After a pause in programming, Gallery 4Culture launched its first call for artists since January 2020 to continue a 43-year history of exhibiting innovative, underrepresented artists and art forms in solo and small-group shows. Panelists Amelia Ketzel, Francisco Guerrero, Ashraf Hasham, and Tyna Ontko reviewed applications submitted through the process and selected 10 King County-based artists for the 2023-2024 season.

Stefan Gonzales
September 7–28, 2023
Opening: First Thursday, September 7, 6:00–8:00 pm

Stefan Gonzales’ sculptures, objects, performances, and place-based photographs grapple with notions of land use, earthworks/land art, colonialism, the environment, family dynamics, and Indigenous identity.

Eunsun Choi
October 5–26, 2023
Opening: First Thursday, October 5, 6:00–8:00 pm

Eunsun Choi’s cacophonous installation of cuckoo clocks represents the economic disparity in Korean society and reveals her personal experience of discomfort and anxiety resulting from the timepieces.

Allyce Wood
November 2–December 7, 2023
Opening: First Thursday, November 2, 6:00–8:00 pm
Closing: First Thursday, December 7, 6:00–8:00 pm

Allyce Wood explores concepts of legacy and information sharing, systems and breakable rules, and expansion and growth with the flexible medium of tapestry, both digital and handmade.

Sofya Belinskaya
January 4–25, 2024
Opening: First Thursday, January 4, 6:00–8:00 pm

Sofya Belinskaya’s paintings portray the faces and stories of Ukrainian refugees now living in the Puget Sound region as a consequence of the ongoing war.

Colleen RJC Bratton
February 1–29, 2024
Opening: First Thursday, February 1, 6:00–8:00 pm

With photographs, videos and ephemeral drawings made from natural materials, Colleen RJC Bratton seeks to associate the decay of our own bodies with that of the composting flower, dissolving seaweed, rotting log, and melting snow–all returning to the earth.

Jo Cosme
March 7–28, 2024
Opening: First Thursday, March 7, 6:00–8:00 pm

Jo Cosme’s immersive multimedia installation contrasts widespread perceptions of Puerto Rico as a Caribbean Paradise with the capitalist and neocolonialist realities endured by Native Boricuas over generations.

Cameron Day O’Connell
April 4–25, 2024
Opening: First Thursday, April 4, 6:00–8:00 pm

Cameron Day O’Connell’s photographs and multimedia prints capture fleeting moments of intimacy, grief, and transformation in queer community and the natural world.

Maria Phillips
May 2–30, 2024
Opening: First Thursday, May 2, 6:00–8:00 pm

Always on alert for the inconspicuous beauty that awaits in random encounters and habitual rhythms of her daily landscape, Maria Phillips comingles discarded and overlooked materials, producing constructions that question their purpose, necessity, and possible futures.

John Feodorov
June 6–27, 2024
Opening: 1st Thursday, June 6, 6:00–8:00 pm

In his ongoing series of paintings, Assimilations, John Feodorov reflects upon the complexities of identity through a critical exploration of his own childhood, growing up as a half Diné (Navajo)/half white child in the suburbs of Southern California.

Hanako O’Leary
July 5–August 1, 2024
Opening: First Thursday, July 11, 6:00–8:00 pm
Closing: First Thursday, August 1, 6:00–8:00 pm

Hanako O’Leary celebrates the female body through the feminization of the landscape and explores the intercultural and intergenerational relationships within her mixed Japanese-American heritage.

Congratulations to our 2023-2024 artists!

We’d like to thank all 99 gallery applicants for their interest in exhibiting with us and the panel for their diligence in making these selections. Artists who were not awarded shows are encouraged to reapply next year. The 2024-2025 Gallery 4Culture season application cycle will open in early November 2023 with a deadline of December 14, 2023.

Maria Frank Abrams (1924-2013) came to Seattle in 1948 as a survivor of the Holocaust, then built an illustrious career as one of the most celebrated artists in the region. Her body of work includes paintings, works on paper, public art, set and costume design, and mosaics, reflecting influences from the University of Washington’s School of Art where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Art summa cum laude in 1951. Later she also earned her Master of Library Science.

After graduating with her BFA, Abrams benefitted from the advice and critique of Northwest School luminary Mark Tobey, expanding her use of materials and stylistic abstraction. Tobey introduced her to his gallerist, Otto Seligman, who then represented Abrams until his death. At the same time, Abrams began showing extensively in solo and group exhibitions at regional venues such as the Seattle Art Museum, the Henry Art Gallery, and the Frye Art Museum. She gained broad national and international attention in subsequent years. In 2022, the Cascadia Art Museum in Edmonds, WA mounted a solo retrospective of her work, the third of her career.

