Tools and builders are a substantial throughline in Jacob Lawrence's work, especially in his later work done while in Seattle. He celebrates the work of the people building the spaces and infrastructure of our collective future, imagines the role of the artist right alongside them, and honors the timeless tools that make this possible—chisels, hammers, hand saws, wood planers.

All this has pushed us to ask, what are our tools here in the gallery? What are we building together? What new tools might further this work?

Shared Tools brings together artists and organizations attempting to imagine otherwise for museums and galleries, offering up several prompts and tools for our community to consider and take on. A moment of reflection and experimentation, this exhibition will turn the gallery into a site for ongoing research into how we embody our mission.