ARTS at King Street Station Gallery
ARTS at King Street Station is a dynamic space for arts and culture in the heart of the city, dedicated to increasing opportunities for communities of color to generate and present their work.
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ARTS at King Street Station
303 S. Jackson St., Top Floor
Seattle, WA 98104
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Hours
ARTS at King Street Station is FREE and open Wednesday – Saturday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m, and until 8 p.m. on First Thursdays.
COVID Safety
In accordance with King County Public Health guidelines, ARTS at King Street Station no longer requires visitors to show proof of vaccination or wear face masks when visiting. Please stay home if you feel sick.
Administrative Office Hours
Monday - Friday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Getting Here
Plan your trip and don't forget to check the traffic conditions at Seattle Traffic
King Street Station is located at 303 S Jackson St, Seattle, WA 98104. The station is conveniently located where the Downtown Central Business District, Pioneer Square, and the Chinatown / International District all meet (on Jackson Street between 3rd and 4th Avenues South).
There are multiple options for reaching the station using public transit:
- The Sounder regional commuter train stops at the station, as do all of Amtrak's national and international lines.
- The Link Light Rail stops at the International District Station, one block east of the station.
- Many King County Metro Bus lines pass within a block of the station, including 1, 7, 36, 14.
Where do I park? There are multiple paid garages and parking lots in the neighborhood, as well as street parking. You can view the Seattle Parking Map here.
Accessibility
King Street Station has an ADA-compliant elevator that services every level of the station. Access it via the Amtrak level (1st Floor), which is on King Street. The plaze entrance is on Jackson Street and is the 2nd Floor.
ARTS at King Street Station also has ADA-compliant, all-gender restrooms. We have two wheelchairs available in the gallery, and folding stools you can use if you'd like to sit in front of an artwork.
TAPA
Tapa Design Renders, photo by Benedicta Kongaika
May 1 - June 21, 2025 - TAPA showcases the fusion of traditional Tongan tribal patterns with contemporary digital art, transforming cultural symbols into modern décor. Each intricate pattern embodies ancestral wisdom, spiritual connections, and the resilience of Tongan artistry, inviting viewers to embrace cultural storytelling through immersive design.
The Thing to Me Is Diminishing
we pilot the blood by Quenton Baker
April 9 - May 17, 2025 - A video poetry exhibition curated by Seattle Civic Poet, Dujie Tahat.
Featuring work by Seattle poets Alex Gallo-Brown, Anastacia-Reneé, Bill Carty, Gabrielle Bates, Quenton Baker, and Troy Osaki.
Myths to Mundane
Can I hold the Bird, Shruti Ghatak
March 6 - May 3, 2025 - Myths to Mundane brings together the evocative works of Indian-born, Seattle-based artist Shruti Ghatak, whose practice traverses the intersections of mythology, migration, and identity.
Through a compelling series of figurative landscape paintings and terracotta relief sculptures, the exhibition reimagines India’s rich cultural history, from mythological texts like the Ramayana and Mahabharata and regional folklore to personal narratives and contemporary realities.
Past Exhibitions
Fresh Perspectives: City Light Percent-for-Art Purchases for the Civic Art Collection
Even the Sun is Angry, by Yasiman Ahsani
Feb. 6 - Apr. 5, 2025 - Thanks to dedicated funds from the City Light percent-for-art, the 2024 cohort of our Fresh Perspectives youth curators, under the tutelage of artist and educator Hasaan Kirkland, selected 50 artists for consideration for purchase by City Light for the Civic Art Collection. The final selection was made by a purchasing panel of City Light employees. This exhibition features those purchases, showcasing Seattle’s rich artistic heritage.
Learn more about Fresh Perspectives: City Light Percent-for-Art Purchases for the Civic Art Collection.
Journey Through Life and Beyond
Photo by Mohamed Abdullahi
Feb. 6 - 22, 2025 - Filmmaker and photographer Mohamed Abdullahi brings you an immersive exploration of the human experience that captures the profound transitions between life, death, and what may lie beyond.
NOCHES DE ANÁHUAC
Nov. 7, 2024 - Jan. 4, 2025 - The spirit of Mexican art and culture thrives within NOCHES DE ANÁHUAC. This exhibition embraces the rich tapestry of Mexican identity. Adorned with carpentry, sculpture, textiles, paintings, and film—the artists invoke a sense of collective memory and pride in their Mexican Indigenous identity.
Learn more about NOCHES DE ANÁHUAC.
