Art Beat Blog Office of Arts & Culture

Art Beat

Office of Arts & Culture news and events

Vote to make over the Mural, rock out at open house May 2

by Leave a Comment

Bet you’ve had some memorable times at the Seattle Mural. It’s the setting for countless concerts and festivals. We need your VOTE to help us reel in six figures in preservation funds to restore this public artwork!

The mid-century, glass mosaic masterpiece serves as a colorful backdrop for the Mural Amphitheatre at Seattle Center. It’s pushing 50, and it’s showing its age. Many of its pieces are missing, faded or cracked. It needs a facelift.

Come on down to Seattle Center’s Mural Amphitheatre, noon to 5 p.m., Sunday, May 2 for an open house, featuring a free performance 2 to 3 p.m. by Seattle indie-pop band Slender Means. The celebration will also feature collage crafts for kids, a mural cake and 1962 World’s Fair memorabilia.

With your support, we can revitalize this landmark artwork in time for the 50th anniversary of the 1962 World’s Fair. The mural was commissioned for the fair and designed by acclaimed Northwest artist Paul Horiuchi. It’s one of 25 worthy Seattle-Puget Sound area projects in the running for a Partners in Preservation grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express, which will dole out $1 million in grants to historic sites throughout the region.

Online votes will determine which project walks away with full funding. So vote for the mural every day, once a day, through May 12!

City Hall exhibition explores Asian-American culture, reception April 22

by Leave a Comment


Heritage, identity, history, memory, coexistence and freedom are just a few of the themes investigated in the exhibition American/Asian: A Tale of New Cultures on view April 15 through June 14 at City Hall. Curated by ArtXchange Gallery, the exhibition presents works by 14 regional artists who explore their identity as Asian-Pacific Americans in the Pacific Northwest. The artworks include mixed media, painting, photography, encaustic and scroll cut wood sculpture.

The exhibition features artworks by MalPina Chan, Carina A. del Rosario, Deborah Kapoor, Chiyo Sanada with Barbara McConkey, June Sekiguchi, Arun Sharma, William Song, Joseph Songco, Jonathan Wakuda Fischer, Barry Wong, Dean Wong, Frederic Wong, and Mia Yoshihara-Bradshaw.

Meet the artists at a reception, 4 to 6 p.m., Thursday, April 22 in City Hall lobby.

Image: Chiyo Sanada and Barbara McConkey, Coexistence Series: Soul (detail), 2009, giclee print, 20″ x 16″.

Head south for artsy Earth Day celebration

by Leave a Comment


If you missed Mandy Greer’s temporary public art installation, Mater, Matrix, Mother and Medium, at Camp Long last summer, check it out at the Herbert Bayer Earthworks at Earthworks Park in Kent on Earth Day, 7 to 8:30 p.m., this Thursday, April 22.

Mater, Matrix, Mother and Medium was originally commissioned by the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs with Seattle Public Utilities 1% for Art funds. Last spring, Greer hosted a string of crocheting circles. The result was a 200-foot fiber “river” of blue yarn and recycled fabric that flowed through the trees near Camp Long’s Polliwog Pond in West Seattle.

For Earth Day, Greer will install a river of blue yarn above Mill Creek at Earthworks Park. The Earthworks, an environmental artwork and local landmark, is a fitting place to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. The evening’s activities will include Greer’s art installation, leaf boats with environmental artist Kristin Tollefson, music by the Paul Rucker Quintet and a performance by acornDance at sundown.

The event is part of 4Culture’s SITE SPECIFIC Performance Network and is presented by the Kent Arts Commission. The free, all-ages event will go on rain or shine. Click here for directions.

Image: Mandy Greer, Mater Matrix Mother and Medium, 2009, fiber. Located at Camp Long in West Seattle. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Make Over the Mural with your Vote!

by Leave a Comment

Your vote can help us reel in six figures in preservation funds to restore the Seattle Mural. This mid-century, glass mosaic masterpiece serves as a colorful backdrop for the Mural Amphitheatre at Seattle Center. It’s pushing 50, and it’s showing its age. Many of its pieces are missing, faded or cracked. It needs a facelift.

With your support, we can revitalize this landmark public artwork in time for the 50th anniversary of the 1962 World’s Fair. The mural was commissioned for the fair and designed by acclaimed Northwest artist Paul Horiuchi.

It’s one of 25 worthy Seattle-Puget Sound area projects in the running for a Partners in Preservation grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express, which announced this week they will dole out $1 million in grants to historic sites throughout the region.

Online votes will determine which project walks away with full funding. So vote for the mural every day, once a day, through May 12.

It’s easy as 1, 2, 3!

1) Register online at the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s website. Your registration information is confidential. It will not be shared

2) Vote for the mural once every day through May 12. You can also share your stories and photos of the site.

3) Spread the word to your friends and family.

The mural has led a colorful life. It set the stage for early performances by popular Seattle bands, including Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains. It remains a popular venue for concerts, outdoor movies and cultural celebrations.

Thank you for helping us to restore this artistic and cultural landmark and preserve a gathering place for generations to come!

Join us at Seattle Center’s Mural Amphitheatre, noon to 5 p.m., Sunday, May 2 for an open house. We’ll celebrate the Seattle Mural with live music (act to be announced soon), collage crafts and cake. Come on down!

