I knew it was coming, and it was still a bit of a shock: Last week, over coffee, Consolidated Works' visual art director Meg Shiffler broke it to me that she was, indeed, leaving Seattle. This fall, she'll begin the graduate program at Bard College's Center for Curatorial Studies in upstate New York--an excellent move for her, and a sad one for us. Meg cofounded ConWorks in 1997 with Matthew Richter, and brought a distinct style to each show she curated there: a thoughtful and intellectually rigorous, but not overweening, hand. She was also a lot of fun and a good friend... goodness, there goes that eulogizing tone again.

I've been hearing a lot of similar threats around town--from art people who have worked their asses off and are considered more or less established (although not necessarily fusty). Is Meg's departure perhaps the first wave of a new mass exodus?

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Does anyone realize how big it is that the Typing Explosion are going to the Venice Biennale? Not only will they be at Gallery Holly Snapp in mid-June, but they'll be at the Guggenheim's American pavilion--along with artist Fred Wilson, who is representing America at the most important art show in the world. Perhaps my promiscuous use of italics will underscore, emphasize, and reiterate that you should attend a fundraising gig for these talented ladies, featuring the world premiere of their new work, This is a Test, Thursday, June 5, at the Little Theatre. Go.

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I had been hearing rumors about a big shutdown at Chihuly, Inc.--layoffs, studios closing, the whole apocalypse. This, in the opinion of the artist's publicist, Janet Makela, is untrue. "The studios are not closed," she told me. "What's been done, prudently, at this time, is to implement right-sizing. It's in no way a cutback in Dale's work, shows, or exhibitions, but an effort to allow Dale to spend more time working in the studio." Makela didn't have, when I asked her, an exact count of exactly how many layoffs "right-sizing" entails; the rumor mill has suggested 30. The rumor mill has also suggested that perhaps we have reached a critical mass of Chihuly tchotchkes, although somewhat less, shall we say, kindly. EMILY HALL

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Gossipy intrigue lit up the theater world following the May 28 Corporate Council for the Arts luncheon, where keynote speaker Bagley Wright delivered a jab-heavy address rigged with far-from-subtle potshots at such financial and artistic embarrassments as ACT and Seattle Rep artistic director Sharon Ott. Speaking of Ms. Ott, her mumbling mug has been lighting up cable TV screens across the nation via the E! True Hollywood Story of Family Ties' Justine Bateman, whom Ott directed in a play at Berkeley Rep during one of Ms. Bateman's unfortunate episodes with a psychotic stalker. ADDISON DEWITT