CoCA Digital Archive:
2016-2019
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![Photographer: Ray C. Freeman III]()
2016
Pop-Up (AR)t
35 Live: 2016 CoCA Members’ Show
Make America Create Again
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![Photographer: Peter Bill]()
2017
Make America Create Again
JuárezX
2016
Pop-Up (AR)t: An Augmented Reality Pop-up Book Featuring 3D by 18 Artists
Exhibition Dates: Dec 29 - March 18, 2016
Location: Capitol Hill / 515 Harvard Ave. E., Rubix
Jurors: David Francis, Joseph Roberts
Producer: Ray C. Freeman III Artists: Miguel Edwards, Alan Fulle, Jeff Mihalyo, Ray C. Freeman III, Stephen Rock, BK Tran, j shagam, Xavier Lopez, Jr., Karen Hackenberg, L. Kelly Lyles, Reilly Donovan, Amiko Matsuo, Megan Geckler, Corey Dunlap, Bradley Tsalyuk, Joseph Reyes, and Nina McGowan.
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As part of CoCA's ongoing effort to push the boundaries of contemporary art—in this case by bringing new technology to its publications—CoCA jurors Joseph Roberts and David Francis have worked with Producer Ray C. Freeman III to select 18 contemporary artworks to present in a technology-enhanced art volume, Pop-up (AR)t Book. Similar to a traditional pop-up book, three dimensional versions of featured artists' work spring to life as the viewer turns each page. But instead of elaborate paper cutouts, new technology called Augmented Reality (AR) allows the viewer to see the artwork in three dimensions on their mobile device – iPhone, iPad, and Android.
In the exhibition, the artists were featured with backlit AR "targets" that allow visitors to view larger scale Augmented Reality representations of the art in the context of a gallery show. Physical versions of some of the artwork were also on view so gallery goers could experience both the "real" and the "virtual" editions of selected works. The event also hosted a full-scale re-creation of the CoCA p(AR)k exhibition presented at 2015's PARKing Day event. Pieces from that event include 10-foot-tall Augmented Reality trees created by Casey Scalf.
Rock's Studio provided the printing for the exhibition, and Castanes Architects, P.S., A.I.A. contributed software used to assemble many of the models in the book and exhibition.
HOW TO VIEW "COCA POP-UP (AR)T"
You can view the the 3D models in the book and exhibition with the ARt portal app, available on the iOS App Store and on Google Play.
Featured Image: Photographer: Ray C. Freeman III
Added 06/18/2021
Print Catalog designed by Ray C. Freeman III is available through the CoCA Museum Store.
35 Live: 2016 CoCA Members’ Show
Exhibition Dates: March 3 - April 23, 2016
Location: 106 Cherry Street (PS35) and 515 Harvard Ave. E. (Rubix) Exhibition Dates: March 12 & April 9, 2016
Location: 6555 Fifth Ave. S. (CoCA UN[contained]) Jurors: Nichole DeMent, Anna R Hurwitz, Lorrie Cardoso, Sara Everett, Ray C. Freeman III, Dan Hawkins, Michele Osgood, and Joseph Roberts
Producers: Nichole DeMent, Anna R Hurwitz, Ray C. Freeman III
Performance Producer: Jonathan Womack
Performers: Dayna Hanson, Marion Walker, Malanie Voytovich, Silk Road Swing
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Taking a page from our own resources, our jurors used our new CoCA Artist Member Directory to select artists for 35 Live: CoCA Member Show being held March 2 - April 23, 2016, as part of our 35th anniversary celebration.
185 artists submitted 1401 works of art to be considered for this exhibition and included artists from as far as China, Pakistan, Ghana, and Oklahoma. Each artist will have one piece of art included in the printed exhibition catalog and in a digital display at the galleries.
35 Live will also feature the artwork of 94 artists who will be exhibited at our CoCA Pops locations throughout Seattle including Capitol Hill, Georgetown and Pioneer Square.
Featured artists at Rubix: Matthew Boulay, Susan Derrick, Miguel Edwards, David Francis, Randi Ganulin, Chris Gilman, Tom Gormally, Il Thorly James, Pamela Keeley, Kalindi Kunis, Xavier Lopez Jr., Virginia Paquette, Flora Ramirez Bustamante, Victoria Raymond, j shagam, Lisa Sheets, and Sonya Stockton.
