It's all happening at once: art in August
Seattle festival season always ramps up in August, but I bet the first weekend of that month is gonna set some kind of record. Everything is trying to happen all at once!
I'm blocking out July 30th through August 2nd to visit the first Seattle Art Fair. Tons of art gallery representatives and other glitterati are flying in from New York, Tokyo, Seoul... the list goes on. They're showing their best and brightest artists, looking for new collectors and generally networking like there's no tomorrow. The fair will be at the football stadium, but there are also several satellite fair events sprinkled around the area.
Riding that wave of events is Art of the City, the one-day art and music festival in Pioneer Square. You'll find me at the epicenter, in the Tashiro Kaplan Building, for the final iteration of the Black Lives Matter exhibit.
You only have to walk a few short (really, they're pretty short) blocks between Art of the City and the Seattle Art Fair. (The star in the map is Art of the City; the light blue square is the Fair.)
Oh, but there's more! As I was mentioning Art of the City to a friend the other day, she interrupted with an excruciatingly good point:
"Isn't that also SeaFair weekend?"
Oh, that thing that draws thousands of hydroplane fans to the south end of Seattle? The one led by a pirate crew?
Yes, it is. But the thing is, going to Art of the City is still doable. Here are some suggestions:
- Come to Art of the City right off the bat -- party starts at 11am and goes until 11pm
- Plot out a bus route using the Sound Transit Trip Planner
- Carpool like your sanity depends on it (it probably does)
- Prioritize what you want to see at the Seattle Art Fair: preview it to find your kind of art.
Oh yeah, and wear your walking shoes. Not the cute ones that pinch after an hour. The real walking shoes. (This is Seattle: funny-looking shoes are normal here.) See you soon!
Work-in-progress: diving in
It's been a bit of a shock here to feel heat (that is, "summer") every day. What does one do when it's hot outside?
Semiahmoo Bay. Photo: Lisa Myers Bulmash
Ah yes, large bodies of water. I understand one sometimes dives into them.
The original vintage image of the diver was part of a stereoscopic pair. I set her, and part of the background, against waves on a Japanese art paper. Then I added a handmade paper sky, at the back of an altered book niche.
You might remember back in the day -- like, waaaay back in the day -- this kind of swimsuit was considered scandalous.
More power to you, for doing what makes you happy. I think Calamity Jane said it best:
I'm leaning toward the title "Legendary." Still need to mount the book and do a couple of other tweaks, but it's getting there. Next week, I'll be showing her to an interested collector who's been following this work-in-progress on Facebook.
Spreading the good art word: Artist Trust at Large
Every once in a while, it's NOT who you know: it's WHAT you know. How can you find free money -- yes, FREE MONEY -- if you don't know it exists? And if you're friends with someone who needs money, how else are you going to keep us from mooching off you? (Kidding. Sort of.)
I can help with that! Starting in September, I'll be giving talks on artist resources and funding as an Artist Trust At Large speaker. We'll talk about:
- grants, fellowships and other awards -- basically, money that doesn't need to be repaid
- workshops on art business-related topics
- where to go for information like legal issues, emergency help and more
The Artist Trust At Large presentations will be in Seattle, Snohomish, Redmond, Bremerton, Tacoma and in two webinars. And these resources are for artists of all disciplines: visual artists, writers and other literary artists, film/media artists and performers of all kinds. More details as they develop!