In 1976, Abrams was one of the first artists commissioned to create a site-specific artwork for the King County Public Art Collection (KCPAC) through the King County Arts Commission’s New Proposal Fund, which invited artists to submit proposals for new work in public spaces. Abrams selected her neighborhood library on Mercer Island, where her mural The Four Seasons is still on display.

This year, in honor of the 10th anniversary of Abrams’ death, we are beginning the process of providing needed cleaning, conservation, and restoration work for The Four Seasons, as well as her other pieces in the KCPAC: Divided Sky, 1977 and Wintry Sky, 1985.

With increasing anti-Semitism across the globe, we are proud to invest in the preservation of these important artworks by an exceptional regional Jewish artist. In the words of Maria Frank Abrams, “Practically everyone in the Western world has a responsibility for what happened to us Jews during those years…one of the things which is very important to me is to talk about my family who perished, to make a note, a mark, for them.”

By preserving the testimonies, stories, artworks, writing, and other creative achievements of Holocaust survivors, we can remember the power of humans to heal and what is at stake if we chose to forget.

“During a special meeting on Tuesday, January 30, the King County Council presented a proclamation of the Council’s condemnation of antisemitism in recognition of Holocaust Remembrance Day… King County is committed to showing support and pursuing justice for the Jewish community, especially during a time where xenophobia and white nationalism have become increasingly pervasive throughout the country.” – Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles

For more information:
Maria Frank Abrams website
Burning Forest: The Art of Maria Frank Abrams by Matthew Kangas (2010)
Discover a Legend by Tim Appelo, City Art Magazine (2010)

How well do you know Josh Heim?
Last month the 4Culture staff said goodbye to Joshua Heim, who started a new and exciting chapter as Executive Director at the Western Arts Alliance, a membership association supporting performing arts throughout the Western states.

We can’t thank Josh enough for his service to 4Culture! He started his tenure just a few months before the pandemic hit, coming on board exactly three years ago. He played an instrumental role in providing stability, vision, and a way forward during crisis, as we created a new structure and practice to manage federal dollars through a significant Relief and Recovery program.

Many of you know Josh as a dedicated arts leader and advocate, either from his time with us, or with the City of Bellevue and Redmond. But how well do you really know him? Take the quiz we took at his going away party. We’ll let you know how well you scored.

We are going to miss you Josh! Thanks for all your dedication to 4Culture and wishing you the best as you start this new chapter in your career.

(Answers: 1-C, three years; 2-B, Avocado Toast; 3-B, OEFA; 4-C, Manages an Air BnB; 5-C, Michelle Obama; 6 Office of Economic and Financial Analysis)

Danele Alampay, the 2022 Equity in Historic Preservation Intern, writes about her interest in historic preservation and reflects on her internship project, providing data analysis and research support to the Beyond Integrity Initiative. 

By Danele Alampay, 2022 Equity in Historic Preservation Intern
I became interested in historic preservation through architecture. I was, and still am, interested in how existing buildings could be rehabilitated. Returning to school to learn more about historic preservation last year expanded my understanding of how it affects other aspects of the built environment, and I wanted to find out more on how it is applied to policy and planning. I was excited to get the opportunity to do so through the Beyond Integrity internship, especially as it meant that I got to see how it is at work close to my home in Western Washington.

My internship came in two parts. The first weeks were dedicated to continuing the work done by the 2016 and 2017 interns, which was looking at how properties, non-designated and designated as landmarks, in Seattle and King County reflect underrepresented communities. For someone who had studied architecture, it was very enlightening to shift the focus on the significance of a place to not just the apparent beauty and craftsmanship of the past, but also to the stories that are told by the place. From what I found, I believe we are moving towards better acknowledging the context of the neighborhood, especially when there are or had been minority groups who contributed to what we see today. Of course, the findings also show there is more that can be done in how landmark applications are written and in what properties are brought to nomination and designation. I’ve always been impressed with great architecture, but as I’ve moved on in school and in work, I began to appreciate what it is that make places great to be in and what about them draws people. For historic preservation, sites can also reflect a part of our own personal histories and experiences, and seeing work dedicated to pushing for more diverse stories told through the places we protect has been fulfilling.

