Pinball Museum in Chinatown, photo by Eliza S. Rankin

Storefronts Seattle, in partnership with the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, seeks artists to develop art projects for vacant storefronts in various Seattle neighborhoods, including Pioneer Square, the Chinatown-International District, Capitol Hill, South Lake Union and Rainier Beach. The projects will be programmed in available spaces throughout 2012 and into 2013.

Storefronts Seattle is accepting applications in three tracks: Installation (two-dimensional, three-dimensional or new-media artworks); Artist Residency (meeting, rehearsal or studio space); and Creative Enterprise (retail art gallery, boutique, museum, etc.). Artists selected for the Installation track will receive $250 to $1,000 per installation. Participants in all tracks will receive the use of a retail storefront space at no cost for three months, with a possible extension in the Creative Enterprise track. All projects are subject to early cancellation with 30 days notice if the storefront leases during the project period.

Launched as a pilot in September 2010, Storefronts Seattle promotes neighborhood vitality by bringing art and creative enterprise to available storefronts.

For more information and to apply, visit the Storefronts Seattle website. Questions? Contact Matthew Richter with Shunpike, (206) 905-1026.

Jane Kies, Seed to Sound (c) 2011

Funding for King County-based Arts, Heritage & Preservation Projects

Five funding opportunities in the fields of arts, heritage and historic preservation have upcoming deadlines in February and March. Special Projects and Cultural Education funding is available for Heritage projects; Landmark Rehabilitation funding is available for Preservation Projects; and both Individual and Group Artist project funding is available through our Arts program. We encourage you to visit the funding program pages, read about eligibility and review past grantees. Free, weekly public workshops are scheduled throughout King County, offering prospective applicants an opportunity to meet with program staff and other applicants, understand specific guidelines, and go through a step-by-step review of the application process. These workshops are really helpful in the preparation of successful applications and we encourage you to attend if you can.

Applications and guidelines for each opportunity can be accessed online through 4Culture’s funding calendar or by going directly to the program websites listed below.

HERITAGE SPECIAL PROJECTS – February 29, 2012

Supports projects by organizations and heritage specialists that focus on King County’s historic resources and cultural traditions 

HERITAGE CULTURAL EDUCATION – February 29, 2012

Supports K-12 curriculum enhancement projects that focus on King County history and meet Washington State Assessment Standards

LANDMARK REHABILITATION PROGRAM – March 7, 2012

Provides funds to stabilize, assess, rehabilitate and restore designated King County Landmarks outside the City of Seattle

GROUP ARTS PROJECTS – March 7, 2012

Provides support for innovative arts projects by organizations and ensembles, and/or programs or events that stimulate cultural development

INDIVIDUAL ARTIST PROJECTS – March 14, 2012

Provides support for projects by artists working in all disciplines

© Cris Bruch, South Branch, North Fork, Puddles, 2011, Photo by Benjamin Benschneider

Public Art Director Cath Brunner led reporter Gary Faigin on a tour of Brightwater’s public art last week. His review of three of the artworks installed at the Environmental Education Center will air on NPR station KUOW, 94.9 FM, between 12:00 and 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 4. The artworks discussed are South Branch, North Fork and Puddles by Cris Bruch; Collection & Transformation by Ellen Sollod; and Circulator by Jim Blashfield. All of the artists who created artwork for Brightwater were also interviewed by 4Culture at the time of the opening about their work for the treatment plant. You may listen to and download edited audio on our website.

We look forward to hearing the review, which should be available for download and streaming as well.

Update: A written review of Faigin’s visit to Brightwater was posted on ArtDish this week. The air times for the radio piece were changed from the original schedule. You can catch the review on Thursday, and it will repeat Saturday. Check the station’s website for the daily schedule.

Stephen Sewell, Growing a beard, Archival inkjet print (c) 2011

The exhibiting artists for Gallery4Culture’s 2012-2013 calendar have been selected. Exhibiting artists receive an honorarium, press opportunities and exhibition in the Gallery for a calendar month during the year’s schedule. From a pool of 160 eligible applicants, the following  artists were selected for Gallery4Culture exhibitions running September 2012 through August 2013:

Julie Alpert:  Installation/painting.

