As a beneficiary of the generosity and vision embodied in Peter Cooper’s educational endowment, Pamela experienced firsthand how access can change a life. She arrived in New York City penniless in 1976 and graduated from Cooper Union with a degree in architecture in 1985. Inspired by Peter Cooper’s example, Pamela chose to use her training to open doors and build community, spending the next four decades pursuing creative endeavors in service to others.
Pamela’s proudest accomplishment is co-founding Gage Academy of Art in Seattle with her late husband, Gary Faigin. Grounded in the belief that rigorous arts education should exist beyond elite or exclusionary systems, Gage grew from a small summer program into a vital cultural and educational resource—serving artists at every stage of life and strengthening Seattle’s creative ecosystem. Pamela’s experience at Cooper Union, together with her husband’s training and teaching at the Art Students League, deeply informed Gage’s guiding values: excellence without elitism, and opportunity without gatekeeping.
From 1989 to 2013, Pamela led Gage from its beginnings as a summer school in Santa Fe to its permanent home in Seattle. Today, the Academy offers more than 360 classes annually across two campuses, enrolling over 3,400 students. With a strong commitment to access, Gage provides more than $113,000 each year in tuition assistance and scholarships, along with numerous free and low-cost workshops and community programs.
In 2001, Pamela launched Teen Art Studios, a free, year-round program for teens ages 13–19 from all backgrounds, identities, and experiences. Each year, approximately 1,500 teens from across King County participate in evening drop-in sessions at three locations. Professional teaching artists introduce a new subject each month; all materials are provided—and pizza is always served.
Through her consulting firm, BelyeaConsult, Pamela helps artists and collectors develop meaningful cultural legacies. From 2013 to 2015, working closely with artist Ann Morris, she negotiated the transfer of Sculpture Woods, a 15-acre sculpture park and studio, to Western Washington University to serve as an artist retreat for students and faculty. She has also stewarded the distribution of significant artists’ estates and arranged the appraisal and donation of major artworks to Northwest institutions, including Cascadia Art Museum, Gage Academy of Art, and Housing Hope.
In 2020, Pamela and her husband established the Ben Faigin Music Opportunity Fund in memory of their son, a classically-trained cellist. The fund underwrites music scholarships and performance opportunities for underrepresented and youth from low-income families in Seattle and Tacoma. Under her continuing leadership, the fund affirms the transformative power of music and the belief that every young person deserves the opportunity to pursue their creative aspirations. Pamela hosts an annual fundraising event to sustain this work.
Pamela is the 2026 recipient of the CUAA Peter Cooper Public Service Award and a member of The Cooper Union Hall of Fame.
Pamela’s commitment to public service extends beyond the arts. In response to personal loss, she founded the Grievers Library in 2020, based on the belief that people experiencing grief should not have to navigate their pain without access to information, inspiration, and hope.
Volunteer-run and community-supported, the Grievers Library operates ten book boxes stocked with free grief books throughout the Seattle area, a Sanctuary Wind Phone where visitors can “call” their lost loved ones, a Wind Phone Lending Library, and digital resources in English, Mandarin, and soon Spanish. In 2025 alone, the Library distributed 2,143 books and reached visitors from 56 countries through its website. Through these efforts, the Grievers Library provides comfort, dignity, and human connection to the often-silent sufferers in our midst.
Websites:
Gage Academy of Art: www.GageAcademy.org
Cultural Legacy Planning: www.BelyeaConsult.com
Music Scholarships: www.BenFaigin/Bens-Fund
Grievers Library: www.GrieversLibrary.org