Savina Mason installs her magical purple site-specific piece in the former corporate Zen garden, while Jane Richlovsky hangs new lights. Placiness will debut in our unrecognizably-transformed lobby gallery on First Thursday, have extended hours through Art Fair weekend, and run through August 28. Twenty superb Seattle artists represent, reflect, and redefine their city.

Photo by Dara Solliday

’57 Biscayne presents PLACINESS, August 4-7 at ’57 Biscayne in the Good Arts Building

Open First Thursday, August 4, from 5-8 PM and 12-7 Friday, Saturday; 12-5 Sunday

Artists’ Reception Saturday, August 6 (time TBA)

’57 Biscayne was born out of the much-ballyhooed demise of 619 Western, and in the years since we’ve become a kind of charismatic megafauna in the exploding urban environment of the boom-and-bust city we call home. The image of artists losing their place in the city often functions as a symbol of a larger sense of loss: While the decline of affordable studio space is measurable and undeniable, people also tend to remember places they love as having been in the past more interesting, animated, authentic–placier–than they are in the present. Whether that is actually the case or just the foggy goggles of nostalgia is debatable.

What is often lost in the discussion is what it means to the art. ’57 Biscayne, and other urban studio spaces, are not mere symbols to the artists who work there, but a base from which we observe, interact with, and respond to the city. PLACINESS gathers the visual evidence of what it actually means–from the artists’ points of view–to stay in our neighborhood and in our city: to live and move about and to look at things and people. The show encompasses representational paintings and photographs that directly reference Seattle physically or spiritually or historically; constructions that incorporate materials or found objects endemic to here; and work in a variety of media that is visually inspired by the streets, buildings, history, landscape, and humanscape of Seattle.

PLACINESS will coincide with the Seattle Art Fair, which is presenting sound art by Brendan Fowler downstairs at 108 Cherry.  In keeping with its mission, the Good Arts Building is hosting Art Fair as an Event Partner, as well as providing storefront space to La Sala, presenting La Cocina, a multimedia extravaganza at 702 First Avenue; and the Center on Contemporary Art at 106 Cherry.

Image: Dara Solliday, View from Jane Richlovsky and Drake Deknatel’s Studio at 619 Western I

Thursday, June 30th from 5 to 7 PM

The locusts descended on our First Thursday opening, but there is still some art left so we thought we’d make a party of it. This is your last chance this year to pick up some gems at the people’s prices. There will also be some bonus art for sale by many of the same artists – ones we didn’t include in the initial hanging, in the interest of sticking literally to our numerical theme.

We’re opening the doors for First Thursday in June, and bringing back the ever-popular “100 under $100” art extravaganza for the third time. One-hundred pieces of very affordable art will hang on our walls, going home with the lucky buyers who snatch them up for a mere $100 or less. Lots of artists, lots of styles. lots of fun.

Also browse the open studios of ’57 Biscayne to see what the artists are up to, chitchat with friends, make new ones, and listen to Victor Janusz sing timeless classics at our piano.

Thursday June 2, 6-10 PM and then by appointment through the month of June, as long as supplies last. Curated by Jane Richlovsky and Dara Solliday.

Here is a (somewhat random) sneak peek of the show. Also check the facebook page for additional updates and images.

UPDATE: THE STUDIO IS RENTED.

We are thrilled to welcome Rad and Hungry to our community this June. Rock on, Hen and Laura!

We are looking to add a new Biscaynito!

Studio 213, which has not been advertised before, due to its propensity to being passed on from artist to artist, is looking for a creative person or persons to do their thing in it. It has two rooms, one of which was outfitted as a darkroom when we first took over the place. The plumbing is still there, and could accommodate a darkroom sink or just a regular utility sink, if your thing involved a lot of water. (Although one of our two communal utility sinks and the kitchen are right next door.)  It’s an interior space, but it has a window to the hallway and another window between the rooms.

The space is approximately 370 square feet and the rent is $600 a month, including all utilities. The studios are 24/7 access and work-only (no live-in). Available June 1, just in time to be part of one of our two annual art walk sensations.

Entering ’57 Biscayne, studio 213 is the first one you encounter.

The first room is a 15′ x 14′ rectangle with one corner cut off. In this view you are looking into the second room…

… Which is long and skinny, about 8′ x 21′.

To make an appointment to view the space, email jane@janerichlovsky.com.

It’s been a week of viaduct stories in the Seattle media, including a resurgence of interest in the old 619 Western building, as in, “Say, whatever happened to those artists?”  Bertha the tunneling machine, for whose vibrations we were evacuated from the 619 five years ago, will be burrowing under the old homestead later this month, just a few years behind schedule.

Gabriel Campanario, the famous Seattle Times Sketcher, interviewed and, of course, sketched, Jane and Libby last week and featured our story in his column on Saturday. Perhaps taking Libby’s point that it might be a good idea to go easy on the nostalgia for a particular building and support artists wherever they are, he prominently featured our present digs, the Good Arts Building.

UPDATE 4/13/16: This space has been rented. To be in the loop about upcoming opportunities, please join our mailing list.

We are looking to add a fabulously creative Biscaynito to our ranks this spring. Studio 211 is  available May 1; at 220 square feet, with 14-foot ceilings and one lovely exposed brick wall (which you can and may hang stuff on), it’s a bargain: $360 a month includes all your utilities and shared amenities like wifi, a kitchenette, a hallway gallery, a comfy and professional waiting area for your big-time visitors, and nice clean restrooms. There are lots of visibility-inducing events planned for the building this summer, and great neighbors who share information, expertise and marketing duties (and who are also super nice). Contact Jane for more information.

Yes, the famous bus driver Nathan Vass made an appearance at our humble home. Metro has recently begun a recruitment campaign promoting part-time bus driving as the perfect day job for artists (among others). One day while making my descent into the Pioneer Square bus tunnel,  I was delighted to come upon this gigantic image of photographer & honorary Biscaynito Nathan Vass, whose lovely old-school photographic prints have graced our walls in several shows, including the ever-popular 100 under $100 (due back in June!). Nathan’s encounters with the public-transportation-riding masses of Seattle are vividly documented on his blog.

Here he is taking a break from the madness in Dara Solliday’s studio.

We’ll be opening up the house upstairs for First Thursday Artwalk on March 3, while downstairs, the Center on Contemporary Art will be opening 35 Live: CoCA Members’ Show in their new pop-up location here in the Good Arts Building.