Gust Burns:  Sound artist /composer.

Klara Glosova:  Sculpture/installation (founder of NEPO House).

Matthew Hilger: Photomedia.

Tom Hughes:  Sculpture/installation.

Mario Lemafa:  Photomedia.

Mark Takamichi Miller: Painting.

Lorenzo Moog:  Mixed media assemblage.

Paul Rucker:  Sound/video installation.

Stephen Sewell:  Photomedia.

Rodrigo Valenzuela & Anthony Sonnenberg:  Photomedia collaboration.

Selected as Alternates:

Amanda Manitach: Video installation.

Sara Osebold: Sculpture/installation.

Special thanks go out to our 2012-2013 PANELISTS

Margie Livingston: Studio artist, 2010 Arts Innovator Award, Artist Trust, 2010 Neddy Artist Fellowship, 2006 Betty Bowen Award

Catharina Manchanda, Jon and Mary Shirley Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seattle Art Museum

Jess Van Nostrand: Independent curator, founder of The Project Room   

James Hughes: Non-voting advisor from the Public Art Advisory Committee

Enduring Clay at the Washington State Convention Center, Photo © Blake Haygood, 2012

City of Seattle & King County present ceramic works from their collections

‘Enduring Clay’ exhibition on view at Washington State Convention and Trade Center, in conjunction with National Council for Education for the Ceramic Arts’ convention

4Culture and the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs present ceramic artworks from their public art collections in the exhibition “Enduring Clay: Four Decades of Collecting Ceramics by the City of Seattle and King County.” The show is on view at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center through April 9, and is in conjunction with the National Council for Education for the Ceramic Arts’ (NCECA) 46^th annual conference, March 28 through March 31. NCECA is an organization that fosters global education and appreciation for the ceramic arts and inspires advancement of the field of ceramics.

Both the city of Seattle and King County have collected artwork for more than 40 years. “Enduring Clay” showcases a total of 43 artworks by 28 regional ceramic artists including Howard Kottler, Robert Sperry, Akio Takamori and Patti Warashina. The exhibition demonstrates the diversity of expressions in clay and the various techniques that continue to expand ceramics as a fine art medium.

Artists included in the exhibition are Jenny Andersen, Clair Colquit, Baba Wague Diakite, Everett Dupen, Ellie Fernald, Margaret Ford, Jim Gale, Monad Elohim Graves, Lauren Grossman, Ann Hirondelle, Deborah Horrell, Kate and Will Jacobson, Malia Jensen, Howard Kottler, Julie Lindell, Michael Lucero, Joyce Moty, Richard Notkin, Lillian Pitt, Kirsty Robbins, Joellyn Rock, Glenda Scott, Patrick Siler, Robert Sperry, Akio Takamori, Patti Warashina and Kinu Watanabe.

During the month of March, Gallery4Culture will host an exhibition of ceramic derived and related artwork by Brian Benfer and John Grade, curated by Ben Waterman.  In addition to First Thursday, a special open house will be held in the gallery March 27th.

“Enduring Clay” is on view in the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, 2^nd floor, North Gallery, 800 Convention Place. Gallery hours are 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., daily.

Foreground vitrine: Silent Sounds, Patti Warashina, 2004, porcelain, earthenware and glaze (4Culture); in the background, left is Hand from the Stigmatization, Gloria Grossman, 1998, Fired ceramic covered with lead sheet, eyebolt (City of Seattle)

Dancer Emilee Putsche of The Stone Dance Collective, Photo © Zebra Visual

Chop Shop:  Bodies of Work

February 11^th, 2012 at 7:30pm and February 12^th, 2012 at 3:00 pm

The Theatre at Meydenbauer, Bellevue

Eva Stone, Producer/Curator for Chop Shop: Bodies of Work, has received support from 4Culture through the Group Arts Project  program for the past three years, 2009, 2010 and 2011. The deadline for the 2012 GAP program application is March 7. We invited Eva Stone to write a guest blog post about this exciting project.

I admit it.  I am obsessed.  And you should be, too.