Featured artists at CoCA UN[contained]: Wyly Astley, Trina Cooper, Terese Cuff, Ted Grudowski, Phoebe Ching Ying Man, Jeff Mihalyo, Anna Mlasowksy, Suzanne Morlock and Jacob Sundstrom.
Featured artists at PS35: Juli Adams, Kree Arvanitas, Wyly Astley, Theresa Batty, Gary Beeber, Jeffrey Bishop, Sandi Bransford, Po Fung Chan, Chris Crites, Sue Danielson, Nichole DeMent, Jessica Dodge, Braden Duncan, Michael Dupille, Sara Everett, Ira Feenstra, Ray C. Freeman III, Babs Fulton, Susan Gans, Leah Gerrard, Malayka Gormally, Robin Green, Zack Greenblatt, Anne Marie Grgich, Karen Hackenberg, Jessica Hagy, Tessa Heck, Royce Allen Hobbs, Ellen Hochberg, jody joldersma , Claire B Jones, Gorden Kegya, Cheri Kopp, Leonardo Lanzolla, Tobias Layman, Che Lopez, Terrell Lozada, Jennifer Lugris, L. Kelly Lyles, Anna Macrae, Vikram Madan, Danny Mansmith, Gabriel Marquez, Holly Ballard Martz, Fiona McGuigan, Emily McLaughlin, Amy Mintonye, Naoko Morisawa, Robin Oliver, Wanda Pelayo, Summer Polonsky, Polly Purvis, Cheryl A. Richey, Stephen Rock, Harriet Sanderson, Karin Schminke, Kellie Shepherd Moeller, Chris Sheridan, Talia Silveri Wright, Jason Tannen, Robin Walker, Honghong Wang, Pat Wickline, Kayleigh Wold, Rebecca Woodhouse , Suze Woolf, and Anita Yau.
Digital Exhibition Artists: Laura Allen, David Amaya, CASH, Bill Ball, KJ Bateman, Susan Boye, Louise Britton, Reginald Brooks, Tatyana Brown, Shirky Chan, Jean Chen, Bo Young Choi, Susan Christensen, Charmagne Coe, Kaillee Coleman, Poul Costinsky, Grace Ann Cummings, Michael Dinning, Alice Dubiel, Martha Dunham, Lily Eng, Jill Feenstra, Amy Ferron, Bea Geller, Barb Gipple, Sarah E. Granetz, Patty Haller, Tracy Harris, Judith Heim, Rachel Holloway, Han Huisman, Gary James Lee, Gayane Karapetyan, Nicole Kaul, Dave Kennedy, Deborah Knetzger, Melissa Koch, Lara Kulikova, Dariusz Labuzek, Sam Le Rougetel, Susan Lehman, Zihan Liang, Mark Lubich, Nico Lund, Savina Mason, Tia Matthies, Aisha Rose McCoy, Tara McDermott, Tom McIntire, Paul E. McKee, Colleen Monette , Travis Monroe, Allison Moore, Julia Mullikin, Tiki Mulvihill, Joy Munt, Debbi Murray, Sandy Nelson, Alan Newberg, Barbara Noonan, Suhail Noor, Chris O'Mahony, Alexis Ortiz, John Osgood, Deborah Paul, Traci Paulk, Peppé, Carol Pettersen, Kyle Rees, Raymond R. Schutte, June Sekiguchi, Kim Shuckhart Gunns, John Smither, David Sokal, Marta Solomianko, Noah Starer, Phil Stoiber, Deanna Studley, Mimi Sturman, Sarah Teasdale, Jan Tervonen, Karina Thome, Li Turner, Jania Vanderwerff, Judy Williams, Kathleen Woodward, Cynthia Yatchman, Stephen Yates, anastasia zielinski, and John Zimmerman.
Featured Image: 35 Live Opening Reception at CoCA’s PS35 Gallery
Added 06/22/2021
Print Catalog designed by Ray C. Freeman III including remarks from Nichole DeMent and Anna Hurwitz, with artists’ statements and bios is available through the CoCA Museum Store.
2017
Make America Create Again
Performances and Video: March 2- 4, 2017
Exhibition Dates: April 5 - 29, 2017
Location: 106 Cherry St.
Guest Juror: Deborah Paine
Producer: Nicole DeMent
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Once a year, CoCA invites its members to participate in an exhibition that is presented in full on line and in printed format, and further curated by a guest curator to show as many artists as possible in the physical gallery. This year’s show featured 179 artists in the directory, and 141 in the gallery.
