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Office of Arts & Culture news and events

New public artwork rises at the new City Light Denny Substation

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Denny Substation is now home to two incredible new public artworks, the towering Transforest by Lead Pencil Studio and a kinetic piece, Switchwall, by Ned Kahn. The Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS) worked with Seattle City Light to incorporate artworks and cultural planning that supports the utility’s mission and goals at the Denny Substation.

ARTS worked with City Light and architects to develop a temporary art program prior to construction of the substation, and permanent art installations at the new facility that are responsive to the surrounding community and reinforce the public nature and essential function of the station.

Please note: the site is still closed to the public. There will be a dedication sometime in the summer of 2019. Check our calendar or sign up for our email newsletter to get updates.

Denny Substation Permanent Artworks

Transforest by Lead Pencil Studio

  • A view of Transforest from The Mirabella next door, photo by Jason Huff
  • Street-level view of Transforest, photo by Jason Huff

Transforest is a site-specific sculpture developed to address important qualities inherent to the Denny Substation site and its broader context. The large-scale sculpture combines forms drawn from Seattle City Light’s industrial history and those of our Northwest landscape, creating a narrative of Seattle’s system of electrical generation that has been placed into the wilderness of Washington. The artwork is designed as an integrated landscape element that serves the place-making needs of the future public space.

Watch Seattle’s tallest public art combines old and new from KING 5 News.

Switchwall by Ned Kahn

Switchwall by day

Switchwall is a kinetic artwork that covers three faces of the substation façade with an array of thousands of light “switches” that are flipped by the wind. During the day the polished aluminum surface of the swaying panels reflect light and color from the sky and surrounding buildings. As the wind flips the panels from side to side they will reflect light from very different parts of the sky and surrounding environment. These light contrasts will animate the façade. As night approaches, or on dark cloudy days, the blue and orange LEDs will become visible and the artwork will reveal a different luminosity but will still create the impression of movement.

  • The Denny Substation is shaped like an elongated, metal pyramid.
    The Denny Substation with Switchwall at the top
  • Photo shows the Denny Substation next to a tall apartment building next door.
    The Denny Substation next to The Mirabella

Watch this video of Switchwall both during the day and night to see how it moves.

Healing in Remembering

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The AMP: The AIDS Memorial Pathway Master Art Plan by Horatio Hung-Yan Law

Amidst all the cranes and dizzying development taking place on Seattle’s Capitol Hill, there is an exciting new project called The AMP: AIDS Memorial Pathway. The AMP is community-driven and community-funded, and its goals are to use public art to create a physical place for remembrance and reflection, to utilize technology to share stories about the epidemic and the diverse community responses to the crisis, and to provide a call to action to end HIV/AIDS, stigma, and discrimination. To bring shape and purpose to these goals, in the spring of 2018 The AMP partnered with the City’s Office of Arts & Culture to commission artist Horatio Hung-Yan Law to write a master art plan that would define what The AMP could be.

An artist known for his depth of work in community, Horatio Law has developed an art plan that represents months of outreach and conversation with communities affected by HIV/AIDS, and conversations in public open houses and community engagements. Law’s art plan centered individuals and groups currently dealing with HIV/AIDS, especially people of color, transgender individuals, and other historically under-represented communities. Law’s AIDS Memorial Pathway Art Plan also represents deep and sustained dialog with stakeholder-agencies and organizations, including: Sound Transit, Seattle Parks Department, Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), Office of Arts & Culture, Berger Partnership, Schemata Workshop, and Gerding Edlen, the developer of the Transit Oriented Development (TOD). These consultations and conversations shaped the visions and guiding principles for The AMP Master Art Plan.

Horatio Law has written a comprehensive art plan for The AMP that frames and embodies the communal experience of the AIDS epidemic, creates a road map for a series of multi-sensory and experiential public art projects to tell the community stories and responses to the AIDS crisis, and builds understanding between the general public and communities affected by HIV/AIDS. The plan divides The AMP into three major segments that focus on different emotional and symbolic aspects of the pathway, including (1) Remembrance and Reflection, (2) Celebrating Creativity and Life, and (3) Honoring Community Courage and Resilience. The AMP Art Plan also introduces opportunities not only for permanent public artworks, but temporary projects, arts residency programs, and a digital story-telling component. Finally, The AIDS Memorial Pathway Art Plan concludes with a group of essays that convey background histories, personal experiences and a sense of place regarding The AMP and HIV/AIDS in Seattle and King County.

