Spotlight: Art Rising in the East

“BEYOND JUST LIVING.” It’s a bold statement, and displayed accordingly on the ground-floor windows of the 989 Elements building in the thriving Ashwood area of downtown Bellevue. The 23-story apartment and retail complex, open since fall of 2006, is the embodiment of Bellevue living: aesthetic, high-end and amenity abundant. But below high-end businesses such as Deyss Salon & Spa and Vertigo Lounge & Grill, and behind the bannered windows on the first floor, decaying, mossy shingles salvaged from a single-family structure that was demolished a few blocks away have been beautifully crafted into a sloping rooftop by Olga Koumoundouros. The renowned L.A. artist’s sculptural installation, entitled A Roof Upended, is meant to illustrate the decline of homes at the hands of high-rises. At first glance, the irony of this juxtaposition is comical.

Welcome to Open Satellite—a 2,000-square-foot gallery located in the midst of Bellevue’s business and housing boom. Visual art of this kind and caliber is a rarity in Bellevue, which, aside from the highly respected but drama-plagued Bellevue Arts Museum and a humble collection at the Bellevue Regional Library, has little art community to speak of. But thanks to the vision of two artist/architects and the commitment of a community-minded developer, Open Satellite might just change the face of visual art on the Eastside.
 
Not long after purchasing the property that would become 989 Elements, John Su—who has developed nearly 1,500 homes in more than 50 buildings around the Puget Sound since founding Su Development in 1981—read an article in Architectural Record about Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo, two Seattle-based artist/architects collectively known as Lead Pencil Studio. Intrigued, Su approached the husband-and-wife team—trained in architecture and sculpture and lauded for their ability to turn “useless” structures and space into powerful art—with a commission for an installment in his new project. Sensing Su’s genuine interest in using his space to house community-building art, Han and Mihalyo responded with a bigger proposition—to use the gallery as a space for resident artists—and Open Satellite was born.

 

Gallery address: 989 112 Ave. NE, Suite 102, Bellevue
Phone number: 425.454.7355
Web site: opensatellite.org
Hours: Tue.–Sat., noon–6 p.m.; first Thursday of the month, noon–8 p.m.
Next installation: Zoe Strauss starts her residency on December 1

 

To read more about Open Satellite, pick up the December issue of Seattle magazine, on newsstands now.