There is amazing caliber of choreographers and dance artists that will be presented in this year’s installment of Chop Shop: Bodies of Work, an annual contemporary dance festival held at the Theatre at Meydenbauer over second weekend in February.  I started this event five years ago because of my deep passion for contemporary dance and the brutal realization, after 25 years in this field, that 98% of the people in the world don’t care about or understand this art form.  I still have family members who have no idea what I do for a living.  I’ve come to peace with that knowledge, but have made a personal vow to make and keep dance alive and relevant in our current culture.

Chop Shop is unique in its approach to brining new audiences to dance through a wonderful series of free deconstruction lectures (on how choreography works and what it all means) as well as introductory modern dance classes open to all levels and ages.  These events serve as companion classes to the dance festival itself in order to give participants a first hand experience in dance.  And out of all the classes I teach every year, the outreach classes are some of the best for me.  I get whole families (Dad, Mom, the two kids and even Grandma) who come to class with a lot of interest and a bit of hesitation and by the time class is over they are ALL flying around the room.  It’s a terrific experience!

This year’s performing artists are some real heavy-hitters.  I am so excited to be presenting a new up-and-coming choreographer from New York, Adam Barruch, in his West Coast Premier (this guy is going to be huge one day) as well as Northwest Dance Project from Portland and a rare solo by the legendary Donald Byrd!

And as a celebration of five years of hard work, brilliant dance and outstanding success (every show has been a sell-out) I am offering free cake in the lobby after the performances.  Come and celebrate!  All the info is here, as well as a cool promo:  www.chopshopdance.org

Dancer Emilee Putsche of The Stone Dance Collective, Photo © Zebra Visual

February 11^th, 2012 at 7:30pm and February 12^th, 2012 at 3:00 pm

The Theatre at Meydenbauer, Bellevue.  Tickets on sale at www.brownpapertickets.com.

But most importantly, my deepest and sincerest thanks to 4Culture for helping me make a lifetime passion become reality.  Here’s to more cake and more great dance for our city and it’s people!  Cheers!

Sculptural Collage (detail) by Rickie Wolf, Photo courtesy of artEAST

The artEAST Art Center in downtown Issaquah has announced its Winter Quarter 2012 education program, offering workshops for students of all levels from beginning to advanced, as well as professional development sessions, writer’s workshops, and open studio opportunities.

Winter quarter begins January 9, and online registration is now available. Workshops include watercolor, drawing, painting, jewelry making, encaustics, ceramic handbuilding, photography and more. We’re kind of excited to see Poetry Writing on offer and buzzed about Social Media for Artists. There’s a structured Art Critique Group as well. Lots going on on the Eastside!

A complete schedule and descriptions of workshops and events can be found at www.arteast.org.

The art center is located at 95 Front Street North in downtown Issaquah. For more information about workshops, call 425-392-3191.

Middle School painting studio during Explorations @Al McCleese

Guest blogger Martha Worthley is the Program Manager for The Young Artists Project at Centrum Foundation, which is located in historic Fort Worden in Port Townsend, Washington. In addition to presenting conferences and festivals in the arts, Centrum has both a residency program and a very active education program. Applications are open for the 2012 program and scholarships are available (scholarship application deadline is January 16th).

At Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend Washington, Centrum offers programs in the arts for youth from 5^th through 12th grade. The programs have a long history of support from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Washington State Arts commission. Students come from all over Washington State, and King County students are encouraged to cross the water!

During week-long full immersion experiences, young people stay on the Fort Worden campus, housed in dormitories and attending workshops in the historic Fort buildings. At Centrum an old hospital wing with a beautiful wooden floor becomes a dance studio, the USO is the taiko studio and theater is taught in an actual theater! Old school rooms become art studios and the beach becomes a classroom for young marine scientists. It’s a great setting, with 440 acres of park, forest and coastline to explore.

Rex Kinney teaching a Centrum hip hop class, Photo @Al McCleese

Centrum has a long history of bringing working artists to teach young people. The passion and vibrancy of artists deeply engaged with their work translates to students in a way that is transformational. The list of faculty alumnae stretches far into the cultural scene of King County. From early days with Buster Simpson, David Mahler and Mary Ann Peters to more recent times with artists like Zoe/Juniper, Sierra Nelson and Mandy Greer, Centrum has sought artists from King County and beyond to come and teach what they know, as well as inspire young artists to become the next generation of creative thinkers.

