Capitol Hill Block Party (CHBP), Ghost Gallery, Chihuly Garden and Glass and Chihuly Studio are pleased to present the 2013 Visual Arts program.  CHBP introduced the visual arts element in 2012 and have once again collaborated with Ghost Gallery owner and curator Laurie Kearney to broaden the program by streamlining the artistic format for greater impact this July 26 – 28, with an opening party on July 23rd, to highlight artists, and support the 12th Ave Arts program.

The Visual Arts program will showcase a talented group of locally and internationally recognized artists. With a collaboration between three local muralists, the North wall of the Neumos building will be transformed into a collage of large format murals that will remain long after the 2013 festival comes to a close.  Additionally, the art program will feature a series of video projected murals to run throughout the duration of the weekend in the Havana parking lot, large scale street chalk art by Urban Artworks and goCstudio, and several vinyl and scrim banner installations. Complete list of exhibits and artist bios below.

In addition, the 2013 Visual Arts program will host a launch party, July 23rd, at Chihuly Garden and Glass, featuring work by artists participating at the festival, as well as work by a few artists who participated last year. All proceeds from drink sales will go directly to the 12th Ave Arts Program. In addition, CHBP has agreed to match all donations up to 5K, through drink sales, and online CHBP ticket donations. This event is invite only.

“Our hope is to continue this program annually, taking available wall space in Capitol Hill, and producing works of art, that can live on long after the festival has come and gone,” stated Ghost Gallery’s Laurie Kearney.

ARTIST INFO:

• Amanda Manitach and D.K. Pan will be showcasing a series of short video works which were produced during a two-month residency at Capitol Hill’s PSA.
  

  Amanda Manitach and DK Pan video still, 2013

• Benjamin Van Citters will be providing live, interactive visuals during the evening hours of Block Party weekend.  Visuals will be projected onto the Havana Parking lot wall. Projector(s), computer(s) and sensors will be located on site. Generated projections will be cast onto the walls from dusk onward each evening with highly detailed and vivid imagery. Large-scale audience interaction will be incorporated into the piece via webcams, microphones, depth sensors and other digital means.
  

  Interactive video work by Ben Van Citters, 2013

• Cait Willis will create two large format vinyl banners to be placed on the fencing near the VIP area of the festival. Cait continues to tunnel through television and computer programming to capture the glitching of images from pop culture. This site-specific project features large format QR Code Portraits of Capitol Hill Pioneers!
  

  QR Code Portraits of Capitol Hill Pioneers, by Cait Willis! 4′x6′ vinyl banner, 2013

• Crystal Barbre, Joe Vollan and Ouchey comprise the talent who have transformed the North wall of the Neumos building, bringing their very individual painting styles, vivid and colorful graffiti writing and personality to the table.
  

  Mural detail by Crystal Barbre, mixed media, 2013

• Kathleen Warren and Jon Gentry (Urban ArtWorks and goCstudio) will be creating a large format “Red Carpet Street Drawing” near the 10^th Ave festival entrance, using eco-friendly chalk to create a design that complements this year’s CHBP color theme.

• Kristien Ziska and Natalia Czajkiewicz will be installing several 4’x4’ scrim banners along the Eastern edge of the Neumos roof, each with iconic text and imagery that fits the following definition:

por·tent

/ˈpôrˌtent/

Noun

1. A sign or warning that something, esp. something momentous or calamitous, is likely to happen.

2. Future significance: “an omen of grave portent for the tribe.

• Patrick Richardson Wright will be projecting a series of manipulated “fashion” videos onto the Havana Parking Lot wall, along with the other video artists. Videos will be looped and shown during the dusk and evening hours of the festival. Description of Patrick’s Katie Joy Part 3 piece: ”Gender is a multi-layered experience – both hyper-personal and necessarily communal. It is worn for comfort, layered for protection, flaunted in a show of self. It is stripped off when a poor fit, stitched to hide inconsistencies and ever-consumed, debated and derided by those who encounter its mystique. ‘Katie Joy Part 3″ plays on this relationship, layering one myth over another to create a self-explorative interaction. Never does one soul encompass all that is feminine or all that is masculine. She merges the two. Sees herself through the lens of the other. Happily blurs their distinction. Indeed, she plays masculine as much as she plays feminine.”
  

  Video Still by Patrick Richardson Wright, 2013

  KICKOFF EVENT ONLY ARTISTS:

• Marc Tweed is creating a multimedia painting of CHBP headliners, The Flaming Lips, in all their psychedelic terror, love and glory.

• Allyce Wood will present a watercolor painting representing her recent work focusing on the ecological ramifications of human involvement. It is an abstraction of northwestern moss species and a reference to the ancient rainforest that was logged long ago.

• Michael Alm will install a 3D sculpture entitled “Re-Creation of Friedrich Specht’s Caracals Hunting 1894” Approx. 4’Lx4’Wx6’H, wood, paper, cardboard, wire, glass eyes, 2013.