Images: © 2010, Dina L. Johnson

4Culture, Artist Trust and the Estate of Su Job have just announced local artist, Kelly Lyles as the recipient of the 2010 Conductive Garboil Grant, a yearly, non-restricted award of $3,000.

The Conductive Garboil Grant was developed by artist Su Job just before her passing in December 2008 and acknowledges Seattle artists with a connection to Pioneer Square who have “demonstrated a profound ability to challenge the limits of conductive creative discourse and its effects on our society, pushing the creative act beyond the accepted limits, definitions, or purposes of art while engaging audiences outside the aesthetic industrial complex.”

Even if you don’t know Kelly personally, you probably recognize her photo. She had her first Seattle exhibition in Pioneer Square in 1982, at The Prints and The Pauper and has since planted deep-roots in the community. Her representational (and often humorous) paintings are regularly on view – ranging from punny views of animals crossed with ‘all-American’ products like Mice-A-Roni, Benson & Hedgehogs, and Star-Ducks Coffee, to watercolors of historical and mythological figures.

Kelly’s flamboyant persona and attention-getting ArtCars are staples at First Thursday and art events around the city. She considers her embellished vehicles “rolling canvases, the ultimate public art”. Perhaps you have seen the Excessories Odd-yssey, a Honda van covered with women’s fashion accessories (jewelry, purses, shoes, belts, sunglasses and more) on the road or at the Seattle ArtCar Blowout, which she founded and has produced for the past 11 years.

And yes, there is more…Lyles also extends her considerable talents and adventurous spirit to organizations such as the Fremont Arts Council, SIFF, multiple local theaters, and as an art instructor at Bellevue College. But perhaps she is best known for her massive email list, to which she forwards visual arts information and opportunities – keeping us all in the loop.

Come and celebrate with Kelly as she is honored on Wednesday, October 13, 2010, 6 – 8pm, at 4Culture, 101 Prefontaine Place South, Seattle, WA 98104.

Photo Credit: Paul McRae