Mid-career artists work at Seattle Municipal Tower Gallery, reception April 13

by Leave a Comment

 
Visit the Seattle Municipal Tower Gallery and see paintings, photographs, works on paper, sculpture, ceramics, baskets and mixed media artworks by 20 mid-career Northwest artists. The exhibition runs through July 2 and includes 21 artworks. The artworks were recently purchased for Seattle Public Utilities’ Portable Works Collection.
 
Meet the artists at a reception, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 13 at Seattle Municipal Tower Gallery.

Seattle Public Utilities’ Portable Works Collection is exhibited throughout SPU’s offices, engaging both employees and the public and creating an interesting and diverse work environment. The purchase was made possible with city 1% for Art funds.

Image: Marie Watt, Signature #1, 2009, reclaimed wool, satin bindings, thread, 26″ x 29″. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Hammering Man gearing up to get back to work

by 1 Comment

We’re pleased to announce Hammering Man reported to work today and should be fit for duty by the evening shift. Contractors are working to reattach his arm right now.

In case you haven’t noticed, Hammering Man has been on an extended medical leave of sorts. We turned him off last summer when we discovered a bulge in his shoulder while applying a fresh coat of paint. The diagnosis – the artistic equivalent of rotator cuff surgery. Contractors rebuilt the dual gear cone drive, electric motor and lead counterweight system that powers the arm. They also resurfaced and repainted his 18-foot, 1,900-pound arm.

The iconic, 48-foot tall sculpture by Jonathan Borofsky represents the working man. Since his installation in 1992 at the downtown Seattle Art Museum, Hammering Man has logged nearly 90,000 hours, resting his arm each evening and every year on Labor Day. All that repetitive motion added up to a lot of wear and tear on the sculpture, which is part of the city’s public art collection.

Hammering Man, sidelined due to disability in the midst of the recession, is an apt metaphor for the times. Last month, the economy posted its biggest job gain in three years. Perhaps Hammering Man’s return to work is a sign of better things to come? We hope so.

Join in conversation about artists’ role in Central Waterfront plans, April 13

by Leave a Comment

For many years, Seattle’s Central Waterfront has been the focus of planning, design charrettes and discussion. With work related to the Alaskan Way Viaduct, Alaskan Way Seawall and many associated projects about to launch, the city’s Public Art Advisory Committee (PAAC) invites you to join in a discussion about the role artists can play in the visioning of this significant urban design effort. Please join PAAC committee members for a conversation 2:30 to 3:45 p.m., Tuesday, April 13 at the Seattle Municipal Tower, room 4105.

Please RSVP to Ruri Yampolsky, Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs’ public art program director.

Photo by Erik Stuhaug.

Northwest art exhibition at Seattle Public Library, Central Branch

by Leave a Comment

Visit Seattle Public Library, Central Branch, and see a new exhibition of Northwest art through October. The exhibition is at 1000 Fourth Ave., Level 8 Gallery.  Artworks include paintings by Kenneth Callahan and Paul Horiuchi, sculpture by James Winston Washington, Jr., and more.

Or browse the library’s online collection of more than 100 historical photographs of Seattle and 85 Northwest artworks, including drawings, paintings and prints from artists such as Mark Tobey,  Helmi Juvonen, and others. Go here to view.

For more information about the library’s Northwest art exhibition and collections, contact Jodee Fenton, (206) 386-4610.

Image: Merlin Enabnit, Two Riders (detail), 1934, watercolor. On view at Seattle Public Library, Central Branch.

Reception for Pratt Fine Arts Center exhibition at City Hall, March 25

by Leave a Comment

Join us for an artist reception for the Pratt Fine Arts Center exhibition Incubator for Artists: Revitalizing the Seattle Arts Community, 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, March 25 at City Hall lobby. This captivating exhibition showcases 50 artworks by 50 artists and highlights the important role the center has played in the lives of Seattle artists for 34 years.

Curated by Paula Stokes, the exhibiton includes drawings, paintings, prints, jewelry, glass art and sculpture created by Pratt instructors (past and present), scholarship recipients, visiting masters, youth participants and studio renters. Featured artists include Bill Baber, Romson Bustillo, Kamla Kakaria, Sabrina Knowles, Jenny Pohlman, Kristen Ramirez, Anne Siems, Karen Willenbrink Johnsen, Rickie Wolfe, Nancy Worden and more.

Image: Boyd Sugiki, Composition, blown glass, 2009. Photo by Mike Seidl.

New sound sculpture at Lake Union Park

by Leave a Comment

Visit  Lake Union Park and see the new artwork Blanche, a floating sound sculpture by San Francisco artists Peter Richards and Sue Richards. The artwork is located near the South Lake Union Historic Ships Wharf.

Peter and Sue were inspired by Seattle’s boating history and our city’s relationship to the Puget Sound and surrounding waterways. They created Blanche to bring Seattleites close to the water and evoke the feeling of being in a boat.  The sound sculpture sits on a floating platform and creates music generated by the lake’s waves. The lake’s sounds travel up through a series of pipes into a sound chamber constructed from an upturned Blanchard Junior Knockabout boat. The Blanchard Boat Company operated on the shore of Lake Union from 1900 to 1963.  The Center for Wooden Boats donated and worked with the artists to restore this boat for the artwork.

The artwork will be formally dedicated at the completion of phase two of the Lake Union Park project in September 2010. The project was commissioned with Seattle Parks and Recreation 2000 Pro Parks Levy 1% for Art funds. Special thanks to The Center for Wooden Boats.