Celebrate International Sculpture Day with our newest artwork “Aurora Bright Dawn”

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Saturday, April 27, noon
Oak Tree Village Pedestrian Bridge
N 102nd Street and Aurora Avenue N

Guest post by artist Vicki Scuri

Tomorrow, Saturday April 27th, is International Sculpture (IS) Day, a worldwide event celebrating the many ways sculpture and public art impact and improve people’s lives. Artist Vicki Scuri, the Office of Arts & Culture, and the Department of Transportation are participating in IS Day by dedicating “Aurora Bright Dawn.” This Public Artwork combines space, color and form on an aging pedestrian bridge, promoting community connectivity and safe crossing.

Two challenges we face in the 21st century are humanizing aging infrastructure and connecting communities. This project, funded through an SDOT community grant, written by the Aurora Licton Urban Village Community, is a good example of a transformational project on Aurora Avenue in Seattle.

Inspired by the sunrise, this project adds color and pattern to an aging pedestrian bridge, transforming it into a community landmark gateway. Hundreds of translucent colorful fins transition through the hues of the sunrise across the span of the bridge. The fins elevate the bridge into a unique art experience for both the cars traveling under and the pedestrians above. The colors on the translucent fins will shift and blend as the viewer moves through the site, creating a dynamic experience. The bridge’s columns and stairs hold colorful painted graphics, connecting the artwork directly to the site.

Public Art transforms neighborhoods by promoting community values, fostering pride of ownership, social interaction, and a sense of belonging. All communities deserve safe and supportive environments. International Sculpture Day is about reflecting on all that Art and Sculpture bring into our lives, enriching our experiences and our optimism for the future.

Olalekan Jeyifous selected to create artwork for Taylor Creek Culvert

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The Office of Arts & Culture in partnership with Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) has commissioned artist Olalekan Jeyifous to create artwork for the Taylor Creek Culvert Replacement Project. Jeyifous will join the Taylor Creek Culvert Replacement design team to develop wayfinding artwork that will be integrated in the future natural area in the Rainier Beach neighborhood. The artwork and culvert replacement projects are expected to be completed in 2024.

SPU purchased property at the lower reaches of Taylor Creek, located near the south end of Lake Washington in the southern edge of the Rainier Beach neighborhood. SPU plans to increase the quality and amount of Taylor Creek and Lake Washington shoreline habitat, particularly for threatened juvenile Chinook salmon. The project will provide public access to the new natural area north of Rainier Ave. S., as well as corridor safety improvements in coordination with the Seattle Department of Transportation.

Olalekan Jeyifous is a Brooklyn-based artist who creates architecturally-inspired artworks that explores the fictions, histories and futures of cities and urban spaces in whimsical and insightful ways. Jeyifous received his bachelor’s degree in architecture from Cornell University in 2000, and has created public art installations for the Corcoran Garage in Durham, NC; Cleveland Public Square in Cleveland, OH; and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, CA.

Jeyifous was selected by a panel of artists, community members, and city staff. The project is commissioned with SPU 1% for Art funds.

Image: Inner Sanctum, 2017, mixed-media installation

 

ARTS Publishes “Capacity Building for Racial Equity in Public Art”

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Public Art Boot Camp, the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture’s award-winning program, is the subject of the publication Capacity Building for Racial Equity in Public Art (pdf).

ARTS’ Public Art Program specifies that 1% of eligible city capital improvement project funds be set aside for the commission, purchase, and installation of artworks, integrating artworks and the ideas of artists into a variety of public arenas. A goal of the public art program is to address historic and current institutional racism and one way we do that is capacity building for public artists through our Public Art Boot Camp program, that received an Americans for the Arts Public Art Network Award in 2017.

Capacity Building for Racial Equity in Public Art illustrates how public art administrators can shift the field to be more inclusive and affect change by creating a program that intentionally serves artists from under-represented and under-invested communities. While systemic changes take time, capacity building is something that can show almost immediate results.

From 2015-18, ARTS’ Public Art Boot Camp centered artists of color and provided them with the information and experience they needed to enter the niche world of public art. Public art reflects our history, society and defines the space and community it resides in. When diverse artists work in the public realm, people see themselves reflected in public space in a way that only commissioning artists of color can do. Cities benefit from a richer visual environment by including everyone’s narrative. Art becomes more culturally relevant and meaningful to everyone.

ARTS published Capacity Building for Racial Equity in Public Art (pdf) to share our experience and to encourage other cultural organizations and municipalities to change their programs to create opportunities for artists of color.

For more information contact us at (206) 684.7171 or email us at arts.culture@seattle.gov

Fremont Bridge will be a temporary studio for sound artist Paurl Walsh this summer

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Beginning June 2018, the northwest tower of the Fremont Bridge will be a temporary studio for musician and composer Paurl Walsh. Walsh will be able to use the tower space as a source of inspiration to compose and create a sound-based piece in response to the summer residency. He will also engage in several community outreach events and a public performance will be presented at the close of the residency, in late summer or early fall 2018. The musician-in-residence will run June through August.