The Members’ Show is open to all living, national and international contemporary artists, all ages, all mediums including 2D, 3D, multi-media, installation and ambient performance, who are members of CoCA.
Added 06/18/2021
Exhibition Catalog by Ray C. Freeman III available through the CoCA Museum Store.
JuárezX: Dragged Beyond Borders
Exhibition Dates: May 5, 2016 - May 28, 2016
Location: 106 Cherry St.
Curators: Peter Bill, Joseph Roberts
Artists: Pulso Ans, Yorch Otte, Gabriela, Sarita, Mario Romero, Melo!, Peter Bill, Héctor, Lovely BA.
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CoCA is proud to present “JuárezX: Dragged Across Borders,” co-curated by Joseph C. Roberts and Peter Bill. The exhibition presents work by undocumented immigrants and artists from Juárez, Mexico to explore the intersection of race, class, and migrant status at the US and Mexico border. Simultaneously, the exhibition presents readings and interactive workshops that invite visitors to consider social norms, or borders, created around gender and sexuality. CoCA is proud to present an exhibition and support artists that dissolve boundaries and invite visitors to question borders as places that allow fixed notions of identity to bend, stretch, and even disappear.
Calendar of Events:
Friday, May 6, 2016, 12pm: Dr. Héctor Dominguez Ruvulcaba presents "Aesthetics & Politics of US-Mexico Border urban art"
Thursday, May 5, 2016, 6-9pm: Opening Night Artists' Reception. Part of the Pioneer Square First Thursday Art Walk.
Thursday May 5, 7:30pm: Lecture by Dr Héctor Dominguez Ruvalcaba presents "Aesthetics & Politics of the US-Mexico Border urban art.
Featured Image: Photographer: Peter Bill
Added 06/18/21
Exhibition Catalog by Ray C. Freeman III with commentary by Joseph Roberts, Peter Bill, and artist bios and statements available through the CoCA Museum Store.
2018
Art ∩ Math
Exhibition Dates: March 1 - April 14, 2018
Location: Pioneer Square / 114 Third Ave S.
Curators: Katherine Cook, Dan Finkel
Producer: Kate Vrijmoet Artists: Savina Mason, Suchitra Mattai, Jean Mandeberg, Jayadev Athreya, Timea Tihanyi, Lun-Yi Tsai, Claire B. Jones, Edmund Harriss, June Sekiguchi, Hamid Naderi Yeganeh, Eric Demaine and Martin Demaine, Ilana Zweschi, Katherine Cook, George Legrady, Amber Barney-Nivón, Rachel Holloway
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Mathematics is the study of structure, number, pattern, and shape; though abstract, it has influenced art for centuries. Today, math and art are exploring bold new realms. The power of their insights and effects on each other provides opportunities to be delighted by seeing new connections hiding in plain sight. Seattle’s Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA) presents Art ∩ Math, (Art intersect Math), an exhibit that explores the intersection of artistic expression and mathematical ideas.
Featured Image: Photographer: Amber Lee
Added 06/18/2021
Exhibition Catalog by Ray C. Freeman III with commentary by Katherine Cook, Dan Finkel, an excerpt from Paul Lockhart’s “A Mathemetician’s Lament”, with artist bios and statements. Available through the CoCA Museum Store.
Creativity Persists
Exhibition Dates: April 25 - May 26, 2018
Location: Pioneer Square / 114 Third Ave S.
Guest Juror: Jody Bento
Producers: Nichole DeMent and Ray C. Freeman III
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Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA) shared their members’ creativity in the 2018 CoCA Members’ Show, Creativity Persists. Juried by Jody Bento, Director of SAM Gallery, artists of all ages and media including 2D, 3D, multi-media, installation, literary, sound, and performance were invited to join CoCA for this annual show that celebrated the true depths of creativity and highlighted top artists in the Pacific NW and across the globe.
With Seattle’s rapid growth and radical changes, alongside the current backdrop of our country, the creative artist is essential to the health of society. For 36 years, CoCA has amplified contemporary artists’ voices through hundreds of exhibitions. The annual members’ show welcomes creativity in all its forms and in multiple events as they gather together to celebrate the hard work of artists and creatives of all types.