The second part of my internship was researching the design review process for sites designated for their cultural significance. I was daunted at first by the task because I didn’t know what to expect. It is a more recent direction that people working in historic preservation are taking, so I wasn’t sure if there were many designated examples out there yet that have gone through this process. And where does one even begin? Could there even be a standard to approaching the management of these places on a local government level? There are many questions, and honestly, by the end, I feel like I had more questions to ask. Despite that, it doesn’t feel like I got to nowhere, but rather that I’ve taken a step in trying to understand the issue better. One main takeaway is that it is important to listen to the community members and the owners of these culturally significant sites because they can give insight into how to care for these places. They can also point to how a place’s significance is presented, like in physical elements of the building or the types of activities held in its spaces.

A major part of the work was reaching out and interviewing people in city or county historic preservation offices. Through talking with seven offices (Seattle, King County, Spokane, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Miami-Dade), I learned so much about experiences they have had with culturally significant landmarks and the kinds of questions or challenges they anticipate when faced with these types of properties. It was also inspiring to hear other people excited about this subject and where field of historic preservation is headed. There is still much that can be done with this research, and I hope research and conversations continue past this internship.

Dig into Danele’s Equity in Preservation report, also located on our Beyond Integrity page.

About Danele
Danele Alampay was selected as the 2022 Equity in Historic Preservation Intern for 4Culture and Beyond Integrity. Originally from the Philippines and University Place/Tacoma, Washington, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Architectural Design with Honors from the University of Washington in 2017. She served as an Undergraduate Research Assistant for the UW College of Built Environments, and was awarded the 2016 Rolland A. Simpson Endowed Scholarship in Architecture. From 2017-2019, she was a Designer for Northwest Studio, an architecture and urban design firm in Seattle. In Fall 2019, she was a Research Assistant at the University of the Philippines. In the beginning of 2020, she worked briefly as a Designer for Robert Hutchison Architecture in Seattle. Danele is currently a Master of Science in Historic Preservation Candidate at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design and will graduate in 2023.

In July and August, Danele gave two presentations based on 10 weeks of her research, building upon previous interns’ reports on how historic properties associated with underrepresented communities have fared in local landmark designation processes.

In 2021, Joe Biden became the first U.S. president to officially recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day, proclaiming that “For generations, Federal policies systematically sought to assimilate and displace Native people and eradicate Native cultures. Today, we recognize Indigenous peoples’ resilience and strength as well as the immeasurable positive impact that they have made on every aspect of American society.” ¹

This October 10th, King County and 4Culture also observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day by acknowledging and talking about the violent history of colonization in the Western hemisphere.

With gratitude, we work on the ancestral and unceded lands and waters of Lushootseed-speaking peoples, especially of the Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Puyallup, Snoqualmie, Suquamish, and Tulalip tribes, as well as those whose names we do not know. Today, many Indigenous peoples live and thrive here. We commit to repairing the harmful historic relationship between 4Culture and Native peoples in King County through cultural funding and commissioning opportunities that prioritize Indigenous communities.

As an extension of this charge, we’ve acquired original beadwork by Denise Emerson for the King County Public Art Collection. People of the River, 2016, is made of seed beads, bone, shell, and suede.

Denise was born in Shelton, WA and currently resides in Burien, WA. She is the eldest daughter of Bertha Allen who was an enrolled Twana (Skokomish) Tribal Member and Danny Emerson, Sr. who was an enrolled Diné (Navajo) Tribal Member. The imagery in her work is based on familial relationships and, by extension, these dual cultural influences. Trained as a graphic designer, she also merges contemporary practices with traditional methodologies.

You can see more of Denise’s work at etsy.com.

¹ What is Indigenous Peoples’ Day? – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

“The bus stop is the place that the bus rider begins and ends their journey. Their experience there should invite them back, over and over again, not just out of utility but out of joy.” –Johnson|Ramirez, RapidRide Expansion Art Plan

Artist Ryan! Feddersen has been selected to develop a series of small sculptures and related retaining wall treatments for the new RapidRide I Line corridor, which will connect the historically underserved King County, WA cities of Renton, Kent, and Auburn via bus rapid transit.

4Culture, in partnership with King County Metro Transit, conducted a national open call for this opportunity dubbed SMALL BUT MIGHTY and announced with the prompt: How might little artworks add BIG moments of surprise and joy to these otherwise utilitarian places?