Please Touch: Together, Breaking Barriers
Rabbit Rhinocerous by Debra Broz
Oct. 3, 2024 - Jan. 4, 2025 - Please Touch: Together, Breaking Barriers challenges the traditional boundaries of art appreciation by inviting visitors to engage with artwork through touch.
Please Touch has called various Seattle venues home for the past 10 years. Now, this exhibition comes to ARTS King Street Station to raise awareness about accessibility for blind and low-vision individuals in the arts while bridging the gap between visual and tactile art experiences.
Learn more about Please Touch: Together Breaking Barriers.
FRESSSSSH!
About Face by Warren A. Pope
Aug. 1 - Oct. 5, 2024 - FRESSSSSH! is the culmination of our intensive summer program that offers a deep dive into the world of arts curation and administration to BIPOC young adults/youth. All pieces in the exhibition were selected by the cohort of young curators.
Luminous Being
Fikir by Zabia Colovos
July 11 - Sep. 7, 2024 - Luminous Being by Zabia Colovos is an immersive journey of mythic imagination that walks the space between the conscious and unconscious.
Learn more about Luminous Being.
"COMPLEXITY" and Youth in Focus Showcase
Boom box by Faust
June 6 - July 20, 2024 - In partnership with The American Graffiti & Urban Art Conservation Project (AMGRAF) and APEX Art & Cultural Center, we are honored to bring the legendary DogTown Collection to ARTS at King Street Station. This is an epic collection of masterpieces created by some of the most influential graffiti writers to have painted over the last 50 years.
Youth in Focus Showcase
June 6 - 22, 2024 - Photographs from Youth in Focus' 2024 Creative Career Cohort, a 6-month internship program for BIPOC youth in grades 10-12.
Learn more about COMPLEXITY and the Youth in Focus Showcase.
"DREAM TEMPLE (for Octavia)", "Journey to Serenity", "Manifestations"
DREAM TEMPLE (for Octavia)
March 7 - May 23, 2024 - Who can afford to dream? Given the systemic racism and racial trauma that Black people often face in society, DREAM TEMPLE (for Octavia) aims to counteract the exhaustion and stress that is carried intergenerationally while also creating a portal of healing and imagining.
Journey to Serenity
April 4 - May 23, 2024 - Nahom Ghirmay's work explores the complexities of identity and emotional experiences through a range of mediums. Central to his artistic vision is a desire to capture our shared humanity, inspired by the stories and sentiments of those around him.
Manifestations
April 4 - May 23, 2024 - June Sekiguchi‘s work addresses cultural identity, cross cultural exchange, and personal narratives through an interplay of surface pattern and structural form. She makes pattern-based sculptures, large scale immersive installations, and public art.
Learn more about DREAM TEMPLE (for Octavia), Journey to Serenity, and Manifestations.
2023 SDOT Bridge Artists in Residence Showcase
(l-r) Details from data visualization of salmon at the Fremont Bridge by Vivian Li and
Plankton Perspectives 2023 by Mariah Vicary
Feb. 1-10, 2024 - The Seattle Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS) presents the culminating data visualization work of Vivian Li and Mariah Vicary, two Pacific Northwest-based artists who were in residence in the towers at the Fremont and University Bridges.
The 2023 residency program focused on digital data visualization, with artists taking historic and modern data about the bridges and surrounding environment to create artworks that creatively display interpretations of these various data sets.
This residency project is funded by Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT)’s 1% for Art Funds and administered by the Office of Arts & Culture.
Learn more about the 2023 SDOT Bridge Artists in Residence Showcase exhibition.
"Places Between" and "Make It. Make Sense."
The Seattle Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS) hosts two new exhibitions at ARTS at King Street Station featuring artists Tammie Dupuis and Antoine Fougere.
Places Between
November 2 – January 6, 2024
Tammie Dupuis explores the intersections of her heritage as an Indigenous and Western European person in her exhibition, Places Between. Using both Indigenous and non-Indigenous ways of making and seeing, her work spans several different processes and materials including paper, wood, textiles, glass beads, bone, hair, teeth, canvas, relief print, stamp, and paint. Places Between features over 30 works that explore ideas of visibility/invisibility of the Indigenous body and how it affects her personal visual identity, spiritual recognition/non-recognition of place and family, and didactic work of the reservation system and other assimilationist policies.
Make It. Make Sense.