Featured Image: The opening reception for the 2018 CoCA Members’ Show: Creativity Persists
Added 06/18/2021
Exhibition Catalog by Ray C. Freeman III available through the CoCA Museum Store.
Painters Who Fucking Know How to Paint
Exhibition Dates: June 7 - July 14, 2018
Location: Pioneer Square / 114 Third Ave S.
Curators: Kate Sweeney, Kate Vrimjoet
Artists: Susanna Bluhm, Jazz Brown, Brian Cypher, Carole d'Inverno, Marie Gagnon, Kathy Gore Fuss, Cable Griffith, Patricia Hagen, Ronald Hall, Laura Hamje, Robert Hardgrave, David Hytone, Karen Kaapcke, Alex Kanevsky, Ken Kelly, Kathy Liao, Margie Livingston, Natalie Niblack, Allan Packer, Jennifer Pochinski, Flora Ramirez-Bustamante, Adreanne Smits, Ruthie V., Paula Whelan.
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An invitational painting exhibit with a fresh curatorial eye: painters picking painters. “As curators, we seek to emphasize the personal dialog that the painter has with the surface in front of them,” say Kate Sweeney and Kate Vrijmoet, local painters who curated this exhibit. Vrijmoet and Sweeney invite painters “whose work gives us a punch in the gut, work that delivers the seduction of visual impact and presents perceptual, narrative, or process derived experiences, painters who #ucking know how to paint.”
This show provides a way for viewers into the mind of painters, and elucidates aspects of painting that, from the painters’ viewpoints, drive artists to continue to work in the genre. This allows access to the art form for a general audience and provides insight into how a painting becomes.
Featured Image: Margie Livingston | photographer: Natalie Jenkins
Added 06/18/2021
Exhibition Catalog by Ray C. Freeman III with essays by Kate Sweeney and Kate Vrijmoet with artist bios and statements available through the CoCA Museum Store.
(Where) Do We Belong?
Exhibition Dates: October 4 - November 17, 2018
Location: Pioneer Square / 114 Third Ave S
Curated by: CoCA and La Sala
Artists: Hiba Jameel, Tatiana Garmendia, Humaira Abid, Judy Shintani, Jake Prendez, Hawo Ali, Rohena Alam Khan, Marci Santos
Performer: Milvia Berenice Pacheco Salvatierra
Poets: J.A. Dela-Cruz-Smith, Maiah A Merina
Panelists: Malou Chavez, Catalina Cantu
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This exhibit shares the realities and challenges surrounding immigration and includes artworks that are a response to Trump’s “Zero-Tolerance Immigration Policies”—amplifying diverse artistic voices with direct experience.
Not only are family separations consistent, but xenophobia, racism, and bigotry have been constant, taking different forms in the lapse of America’s history. The exhibit will hopefully serve as a reminder of past US situations that didn't serve us well in the end, such as Japanese Internment Camps. Artists in the exhibition share personal stories of immigration such as Garmendia’s video piece that draws parallels between the separation of families imposed by Trump’s policies and her experience in Cuba.
La Sala, a Seattle nonprofit organization that works to coalesce and mobilize the Latino/Latina arts community of the Seattle, Bellevue and surrounding districts, is partner and co-curator with CoCA for this exhibition.
“Our country is going through tremendous change. Change brings fear and fear fuels rhetoric, as we can see throughout history in the ways that language is used as both a weapon (creating angst) and shield (creating comfort). Exhibitions like '(Where) Do We Belong?' highlight the nuanced dialogue that artists contribute to the topic of immigration and the divided society that has surged in the Trump era.”
“Throughout time people have migrated. We know this for sure because it was recorded by artists. The artists in '(Where) Do We Belong?' are the record keepers of today, reflecting the struggles and triumphs of immigrant lives.”
-- La Sala, Latinx Artists Network
Added 06/18/2021
Exhibition Catalog by Ray C. Freeman III with an essay by Rohena Alam Khan, poems by J.A. Dela-Cruz-Smith and Maiah A Merina, and artist bios and statements available through the CoCA Museum Store.
You Got The Look
Exhibition Dates: Nov 23 - Dec 22, 2018
Location: Pioneer Square / 114 Third Ave S.
