#sodotrack

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Work by Caratoes in Seattle.

[scenefromthesidewalk]

November 24, 2018

“EQUILATERAL MOMENTUM”

by SNEKE + HEWS + APAUL + Blaine Fontana

In 1995 @UrbanArtWorks was formed to help clean up the busway through Seattle’s SODO, while also providing opportunities to young artists and graff writers. Budding local artists like SNEKE, HEWS, and APAUL reportedly rode through this corridor for years and like so many others were inspired by what they saw. Two decades later, with now more than 50,000 people a day riding through @SODOtrack, Portland’s @Gage_Gage_Gage is curating a new set of 60 commissions lining the public transit corridor. “Equilateral Momentum” was designed to connect past and present, with DVS crew members SNEKE, HEWS, and APAUL creating “burners” that hearken back to the history of the track, set against Blaine Fontana’s triangles representing the transition of energy along the busway, and swimming koi weaving all the elements together and offering a “symbol of maturity, evolution, and momentum.”  @blainefontana  @snekeism  

[impermanent-art]

Work by Paola Delfin in Seattle.

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Work by DALeast in Seattle.

[scenefromthesidewalk]

September 3, 2018

“CHIEF SEATTLE’S GRANDCHILDREN”

by Addison Karl

In 2017, inspired by the 53-acre Schmitz Preserve Park in West Seattle—one of the last stands of old-growth forest in Seattle—roaming artist Addison Karl reimagined a Pacific Northwest without “Manifest Destiny development and encroachment.” Karl is himself a registered Chickasaw and Choctaw and has strong ties to Seattle established on his global artistic pilgrimage. On SODO Track, the two-mile transit corridor on 5th Ave S, Karl portrayed Duwamish tribe members, Northwest Basket Weaver and great granddaughter of Chief Seattle for whom the city is named, Mary Lou Slaughter and her son, wood carver Michael Halady. As transit passengers catch a fleeting glimpse of Karl’s work SODO track organizers hope it serves as a reminder of how fleeting forests could be as well, without our care.  @addisonkarl  @sodotrack  

[scenefromthesidewalk]

April 7, 2018

“LOOKING FORWARD”

by Joe Nix

Prolific artist Joe Nix, labeled by @TreasonGallery as “one of Seattle’s most celebrated muralists,” paints realistic subjects in settings that combine the local and the imaginative. While an increasing amount of Nix’s work is being done for the gallery setting, in summer 2017 he was busy painting this large work near the south end of SODO Track, Seattle’s transit corridor running between Spokane St and the Mariner and Seahawk stadiums. With Seattle topping the nation in large crane construction projects for several years in a row Nix’s figure, confronting a wolf fleeing a burning background in the neighboring mural by Baso Fibonacci and Jean Nagai, confronts commuters with the dilemma increasingly faced by artists—whether to stay and adapt to a rapidly changing landscape and culture, or move elsewhere.  @joe.nix  @sodotrack  

[scenefromthesidewalk]

April 3, 2018

“SHELTER 2”

by Paola Delfin

Mexico City-based Paola Delfin is known for paintings of women that “powerfully capture a balance of strength and vulnerability.” Inspired by organic forms, they are a common theme running through Delfin’s work and for this July, 2017 mural on Seattle’s SODO Track—the two-mile closed off rail and bus corridor along 5th Ave South—she incorporated a monochromatic design based on the local golden paintbrush flower, listed as endangered since 1997. For this transit corridor location Delfin says the theme of “Shelter 2” is movement and progression, exploring changing states of mind—the same girl both blossoming but also using the flowers as a shelter for her thoughts. The project is produced by @kc4culture and curated by FFTTNW’s @gage_gage_gage    @paoladelfin  @sodotrack

[impermanent-art]

Work by Alex Gardner in Seattle.