14 Sep Art project to revitalize Pioneer Square + Chinatown/ID

Storefronts Seattle is a community-driven effort to help revitalize Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square and Chinatown-International District neighborhoods by bringing vibrancy, activity, and light to otherwise vacant spaces and sparsely populated streetscapes.

The program started in early 2010, when members of both neighborhoods sought solutions for the growing number of vacant storefronts in the area, which contribute to a lack of foot traffic, public safety issues, and less incentive for community engagement.

Storefronts Seattle officially began at First Thursday earlier this month, starting with a meeting at the Seattle Police Museum where community members, city staff, Shunpike staff, and Mayor McGinn gathered to talk about the two neighborhoods and the significance of this project.

Here are some highlights from a few of the storefronts that were open in Pioneer Square:

(#3) Dan Reeder Installation:

(#2) Luke Haynes Installation:

I would definitely recommend taking an evening to walk these two neighborhoods and check ou the installations. The plan is for the project to continue and as the retail space is rented out, the installation will be removed or moved to another location. In addition, new installations will be coming this November, so stay tuned!

To download a map of the storefronts that are a part of this project, click here.