For 2012, the youth programming begins in March with Explorations, a multi-genre, multi cultural arts experience for students from grades 7-9. Each day is divided into four workshop sessions. Choose from drawing, writing, dance, theater, taiko, singing & songwriting, marimba or jewelry making as your core subject, and learn about other art forms in your other three classes.

Taking time for writing reflection during Water World @Martha Worthley

In April, Water World combines art with marine science in a hands-on integrated week of learning for 5^th & 6^th graders. For Explorations and Water World, students sign up (register) in groups of 4 to 6 with an adult chaperone. Tuition, room, and board is FREE for chaperones, but each chaperone needs to be registered.

This summer we’re excited to present two new programs for High School students. Young writers can now attend the Advanced Writers’ Studio at the Port Townsend Writers’ Conference in July, or visual artists can study painting in the Advanced Visual Art Studio.

In August, high school dancers of all levels get a rigorous education in multiple dance styles and choreography at the DANCE This! Camp at Centrum.

Ballet class at Dance This Camp, photo by High School photography student

Registration and scholarship application.

Young Artists Project
Explorations;
March 4-9, 2012, Grades 7-9

Water World;
April 22-27, 2012,  Grades 5-6

High School Writers’ Studio;
July 8-15, 2012, Grades 9-12

High School Visual Art Art Studio; July 8-15, 2012, Grades 9-12

DANCE This;
Aug. 5-11, 2012, Grades 9-12

For more information, contact Martha Worthley  or call 360.385.3102, ext. 120.

You will have noticed by now that Blog4Culture has a fresh new design. We’ve revisited both the look and the functionality of the blog with an eye to getting the reader more quickly and intuitively to the content they want to see. We’ve also simplified and updated our enews to read more clearly on mobile devices as well as on your computer. Let us know what you think.

Don’t receive the enews? We can fix that. Sign up  here to have the monthly enews delivered to your inbox. While you’re there you can also sign up for our public art opportunities and Site Specific event notifications.

Some of you follow us on Facebook – we’d love to see more of you in the house. On our 4Culture Facebook page we post reminders, events, links to the blog and general goodness. We welcome posts on our wall from the cultural community that share what’s happening in Arts, Heritage, Preservation and Public Art in the county, and projects generated by those who live here. Have you received a grant from us? Project funding? Our project managers love to hear your good news but we encourage you to post it on Facebook as well.

Have you discovered the info-stream that is Twitter? Some folks find Twitter overwhelming but really, it’s just conversation, community and links to things you might want to know about, 140 characters at a time. That’s bite-size. We have two Twitter streams where we tweet about our programs, share links of interest, make friends and converse with our folks. If you’re looking for an update about what we had for lunch you won’t find it on either stream, but if you want to discover what all the fuss is about or if you are already on Twitter, follow us up. Come on in, the water’s fine.

@4Culture (Arts, Heritage, Preservation and Public Art content) and @pa4culture (Public Art’s stream that features design, technology, architecture and public art).

Twitter illustration by Philip E. Pascuzzo, 2010

Have you heard of  Tumblr? This micro blogging site has hosted Public Art’s informal studio blog for the last year or so – what’s new, what’s in process, things we’ve been thinking or talking about. We will maintain the Tumblr site for the next quarter and may then move such content over to our other sites. In the meantime, check out our current and archived posts, and if you are on Tumblr give us a follow. You never know, we might be encouraged and stick around on this platform.

And finally, let us speak of Google+. Though we admire its circles, its clean design and its lack of overt advertising we are holding steady with the social media we already have going. Are you committed to Google+? Do you think we should build a page and presence there? Let us know, our outreach is always evolving.

Of course, if you don’t hold with things digital (or even if you do) you can always find us in the office. Visit Gallery4Culture and watch the e4c screens, browse our resource room, help yourself to the brochures and cards at the front entrance and say hello to staff.

