Sound Transit is building a light rail station in the heart of Capitol Hill that will connect the neighborhood to service to the University of Washington and SeaTac airport. Over the next four years, through 2014, a two block stretch between Broadway and 10th Avenue will be surrounded by a construction wall as the area is excavated and the station is built. During this construction period, the Sound Transit Art Program, STart, will turn the construction wall into an art lab with a rotation of commissioned works from a wide range of artists, curated by lead artist D.K. Pan.
The first step of transforming the construction wall into the art lab was choosing an appropriate color. In recognition of Capitol Hill’s place as the heart of Seattle, Pan selected a vibrant red for the wall and created a theme for the gallery – “THE CITY: love, loss, and the moveable future.”
Through a competitive process, a roster of nearly thirty artists has been created to draw from to create projects. Many artists are developing their projects and the first round of installations will continue over the next few weeks and over the four years of construction. Some of the works that are currently underway:
1) Baso Fibonacci – an untitled mural/self portrait of the artist on 10th Ave. E. near E. John Street. Baso and his crew of painters, Zach Rochstad and Japhy Witte began work on the mural last Thursday and will be wrapping up later this week.
2) Gretchen Bennett – “Crazy in Love” is a series of posters of hand-rendered video stills comparing/contrasting Beyonce and Antony & the Johnsons different interpretations of the titular song. The posters will be installed on Broadway near Denny later this week.
3) Joey Veltkamp – two murals that will be installed on Broadway that translates the artist’s memories and love of Capitol Hill though objet de refuse he’s encountered over the years.
4) Evan Blackwell - a 3-dimensional installation that utilizes reclaimed door and framing material to create beautiful geometric patterns. This artwork is anticipated to be installed on Broadway near John Street over Thursday and Friday of this week.
5) Vis-aVis Society – a two-person performance and installation work for the Cal Anderson side of the wall. The artists, Sierra Nelson and Rachel Kessler will conduct surveys during Arts Blitz exploring how we came to be where we are and chart results on the wall.
6) SEAT (Seattle Experimental Animation Team) – a film collective featuring Webster Crowell, Britta Johnson, Sarah Jane Lapp, Tess Martin, Amanda Moore, Clyde Peterson, and youth group Coyote Central will create a time-lapse animated event on the Cal Anderson Park side of the wall. The wall images will result in an animation titled “Wallrus,” which will be screened at the end of the four year-residency on the wall. This project kicks off in early September.
More projects will unfold over the coming months and continue throughout the life of the wall. For artists who are interested in applying to be a part of the roster, we will holding future artist calls, which will be posted on our website. You can register to receive email notifications of artist opportunities at
www.soundtransit.org/artopportunities
- Jennifer Babuca, STart Program Coordinator