98 artists and artist teams submitted their qualifications for consideration. A committee comprised of regional artists and arts professionals, community representatives, and Metro staff reviewed all materials, conducted interviews with finalists, and ultimately awarded the commission to Feddersen.

Unified by concept, scale, and durable media, the work she develops will be permanently installed at up to a dozen bus stations and adjacent points of interest along the 17-mile alignment. Serving a huge diversity of people and places and encompassing at least thirteen different language groups in its ridership, Feddersen hopes to elevate I Line histories and cultures. She says, “I am excited by the concept of stories which unfold over space and time and have long been interested in creating a series of artworks for sites where there is a special opportunity to work iteratively or where viewers experience multiple artworks in sequence that have interesting, surprising relationships to one another. I find it captivating to make artwork for public settings where people experience the same artwork frequently and can continue to find new elements in the work.”

About the Artist
RYAN! Feddersen specializes in creating compelling site-specific installations and public artworks which invite people to consider their relationships to the environment, technology, society and culture. She completed a BFA at Cornish College of the Arts in 2009. Feddersen is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, from the Okanogan and Arrow Lakes bands, and of mixed European decent. Recently, she completed public artworks Inhabitance for the Portland International Airport, Schema for CitizenM Pioneer Square, and Antecedents for the University of Washington. She has created large-scale site-specific pieces and interactive installations throughout North America, working with Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, 4Culture, Regional Arts and Culture Council, ArtsWa, Museum of Art & History Santa Cruz, Seattle Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, City of Tacoma, University of Washington, Wellin Museum, College of New Jersey, and Northeastern University. Learn more about her practice at ryanfeddersen.com.

We are excited to announce that Rosten Woo was selected to work collaboratively with our partners at King County Parks to develop an art plan for King County Parks’ extensive network of parks, regional and backcountry trails, and open space in collaboration with the communities they touch. Rosten will consider the existing King County Regional Trails System Art Plan developed by Brian Borrello in 2011 as a jumping-off point for a new plan that looks holistically at regional trails, parks, and open space.

Rosten will create a conceptual framework for system-wide and community-specific art integration and intervention that prioritizes working with BIPOC communities while acknowledging that each community faces different systemic barriers to accessing these spaces. The plan will be informed by communities in urban to rural areas, provide a range of artistic opportunities throughout Parks’ public spaces and provide an opportunity for Rosten to propose his own project for future development.

Over the coming months, Rosten will work closely with 4Culture and KC Parks to conduct research on the natural, social, and cultural history of the area, gain a deeper understanding of the variety of landscapes and uses of Parks’ public assets, and engage with communities to identify key themes or concepts for the art plan.

Originally from Seattle, Washington, Rosten currently resides in Los Angeles. In naming Rosten a recipient of its 2021 Johnson Fellowship for Artists Transforming Communities, Americans for the Arts said the following: “He produces artworks that respond to civic concerns, which emerge from long-term collaborations between grassroots organizations, cultural and community nonprofits, and local governments. His projects aim to help people understand complex systems, orient themselves to places, and make group decisions. Since 2010, Woo has centered his community work largely in Los Angeles, producing temporary and permanent installations that illuminate complicated histories and present-day issues in the physical and socioeconomic environment.”

The selection panel was impressed by his thoughtful approach to engaging and collaborating with communities. His work grapples with complex, layered issues such as gentrification and homelessness. Rosten has the incredible ability to take intricate issues and distill them to their essence and in turn, create something new that explains the complexity in a way that is simple and clear to everyone.

Rosten says, “My work is collaborative and process-oriented. It is abstract, but also warm and inviting. I use quantitative and computational methods to arrive at forms but I also try to call those methods into question and highlight their inadequacy. I frequently work in extended dialog with specific communities (as defined by geography or common interest (for instance, a tenant organizing group, members of a worker’s center, or a car club). My ultimate goal is to re-orient people to the places they live.”

We look forward to working with Rosten and supporting his process in the development of the Regional Parks and Trails Art Plan.

We’re proud to support this project by a group of incredible artists. They are seeking additional locations to display posters; if you’d like to offer a site, please contact .

Seattle Asian American Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Women Artists United Against Hate is a visual campaign to fight the tide of anti-Asian violence and xenophobia. In 2021 anti-Asian hate crimes across 16 major US cities spiked by 342% (according to a report from the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at CSU, San Bernardino.) Because of this alarming statistic, coupled with the waning media coverage of hate crimes against Asian Americans, we feel the urgency now more than ever to boost awareness and spur empowerment. The posters contain positive messaging like WE BELONG HERE, RESPECT BELOVED COMMUNITY, and PROTECT EACH OTHER, combined with original artwork by seven local celebrated AA+NHPI women artists: Diem Chau, Erin Shigaki, Juliana Kang Robinson, Julie Kim, Raychelle Duazo, Saiyare Refaei, and Saya Moriyasu. The campaign aims to raise awareness, beautify streetscapes, and uplift Seattle’s AA+NHPI community.