101 Prefontaine Place South in Pioneer Square is an especially robust platform, and it’s not going anywhere.

]]> http://blog.4culture.org/2012/01/find-4culture-online-were-everywhere/feed/ 0 http://blog.4culture.org/2011/12/leif-anderson-in-gallery-4culture-2/ http://blog.4culture.org/2011/12/leif-anderson-in-gallery-4culture-2/#comments Tue, 27 Dec 2011 19:06:00 +0000 Tina4Culture http://blog.4culture.org/?p=17950 Leif Anderson: spatial tactics

January 5-27, 2012 Opening: First Thursday, January 5, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

In January, Leif Anderson brings new photomedia work to Gallery 4Culture in his exhibit entitled spatial tactics. The artwork explores the ways ... Continue

© 2011, Leif Anderson, rising sun, Pigment print, Photo courtesy of the artist

Leif Anderson: spatial tactics

January 5-27, 2012
Opening: First Thursday, January 5, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

In January, Leif Anderson brings new photomedia work to Gallery 4Culture in his exhibit entitled spatial tactics. The artwork explores the ways in which diverse lifestyles, philosophies and beliefs intersect and co-exist within the urban environment. Anderson’s intent is to set-up interactions and mediations that produce a spiritual enlivenment of the urban milieu.  Spatial tactics features both digital pigment prints and video by the artist.

Reminder: Gallery4Culture seeks exhibition proposals for the season beginning September 2012 and running through August 2013. Applicants must be individual artists, artist teams, or independent curators living in King County, WA, and not represented by a commercial gallery at the time of submittal.  Deadline is Monday, January 9, 2012 by 5pm. Application is online.

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Julia Freeman, Shrubs, 2011 (detail). Photo courtesy of the artist.

Monday, January 9, 2012, 5:00 p.m. is the deadline for submitting applications for exhibit opportunities in Gallery4Culture, our 1000 square foot gallery space.

Gallery4Culture’s application for the exhibition season from September 2012 through August 2013 is available online. Review the guidelines and online application here.

Individual artists, artist teams and independent curators residing in King County, WA are eligible to apply. Artists may not be represented by a commercial gallery at the time of application. Members of artist-run collectives and cooperative galleries are eligible to apply. Artists who have had solo exhibitions at Gallery4Culture are ineligible for four years from the time of their previous application. We look forward to your application.

Click here to view the embedded video.

2011, Workers install Christian Moeller's Verdi at Bothell Pump Station. Photos courtesy of King County Wastewater Treatment Division by David Freed.

King County’s Wastewater Treatment Division and 4Culture are proud to announce the latest installation of public art for Brightwater.

Christian Moeller’s Verdi, a 65-foot sculptural tower at the Influent Pump Station in Bothell, ingeniously encloses the pump station’s odor control stack while educating people about the environmental mission of King County’s clean-water utility. Moeller is known for public artwork that is smart and elegant. His artwork often employs a simple material palette and always delivers an unforgettable experience when encountered. Verdi is composed of more than 3,500 repurposed green glass water bottles.

In developing his work for Brightwater, Moeller considered the political and economic structure of water resources fueling a world-wide demand for designer water.  This “growing market for bottled water has exploded and hundreds of companies find themselves in competition, selling us a product that on deeper thought should be freely accessible to all,” states the artist.

The bottle tower also references community water towers, which are often a small town’s most prominent feature as well as a source of civic identity and pride.

The Brightwater Pump Station is located at the Bothell Business Park’s entrance at the intersection of N.E. 195th and North Creek Parkway in Bothell.  The facility will open to the public in the spring. Blog4Culture will announce details about the dedication ceremony and official lighting of the tower.

© Carolina Silva, A Sign, 2011, Drawing on cardboard

Gallery4Culture presents Here Forever, a solo installation of new drawings and sculpture by Seattle-based artist Carolina Silva. Impermanence is the theme of Silva’s exhibition is the acknowledgement of the ever drifting character of human nature. Silva examines a sense of place while conversely recognizing the sheer impossibility of permanence.

Silva’s drawings capture spaces in which what is seen is as important as what remains hidden or invisible to the eyes, forcing the viewer to imagine and project that which lies on the other side. A brief text accompanies each drawing, providing a caption that gives a hint to a story. Juxtaposing contradictory materials, her sculptures bring into focus the uncertain boundaries between light/darkness, sound/silence, visible/hidden. Silva’s intention is to create a space for the impossible.

