Partner Pamelea "Mea" Hartman

Queer Places:
1112 Broadway E, Seattle, WA 98102
Cornish College of the Arts - Kerry Hall, 710 E Roy St, Seattle, WA 98102

Karen Irvin (1909 - March 2, 1999) joined the Cornish school in 1945 after being a student there since the 1920s, with additional studies in New York. By the late 1930s, Irvin was a noted local performer and dance instructor, along with her lesbian accompanist Catherine Rogers, who remained a fixture at Cornish for several decades. Around 1952, when Irvin became head of the dance department, she met Mea Hartman, and they soon became lovers. In 1956 the two women, along with close friend and artist Malcom Roberts, founded the Cornish Ballet. Irvin, Hartman, and Roberts guided the ballet into becoming the leading regional company of the time. Besides Irvin's choreography, the trio designed and built the stage sets, made the costumes, and even sold tickets. Irvin remained head of the department for 27 years, during which time the ballet company continued to prosper.

Born in Hastings, Pennsylvania, circa 1910, Karen Irvin moved with her family to Seattle, Washington at age 8. It was there that she began to study ballet with Caird Leslie, Lee Foley, and ultimately with Nellie Cornish of the Cornish School (now Cornish College of the Arts). She studied briefly in New York, then returned to the Northwest where she opened a ballet studio in West Seattle. Irvin joined the Cornish faculty in 1945, and in 1952 she became head of the Institution's dance department. Four years later, she co-founded Cornish Ballet -- an early contributor to the regional ballet movement -- with her longtime companion, Mea Hartman. Irvin headed the dance department at Cornish for 27 years, and was responsible for designing the College's dance degree program. She trained dancers for companies such as the Joffrey Ballet, Twyla Tharp Dance, the Pennsylvania Ballet, and National Ballet of Canada, and worked to raise Seattle's stature in the dance world.

Miss Irvin died of heart failure on March 2, 1999, at the age of 89.

Courtesy of Steve Heck

My published books:

BACK TO HOME PAGE

• Archives West: Karen Irvin photograph and poster collection, circa 1900-1994 (orbiscascade.org)
• The Lavender Palette: Gay Culture and the Art of Washington (2020), David F. Martin
• Looking Back, Moving Forward: A Centennial Tribute to Nellie Cornish & the Cornish College of the Arts – Cascadia Art Museum