Posters will be free to the public at the following events:

July 9, 2022
SCIDpda (Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority) Bash
Canton Alley, Chinatown-International District, Seattle

July 28, 2022
Wing Luke Museum JamFest
Maynard Alley, Chinatown-International District, Seattle

In celebration of AA+NHPI Heritage Month the posters will be on display at the gallery windows of 4Culture in the Tashiro Kaplan building in Pioneer Square, at King Street Station, and in various storefronts throughout Seattle throughout the month of May. This project was made possible with funding from 4Culture and the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture and with support from Wing Luke Museum and SCIDpda.

Pick up a free poster and help declare that there is no place for hate in Seattle!

Since May 2021 when King County Executive Dow Constantine and the King County Council showed their support of our region’s cultural sector in the form of a $9.4 million appropriation from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) fund, we’ve been working to get those dollars to those in our field who need it most via our Recovery Fund. We’re now delighted to share the King County cultural organizations who have received funding!

We approached how to best support cultural organizations through partnerships with King County Creative and the City of Seattle Office of Arts and Culture. Our region’s larger organizations were served by King County’s Revive and Thrive program while we funded smaller organizations, and by teaming up with the City of Seattle we were able to offer one application for three separate grants, including our long-standing Sustained Support program. This allowed us to look at the applicant pool holistically, prioritizing organizations that were not eligible for ARPA funds for Sustained Support. All of this helped immeasurably in distributing ARPA funds widely while reducing the application workload for overburdened organizations, and we thank those agencies for their collaboration.

On the applicant side, the requirements and restrictions that come with these federal funds have been significant, and we thank every organization for navigating this process alongside us. We continue to be deeply inspired by the resourcefulness of our sector! As these Recovery Fund dollars head out the door throughout 2022, we invite you to join us in celebrating the cultural organizations who will put them to use creating a vibrant and resilient King County.

In total, we are distributing $5 million of Recovery Funds and $2.95 million Sustained Support dollars to 529 organizations. You can view the full lists of 4Culture awardees here:
Recovery Fund for Organizations
Sustained Support: Preservation
Sustained Support: Heritage
Sustained Support: Arts

Please note: these lists reflect funding for organizations only. We also ran a Recovery Fund grant program for individuals, which will be awarded and announced in the coming months. Stay tuned for more!

Kristen Ramirez was a vibrant part of our community and deeply embedded in the world of public art as both an artist and administrator. Never short on creativity or innovation, she changed the things she touched for the better.

She exhibited her studio work at Gallery 4Culture in 2006 and 2018, serving as a selection panelist in-between. An original drawing from 2021 will be included in the program’s forthcoming publication, Remark, which is being dedicated in her honor. A number of Kristen’s paintings are also held in the King County Public Art Collection and will continue to be displayed in perpetuity.

Through her first 4Culture commission, she engaged volunteers to create the beloved mural, Ebb & Flow, an immersive experience of color and light in the Burke-Gilman Trail’s bustling Wayne Tunnel. The project was honored with an Americans for the Arts Year in Review Award as one of the top public artworks in the country.

More recently, Kristen and Elisheba Johnson developed the guiding vision for art integration for King County Metro’s RapidRide Expansion as well as a trio of mirrored sculptures for the Burien Transit Center that will be fabricated and installed in 2023.

Kristen was a longtime friend to many of us at 4Culture. We are heartbroken and miss her tremendously.

We’re excited to announce the reopening of Gallery 4Culture! Programming will resume on First Thursday, May 5 with Nate Clark’s Squinch. Please join us from 5:00—8:00 pm to celebrate Nate and this momentous occasion, our inaugural exhibition after more than two years of a pandemic hiatus.

This will also serve as your first opportunity to pick up a free copy of Remark, a collaborative publication featuring playful pairings of images and text contributed by 100 gallery alumni. Additional copies will be made available in limited quantities through the end of 2022.

The gallery will operate on reduced hours for the time-being; visit us on Thursdays and Fridays from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

We are thrilled to announce the recipients of our 2022 Arc Artist Fellowship!

