2024 Fall Director Newsletter

 

Image © Aaron Wessling

It’s hard to believe we are already half way through July. This summer is just flying by. As things are heating up in the city, we’ve got a lot cooking! Whatever your summer plans, we hope you are staying cool! Note: we always keep the gallery at a balmy temperature of 70 degrees to provide the best conditions for the prints, but we hope you will take advantage of it as well. A visit to Blue Sky is a great creative respite from the heat wave. You can also enjoy our digital programs from the comfort of your own air-conditioned space.

In the meantime, here is what’s currently on the Blue Sky burners for this season:


Image © Tim Dallas, Balanced Rock, 2023

2024 Blue Sky Members Show: Agency

This year’s Members Show is curated by Blue Sky’s summer intern PNCA student Jacob Sirokman. He has chosen the theme Agency. He expounds upon this saying:

Agency, whether our own or that of unknown sources, impacts our world and experiences by causing change on a variety of scales. When things change in the world, we often speculate and look into why change occurs, whether it be small, personal changes that our own agency controls, or larger, potentially mysterious changes that an unknown agent contributed to. So much of this speculation regarding change is visual – our eyes look to information in the world to give us answers. An image of an abandoned house or ruins prompts us to wonder: What happened here? Who lived here? Similarly, the image of a community or activity prompts us to wonder: What caused this community to come together? What can be experienced when participating? Questions, curiosity, and information are inherent to looking.

This exhibition seeks to include images that confront us with ideas and questions about the agency of ourselves, the agency of communities, and the agency of the world around us.

Agency is often open-ended and present in many different aspects of life. From the mundanity of daily tasks – street traffic, busy spaces, and the happenings of us and those around us, to the large-scale systems that govern our lives, agency is visually present (or absent) in a variety of ways. We look forward to seeing your interpretation of what agency means to you. All members are encouraged to submit.

Submission Deadline

Fri, Jul 19 at 5 PM (PT)


Pro Photo Supply Education Series

We are expanding our partnership with Pro Photo Supply by launching a new Education Series pilot program. Our hope is to provide courses on a range of topics from unique and useful photo techniques to professional development for artists. First on deck, we are teaming up with 2024 Pacific Northwest Drawers artist Claudia Hollister to offer this fun and unique class Cyanotypes: A DIY Workshop! Join us on Sat, Aug 24 from 11 AM - 3 PM in the Pro Photo Supply Event Center where you'll get a hands-on lesson in creating your own cyanotype prints. The goal is to give you time to explore the process, ask questions, have fun, and hopefully take home some good prints! We will have a discussion about the outcomes, as we review images from everyone, throughout the class.


Seattle Art Fair

Blue Sky is headed back to the Seattle Art Fair, a one-of-a-kind showcase for the vibrant arts community of the Pacific Northwest, and a leading destination for the best in modern and contemporary art. We are honored to be once again chosen as a Cultural Partner. Last year’s experience was a huge success for Blue Sky. We were able to showcase prints from all of the artists on view in the Pacific Northwest Drawers. We sold several works and made lots of new friends. Our return will continue to spread awareness about all of our incredible programming and efforts to support contemporary photographic artists all over the Pacific Northwest. The fair runs from Thu, Jul 25 to Sun, Jul 28 at Lumen Field Event Center. Come experience presentations from 85 leading galleries from around the world - many new - alongside captivating artist installations and public programming. Make sure to stop by the Blue Sky CP Booth #10 and say hello!


Blue Sky Yearbook Launch Party in Partnership with Converge 45

Mark your calendars for Wed, Sep 18, 2024 from 6 - 9 PM. We will be partnering with Converge 45 to host a double book launch party. Join us on the rooftop of the DeSoto Building to celebrate the release of Blue Sky’s annual yearbook and Converge 45’s Social Forms catalog. This event will be a ticketed fundraiser with limited space. We’ll provide food, drinks, artful performances and surprises. VIP tickets options will include copies of both books and a private gallery tour before the event. All proceeds will go to support the continued development of groundbreaking programming for both organizations. More details to come! Keep an eye on your inbox for ticket sales announcement, you won’t want to miss this one! 


Moments of Joy in the Gallery


Recent Digital Programs