Walsh was selected by a panel, facilitated by the Office of Arts & Culture, that included musical artists and community members and advised by the Seattle Department of Transportation. His selection was based on his impressive career and his focus on collaboration with players throughout the region. His proposal included a desire to create a work that investigates the inherent collision between creativity and mental health, which resonated with the selection panel.

Paurl Walsh graduated from Cornish College with a degree in Classical Composition and Electro-acoustic music. He is an active composer of electronic music, modern classical chamber music, music for dance and theatre, and experimental rock. Writing and performing throughout the US, Canada, and Europe, he has been a core member of the experimental performance art/music groups Degenerate Art Ensemble, Implied Violence, and St Genet. He founded experimental hardcore band X-Ray Press, electronic pop group Rainbows, electroacoustic duo Medina/Walsh, and solo electronic act Trying. He has scored many stage works for choreographers and theater artists such as Kyle Loven, Ezra Dickinson, Peggy Piacenza, Paige Barnes, Paris Hurley, and PE|Mo. He also runs ExEx Audio, a creative recording studio centered around working collaboratively with artists to help them better express themselves through sound.

This residency project is funded by SDOT’s 1% for Art Funds and administered by the Office of Arts & Culture.

Studio Wowhaus selected to create artworks for Delridge RapidRide

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Open house with the artists
Wednesday, January 17, 2018, 5 – 6:30 p.m.
Youngstown Cultural Arts Center
4408 Delridge Way SW, Room 111
Seattle, WA 98106

Walk and Talk with the artists
Thursday, January 18, 2018, 3:30 p.m.
NW corner of Delridge Way SW and Henderson

The Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS), in partnership with Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), selected artists Ene Osteraas-Constable and Scott Constable of Studio Wowhaus to create a permanent, site-specific artwork as part of the corridor improvements that will occur with the implementation of RapidRide, Line H along Delridge Way SW. Upgrades to Metro Route 120 into the RapidRide H Line include adding more buses, upgrading to Metro RapidRide bus stops, improving sidewalks and paths, and the incorporation of a new public artwork.

As part of their artistic process, artists Ene Osteraas-Constable and Scott Constable will solicit feedback from residents through a variety of community conversations and walks along the corridor. On Wednesday, January 17, 2018 from 5 – 6:30 pm, at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, the artists will be participating in an open house/drop in session prior to the Delridge Neighborhood District Council. This is an opportunity for members of the public to learn more about the project from SDOT representatives and meet the artists. In addition, on Thursday, January 18, the artists will be leading a walk and talk in order to learn more about the neighborhood; anyone interested in participating should gather at 3:30 pm at the NW corner of Delridge Way SW and Henderson.

Studio Wowhaus has a depth of experience working on transportation and right-of-way projects, and has a passion for community engagement. Past artworks incorporate feedback from multi-audience engagement, and provide visibility to vehicular traffic and up-close interest/interactivity for pedestrians. To learn more about the project, please visit: https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/projects-and-programs/programs/transit-program/rapid-ride/delridge-rapidride

Prior to joining Wowhaus, Ene Osteraas-Constable worked as an educational multimedia writer and producer for Paramount Publishing. The recipient of two Creative Work Fund Grants as well as an Oakland Individual Artist’s grant, Osteraas-Constable received her BFA from the University of Massachusetts. She was the first Program Coordinator for the Edible Schoolyard, contributing to the establishment of the seminal organic gardening and cooking program founded by Alice Waters. A native New Yorker, her work is also informed by her time in New York City at the Public Art Fund, co-producing the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade, and producing the Bryant Park Festival.

Scott Constable is the founder and principal of Wowhaus, a multi-disciplinary art/design collaborative whose award-winning work over the past two decades spans public art, social practice, architecture and furniture design. Constable is also the founder and author of Deep Craft, a popular web blog that draws from his ongoing craft-based research and observation. Constable has taught and lectured at diverse schools and institutions, including the California College of the Arts, where he was the 2010 Wornick Distinguished Professor of Wood Arts. He has been artist in residence at Grizedale Arts, Mildred’s Lane, and the Kohler Arts Center, and has been awarded many honors and distinctions, including an Investing in Artists Grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation. A native of Philadelphia’s Main Line, Constable studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he earned his degree with a concentration in Sculpture/Generative Systems.

This project is funded through SDOT 1% for Art funding.

Image: SPARK: 3 of 4 Mosaic Murals, 2012,
Commissioned by: Chabot College, Hayward, CA
Site: Chabot College Observatory
Media: Iridescent glass, glass, mirror, grout
4 murals, each 10’h x 12’w
Symbolizing the spark of inspiration, creativity & insight fostered through education at the college, this artwork evokes the cosmos & spirit of scientific inquiry. Mirrored glass & iridescent glass catch the sunlight & cast colored light patterns on passerby.