Learn more about Carolina Silva’s artwork on our Gallery page.

Application and guidelines for Gallery4Culture’s 2012/2013 season are now available on our Opportunities page. The application deadline is Monday, January 9.

This opportunity is open to artists residing in King County who are not represented by a commercial art gallery at the time of application. Solo, collaborative and small group exhibitions in all media will be considered.

This is one in an ongoing series of posts by artist Elizabeth Conner, artist in residence on the Tolt River. Elizabeth is working with scientists who are monitoring the river in the aftermath of a recent restoration project near Carnation.…

On a warm day in July, I meet Dan Eastman and Josh Latterell under a bridge over the Snoqualmie River at Chinook Bend. They prepare for “edge mapping,” a repeat of a 2009 sample survey that was done at the same flow level, equipped with a GPS device and a velocity meter, which they load into an inflatable. I observe from shore, since I am not trained for water activities.

Edge-mapping measures the amount and distribution of slow water: good habitat for juvenile salmonids. This activity helps answer two questions:
• At what flows is edge habitat most limited?
• Do restoration projects increase the amount of edge habitat overall, especially at flow levels when edge habitat is scarce?

As the river becomes more complex following restoration, more slow-water areas should appear, assumed to be good for juvenile fish. The team has been sampling fish in different edge habitats to make sure this assumption is correct. Chinook Bend, and the confluence of the Tolt and Snoqualmie, both underwent restoration two years ago, so the monitoring activities are related. However, the scale of the Chinook Bend landscape is completely different.

“I feel like an ant when I’m here,” Josh remarks. He and Dan locate the boundary where water is moving at 0.45 meters per second, a low velocity that enables juvenile fish to easily hold their position in the current without expending energy needed to grow. These edge habitats may also provide some shelter from larger predatory fish that live in deeper water. Fish achieve their own segregation by size, and they can exist safely within three feet of schools of predatory fish that have chosen deeper water.
High-precision GPS units are used to trace two lines on every bank: the wetted edge of the river, and the location where the current exceeds 0.45 meters per second. Josh explains that GPS units are used as space-age crayons, accurate to within an arm’s length, to trace a giant cartoon of the limits of slow-moving fish habitat.

I think about how artwork that relates to this project might engage in its own “edge-mapping,” exploring variations on Josh’s early remark to me that “the forest is fish habitat.” What are the “edges” between urban and rural, people and fish, past and present, high-tech and low-tech, words and images? Can some of these edges, which might appear to be fixed, become more permeable? Josh and I talk about how this blog, a new experience for both of us, has been useful in developing shared languages that might help dissolve the perceived edges between subjectivity and objectivity, science and poetry. What would a moving and changing version of this slow process of change look like?

On another summer day, at the end of August, I join Josh Latterell, Laura Hartema and Cody Toal on the Tolt, just upstream from the Snoqualmie. This team is measuring median size of pebbles over time, to test the effect of restoration on spawning gravels. The “gravel survey” is a monitoring activity I have eagerly anticipated, because it sounds so baffling.

“You have to warm up. You gotta stretch,” says Laura. Cody and Laura stand back to back midway between one of several sample points established in 2008, every 100 meters along the “wetted edge” of the river. They walk slowly, heel to toe, a designated number of steps, then stop and, eyes closed, place the tip of a yellow wooden 2B pencil into the gravel at the tip of their front boot. They measure and call out the diameter of the rock touched by the pencil point. Josh records this on a data sheet containing 100 squares, for 100 measurements of 100 randomly selected pebbles. This collection of measurements will be used to describe the size distribution of rocks in the river, to help understand how restoration projects are affecting the river’s ability to reshape itself, and the suitability of the streambed for spawning.

At the command “turn and mark,” Cody and Laura mark their locations with a little cairn of larger rocks, turn to face each other, and retrace their steps, repeating the choreographed labor-intensive pencil and boot measuring activity. Josh explains that the pencil is used in order to obtain an unbiased sample. “If you use your finger to point to a rock, you will already have a “tendency to bias” against pebbles smaller than the end of your finger,” rather than making a random selection. “The more you can reduce biases, known and unknown, when you are measuring nature, the more accurate you will be.”

