Rooney, Alice, 1926-2019

Born in 1926 in Seattle, Washington, Alice Rooney was a retired arts administrator who led Allied Arts of Seattle, the Pilchuck Glass School, and the Glass Art Society. Rooney studied English with a minor in economics and business at the University of Washington (BA, 1947), and she spent her first years out of school writing radio ads and newsletters for a broadcasting company in New York City. She soon returned to Seattle and worked for more than a decade at Wallace v. MacKay Advertising Company and as a part time executive secretary for the American Institute of Architects Seattle chapter. Rooney joined Allied Arts of Seattle in 1960 as the organization’s manager. Advocating for urban design and the arts, the group worked to preserve many historic Seattle monuments throughout Rooney’s tenure, including Pike Place Market. In 1980, Rooney accepted the directorship at the Pilchuck Glass School, overseeing a decade of growth and an increasingly international network of instructors and students. Her final job was as executive director of the Glass Art Society, where she worked from 1990 to 1996. Rooney has also been an active board member at both the Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle and the American Craft Council, among others. In honor of her many contributions to the arts, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Glass Arts Society in 1998 and a Cultural Service Award from the King County Arts Commission in 1990. Alice Rooney was elected an Honorary Fellow of the American Craft Council in 2001.