Fostering vibrant arts and culture in Seattle’s
Uptown Arts District.
About the 2023 Uptown Storefronts Program
The Uptown Arts & Culture Coalition (UACC) has partnered with Shunpike to match vacant and occupied storefronts and commercial businesses in the Uptown Arts District neighborhood with pop-up art installations and performance activations. The Storefronts Program will span all of 2023 and aims to benefit the district, small businesses, artists and property owners by creating vibrant and engaging streetscapes that encourage the public to visit Uptown. Over the years, the Storefronts Program has brought traffic and awareness of a variety of local businesses, the large community of local artists - particularly Black, Indigenous, and other entrepreneurs and artists of color. This Storefronts Program is funded by the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.
The Storefronts Program: Visual Artists
CLARE JOHNSON
Clare Johnson’s installation, I Feel Safe Here, is inspired by work with a nearby Low Income Housing Institute tiny house village for people transitioning out of homelessness, making art to brighten its neighborhood presence. Residents felt misrepresented by its anonymous dark fence, and wanted to emphasize the village’s transformative power—suggesting bridges, stepping stones, and growing plants as metaphors for how it helps them build connections, find support and transition to more stability. Johnson’s fence banners were meant to double as giant community coloring sheets for celebratory neighborhood events, but then the pandemic made that impossible. To honor those original plans, these windows show some of the original designs, mixed with colorful new hand-painted watercolor versions. While the village itself comes from difficult and painful realities, the art joyfully celebrates crucial community spaces whose value often goes overlooked. Together the work explores the different ways we all try to make space for ourselves here while also connecting with each other.
📍I Feel Safe Here by Clare Johnson can be viewed at the LeeAnn apartments between July - November 2023.
Visit Clare's website to see more work.
Follow on Instagram: @clare.e.johnson
More info about Tiny House Villages at www.lihi.org
MONIQUE ENRIQUEZ
Latinos Unidos / Household Names is a combined series by Seattle-based artist, Monique Enriquez.
Household Names touches on the idea that many BIPOC artists are recognized within their corresponding communities but not often discussed in the general mainstream. This project would consist of recognizing and celebrating artists that have had a big impact within smaller minority communities but deserve commemoration on a large scale. Latino Unidos is showcases phrases and typography that express and celebrate Latin culture.
Monique Enriquez is a Mexican-American interdisciplinary artist based in Seattle, Washington. She has collaborated with musicians and clubs on merchandise and branding, utilizing bold graphics and surrealist expression.
📍Latinos Unidos / Household Names by Monique Enriquez can be viewed at The Vera Project between May - August 2023.
Visit Monique’s Website to learn more, collaborate, buy merch and more.
Follow on Instagram: @niq.en_/
This project is being funded in whole or in part by federal award number SLFRP1045 awarded to the City of Seattle by the US Department of Treasury.
Shunpike’s Storefronts Program is a public art exhibition.
Shunpike empowers artists through equitable access to vital expertise, opportunities, and business services.