McLeod Residence Blog

Ignite at CHAC this Wednesday

I forgot to mention this in last week's member email, but wanted to let everyone know about a pretty great event that lifetime McLeod member Brady Forrest has been putting on.

Ignite is a new kind of tech night, and the forth one is happening this Wednesday at the CHAC (Capitol Hill Arts Center on 12th and Pine). It's going to be awesome.  Half-baked Dotcom, a startup improv game hosted by Dave McClure, starts at 6:30 and will end around 8:00. The Ignite talks start at 8:30... they're 5-minutes long, and have an automated slide mover that gives each slide 30 seconds and forces speakers to move along at a good, improve-like, clip.  Here's the full schedule of speakers.  Glancing over the 5-minute talks, I'm excited about the first talk, "Make Art Not Content", former co-worker HB Seigel's "Werewolf Strategy" and the last one, "LIFE: if you’re bored, you’re doing it wrong".

I'll be there for sure.  Hope you can make it. 

New shows in the neighborhood

Our new show opens this Friday.  Here's what else there is to check out in our neighborhood:

• Roq la Rue: Ronald Kurniawan, Femke Hiemstra, and David Ho explore the ideas of the enigmatic and the ways our minds try to map the unknowable.
• BLVD Gallery: New works by Todd St. John and Gary Benzel, the creators of the fabled independent labels Green Lady and HunterGatherer.
• Suite 100 Gallery: New works by Todd Karam.  Studies of textures, surfaces, and the encounters we have with them.
• Pitcairn Scott Gallery:
• Viveza Gallery: Three artists' explorations of the new landscape, continuing the ongoing environmental discourse through art.
• Fancy + Pants: Clare J. Bowers and apparently people with cherries for heads.

There will also be a new show downstairs at Pitcairn Scott Gallery, but the website hasn't been updated with the info yet.  Add any other nearby shows that you know about in the comments.

Hope to see you on Friday!

Other things happening in Belltown

As the new kid in Belltown, I want to make sure that our neighbors get recognized for setting a great stage for us to start something new and BIG. I think this block is arguably the best block in Seattle.  Rather than competing with our neighbors, the McLeods are all about collaboration.  Mutual improvement.  By highlighting the strengths of our neighbors, everyone wins.  The galleries, stores, bars, spas, hair cut salons, and hotels are all full of life and I can tell that a few more sparks could create an explosion.  The McLeods want to set off a few sparks.  Seattle and Belltown could use a few more explosions.  This is the first of a series of posts about some of the great things that people around us are doing.

Nearby galleries:

1. Roq La Rue: According to their site, "Roq La Rue is pleased to present an exhibit of haunting works by two emerging artists from New York, MaDora Frey and Jean-Pierre Roy. Both painters are exceptional at creating still moments in the peak of turbulent stories, and cause the viewer's imagination to wonder what lead to each moment captured. While the subject matter is often dark, the paintings and destruction within are mesmerizing and beautiful."
2. BLVD Gallery: One more day left in their Art Army Guerilla Crew show.  "The Art Army action figures are homages to the killer art and artists that rock our world. Instead of making boring normal art, Leavitt is paying tribute to great people and work."
3. Suite 1000: Their Made You Look show was supposed to end on December 22nd according to their website, but looking out the window here it looks like it's still up.  I'll make sure.
   
4. Viveza: Just missed a show by one of my favorite artists, Francesca Berrini.  I have a couple of her beautiful maps and love the direction of her new work.  It looks like the next show coming up is "Universal Desires" by Raymond Morrow.
5. Pitcairn Scott Gallery: A new show by Leonardo Lanzolla opened last night right below us, titled "Mediterranean Environment."

So, if you're planning to come down to McLeod Residence for our grand opening, featuring three shows titled Parlor, Eleven Conversations, and the Light Box Installation, I'd highly recommend also visiting some of these other galleries on the block.