-SuttonBeresCuller,
that's John Sutton, Ben Beres, and Zac Culler,
are Seattle-based artists who have collaborated for over
23 years.
♪♪​
SBC's projects have ranged from installations
to performance
public projects to straight up gallery shows.
But in all cases, the trio's aim
has been to engage and provoke unsuspecting audiences
with artworks that are often not what they seem.
Case in point is their latest endeavor,
Mini Mart City Park in Georgetown.
♪♪​
-Hey, I'm Ben.
Welcome to Mini Mart City Park.
Come on in.
We're a pocket park, a community center,
an environmental remediation project,
and an art gallery
based in Georgetown near the steam plant and
across the street from Boeing Field.
In our main gallery this month,
we have
“Trying to Reach You,” work by Hannah Pierce and Michael Hernandez.
Michael works in glass and neon
and Hannah works in ceramics.
This is the first time they've collaborated together
and we're really excited about the outcome.
We are part of the Georgetown Art Attack, so we have shows
every second Saturday.
We host a film series, do workshops, teach murals,
and are open for the community.
Basically, we're a flex space
that is used in many different ways.
One of the cool things about this project
is this air sparge system
that we had installed when we built the building.
When we found this project,
it was an old abandoned gas station
with legacy pollution 16 to 20 feet below the surface.
It hasn't been touched in decades.
And so what this system does is it blows air 16 to 20 feet
below the surface and that wakes up bacteria,
which is just dormant sitting there.
It eats whatever is there, which happens to be gasoline.
It off gases
it and is captured
by a series of tubes
that's sucking up the air
into a charcoal filter and out the top of the building.
So far, in two years, we've removed 200 pounds of petroleum.
And expect the system to run for another 3 to 5 years
before the soil is cleaned up.
Among the many programs and workshops
that we offer at Mini Mart City Park,
we've also partnered with Urban Artworks
to teach teens classes on how to paint murals.
They're scattered throughout the site.
We're here on the roof where we've implemented
a lot of stormwater infrastructure.
[thunder claps]
And the idea is to keep as much of the rain
off of the streets and help keep the community safe.
We have a green roof, bio retention planners...
and the idea is to keep everything on site.
We also have good news that we just acquired
this property next door,
where we're going to expand a kitchen classroom space
and then eventually we're going to implement
an artist-in-residence program on the top floor.
We've had a ton of support from the community
and the city and the state, and we'd love
to show you the space if you want to stop by.
Well, thanks for the visit today.
♪♪​
-Learn more about Mini Mart City Park,
including hours and location at minimartcitypark.com.
And see the broad range of SuttonBeresCuller
artworks at the trio's Seattle gallery, GregKucera.com.
♪♪
Catch Art Zone Friday nights at 8
and anytime online at SeattleChannel.org/ArtZone
♪♪