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New SLURP mural brings color and whimsy to Maynard Alley in Seattle’s Chinatown International District

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 This mural is inspired by noodles, stepping stones, the immigrant journey, and the diversity of intersecting cultures inhabiting the Chinatown International District today. Each noodle cluster alludes to geographic locations, the circuitous route of immigration, and safe passage through the space. Landing on each cluster promotes this journey. Viewers are invited to appreciate the diversity of the neighborhood through vibrant colors, movement, and a memorable experience. – Akira Ohiso, artist who designed SLURP 

Come see the new SLURP! mural in Chinatown International District (CID)! Designed by local artist Akira Ohiso and installed with technical assistance from muralist Angelina Villalobos, the vibrant new SLURP mural includes eight segments that meander through Maynard Alley near King St.  

Initiated by the community, the mural is the result of a collaboration between the Maynard Alley Partnership, Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation Development Authority (SCIDpda), the Chinatown International District Business Improvement Area (CIDBIA), several neighborhood businesses and individuals, the Seattle Together Initiative, Office of Arts & Culture, and Seattle Department of Transportation working together to reimagine Maynard Alley as a vibrant, community-focused pedestrian space. 

The CID, which consists of Chinatown, Japantown, and Little Saigon, is both a historic district and a lively neighborhood with bustling small businesses, diverse residential demographics, well-used parks, a community center, social service agencies, medical clinics, and cultural institutions.  

Last week SDOT shared a brief history of the CID to help us understand and appreciate how the Asian Pacific Islander communities have overcome some of the harshest systems of racism and created its own vibrant microcosms.  

Maynard Alley with rendering of SLURP mural before it was installed. Photo by Akira Ohiso 

Maynard Alley is one of two historic alleyways in the CID that the community has worked to revitalize in recent years. The other being Canton Alley. 

For more than a century, people have lived and worked in residential units and storefronts off the alley. The historic buildings that line the alley hold layered stories from the neighborhood and people who have called the CID home over the years.  

The Louisa Hotel. Photo by Jordan Samson 

One of the gems on Maynard Alley is the Louisa Hotel. Built in 1909, the Louisa Hotel was built to house Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino laborers while they waited for work in Alaskan canneries. The hotel was also the site of two speakeasies, the Blue Heaven and The Club Royale, and Seattle’s first Chinese bakery. 

The Maynard Alley Partnership has worked with local businesses, community members, and the City to make the alleyway a safe and inviting destination for people to gather, eat, shop, and strengthen the community. 

With funding from the 1% for Arts program, the City is proud to support the community’s vision and install the new piece of artwork. The Public Art program integrates artworks and the ideas of artists into a variety of public settings, advancing Seattle’s reputation as a cultural center for innovation and creativity. 

The City worked closely with the Maynard Alley Partnership and a number of businesses in the neighborhood to ensure that the artist and artwork would speak to the unique community, strengthen connections, highlight and the culture and history of the CID. 

SLURP 

Last week, Akira Ohiso, Angelina Villalobos, SDOT and ARTS staff, and about a dozen talented volunteers painted the mural on the alleyway and King St.  

Dahvee Enciso, who coordinates installing all of SDOT’s ground murals, shared this was one of the most fun projects he’s worked on. “There was so much community support and gracious hospitality! Shop owners stopped by throughout the day to see our progress and brought sweet treats to the amazing volunteers who were helping us paint. Everyone’s cheery spirits reflected the vibrant colors in the mural.” 

Come see the fresh mural for yourself!  

Follow the meandering mural through the alley and ponder the unique cuisines, histories, and experiences that each segment of mural represents. While you’re there, visit one of the mom and pop shops, enjoy a bubble tea, or stop in one of the many restaurants for a delicious bowl of noodles. You can also stop by the Wing Luke and nearby businesses to pick up free stickers of the mural as well 

Visit SeattleChinatownID.com for shops, restaurants, and places to visit in Seattle’s CID.  

To learn more about the historic CID, check out these resources 

Additionally, our friends at the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods are hosting a series of profiles and stories to amplify and honor people, businesses, organizations, and projects connected to the history of Seattle’s API community. And we invite you to read SDOT’s brief history of the CID and resilient API communities. 

