Betty Bowen

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Betty Bowen, born Betty Cornelius in 1918 in Kent, Washington, was an American journalist and promoter of the arts. She earned an English degree from the University of Washington and worked as a reporter for The Seattle Times before becoming the women’s editor for the Seattle Star. She was married to John Bowen, captain of an AT&T ship that laid undersea cables.

Bowen helped found the Seattle Art Museum (SAM). The founding director, Richard Fuller, named her to be the first assistant director. She played a key role in making Pike Place Market a historic site and served on the board of the Friends of the Market.

The Seattle Museum honors her with the annual Betty Bowen Award, which supports artists from the Pacific Northwest who are not yet well known, with prizes up to $10,000. Bowen was an original member of the Seattle Arts Commission, a founding member of the Pacific Northwest Arts and Crafts Center, and helped start the Allied Arts Historic Preservation Committee, later serving as its chair.

She died of a brain tumor in 1977 at the age of 58 and was declared a First Citizen of Seattle two days before her death. The Seattle Art Museum continues to honor her with the Betty Bowen Award. Nearby Marshall Park features the Betty Bowen Viewpoint, offering views of Smith Cove, Elliott Bay, and Puget Sound. The walkway around the viewpoint contains unsigned works by artists including Morris Graves, Margaret Tomkins, Victor Steinbrueck, Guy Anderson, Kenneth Callahan, and Charles Stokes.