Blog - The Project Room The Project Room

Displacement: Visual Artist Veit Stratmann

Paris-based artist Veit Stratmann, who presented the work title L'Aquila
at The Project Room in 2012, has made a practice of researching and writing
about places of massive upheaval and its impact on the people who have
lived there. After the recent terrorist attacks in Paris which took place
near his home, we had a conversation about the connections between this
event and his work, and what motivates him to be an artist, especially
during difficult times.

Learning Outside The Classroom: Electronic Artist Michna

Adrian Michna shares his perspective on what makes a good song, how college
transformed his musical style, and advice for young musicians.

The New Art Marketplace: Digital Artist Kevin McCoy

In this interview, we visit with Kevin McCoy during the launch of his first
company, an online platform for the buying and selling of digital artwork. 
Monegraph, as this company is called, could change everything about how we
value artwork and how artists get paid for the work they make.

In 1978, Gilbert Baker, a drag queen and community activist in San Francisco, responded to his friend Harvey Milk's assertion that the gay rights movement needed a new symbol. The pink triangle had been in use but was connected to the atrocities of the Holocaust, and the movement needed something uplifting to replace it. Using his creativity, his sewing skills, many many volunteers and even more fabric dye, Baker designed and produced the Rainbow Flag- or Gay Pride Flag- that we know today.

This month's podcast is a conversation with Seattle-based artist Ellie Dicola. As part of Seattle Storefronts, a program that places artist projects in vacant storefront spaces, Ellie created the installation Was Here. As a corporeal monument to places that are gone, Was Here is a documentation of local businesses and organizations that have disappeared over the last handful of years. Ellie refers to her project as a map of experiences, and in our discussion of evolution and change, we explore what it means to give voice to memory and to create a place to collectively mourn the intangible.

For this month's podcast, TPR Editor Tessa Hulls sat down with Sarah Smith and Micah Stanovsky of Sawhorse Revolution, a Seattle nonprofit that teaches carpentry skills to high school youth. With an emphasis on projects that serve their local communities, Sawhorse has constructed everything from tree houses to garden beds. Recently, they've been garnering national attention for their project The Impossible City, a partnership with the Nickelsville homeless community in Seattle, in which students are building micro-homes for homeless residents.