STAFF PICKS: Visual Arts with Catherine Merlo

Catherine Merlo is the Senior Individual Giving Officer at Seattle Opera. She is a Vermeer chaser, a 20th century architectural history buff, and an avid home cook. 

Here is what Catherine has been up to during Washington's "Stay Home, Stay Healthy" order:

• Planning her next trip to see Vermeer – one step closer to achieving her goal of seeing all 35 canon paintings by the age of 35 – next up: the UK. 
  

• Reading the LA Conservancy’s latest study on how preservation positively impacts affordable housing, sustainability, and our economy. 
  

• Dreaming of bringing the multimedia opera A Marvelous Order, an exploration of the battle for the soul of New York City between Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs – with a libretto by Tracy K. Smith – to Tagney Jones Hall someday. 

• Combining her love of the Netherlands, Turkey, and baking by perfecting her homemade poffertjes and simit recipes.
  

• Scouring the internet for reinterpretations of Dutch master paintings – both within the art world and on social media.
  

• Catching up on back issues of Eaten Magazine, and reading their weekly newsletters which include articles from all over that contextualize food within our larger culture (last month’s led to this great tip on how to live our best Georgia O’Keefe lives – even if we can’t be in New Mexico) 
  

• Revisiting the complete discography of the Weepies…because who doesn’t need a little sunshine right now?