Reflecting ideas of solar energy, sustainability, and emergency preparedness while embracing and reflecting community is the new challenge facing artist Julia Harrison. The Miller Community Center in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood will be outfitted later this year with solar panels and an innovative Microgrid System in a joint effort between Seattle City Light and Seattle Parks and Recreation. The new public art project in tandem with this effort will feature an interior artwork that both reflects the communities in and around Miller Community Center. It also speaks deeply to the project goals of the Solar Microgrid Project and the overall mission of Seattle City Light.
A selection panel, including members of the community and professional and emerging artists spent two full days reviewing 27 applications and interviewing four finalists. Harrison was ultimately selected based upon her vast repertoire of media that illustrates her concept driven practice that informs form and media. Additionally, her past work and experience as an ethnographic anthropologist provides a unique opportunity for outreach and engagement through interviews with the Miller Community Center patrons during this unique time of isolation.
The Miller Community Center is currently serving members of the community as an emergency homeless shelter as part of Seattle’s COVID-19 emergency response. The Solar Microgrid project provides emergency power supply to this neighborhood community center. The artwork will provide a space for reflection on resiliency as Harrison develops her concept, which is scheduled to install in 2021.
Julia Harrison is a Seattle-based artist, anthropologist, and educator. As an anthropologist, she specializes in conducting research and interviews on food; She gives regular presentations through Humanities Washington. As an artist, she specializes in carving, working in a variety of materials and at a range of scales. Her work has appeared in magazines, books, and in exhibitions around the country, most recently the “Face First” exhibition at the Bainbridge Island.