Meet the Artists in Residence: Bridge Graphic Novel

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  • Page from Change of Worlds by Roger Fernandes
  • Page from The Canal Was Cut by E.T. Russian

Perched above the road and waterway in the University and Fremont Bridge towers, two artists spent four months thinking about their surroundings and creating graphic novel works inspired by the location and their experiences. The artworks created during this residency are beautiful, meaningful and vibrate with resonance to the iconic and unique Bridge tower locations.   

Join the artists as they share more about their artwork and experiences. The virtual event will begin with opening remarks by Jose Alaniz and ARTS Staff Maija McKnight, and questions submitted by the audience will be answered at the end of the prepared presentation. Printed copies of each of the graphic novels will be available at a future date, and individuals that register for this workshop will get first notice of availability.  

Thursday, April 8, 2021; 7 p.m.
Public presentation Bridge Graphic Novels
Register Here

This online event will be recorded and be available on the Office of Arts & Culture YouTube Channel. It will be live captioned and have ASL translation. 

Roger Fernandes, the artist in residence at the Fremont Bridge, created the graphic novel Change of Worlds: The Fremont Bridge Cycle. Roger Fernandes is an artist and writer, storyteller and educator. As a member of the Lower Elwha S’Klallam Tribe of Washington State, he has also been a practicing professional artist for well over 40 years, working in graphic design and the traditional Coast Salish art. Roger was born in the city of Seattle and has a deep sense of the “spirit” of the city and how it has morphed over the past 20 years or so. The Ship Canal, to Roger, has always represented a clear delineation of “white” North Seattle and the much more racially diverse South Seattle. To cross the bridge was oftentimes more challenging than we modern urban folk might recognize. This is a wonderful opportunity to weave all these elements together. 

E.T. Russian, the artist in residence at the University Bridge, created the work The Canal Was Cut a 28-page mini-comic. With 20+ years of experience making comics, while simultaneously exploring the cultural aspects of disability and chronic illness, ET is interested in the intersection of multi-sensory art. In this residency ET explored the elements of air, water, wind and earth, human relationship to spirits, nature and animals, themes of living and dying, colonization and landowning, decompressing from work, and dreams.  

This unique opportunity of providing space in the bridge towers to creatives has been a program since 2016 and has hosted visual artists, poets, musicians, lighting artists, and now comics artists to use the historic bridge locations as inspiration for the creation of new work. This residency ran from September – December 2020.

Funded by SDOT’s 1% for Art Funds and administered by the Office of Arts & Culture.

Art Interruptions 2020: Licton Springs Neighborhood Greenway

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The Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS) in partnership with the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), has selected seven emerging public artists to create temporary art installations in the Licton Springs Greenway. These works will be part of Art Interruptions, a project connecting neighborhoods through art. Working with SDOT and ARTS, selected artists designed and developed a series of small-scale temporary artworks to be installed on city-owned infrastructure (e.g., signal boxes, utility poles, railings, street trees, etc., or private property) from August 2020 through August 2021.

Licton Springs Neighborhood Greenway Self-Guided Tour

Use this map to see the route and where each artist’s piece is located.

Map of the greenway and artwork locations.

About the artists and artworks

A fox made out of yellow chicken wire, nestled among plants.

Arboreal
Eva Funderburgh
Eva Funderburgh created a series of mysterious beasts hidden among the trees and utility poles of the North Seattle Greenway. The beasts are sculpted in red, orange, and yellow vinyl coated wire mesh to create a fox-like creature with a large tail that take on different poses based on their environment. Can you spot them all?”

A brightly colored leopard and alligator fight.

The Five Creations
Hinojos & Jimenez Art, LLC
Hinojos & Jimenez Art, LLC tells the story of the Five Creations according to traditional Aztec beliefs in the form of three sculptures. It is a story of birth, destruction, hope, and resilience even in the most difficult times. Our hope is to create bright spot along the roadway, and to tell a story of endurance that will resonate now while we are in a time of crisis and uncertainty.

A colorful woven pattern. Reds, whites, yellows, greens and blues in a circular pattern.

New Wave- Target @ Aurora Highway
Naoko Morisawa
Naoko Morisawa created an image for the traffic box on Aurora highway that people would want to see and turn around to see again. The texture of the handmade and uneven 2D mosaic work [Target] would be more interesting by increasing the size of the image and digitally printed on a vinyl wrap to fit around the utility box. My hope is people who see the artwork will gain energy and be energized. I also wanted the streets of the Aurora Highway to be brighter and more fun.