 

Artist Peter Reiquam selected to create public artwork for SPU Drainage and Wastewater South Operations Center

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The Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS), in partnership with Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), has selected Peter Reiquam to create a permanent, outdoor, site-specific artwork as part of the new SPU Drainage and Wastewater South Operations Center to be located at 4500 W Marginal Way S. SPU Drainage and Wastewater employees clean and repair the City’s sewer and drainage systems, investigate waterway pollution, provide emergency response to storm events and natural disasters and more. The new center will increase SPU’s operational efficiencies while providing closer proximity to service areas.

Peter Reiquam creates artwork that responds directly to the history, culture and current use of the site location. Often balancing humor with elegance, his work is large scale, recognizable and frequently serves as a meaningful site marker.

Since earning an MFA in sculpture from Yale University in 1984, Peter Reiquam has primarily focused on creating interactive, site-specific installations in response to the history, culture and surrounding landscape of the site.

This project is funded through SPU 1% for Art funding.

Image: HIT OR MISS 2015
Pierce County Skills Center, Puyallup, WA
An iconic, interactive, freestanding sculpture, Hit or Miss represents the most basic of tools and by extension all of the specialized tools used in the various programs taught at the Skills Center.
Powder-coated aluminum, stainless steel
15′ x 10′ x 10′
Washington State Arts Commission and Bethel School District

Celebrate summer and art in Lake City!

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Lake City Play City
June 20, July 11 and August 1, 2017, from 6-8 p.m.
future park location, 2510 33rd Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105.

The Office of Arts & Culture in partnership with the East Lake City Collaborative (ELCC) will be hosting local artist, Elizabeth Gahan as she leads a series of hands-on art making activities at this year’s Lake City Play City. Play City will feature food, music and a variety of family friendly events open for all to enjoy.

Attendees will have a chance to make artwork with Gahan at each of the three event dates, which they can either take home or contribute to a group community artwork to be displayed at the 33rd Ave NE location following the August 1st event. Gahan will lead the following art activities:

June 20– Upcycle yard signs that can be connected in creative ways.

July 11– Decorate large plastic shapes with vinyl scraps.

August 1– Artistically hang and arrange all the artwork accumulated on June 20 and July 11.

Gahan will also share details about a permanent public art sculpture that will be installed with the opening of the new 33rd Ave NE park in late 2018.

Come join in the fun and make art in Lake City!

This summer the third floor of King Street Station will be awash with public art

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Office of Arts & Culture explores Belonging and Resistance with site-specific and collection works
Opening August 3, 2017

This summer the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture’s (ARTS) public art program will enliven the third floor of King Street Station with 2D- and 3D works from the City’s collection and site-specific installations. The exhibition, focusing on themes of belonging and resistance, will be free and open to the public, and will open August 3, 2017. An anchor project by artist and educator Pedro Lasch will investigate ideas of nationalism and belonging, and will be accompanied by responses from regional artists. The exhibition will introduce the range of programming that the public art program undertakes to provide art experiences to residents of and visitors to Seattle, including lectures, performances and engagement activities.

The exhibition will be the first art installation at King Street Station by ARTS and will give the public a glimpse of how the third floor will be transformed when it becomes a new arts and culture hub. ARTS, in partnership with the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), is creating a permanent cultural space at King Street Station. ARTS engaged in an inclusive, city-wide outreach effort in order to hear from the community about their needs. ARTS’ intention with the new space is to increase opportunities for communities of color to present their work. The dedicated cultural space will provide public access to presentation and creative spaces, ARTS staff and resources, space for city convenings, and professional development and other services that were requested through the outreach process. This innovative plan utilizes an underused city resource to address issues of affordability and livability while preserving the unique creative economy that drives Seattle.

The city’s public art program provides opportunities for individuals to encounter art in parks, libraries, community centers, fire stations, on roadways, bridges and other public venues, enriching citizens’ daily lives and giving voice to artists. Seattle was one of the first cities in the United States to adopt a percent-for-art ordinance in 1973. The program integrates the work of artists in the envisioning of the public realm, advancing Seattle’s reputation as a cultural center for innovation and creativity. Public art projects create a special sense of place and enrich viewers’ experiences of the urban environment. The program specifies that 1% of eligible city capital improvement project funds be set aside for the commission, purchase and installation of artworks in a variety of settings.

The collection includes more than 400 permanently sited and integrated artworks and includes pieces by Isamu Noguchi, Marita Dingus, Mark Calderon, Ann Hamilton, Buster Simpson, and Michael Heizer. Artworks are commissioned through a public process. The city stewards and maintains its artworks through an ongoing program of coordinated conservation activities, which include inspections, major restorative work and routine maintenance.