Despite the red hot food and drink economy on the Hill and signs of sturdiness in the country’s economic turnaround, there are still a few storefronts along Broadway that stand empty, full of nothing. Turning nothing into something is the mantra of so many artists, and it’s really what Storefronts Seattle is all about. The program is currently searching for artists to help fill in some of these empty space on Capitol Hill. The deadline to apply is next week. Details on signing up — and where you can check out the latest Broadway installation, below.
Seattle Storefronts connects artists, businesses, and empty commercial spaces to beautify otherwise “minimalist” (cough, vacant, cough) storefronts. We reported on one past projects from the program here.
Storefronts Seattle was founded in 2010, and has expanded to provide a temporary solution for vacant storefronts in Pioneer Square, International District/Chinatown, South Lake Union, Auburn, Rainer Beach and, most importantly to you, local reader, Capitol Hill.
February 9th marked the debut of the latest Seattle Storefront’s presence in Capitol Hill at the old Hollywood Video space. Check out “Atlantis Full of Cheer” an installation by Christian French as well as Rene Ropas and her “Seattle Portrait Project”, a designer clothing shop/fabrication workspace/multi-media fashion studio involving over 40 artists. Both will be on site until May 15th. Expect to see more projects popping up on Broadway between Pike and Roy. So far five projects have been confirmed along this stretch, with more planned.
Capitol Hill artists who want to get involved with this program, take note. The deadline to apply for Storefronts Seattle is 11pm Wednesday, February 22nd.
Storefronts Seattle offers three different tracks for applicants:
- Installations – Provides space for two dimensional, three dimensional, and mixed media artists to display work.
- Artist Residencies – Provides space for visual, performing, cinematic artists to rehearse and create and perform.
- Creative Enterprise – Provides space to create a temporary gallery, shop or other public project.
Selected artists will receive between $250 – $1,000 to create their work. They will also receive access to an empty space for three months with a possible extension for those in the Creative Enterprise track.