The 2022 Fellows are:

Gil Adame, Filmmaker
Natasha Alphonse, Ceramic Artist
mario lemafa, Artist
Neve Mazique-Bianco, Terpsichorean Artist
Aiyana Reid (sƛʼpúlmx), Regalia Maker and Dancer
Sondra Segundo, Multidisciplinary Artist

The Arc Artist Fellowship provides critical—but rare—unrestricted awards of $12,000 to artists residing in King County. This year we received 46 highly competitive applications from King County artists working in dance, music, theatre, media, film, literature, and the visual arts.

From our Executive Director Brian J. Carter: “In this moment of global turbulence, the work of the artist helps us all make better sense of the joys and challenges we’re collectively experiencing. Through the Arc Artist Fellowship Program, 4Culture stands committed to supporting the work of these phenomenal King County artists. Congratulations to all the 2022 Fellows!”

Each year, a new cohort of Arc Fellows are selected, with an eligibility requirement that changes annually. This year, eligible applicants were Indigenous, Aboriginal, or Native artists of diverse international ancestral lands who live in King County, the unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples. We seek to lift up the expression of cultural sovereignty of Indigenous makers as culture bearers and as contemporary artists.

Arc Fellows will assist in determining the Arc Eligibility Requirement for next year’s Fellowship, as well as participate in a public cohort presentation organized by 4Culture and in planning and community engagement for the 2023 program.

The Arc Artist Fellowship will provide the Fellows with portraits and a page on the 4Culture website featuring images and links to explore their work.

Congratulations to Gil, Natasha, mario, Neve, Aiyana, and Sondra! Stay tuned to learn more about the 2022 Arc Fellows and how you can connect with their work.

Continuing her work to restore Grandfather’s Wisdom, the large-scale sculptural installation at Brightwater Treatment Plant near Woodinville, artist Andrea Wilbur-Sigo recently welcomed the Longhouse back to her studio. In 2020 the artist recreated the project’s paddles in red cedar. Now focusing her attention on the surface and longevity of the longhouse, Wilbur-Sigo will be both re-carving and re-painting as needed. The new longhouse is expected to return to the site in late 2022.

The carved motifs of Grandfather’s Wisdom feature Killer Whale, Octopus, and Thunderbird—creatures of universal importance among Coast Salish tribes. “My artwork represents in a modern view what a longhouse would look like standing in a place that it’s highly likely one might have been,” says Andrea, a member of the Squaxin Island Tribe and the first woman carver in her tribe and family.

As stewards of the King County Public Art Collection, 4Culture cares for nearly 2,500 artworks in 150 locations across the county. This includes contracting with specialized conservators, technicians, and as in the case of Grandfather’s Wisdom, the original artist, to clean, restore, and revitalize these important cultural assets. King County provides stewardship funding for the collection, which supports ongoing maintenance of permanently-sited artworks, repairs, framing, photographic documentation, and other conservation services as needed.

Through the work we do with our King County partners, community stakeholders, and artists, we help nurture a cultural legacy in our region. This ongoing care and investment in the public art collection celebrates the people who live, work, and play here, ensuring these artworks will be part of our communities for many years to come.

Public Art 4Culture consulted with international hotel chain citizenM to curate and commission original artwork for their highly anticipated historic Pioneer Square location at the corner of Yesler Way and Post Avenue.

RYAN! Feddersen’s massive graphic mural, Schema, brings color, texture, and personality to the building’s façade. Rendered in porcelain enamel tile, the mosaic imagery features an abstract map referencing Seattle’s early history and idiosyncrasies alongside layered symbols of colonization, nature, industry, and politics. As a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Feddersen took inspiration from the aesthetic structure and palette of turn of the century Native American beadwork to make her message clear: actions of today have lasting effects, both physically and experientially. Schema is a reminder that we are the creators of our world, and that foresight and social responsibility are vital.

“Schema very much represents a mode for how I like to work: time to dive into research and think in a site-specific way about histories and narratives, then the freedom to combine that content with aesthetic and ideological strategies,” says Feddersen

The mural is just the first piece of a larger portfolio that will give the new property an art collection that is distinct to the region. A second commission—wallpaper by artist Harold Hollingsworth—will be featured in the hotel’s bar area. In the living room, cabinets have been designed to showcase The Allure by artist and curator, Anthony White. Guest room artwork will feature pieces by Natalie Krick, Mary Iverson, and Jennifer Zwick.