"Licton Springs" on a color blcoked sign.

Know Where No Limit
Shawn Parks
Shawn Parks was obsessed with SDOT’s sign shop and making work using the same materials as legal city signs. First was to call attention to the neighborhood’s name. Giving a sense of place and hopefully pride. The No Limit signs are on the backs of Speed Limit signs. What has no limit? For me, Love, Action and Ideas have No Limit.

Abstract arrangement of circular shapes and lines.

Interpreters
Forrest Perrine
Forrest Perrine created a series of interpretive plaques designed to look like those of historical sites and public land markers. The landmarks the artist creates through his installation of plaques honor the places that are largely invisible to us. He created custom plaques of acrylic, marble, brass, granite, bronze, stainless steel, and copper to honor each of his landmarks.

Blue petals.

No Time Like the Present II
Nichole Rathburn
Nichole Rathburn created foam petals that grow out of the sidewalk and crawl up a chain-link fence near a busy thoroughfare. Her installation brings a pop of color to an otherwise industrial materials of the site. My hope is the fake flowers will spark real joy.

A traditional Japanese placard hangs from a red rope: One Time, One Meeting: A Community Shrine.

One Time One Meeting: A Community Shine
Erin Shigaki
Erin Shigaki reclaims cultural practices of her ancestors with red knotted rope that refers to garments that incarcerated Japanese American women stitched for men fighting in segregated units during WWII, and invokes the lifeblood that connects us all. The wooden placards—reminiscent of those at Shinto shrines—bear words of hope and contemplation by and for the community during the global pandemic and uprising for Black lives.

Photo Credit: Eugene Tagawa

City announces new project with VividMatterCollective to recreate and properly preserve the Capitol Hill Black Lives Matter Street Mural

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Starting Tuesday morning, September 22, the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS) and the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will be collaborating with the original artists from VividMatterCollective to recreate the Black Lives Matter street mural painted during this summer’s protests on Capitol Hill.

Photo by Kyle Kotajarvi

The mural has rapidly deteriorated primarily because of paint applied to an unscored surface covered in slippery aggregate. After discussions between ARTS, SDOT, and the fifteen artists who worked to create the street mural in June, all have agreed to a comprehensive removal, recreation, and reservation plan that kicks off on Tuesday.

Close ups of the damaged street mural

The street mural is located on Pine Street between 10th Avenue and 11th Avenue and was a central gathering place during the protests that was then preserved by the City by creating a reconfigured street to limit vehicle access to the mural. The recreation efforts will get underway quickly to avoid the inclement weather – rain and pavement that is too cold for paint to properly cure – that would delay this work until sometime in 2021.

“Vivid Matter Collective along with the City of Seattle is proud to announce the collaborative effort in preserving the beautiful Black Lives Matter monument, making it a permanent landmark celebrating progress and change during this unprecedented time in Seattle’s history.”

Artist Kimisha Turner, a member of the VividMatterCollective

The careful effort by all parties to identify a comprehensive plan to recreate a longer-lasting Black Lives Matter mural in its original location is an acknowledgement of the cultural significance of the site in the Black Lives Matter movement.

The deterioration of the artwork further accelerated when members of the public who were not a part of the collective applied sealant without the original artists’ permission. The sealant damaged the artwork, which is now beginning to separate from the roadway in some areas. The City is committed in time, resources, and values to do better.

The original artists have worked with SDOT to develop a plan to remove the current artwork and prepare the site so that the artwork can be recreated in a more durable fashion to survive the harsh roadway conditions.

SDOT will begin temporarily removing the artwork on Tuesday, September 22 and preparing the site for the artists to repaint the mural on Saturday and Sunday, September 26 and 27. Repainting of the mural is dependent on weather conditions.

Work will commence by tracing and scoring the existing footprint of the mural to properly prepare the surface for the application of paint. SDOT will provide supplies and installation support to the VividMatterCollective. This will include expert guidance from SDOT’s own Dahvee Encisco, who is
himself an experienced muralist. He will be onsite from beginning to end with the artists to advise on how to install a durable on-street mural with the correct primer, number of paint layers, and adding traction material to each coat of paint that can withstand the roadway conditions in this area.