“Elizabeth, want to do the next one?” I am happy to participate, but immediately understand why Laura advised stretching exercises. This is hard! I lose my balance and work much more slowly than my partner. This necessitates some additional scientific controls to mitigate the work of a rank amateur, who now has a much more direct understanding of what monitoring looks like, and how it feels to do this work.

Photos by Elizabeth Conner

Saturday, November 12, 10:00 a.m. – noon

Valise Gallery, Vashon

Artist Vaughn Bell brings her aLIVe project, I Ped, to Vashon on Saturday, November 12. Bell created a group of augmented walking sticks that encourage the user to mindfully experience and explore the landscape.

The I Ped allows you to make your own landscape through the creative act of observation and attention to your pedestrian environment. A more rustic version of your digital mobile device, it gives you the hands-on experience of a walking stick. It is useful when navigating rough terrain, and includes the necessary, basic tools for mapping and observing your environment: notepad and writing implement, and magnetic compass. I Ped is a tool for walking. Community members and visitors will be invited to borrow an I Ped and create their own landscape by walking, noticing, writing and drawing, then sharing those observations with the next person who uses the walking stick.

Artists Elizabeth Conner and Carol Schwennesen will be in the gallery on Saturday as well with their exhibit TIME. The opening reception for the exhibit is First Friday, November 4, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Valise Gallery, 17633 Vashon Hwy SW, Vashon, WA 98070

For more information about I Ped and to arrange group or individual walking experiences contact Vaughn Bell. Visit her website: www.vaughnbell.net

 Photo: © Vaughn Bell, 2011, I Ped

Jason Hirata
Bubble Tea
November 3 – 25, 2011
Opening: 1^st Thursday, November 3, 6pm – 8 pm 

In November, Gallery4Culture presents Seattle-based artist Jason Hirata’s Bubble Tea, a series of photo-based, poster scale works revolving around the preparation, distribution, consumption and enjoyment of this sweet, tea-like fruit drink whose popularity is rapidly expanding. Producing digital prints that are composites (via Photoshop) of stock imagery purchased online and the artist’s own work, Hirata will install his posters in Gallery4Culture as well as around the city in various establishments responsible for the production and sale of bubble tea. Viewers can make the connection in chance encounters where art and commerce collide.

In 2009, Hirata earned a BFA from the University of Washington in Photomedia with additional studies in Comparative History of Ideas.  Since then he has exhibited his photographic and performance-based work at work at Punch, James Harris Gallery, The Gift Shop (Henry Art Gallery), SOIL, and Seattle University’s Hadreen Gallery.

©Jason Hirata, 2011, Bubble Milk Tea       Photo credits:

 flickr.com/fencreative, flickr.com/horiavarlan, flickr.com/brostad, flickr.com/null0

artists, start your engines

Applications for the 2012-2013 exhibition cycle at Gallery4Culture will be available starting December 1. With just six weeks to prepare and submit online applications, and with the holidays falling in the center of the application period, we thought a heads-up was in order. If you would like to be considered for exhibition in the upcoming schedule for the Gallery, start thinking about it now. 

Gallery4Culture offers approximately 1,000 sq. ft. of street level exhibition space in the Tashiro-Kaplan Building in Pioneer Square, Seattle.  Exhibitions open on First Thursday and run through the remainder of the month. The Gallery has standard business hours and keeps government holidays. Individual artists and artist teams residing in King County who are not represented by a commercial gallery at the time of application may apply. Visit the application information page for more information about this call.

Gallery4Culture exhibits contemporary art in all media.  Solo, two-person, and curated small group exhibitions will be considered.  Nontraditional media and methods underrepresented in commercial galleries will be considered.  Visit the Gallery page to review current and past exhibitions.

The application is online only and requires the following materials: A statement about current work and an exhibition proposal; a professional resume; up to 12 digital images or time based media totaling 4 cumulative minutes.

Gallery4Culture’s application for exhibitions running September 2012 through August 2013 will be available online December 1.

Application deadline is Monday, January 9, 5:00 P.M.

Britta Johnson, Snow Angels, Digital still from video, 2011, exhibiting in April of 2012