November 2 – January 6, 2024
Make it. Make Sense. is a collection of photos based around artist Antoine Fougere’s childhood and imagination. The exhibition features 20 works including digital and film photographs. Fougere’s goal is for the artworks to spark a conversation with one another and help inspire his community to continue to create. Each photo in this series explores themes, stories, and emotions of loneliness, exploration, and actualization that all come down to eventually finding one’s way. Fougere hopes this collection invites you to explore your passions and be confident in what you put out into the universe.
Images: Boundaries, by Tammie Dupuis. Wood, canvas, paper, acrylic paint, vinyl, and steel installation. Amine, photograph by Antoine Fougere
On the Edge: 2nd International Latinx Performance Art Festival
Oct. 5 - 7, 2023 - On the Edge is the second LatinX performance art festival in Seattle, showcasing a wide range of experimental performance with themes of inclusion, identity and intersectionality.
Featuring a wide range of pan-Latine/x artists and supporters, these performances will range from intimate, single-person storytelling, to medium-length, mixed-media group performances, as well as durational, non-traditional, conceptual and video performances.
Space Cowrie and Perceiver/Perception
July 27 - Oct. 7, 2023 - Emerging artists Le’Ecia Farmer and Eymah Nuzhat 's exhibitions are on view in addition to an exhibition of the City of Seattle’s Civic Art Collection.
Learn more about Space Cowrie and Perceiver/Perception.
The First 50 Years: Highlights from the Civic Collection, 1973-2023 and Spotted in Seattle
The Seattle Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS) and its ARTS at King Street Station Gallery hosts two new exhibitions this spring celebrating the City of Seattle’s Civic Arts Collection and the work of artist Agustina Forest. The First 50 Years: Highlights from the Civic Collection, 1973-2023 and Spotted in Seattle celebrate the natural environment, people, and artists who call Seattle home. Agustina Forest's Spotted In Seattle is on view from May 4 - July 6, 2023, and The First 50 Years: Highlights from the Civic Collection, 1973-2023 is on view from May 4 - September 7, 2023.
Images:
Mona Lisa Smile, Alison Bremner, Limited edition giclée, 2014; Purchased with Seattle Public Utilities 1% for Art funds.
Olive Way, Agustina Forest, Gouache on paper, 2023
Happy Room — Mosaic Collage and digital indigiqueer: a showcase of trans transmedia
Happy Room — Mosaic Collage features everyday objects through the artistry and colorful lens of artist Naoko Morisawa. Juxtaposed with Morisawa’s mosaic collages is a collection of multi-media artworks from five multi-disciplinary, award-winning Indigenous artists in digital indigiqueer: a showcase of trans transmedia.
Images:
Left Image: Foreground: Happy Chair, Naoko Morisawa/Morisawa Studio, 20 x 13 x11 in., handcrafted, oil-stained wood, 2022. Background: Invisible world - on the way to the Shangri-La, Naoko Morisawa/Morisawa Studio, 30 x 40 in., handcrafted, oil-stained wood/ paper mosaic, acrylic and Japanese paper, 2022.
Right Image: 227 Indigenous Children, Elijah Forbes, digital illustration print, 2022
IMMINENT MODE: US
Nov. 3, 2022 - Jan. 5, 2023 - IMMINENT MODE: US is an immersive exhibition that pairs built environments with one-of-a-kind fashion. Curated by Jordan Christianson, Adé A Cônnére, and Anouk Rawkson, IMMINENT MODE: US is comprised of eight teams who collaborate to create a unique piece of couture/wearable art displayed in a large-scale installation based on the theme US. Each team will explore and celebrate their unique cultural heritages and express that through their work.
Image: Adé A Cônnére wearing a garment by Jordan Christianson; Photo by Debora Spencer
Pantheon Anew
Saira Barbaric's Pantheon Anew is a collection of more than 30 collages plus video art and installation inspired by the past and present of Black diasporic spirituality. African people who were bought and sold in the 16th to 19th century Americas were regularly separated from their families and anyone from their region. Over the centuries, this artist’s ancestors took what they were allowed to build new systems of belief that helped to create protection, community, and new understanding.
Learn more about the exhibition.
Image: Skull Guard 2: Goat, Acrylic, foil, watercolor, paper, 2021
Hanako O’Leary: Izanami and Yomi and Molly Vaughan: Her Body and After Boucher
ARTS at King Street Station hosts two exhibitions, Hanako O’Leary: Izanami and Yomi and Molly Vaughan: Her Body and After Boucher, which explore themes of feminine power, transgender transformation, fertility, and self-determination. Both exhibitions will be on view from May 5 through July 7, 2022.