Curators: Nichole DeMent, Judith Rayl, and Archis Gore
Artists: Nancy Worden, Emiko Oye, Andy Cooperman, Molly Epstein, Marita Dingus, Motoko Furuhashi, Rebecca Cummins, Nina Raizel Hartman, Emily Blodgett-Panos, Melanie Brauner, Jana Brevick, Ann Chikahisa, Alexis Devine, Ray C. Freeman III, Catherine Grisez, Sarah Hood, Holland Houdek, Han-Yin Hsu, Katie Kameen, Micki Lippe, Kim Merritt, Eileen O'Shea, Polly Purvis, Anne Randall, Sylwia Tur, Meg Wachs, Pookie Weatherburn
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A NATIONAL EXHIBITION OF CONTEMPORARY ART JEWELRY AND ACCESSORIES
The exhibit derived its name from a 1987 song by Prince bearing the same title and blended jewelry and art, while raising questions about jewelry’s social and political meaning in contemporary society. In addition to the typical call of beauty, the exhibit explored vulnerability and cleverly transformed emojis, parking lot detritus, brightly-colored toys, and a few medical devices into fun adornments to accentuate and transform the body.
Featured Seattle-based artist Nancy Worden is inspired by the events she experiences as an American woman. Her piece, Literal Defense, is included in the show and “was made for those who are soldiers in the battlefield of arts education. On the neck piece, quotes from arts advocates are stamped into the front and sides. The back contains a passage from Ovid about the Muses, who were the patrons of the arts in Roman mythology.”
Seattle metalsmith, educator, and writer Andy Cooperman presented a group of work centered around non-traditional jewelry materials including Poison, which alludes to poison rings that have appeared throughout history.
“I like the idea of improbable, sometimes prosaic materials incorporated into something that can be as staid as jewelry. Poison was on my mind ever since I found a rattle at a Western boot store giveaway. The idea of a ring as a cautionary object, along with being a signifier of status and affiliation, appealed to me.”
San Francisco designer Emiko Oye creates bold and colorful jewelry from precious metals and repurposed LEGO®. Utilizing such a globally beloved material, she tugs on the nostalgic heartstrings across generations, cultures, and genders, artfully embedding memory into conversation-sparking, contemporary adornment.
This show was made possible by the support of Elysian Brewing with special thanks to Karen Lorene for consultation and the gift of "Signs of Life" magazines, which were made available to VIP attendees at the opening reception.
Featured Image: (L to R) Andy Cooperman: Poison Ring, Nancy Worden: Literal Defense, Emiko Oye: La Ceremonie
Added 06/19/2021
Exhibition Catalog by Ray C. Freeman III with artist bios and statements available through the CoCA Museum Store.
2019
Motherland
Exhibition Dates: March 7- April 20, 2019
Location: Pioneer Square / 114 Third Ave S.
Guest Curator: Amanda Manitach
Producers: Nichole DeMent, Timothy Rysdyke
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Gallery Display Participants:
Marie Abaya, Zeynep Alev, Kree Arvanitas, Anastasia Babenko, Christy Bailey, Sarah Banks, Jocelyn Beausire, Claire Brandt, Sandi Bransford, Kamari Bright, Louise Britton, Karen Buhler, Lynette Charters, Sena Clara Creston, Jessica Damsky, Nichole DeMent, Sarah Dillon, Braden Duncan, Phil Eidenberg-Noppe, Laura Engstrom, Sara Everett, Dede Falcone, Kathleen Faulkner, Jeanne Marie Ferraro, Gary Frankel, Michelle Friars, Babs Fulton, Makena Gadient, Randi Ganulin, Shruti Ghatak, Tom Gormally, Salyna Gracie, Anya Gudimova, Karen Hackenberg, Tyrah Hannibal, Mollie HansenLynda Harwood-Swenson, Soo Hong, Judy Chia Hui Hsu, Han Huisman, Carl Jackson, Hiba Jameel, Linda James, Hart James, Lezlie Jane, Cara Jaye, Steve Jensen, Jody Joldersma, Meghan Jones, Dan Joslin, Jenny Jun Smith, Ivana Kartzov, Niki Keenan, Karey Kessler, Eliaichi Kimaro, Melissa Koch, Kalindi Kunis, Ingrid Lahti, Carole Landisman, Andrea Lawson, Geraldine Le Calvez, Susan E Lehman, Gabrielle Lundy, L Kelly Lyles, Anna Macrae, Pamela Markman, Josh R. McDonald, Deane McGahan, Tom McIntire, Emily