Art, Auto Mechanics, and Urban Treasure Hunts at Open Satellite

By Abigail Guay, Exhibitions Director

Photo by: Laura O’Quin

Open Satellite is a contemporary art exhibition space that stages four shows annually by artists from outside the Pacifi c Northwest who are invited to live and work in Downtown Bellevue. The 2,000 square foot gallery supports large-scale art and architecture projects and acts as a community space for public events and workshops.

Now through July 3, Open Satellite presents Vehicle, an installation of three electric cars by New York artist Seth Kinmont. The vehicles feature standard metal chassis and drive components, but are also equipped with hand-worked wooden frames, components of historical European and American buggy models, and design flourishes — an etched glass windshield, permanently reclined seats, or a driver’s seat at the back of the vehicle — that render the cars diffi cult to operate.

This summer, Open Satellite will present I Am From Bellevue (July 10-31), a short-term project by Seattle artist Greg Lundgren. Lundgren, who grew up in Bellevue during the 1970s and ’80s, will spend the spring visiting homes of Bellevue residents and selecting furniture and other objects that represent his deeply rooted impressions of the suburban Bellevue of his childhood and the young city in flux.

Over the July 4th holiday weekend, Lundgren will return to the homes he visited to collect and transport the selected objects to Open Satellite, where they will be assembled into an installation. Part anthropology and part performance, the outcome of Lundgren’s project will be determined by what he finds on his home-to-home tour of the city. (Bellevue residents: for information about participating in this project, visit vital5productions.com.)

The 2009 Open Studio series, slated to kick off in early June, will open the gallery to teaching artists, performers, and experts in various creative industries. A series of daylong, weeklong and ongoing workshops for adults and youth, the Open Studio series is intended to highlight the relationship between contemporary art and the community’s day-to-day activities and interests.

Open Satellite is located in the 989 Elements building on the corner of NE 10th Street and 112th Avenue NE in Downtown Bellevue. Exhibitions are free and open to the public, Tuesday-Saturday, 12:00-6:00 p.m. For more information on installations and the workshop series visit opensatellite.org.