My 5 Favorite Art Installations at Youngstown Flats

I recently had the pleasure of exploring and experiencing the 14 local artists showcased in May’s West Seattle Art Walk. Youngstown Flats, a newer development in the North Delridge neighborhood of West Seattle, opened its doors to the public to view the many fine art pieces they chose to display through out the building. Being a local West Seattleite, I’d never really checked out the Art Walk scene before and figured this would be a good night to start.

Though all of the pieces at Youngstown were fantastic and well done, I wanted to highlight my top 5 favorites. Let's begin:

1) “Continuity II” by Jan Hoy

The first piece I noticed was a large, COR-TEN steel sculpture that dominated the entrance of the building. The material the artist, Jan Hoy, chose had that nice, rusted, weathered look which COR-TEN steel is known for. The sculpture feels and looks right in its placement. Some sculptures look out of place, or just plain ugly in certain installations, but this piece fits nicely with the theme of the surrounding building. The weathered steel gives it an almost natural look, which fits with the plants chosen for the property.

 

2) “Vintage wood wall” by Michael Harrison

The other installation I really liked was the “Vintage wood wall” by Michael Harrison. It’s great to see someone repurposing used building items into something bold and beautiful. The wall, combined with the fixtures, gave the room an industrial/rustic appeal. Whereas the use of the reclaimed wood made it feel established and gave the room the illusion of history. Also, when I was growing up I spent my summers at our beach house on Camano Island where there is plenty of driftwood and this installation reminded me of the forts we used to make with that dirftwood. We would use any, and every, piece of driftwood and random washed up items along the beach to create each fort, much like how this piece is put together.

 

3) “Storyboards” by Chaim Bezalel

Chaim Bezalel showcases his photographs in framed sequences lining the halls and walls of the third floor. The “filmstrip” style gives it a nice visual appeal. Most of the photographs are of Native American art such as totem poles, while others are of natural subjects.

 

4) “Remnants” by Stephen Rock

Admittedly, I didn’t expect to see any graffiti-style art and I’m glad Youngstown decided to incorporate some into their space. Stephen Rock’s piece along the second floor hall is awesome. Pops of color and abstracts shapes really add interest and depth to what the developers could have just left as another boring wall. The pictures don’t do this piece justice.

 

5) “With Meaning” by Pubs

What really struck me about Pubs’ pieces were the varied use of medium. Apparently he used everything from traditional paint, to spray paint, to wheatpaste, to cut-outs and stencils! This gave all his pieces rich texture. That, combined with the local subjects, made Pub’s work really stand out to me.

 

Well, there ya go. Those were my 5 favorite pieces of art displayed at Youngstown Flats.

If you want to see more of the art displayed, or want to know more about the brand new Youngstown in general, be sure to follow them on Facebook and Twitter for news about up coming events. They are located at 4040 26th Ave SW and can be contacted at (855) 815-3807 or [email protected].

 

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