It is important for all to remember that even when utilizing best practices and materials, on-street murals will continue to deteriorate at a rate much faster than other surfaces. Maintaining the integrity of the recreated Black Lives Matter mural will be an ongoing project for all.

“The Capitol Hill Black Lives Matter street mural is a potent symbol of free speech and civil rights. I am deeply sorry that we fell short in our efforts to prevent damage from occurring to the original mural. SDOT is committed to supporting the original artists to restore their work in a more long-lasting fashion.”

Sam Zimbabwe, SDOT Director

SDOT has been working with the original artists to create a preservation plan for some time. In July, SDOT installed posts to prevent people from driving over the mural and added a new 4-way stop sign at 10th Ave E and E Pine St to help eastbound drivers transition onto the block with the mural at a slower speed. Those protective measures will remain in place.

CHOP art preservation supported by the City

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The Office of Arts & Culture in partnership with the Seattle Department of Transportation and Parks and Recreation are working with artists and community members from the CHOP to store, document and preserve artworks that captured the hope, imagination and inspiration for a more racially equitable society. The immediate goal was to get the artwork out of the right of way so businesses can resume their operations and people can move through the area. 

by artist Stephanie Morales

The City is supporting artists and CHOP community leaders by assisting in the safe removal of the artwork, providing safe temporary storage, and working in partnership with CHOP artists and stakeholders to document the preserved artwork and assist the artists in making the work publicly accessible where possible. 

“The CHOP is not just a physical location, it is a movement that is vibrant, passionate, and here to stay. We’re working with the city to preserve and catalog the artwork created in the CHOP and in the area. Our goal, much like the movement is to keep and continue creating and displaying art together. The CHOP Art Council is committed to the best interest of the artists and the movement that these works represent.” If you have any questions or concerns regarding this matter please feel free to contact us at insidechop@gmail.com.

CHOP Art Council
Keep Smiling Seattle by Morgan Zion

Artworks include numerous plywood panels originally used as traffic control barricades. Protesters used these surfaces as canvases for protest art centering a Black Lives Matter message.  

The City has also been striving not to remove artwork which could potentially be permitted under SDOT’s painted street mural program, including the Black Lives Matter street mural on Pine St. SDOT remains committed to the long-term preservation of this piece.  

Graphic of George Floyd

In addition, Seattle Parks and Recreation will be working with a range of stakeholders to memorialize aspects of the community protests at Cal Anderson park, such as a garden, art and/ or speaker’s corner.

Seven Artists Selected for Art Interruptions 2020 along North Seattle Neighborhood Greenway

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Promo postcard for Art Interruptions 2020. Blue petals with descriptive text about the project.

The Office of Arts & Culture in partnership with Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has commissioned seven emerging public artists to create temporary art installations along the North Seattle Neighborhood Greenway in Licton Springs for Art Interruptions 2020. The artworks will inhabit city sidewalks and parks and offer passers-by a brief interruption in their day, eliciting a moment of surprise, beauty, contemplation, or humor. The artists selected are:

Eva Funderburgh

Hinojos & Jimenez Art, LLC

Naoko Morisawa

Shawn Parks

Forrest Perrine

Nichole Rathburn

Erin Shigaki

Artists were selected by a panel of artists, community members, and city staff. Art Interruptions is funded by the SDOT 1% for Arts Funds.

New artwork “Alone Together” delights downtown pedestrians

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Friday, August 2, 2019, 2-3 p.m.
Public celebration at Harbor Steps
1221 1st Ave, Seattle, WA 98101
Artwork stickers will be available for the first 250 people.

A new artwork, Alone Together, by Juliana Kang Robinson will be interwoven into the infrastructure of the all-walk intersection of University and 1st Avenue near Harbor Steps and the Seattle Art Museum. The artwork includes pictorial street signs in the blocks that surround the main artwork, and a new crosswalk painting on the intersection of University and 1st Avenue. 

One of the panels on the back of a parking sign depicts a baby bear on an ice floe as a narwhal swims underneath.

As you walk toward the intersection – west on University, North on 1st or South on 1st, the series of six separate but thematically connected images will lead up to the all-walk in which the theme of the artwork Alone Together will come into play. Pedestrians begin alone on the four separate corners of the intersection will cross over the artwork coming together for a moment.

