(Image: Northwest Film Forum)

A new Capitol Hill apartment building now serves as a nightly 60-foot canvas every dusk through summer. Look up, you might see giant portraits of your friends.

The UNION project launched this week on the eight-story blank wall of the Woodworth Apartments on E Union just off Broadway:

Beginning each night at dusk all year long, neighbors and visitors in the Capitol Hill neighborhood will witness a 60’ tall projected art show from rotating guest curators and artists. For the inaugural exhibition, the Capitol Hill Arts District selected LeLeita McKILL to display her photographs of essential workers in the neighborhood taken during COVID, commissioned by the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.

The Capitol Hill Arts District project is a partnership with building developer SeaLevel Properties and Sensebellum, a Bellingham company that creates experiences blending tech and art.

The arts district was formed in 2014 as a coalition of arts and community groups dedicated to to the preservation and creation of spaces and opportunities for artists in the neighborhood.

Artist LeLeita McKill says her photography project documenting members of the Capitol Hill community during COVID-19 lockdown is a tribute to their efforts even as some were overwhelmed by the crisis.

“These are portraits of people who kept working and showing up for their community and for each other during a time when the state of our world and connections to each other were thrown into unprecedented uncertainty,” McKill said. “Not all of the organizations/businesses I documented survived the economic effects of the pandemic intact. But they tried and kept trying and were essential in keeping the community alive, connected, paid, fed and inspired. I’m thankful to them for all of their work and grateful to have the opportunity to share these images in such a big way.”

The building’s developers say its design included the blank wall to provide an opportunity for large scale artwork. The wall will, of course, someday be butted against future development to the south.

For now, the virtual canvas will continue with plants to rotate the Capitol Hill Arts District exhibition every two months with the current curator joining a panel of artists to select the next guest curator.

“Each curator has autonomy to show the art or artists they select,” the arts district announcement reads.

You can learn more at capitolhillarts.org.

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