McLaughlin, Pamela Mills, Sophia Moreau, Nabil Mousa, Tiki Mulvihill, Montana Murdoch, Debbi Murray, Lisa Myers Bulmash, Edward Nelson, Vian Nguyen, Randy Nichols, Jeff Olson, Polly Purvis, Yasmine Rafii, Flora Ramirez-Bustamante, Judith Rayl, Victoria Raymond, Eddie Reed, Kyle Rees,ST Rivera, Stephen Rock, Liz Ruest, Timothy Rysdyke, Jill Sahlstrom, Blanca Santander, Cathy Sarkowsky, Brenda L. Scallon, Mary Scott, Barbara Shaiman, Lisa Sheets, Brian Sholdt, Eva Skold Westerlind, Jeffrey Smith, Marissa Sohn, Alaina Stocker, Phil Stoiber, Diego Suarez, Lark & Tyler Sundsmo, Amanda Sweet, Philip Tice, Laura Van Horne, Elizabeth Waddington, Randy Warren, Siobhan Wilder, Minhi Winkempleck, Kayleigh Wold, Suze Woolf, Cynthia Yatchman, John Zimmerman, Vicky Zomenou
Digital Exhibition Artists:
Leslie Atkins, KJ Bateman, Abbie Birmingham, Reginald Brooks, Drie Chapek, Monica Cowdery, Grace Ann Cummings, Alice Dubiel, Martha Dunham, Leslie Ebert, Sara Farhat, Fredericka Foster, Ray C. Freeman III, Karen Graber, Diana Grant, Nikki Hobensack, Sheri Jacobson, Mindi Katzman, Sean Lafferty, Katerina Lanfranco, Pansy Lee, Minna Lee, Anne Lifton, Yuan-Lin Mao, Diana Milia, Suzanne Morlock, B. Murray, Julian Peña, Carol Pettersen, Lindsay Peyton, Anne Randall, Dina Skeels, David Smith, Shirene Soleiman, Shima Bhamra, Julie St. Clair, Amy Stone, Kenneth Susynski, Kristin Swenson-Lintault, Tara Tamaribuchi, Chad Yenney
Artist & Craftsman People’s Choice Award Winners:
This year’s winners of the People’s Choice Awards, sponsored by Artist & Craftsman Supply are are Sophia Moreau (online voting) and ST Rivera (gallery voting) — congratulations!
The 2019 members’ show included over 160 artists from across the world, celebrating a depth of creativity that we’ve been proud to amplify for four decades. This show explores a wide range of creatives and celebrates artists of all ages and media including 2D, 3D, video and multimedia.
All participating artists were part of the exhibit's digital slideshow and represented in the annual printed catalog. From emerging to established, the list of contemporary artists to show in CoCA's Pioneer Square gallery was comprehensive with over 120 works on display. This showwas part of CoCA’s 2019 programming that amplifies female voices and themes.
CoCA supports artists not only through their exhibitions, but also through meaningful local partnerships. The show was juried by artist and writer Amanda Manitach. In addition to working extensively in the field of drawing and multi-disciplinary visual art, she has also served as Visual Arts Editor at City Arts Magazine, spent three years as curator at Hedreen Gallery at Seattle University and co-founded multiple alternative art spaces and events across Seattle in the past decade. This partnership provides an extra special opportunity for CoCA artist members to receive recognition by the juror in this year's catalog, as well as CoCA's blog and newsletter.
Another partnership this year is with Artist & Craftsman Supply, an art supply store located in the U-District in Seattle. Two winners of the Artist & Craftsman Supply People’s Choice Award will each receive a $100 gift card to Artist & Craftsman Supply. Vote in person at the show, or online in our Facebook photo album by liking your favorites. We are thrilled to provide a direct link to such a valuable resources for artists in the region.
Added 06/19/2021
Exhibition Catalog by Ray C. Freeman III with artist bios and statements available through the CoCA Museum Store.
(Our Love Is) Unbroken by Bars
Exhibition Dates: May 1 - June 15, 2019
Location: Pioneer Square / 114 Third Ave S.
Curator: Katie Fuller
Artists: Jess X Snow, Heart Over Crown
Featuring: Topeka Sam, Ivy Woolf Turk
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Nationally-recognized street artists Jess X Snow and Shyama R. Kuver (Heart over Crown), with curator Katie Fuller, presented an exhibition of video, photographs and paintings, sharing stories of women that gave birth while shackled in prison, alongside the power of love that continues in spite of separation.
