The second phase of Storefronts Seattle, a pilot program to make vacant storefront space available for creative uses in Pioneer Square and the Chinatown/International District, opens Dec. 2. Seven new art installations, two creative businesses and three participating commercial spaces will join the five existing creative enterprises that moved to storefronts in September for the first phase of the program. The pilot project runs through February 2011.
The storefronts house a variety of projects including a fine woodworking store, a crochet and wood installation and a large-scale metal prehistoric landscape. The artists are: James Barker, Mia Yoshihara-Bradshaw, Christine Chaney, Celeste Cooning, Ben Hirschkoff, Robert Hutchison and Tom Maul, Etta Lilienthal and Ben Zamora, Paul McKee, and Mathew Richter. Click here for information on the artists.
Storefronts Seattle is part of a series that includes artist installations and residencies in storefronts, where visual and performing artists can create, work, rehearse and perform in storefront space. The pilot program began in September in Pioneer Square and the Chinatown/International District, with the possibility of future expansion to other Seattle neighborhoods.
Partner organizations for Storefronts Seattle are the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, Shunpike, Seattle Chinatown/International District Preservation and Development Authority, Chinatown/International District Business Improvement Area and The Alliance for Pioneer Square.
Image: Audience members watching the group AWESOME performing in a Pioneer Square storefront.
Jay Strong says
When you said: “Storefronts Seattle is part of a series that includes artist installations and residencies in storefronts, where visual and performing artists can create, work, rehearse and perform in storefront space.”
I love how progressive this is! I feel the arts are under-served in many places and something like this brings it from a lower visibility activity to literally, center stage. It is obvious there is no social lag in this area. An example for others to follow indeed.