Hello everyone.
My name is Kelly Davidson and I am the new deputy director
for the Office of Arts and Culture.
And I welcome and thank you for being here today.
I want to talk a little bit about the Hope Corps program,
which is sponsoring these murals here.
In 2020, the Arts Office started this program as a response to the pandemic
when there was widespread loss of work and income and creative sector
Hope Corps created the creative workforce
with career opportunities that contribute to the well-being for our city.
Artists, creative workers and culture keepers are essential in supporting
the city's well-being, especially here in the downtown core.
One of the things I wanted to know is that our Hope Corps program
is currently grant program is open and new.
So if you are interested in
bringing your creative skills to or activate our downtown.
Alex and Kate are standing right here and can wave.
Those are program managers and they can talk to you
(applause)
about how to apply for the program.
So next, please welcome me and introducing the man behind
One Seattle, Mayor Bruce Harrell.
(applause)
-Kelly that that you got to do that again.
I'm just messing with you.
-Mayor Bruce Harrell!
-Okay. Okay.
Kelly Yeah.
Oh, I mess with you because it's a good day.
Community.
Thank you.
We are awarding grants to several organizations
Bell Town United, Chinatown International District,
Small Business Relief Team, DSA SODO Business Improvement Area
Visit Seattle Wing Luke Museum on this mural project.
But the thanks as your mayor
is because you are building a community.
It pains me when I see despair on the streets.
I don't mean to sound philosophical because I am not an artist per se,
but how do you paint hope and faith?
How do you build a community through the arts and the culture?
You are artists, not because you want to do it, not because you're paid to do it.
You are artists because you have to do it.
That all of you have some talent within yourself
that you have to express to others so we can see your beauty.
And in doing so, you are rebuilding this city
as we clawed back out of COVID.
When we talk about activating an area,
what better way to activate it than with art and description?
Even if it's a big purple gorilla
(applause)
because that is one cool thing, I think.
Are we the only city in America that has a big 60 foot purple gorilla?
I hope we are.
If anyone duplicates that, I'm going to be very angry.
So I don't think all of the organizations that are involved in this effort.
But my special thanks goes to the artistic community.
We know it is very hard to survive and live and thrive in Seattle.
Seattle has gotten ungodly expensive.
Seattle has its challenges, as we do in many major cities,
with the epidemics.
But we call our way back to normalcy
and excellence because of the arts community.
And I'm very proud of our arts organization.
I went on a national search to find the right talent within this organization.
But most importantly, I want to make sure that our artists can live
here, can play here, and could use your talents
for the benefit of everyone in this city.
Every human being in this city can see what you can do.
So this program is especially excitable for me
because we get a chance I get a chance to play artists.
I guess I'm going to paint something.
I have to warn you that, you know, in grade school
we're on the fourth, fifth, sixth grade.
You know, the
talented ones versus people like me.
When it comes to art, you seem to have some talent
that allows you to be able to do things that others cannot do.
And for that talent, we want to invest in you and make sure you are happy
and building this city together. Thank you very much.
(applause)
-Thank you, Mayor Harrell.
One of the other things that Mayor held brought when he came on
board was create it a position that was the graffiti writer coordinator.
And the arts office
has had the pleasure of being able to work closely with this position.
He organized this paint jam and I want to
welcome Sire One.
(applause)
-Thank you, Kelly.
Thank you, Mayor.
My name is Sire One with the By Any Means crew and also am the graffiti writer
coordinator for the One Seattle Graffiti ID team reporting to the mayor's office.
And and one thing I want to say is that
what you're seeing here today is community, all community
coming together, inclusive of every style, every type of artist imaginable.
Right.? And we got graffiti writers
who are painting on walls all over this town right now.
We got we got Sneak over here on the thing I heard he's doing a monster.
Monster burner right over there.
We got, like he said, a purple gorilla.
And my job as graffiti writer coordinator is working on beautification,
aligning artists with walls, trying to open up more opportunities for people
to paint where they can paint and say, Hey, look, here's another free wall.
You know, I want to make sure that there's opportunities for the kids.
I also am part of the youth education aspect of the graffiti plan.
And so I work out at Rainier Beach Community Center,
Magnuson Community Center.
I went to Wing Luke and I had 50 elementary school kids in a line ready
to spray paint, just like what we're doing on this community
wall down here at the other end of the block.
So I'm going to invite everybody here today.
You want to paint? I'll put a can in your hand.
You come down to the community wall, I'll show you how it works.
I show you how to get down, you know, because I'm trying to bring up
the next the next level of graffiti writers,
starting with the kids and working the way up
and it kind of break down some of the mystery behind
what's going on and give people safe opportunities to participate in this.
This type of artwork that we're seeing here today.
And it's on display.
And that's all all I have to say right now.
Thank you.
(applause)
-Thank you.
And our final speaker.
speaker today was the main organizer for this
first ever Belltown Mural Festival week long festival.
Please welcome Aaron Asis.
(applause)
-So I don't have talking points
because I was busy planning this festival
that multiple people have asked me,
you know, Hey, I've never heard of this festival before.
What is this festival?
And it's it's the first.
So there's a reason you haven't heard of it. But
what does a festival mean in this context and what are we trying to do?
You know, again, thank you, Mayor, for your support.
Sire, it's been a pleasure
working with you on this and kind of brainstorming some things.
It's hard to be real when you talk about community,
and it's hard to really think about what will solve the problem.
And I think oftentimes we look around and think about what a solution can be.
But there isn't one solution and art isn't the solution.
But art is a big part of what we can do to move forward, supporting our artists,
making sure that they remain part of the cultural fabric,
the energy vector, like the things that inspire us come from them.
And if they're not here, and if they're not supporting
the cultural climate and the cultural fabric of Seattle,
we end up with a city that nobody wants to live in.
So I think that murals are more than just beautification.
Murals are really about
supporting an entire ecosystem.
Relationship building is more than just investing in dollars to create projects.
It's showing up on the street and meeting strangers.
I am.
(applause)
I'm just so honored.
I feel so honored to know so many wonderful people
that just care about trying.
And we just need to try.
And Mayor, you said that artists don't have a choice.
They don't like.
We're out here fighting for the things that we care about and expressing a ways
that the city can feel more meaningful to us as a whole.
And again, there's no magic formula.
We just need to keep showing up.
The streets need to belong to us.
People need to get comfortable with our differences again.
There's a lot of things that are happening that make us uncomfortable.
We just need to be present and focus on them and be friendly when we can.
This is so embarrassing.
I've been crying like six years,
but I just, you know, I just feel really honored.
The artists say they've been killing themselves all week.
The work speaks for itself.
I'm so pleased to be working with friends and meeting new friends
through this process.
I really just hope that the words that you hear today
and the walk that we take together
just inspires you all to go out there and try a little harder.
Tap your networks to try harder.
Just do a little bit more because we can sit at home and complain all we want.
That's not going to get us there.
So have an event, invite someone over, go outside,
spend a dollar, you know, help a friend, just do whatever it takes.
But please support the artists community.
They have the biggest hearts in the city and all they want to do is work.
So let's.
Let's help them help us make the city more livable.
And let's support the culture that makes Seattle special
and let's keep programs like this happening.
And let's add more to it, because there's no shortage of resources in the city.
We just need to direct them in the right places.
Thank you.
(applause)
-Thank you, Aaron.
Thank you, Aaron.
Thank you. Sire One. Thank you, Mayor Harrell.
Thanks to everyone for being here today.
Please go roam around the neighborhood and check out all the murals.
There are maps.
You can find all of them and pick up a can and give painting a try.
Thank you. All.