Learn more about the exhibitions.
Image: Detail from two images: War Mask 1, Hanako O’Leary, clay and glaze, 2018; Self-Portrait with Clove Cigarette #2, Molly Vaughan, oil on canvas, 61 x 5 in., 2020
The 1 Million - Multiple Species Eradication
The 1 Million - Multiple Species Eradication at ARTS at King Street Station explores bio/multi species extinctions and explores species affected by humanity's mass resource extraction. Artist Carol Rashawnna Williams created the large scale monoprint installation with seven contributing local/national visual artists: Amaranta Ibarra-Sandys, Paula Oliver, Noa Piper, Sydney Pertl, Kelly and Hope Bain, and Rosalind Davis Guterson.
Three additional installations will also be on view in the gallery: A Clearer View: The Last Days of the Alaskan Way Viaduct by Roxann Murray and Eirik Johnson; Home of Good: A Black Seattle Storyquilt by Storme Webber; and Diversity by Design by AIA Seattle's Diversity Roundtable.
Learn more about the exhibition.
Image: Detail from The 1 Million - Multiple Species Eradication, Carol Rashawnna Williams, with Amaranta Ibarra-Sandys, Paula Oliver, Noa Piper, Sydney Pertl, Kelly and Hope Bain, Rosalind Davis Guterson, Fabric, acrylic, safety pins, 2019-2022
1619: Resistance/Resilience/Remembrance/Liberation
The history of American chattel slavery, as an institution, had the primary function of feeding the greed of wealth and capitalism by white men of European descent both in Europe and the Americas. The commodification of human beings primarily from the continent of Africa provided a free labor force for over 400 years. There are many histories that are still debated and told through different lenses, but stories that are centered on the attributes, perseverance, and courage, of a great people are rarely shared.
Created and curated by Mr. Delbert Richardson of The Unspoken Truths, 1619: Resistance/Resilience/Remembrance/Liberation takes viewers on a chronological journey - from the beginnings of our origins in Africa, American Chattel Slavery, and the Jim Crow Era to modern-day African American originators, inventors, and innovators.
Two additional installations will also be on view in the gallery space: Diversity by Design by AIA Seattle's Diversity Roundtable and Home of Good: A Black Seattle Storyquilt by Storme Webber.
Learn more about the exhibition.
Image: Ceremonial Mask, 20th Century, Wood, Beads, Cowrie shells, courtesy of the American History Traveling Museum: The Unspoken Truths
Two Different Somali Perspectives: Hawo Ali and Abdi Ibrahim
September 7 - October 23, 2021 - Hawo Ali is a Seattle-based Somali-American artist and community activist. Centering on the flowers and scenery of her home country Somalia, her art is inspired by her arrival to the United States and the new flora of the land. Hawo’s paintings often include abstraction and strong colors to accentuate her portrayal of traditional Somali practices, artifacts, and narratives on Somali culture. These diverse narratives represent vivid depictions ranging from the resourcefulness of the native nomadic people to the native lions, tigers, and hyenas that make up the land.
Abdi Ibrahim is a Somali-American photographer based in Los Angeles. Raised in Seattle, Abdi is the son of two immigrants. Since his start in film photography at the age of 17, his work has been featured in numerous publications including New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Billboard Magazine. Abdi also works as a film and commercial director, where he has worked on campaigns for Apple Music, REI, Subaru, and The Fader. Abdi photographs his subjects in what feels like abstract worlds — creating an image that tells a story and a surreal aesthetic that is meant to be imaginative but rooted in reality; a cross between documentary and conceptual.
Learn more about the exhibition.
Image: Details from Spring Flower in Somalia, by Hawo Ali, and Happy Sad, by Abdi Ibrahim.
Noogu imow kulankeena Labo Ra'yi ee kala duwan oo Soomaali ah: Hawo Ali iyo Abdi Ibrahim, Kulanku wuxuu dhaciyaa September 7 ilaa October 23, 2021 Waxaana lagu qabaiyaa ARTS at King Street Station.
Xaawo Cali waa farshaxanley Somali-American ah oo joogta Seattle, bulshadana way u doodaa. Farshaxankeedu wuxuu u badanyahay ubaxyada iyo muuqaalka dalkeeda hooyo, Imaanashaha maraykankana iyo dhirta cusub ee dhulka ayaa dhiirrigeliyay inay sii wado.
