News
Nonprofit Spruces Up Vacant Storefronts
March 20, 2013
This is latest from Storefront Seattle, a program of nonprofit Shunpike thats been putting artwork in empty storefronts in the city since 2010. Somewhere Out There"--locatedat the old Publix Hotel at 504 5th Ave S-- is by Boulder, Colo., artist Ryan Everson. The work, which will be there through this summer, consists of two large freestanding marquee signs; the letters are cut from solid wood and inset with several hundred light bulbs. The Publix was once the haunt of migrant seafarers, so "somewhere out there" seems fitting. The organization leases the storefronts on a short-term basis; paints, cleans, and improves them at no cost to the landlord; and skedaddles if a new tenant wants the space.