A photo from above as pedestrians cross the intersection with the artwork below them.
Pedestrians cross at the intersection where Alone Together is installed

Bears are the main character in this illustrated series of images, in reference to a Korean creation myth and a reminder that people, like animals, share the same needs and strengths. The artist’s intent is to showcase that we all find refuge and strength in togetherness and that all families belong together. The goal of the artwork is to celebrate youth, families and pedestrians in our Downtown core. 

An aerial view of the intersection with a rendering of the artwork in the middle.
A rendering of the artwork at the pedestrian crossig

Inspired by conversations with pedestrian advocates, transportation specialists, neighborhood groups, and youth (special note of thanks to the kindergarten classes at Giddens Elementary and students from Summit High School) some of the overarching desires stated by these community members included the desire for new artwork to use bright colors, reference nature and animals, contain a positive message and put a smile on your face, and be located in a highly accessible location. You can learn more about the artist’s work at julianakangrobinson.com. 

This is part of the Imagine Greater Downtown initiative, designed to improve the pedestrian experience in Downtown Seattle using existing SDOT street infrastructure to create art for pedestrians and cyclists to see in their everyday movements. Commissioned by the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture and Seattle Department of Transportation.

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.

Wanted: Musician/Composer for Fremont Bridge Residency

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Photo of the Fremont Bridge by Joe Mabel.The Seattle Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS), in partnership with the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), seeks a practicing composer and/or musician to be an Artist-in Residence in the northwest tower of the Fremont Bridge. The selected composer and/or musician will undertake an in-depth exploration of the historic bridge’s role and meaning for the city of Seattle and create music in response to this residency.

The project budget is $10,000 USD ($5,000 for residency, $5,000 for sound project, presentation, documentation), inclusive of all residency costs, project, presentation, documentation of the work, and applicable taxes. Payment will be made in installments based on benchmarks established by ARTS in consultation with the artist.

Eligibility

The call is open to established professional musicians/composers living in Seattle or within 100 miles of Seattle. The artist selection panel will consider artistic diversity as one factor in the selection process. Artists who are well represented or have received City Artist grants may not be prioritized as highly as those who have not. Students are not eligible to apply.

Deadline

11 p.m., Tuesday, March 20, 2018. (Pacific Standard Time)

Application

Apply on CaFÉ. For assistance with the CaFÉ online application process, contact CaFÉ tech support or call them at (888) 562-7232, Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

Info

Please email Kristen Ramirez or call 206.615.1095 with any questions about this project.

Photo by Joe Mabel.

Vicki Scuri artist commissioned for SDOT Aurora Ave N Corridor Improvements Project

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The Seattle Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS), in partnership with Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), has commissioned artist Vicki Scuri for a series of site-specific artworks for the Aurora-Licton Corridor Neighborhood Street Fund Project. Scuri will work with SDOT and SDOT consultants from design through construction developing art installations along Aurora Ave. N. between N. 85 St. and N. 105 St. The artwork is expected to be completed in 2018.

Scuri brings over 30 years of experience to this project. Educated in printmaking and design, Scuri’s primary focus is site responsive, collaborative design and public art, with emphasis on community identity through awareness of place, history and culture. Scuri sees infrastructure, best symbolized as the backbone of urban design, as the system upon which society builds its core values, creating meaning, mobility and connectivity. Scuri’s projects, best known for symbolic pattern work; play of sunlight and shadow over sculptural form; and her ability to engage the entire site as a canvas, integrate functionality, landscape and art to create community landmarks. Community identity, site, climate, and environment are important considerations in shaping each project’s unique expression.

This SDOT project began as a community application for improvements along Aurora Ave. N. It was funded by the Neighborhood Street Fund (NSF) Program, for design in 2017 and construction in 2018. The project creates improved crossings of Aurora Ave. N. at N. 92 St. and N. 100 St. for people walking and biking. There is also a significant art component to the project, requested by the Aurora-Licton Urban Village. The goal of this project is to create art that will develop a distinctive spirit for the neighborhood, revitalize and change people’s perception of Aurora Ave. N., create a progression of ideas that extend along the entire corridor, bring color, vibrancy, and day and night presence to all modes of transit: pedestrians, motorists, bus riders.

Scuri was selected by a panel of artists and design professionals, advised by Aurora-Licton Urban Village community members, and city staff. The project is commissioned with SDOT 1% for Art funds.

Photo: Vicki Scuri

Image: Arlington Boulevard, Highway 50, laser-cut steel and LEDs, completed 2015