Cabdi Ibraahim waa sawir qaade Soomaali-Mareykan ah oo deggan Los Angeles. Wuxuu ku soo barbaaray magaalada Seattle waxaana dhalay labo somaali ee soo -galooti ahaa. Cabdi wuxuu dadka ku sawiraa adduunyo qurxoon - wuxuu qaadaa sawiro ka sheekeynaya sheeko iyo bilicsanaan dhab ah oo loola jeedo inay noqoto riyo ku jirta xaqiiqda hada; Tani waa talaabo u dhaxaysa dokumenteriga iyo fikirka guud.
Close to Home
July 22 - August 14, 2021 - Close to Home challenges audiences to think intentionally about the idea of “home” through the use of paint, sculpture, quilting, and textural arts. The representations of “home” also span depictions of historical artifacts, abstract illustrations, to what home might look like in the future.
While being some of the most vulnerable to forced migration and displacement, the 14 artists in Close to Home actively celebrate the resilience of people of color using nuanced understandings of place.
Learn more about the exhibition.
Image: Metaphor of my mother, missTANGQ, Mixed media, 2018.
Artists of Color Expo & Symposium In-Person Gallery
May 4-21, 2021 - Artists of Color Expo & Symposium (ACES) is a BIPOC-centered and -led art conference. Its vision is to establish a space for artists of color to celebrate and center ourselves. ACES, partnering with ARTS at King Street Station, will feature performances, presentations, workshops, artist talks, films, discussions, and opportunities to meet local arts organizations. All programming will be offered online, with an in-person gallery to visit at ARTS at King Street Station.
Learn more about the exhibition.
The American War
February 6 - March 20, 2020 - The American War is an exhibition featuring photographic and video works, both created and found, by artists Pao Houa Her and Sadie Wechsler, that expose the legacy and residue that remains in Southeast Asia and the United States in the aftermath of what is known stateside as The Vietnam War.
Image: Detail from Legs for display,Sadies Wechsler, 2018.
Brighter Future: To be heard. To be seen. To be free.
November 7, 2019 - January 11, 2020 - Brighter Future: To be heard. To be seen. To be free. is a group exhibition of artworks created by more than 50 local artists of color reflecting on themes of freedom.
The exhibition is organized by the Ethnic Heritage Art Gallery Board, a collective of City of Seattle employees including people of Black, Latino, Native American, White, Asian, and Indian backgrounds who showcase local artists of color and build appreciation for diversity and social commentary expressed through art. The exhibition features 100 artworks including paintings, photography, sculpture, print, video and four installations.
Learn more about the exhibition.
Image: Detail from Dani, Mexico City, MX by Marilyn Montufar, Chromogenic color print, 2011.
Tagalog sa King Street
September 5 - October 5, 2019 - Tagalog sa King Street is a collection of one-act plays written and performed in the national language of the Philippines. With the creative use of live English surtitles and shadow puppetry, non-Tagalog speaking patrons can enjoy the innovative, brave new playwrights selected from the Virgin Labfest of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Learn more about the exhibition.
yəhaw'
Inaugural exhibition by Indigenous Creatives
March 23 - August 4, 2019 - In recognition of the Coast Salisha peoples on whose land the City of Seattle is built, the Office of Arts & Culture is honored to open ARTS at King Street Station with yəhaw̓, an Indigenous-centered exhibition.
yəhaw̓ is an expansive multi-city, yearlong project. It includes satellite installations across the Puget Sound region, performances, artist-in-residence, a publication, art markets, and culminates in a large-scale exhibition at King Street Station. The title yəhaw̓, is drawn from the Coast Salish story of Native people from all tribes uniting around a common cause and lifting up the sky together.
Image: Detail from Kali Spitzer (Kaska Dena and Jewish), Awapuhi, Archival pigment print from scanned tintype, 2016, Courtesy of the artist.
Borderlands
August 3 - October 29, 2017 - "BorderLands" explores the ideas of belonging and resistance. Immersive installations include artworks by Anida Yoeu Ali & Studio Revolt, RYAN! Feddersen, Satpreet Kahlon, Pedro Lasch, Henry Luke, Ries Niemi, Crystal Schenk, Carina A. del Rosario, and Inye Wokoma. In addition 2D- and 3D artworks from the City's collection will be on display in the installation "And She Persisted: Voices of Women Artists", featuring 38 women artists who challenge assumptions, take risks, and break barriers while creating objects of beauty and depth.