This show told the human stories of mothers and daughters, like Carole and Jahmil. Carole is a sexual abuse survivor, who turned to drugs to silence emotional pain. While pregnant with Jahmil, she was arrested for stealing in order to feed her habit. She gave birth while in prison—in shackles. Jahmil was immediately taken away. She remembers, "The corrections officer said that if I had really wanted to keep my baby, I would never have been in jail.”
It took Carole years to find someone who believed in her as a mother, including herself. She and Jahmil attended therapy and the exhibit shares a video of her and Jahmil’s story to repair their relationship. Carole found sobriety and has since received recognition for her advocacy for criminal and social justice issues, including anti-shackling of pregnant women and ending termination of parental rights. She is the recipient of the John Jay’s Howard D. Mann Humanitarianism in Service, the Coalition for Women Prisoners’ Advocacy, and most recently, Citizen’s Against Recidivism’s Glenn E. Martin Advocacy of the Year Awards. Her daughter, Jahmil, is excelling as a graduate film student at UCLA.
CoCA and the artists seek to bring healing to the formerly incarcerated and awareness of the injustice of incarcerated mothers, while shedding light on systemic challenges that exacerbate recidivism, such as homelessness. As per the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, almost 50,000 people a year enter homeless shelters immediately after exiting incarceration. The rate of homelessness in Seattle is 10 times the national average and 25% of people utilizing homelessness-related social services in King County are located in the Pioneer Square zip code, where our gallery is located. Their neighborhood sees over 2,000 arrests a year. CoCA’s May and June exhibition works to humanize these statistics and create space for formerly incarcerated women to regain their voices.
During the exhibition, CoCA will take this healing to the street. Working with the Metropolitan Improvement District and Pioneer Square businesses, CoCA will host a free Mother’s Day card-making party in the gallery for unhoused in the neighborhood on May 4. All card-making materials, including painting supplies, artistic guidance, envelopes, and postage will be provided for all participants.
We’ll also be hosting a panel discussion for the public to learn about the women featured in the exhibit from “(Our Love Is) Unbroken by Bars” Curator, Katie Fuller, and learn about homelessness and recidivism with Rex Hohlbein, Executive Director of Facing Homelessness.
Featured Image: Jess X Snow: Stephanie and Major
Added 06/19/2021
Exhibition Catalog by Ray C. Freeman III with an essay by Curator Katie Fuller, artists’ stories, and numerous resources in support of incarcerated women available through the CoCA Museum Store.
Girlfriends of the Guerrilla Girls
Exhibition Dates: Aug 1 - Sept 21, 2019
Location: Pioneer Square / 114 Third Avenue South
Curated by: CoCA and Anonymous
Artists: Ann Leda Shapiro, Sheila Klein, Alice Dubiel, Deborah Faye Lawrence, Rachel J. Siegel, Hanako O'Leary, Cecilia Concepción Alvarez, C. Davida Ingram, Dawn Cerny, E.T. Russian, Guerrilla Girls.
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This exhibition of people who are comfortable with the word feminist are local Pacific Northwest artists without gallery representation. The show was presented at CoCA as an alternative to the Seattle Art Fair’s commercial gallery focus.
Artwork included in the show ranges from previously censored images, crocheted body-centered pieces, reproductive and seed installation, feminist content collage and video, clay in-your-face vaginal vessels, powerful mujeres/madre imagery, identity/gender exploration, invisibility/visibility watercolors, comics, and hot off the press new, as well as old — but sadly still timely — classic posters created by the original Guerrilla Girls.
The Guerrilla Girls, “conscience of the art world,” are a group of feminist artists committed to exposing the overlooked, as well as gender unfairness in the art world since 1985. They wear gorilla masks in public as the anonymity keeps the focus on the issues; use facts, fur and humor to expose gender and ethnic bias and have creatively inspired millions to be themselves, speak up and express their truths. We are thrilled in particular to be including Ann Leda Shapiro’s sexually explicit image, “Anger,” which the Whitney Museum of American Art refused to hang in her one-person show in 1973.
Featured Image: left; exhibition postcard by Joshua McDevitt | right: Anger by Ann Leda Shapiro
Added 06/19/2021
Exhibition Catalog by Ray C. Freeman III with artists’ bios and statements, including six original Guerrilla Girls posters available through the CoCA Museum Store.
