose building in downtown Everett that opened in 2011. This facility features a hot shop equipped with kilns, torches, and other tools for creating glass and pottery. Collver played a key role in advocating for this investment, noting that it would be the only hot shop located between Seattle and Stanwood. She has since referred to the hot shop as the rock star of the building due to its popularity and utility for local artists.

In a September press release, the Schack Art Center highlighted Collver’s foundational role in the organization’s development. Executive Director Raedle Alburn stated that Collver has provided a welcoming platform for artists to share their work. Alburn noted that Collver opened doors for thousands of artists and curated exhibitions that have inspired the community for decades. The executive director emphasized that Collver’s legacy is defined not just by the shows she created, but by the relationships she built and the artists whose lives she touched.

Over her career, Collver has curated hundreds of exhibitions, featuring works by notable artists such as Guy Anderson, Alden Mason, and Chuck Close. The selection process often involves collaboration with artist guilds for jurying, though Collver and her staff also handle curation independently. She explained that the team strives to match artwork to the general theme of an exhibit while ensuring the pieces fit the physical space of the gallery. She described this balancing act as sometimes being like herding cats.

Collver’s passion for glass art stems from her childhood. Her father, an engineer who owned a construction company, built their family home and frequently installed stained glass windows. As a child, Collver would lie in the living room and watch the light filter through the glass, casting colors across the carpet. This early experience inspired her to pursue a career in glass art, a field that remains one of her personal favorites as a curator.

As she prepares for retirement, Collver described the transition as bittersweet. She looks forward to tending to her garden and doing more cleaning at home. However, she also feels a sense of loss, comparing the departure to leaving a child behind. She expressed confidence that the center will continue to thrive after her departure, but acknowledged that she is leaving something very close to her heart.

Following her retirement, Collver plans to become involved with the Meyer Art Center in Stanwood. This new center is set to open in a retrofitted furniture store. True to her roots, Collver has already offered to return to the Schack Art Center for volunteer work or to help curate shows if needed. She remains committed to supporting the arts community that has defined her professional life for the past three and a half decades.