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Artworks for Seattle Center’s ‘The Next Fifty’ open tomorrow, Earth Day artists panel Sunday

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Artists Adam Frank, Mandy Greer and Stacy Levy each will present temporary artworks that address environmental sustainability for The Next Fifty, the 50th anniversary celebration of the 1962 World’s Fair, opening tomorrow, April 21. Read more about their artworks here.
 
Hear the artists talk about their artworks at a panel discussion for The Next Fifty’s Earth Day Celebration, 2 to 3:30 p.m., Sunday, April 22, Seattle Center’s Center House, Conference Room H. Julie Parrett, landscape architect, Seattle Design Commissioner and member of the Seattle Arts Commission’s Public Art Advisory Committee, will moderate the panel.

Artist panel on sustainability at Seattle Center’s The Next Fifty, April 22

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Artists Adam Frank, Mandy Greer and Stacy Levy will each present temporary artworks that address environmental sustainability for The Next Fifty, the 50th anniversary celebration of the 1962 World’s Fair. Hear the artists talk about their artworks at a panel discussion for The Next Fifty’s Earth Day Celebration, 2 to 3:30 p.m., Sunday, April 22, Seattle Center’s Center House, Conference Room H.

Julie Parret, landscape architect, Seattle Design Commissioner and member of the Seattle Arts Commission’s Public Art Advisory Committee, will moderate the panel.

Frank’s CURRENT is a real-time map of Seattle’s hydroelectric generation and energy use. The approximately 45-foot-wide by 30-foot-tall mural will be projected directly on the interior north face of Seattle Center’s Center House, April 21 through June 4.

Greer will create the 250-foot crocheted artwork Mater Matrix Mother and Medium and attach it to trees and columns, creating a “river” that sits seven to 15 feet off the ground. The evolving artwork will be on view April 21 through May 31 at Seattle Center’s DuPen Fountain and Alki Courtyard.

Levy’s Straw Garden: from Wattle to Watershed will be composed of wattles—tightly wrapped straw and coir cylinders and mats that aid in re-vegetation and erosion control—arranged in formal garden formations. The sculpture will morph into patterns that resemble water as it moves across the landscape. The artwork will change throughout The Next Fifty, April 21 through Oct. 21, at Seattle Center’s Broad Street Green.

Read more about these artworks and other artworks/performances at The Next Fifty here.

Limited parking is available in Seattle Center area pay lots. The site is accessible by bus or bike.

Frank’s Current is commissioned with Seattle City Light 1% for Art funds. Greer’s Mater Matrix Mother and Medium and Levy’s Straw Garden: from Wattle to Watershed are commissioned with Seattle Public Utilities 1% for Art funds.

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

Head south for artsy Earth Day celebration

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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.