Living Artists Collective, Seattle, WA (2026)

05/17/2024

Hi artists and supporters of LAC! Alaina here. It has come time to announce that I am in the process of dissolving (ending) the Living Artists Collective as a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization. All LAC artists, supporters, and other members of the Seattle community are invited to a farewell party happening on Saturday June 22nd from 6-9(ish) pm at Slip Gallery in Belltown, Seattle: RSVP via Eventbrite (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/living-artists-collective-farewell-party-tickets-905602329947?aff=oddtdtcreator). Please stop by, say hello to fellow artists and supporters of LAC from over the last 4 years, share what you’re up to now, and celebrate a new chapter with us.

Deciding to close the organization wasn't easy, because I am exceedingly proud of what was built through the huge efforts of everyone involved including the board members who have come and gone, the volunteers, the contributing artists, and myself.

Moving forward, the Living Artists Collective website will become a landing page with resources for the artists and art supporters we served as an active organization. Plus, I will continue sending out opportunities I come across to our artist email list. I encourage you to reach out with any questions or requests for resources, connections, etc. If I don’t have an answer for you, then I will work to find someone who does. You are not alone.

See you at the farewell party!

03/08/2024

It is beyond exciting to share this article in Real Change News featuring the Living Artists Grant winners: Rowan Eriksson, AshaAung Helmstetter, and Seattle Stories. Marian Mohamed interviewed each amazing artist and beautifully captured their creative processes and experiences living in our increasingly-expensive city. In conversation with Asha, they discussed how “it’s important to celebrate and acknowledge deceased artists who’ve made their mark within the art world, but that same courtesy should be given to those still living.” We couldn’t agree more.

You can read the whole article here: https://www.realchangenews.org/news/2024/03/06/grant-winning-artists-aim-expand-seattles-art-community, but ALSO please go out and purchase a copy (or five!) from your local Real Change vendor at $2 each. This issue will be actively sold until March 12th. They have a handy map on their website, and the vendors take Venmo or cash.

02/02/2024

Congratulations to the winners of the inaugural $1,000 Living Artists Grants. Awardees Rowan Eriksson (), AshaAung Helmstetter (), and Seattle Stories () are emerging visual artists with lower incomes in the Seattle-area. They were chosen by LAC’s grant committee of arts leaders as excellent representations of all the local creative scene has to offer. In addition to the financial award, winners will be included in LAC gallery shows this year, and featured throughout 2024 on our platforms. You can learn more about these amazing creative people via our latest blog post: https://livingartistscollective.org/blog/living-artists-grant-winners.

Thank you to our donors for making these grants happen. Please donate to fund the next round: https://donorbox.org/low-income-artist-grant-program. Artists, and anyone else who wishes to remain up to date on LAC’s future grants and other programming: sign up for our newsletter (https://livingartistscollective.org/newsletter-signup)! We send it out about once a month, and it’s the best way to stay informed.

01/28/2024

Attention Living Artists Grant applicants! Our grant committee has completed their scoring of your applications and chosen the finalists they wish to interview. If you are a finalist, the committee member assigned to interview you will reach out directly via email today (1/27) or tomorrow (1/28). Your interview will be scheduled for a time between 1/28-2/1.

Check your email and spam folders for a message from one of the committee members: Judy, Alison, Ren, Annah, or Geri. If you do not receive an email from any of the committee members by the end of the day 1/28, that means you were not chosen as a finalist.

Next comes finalist interviews, one last committee meeting, and then the three winners will be announced on 2/2 (unless we run into interview scheduling issues). Congratulations to those who have made it to this stage! There were so many deserving applicants that it was nearly impossible for the committee to narrow it down. We are so proud of you all for applying.

01/15/2024

Attention artists! The Living Artist Grants deadline fast approaches: January 19th at 5pm is when we’ll close the application to submissions. If you are a Seattle-area visual artist making less than $58k per year, don’t miss your chance at being awarded one of three $1,000 financial grants.

After reviewing the initial applications, we put together some follow-up information which you can find in our newest blog post: https://livingartistscollective.org/blog/artist-grant-application. It covers several mistakes we’ve seen in submissions so far, the committee selection criteria, and instructions on how to edit your already-submitted applications. PLUS an introduction to the amazing grant committee: Annah, Geri, Alison, Ren, and Judy.

We tried our hardest to develop an equitable process that requests enough information to make decisions, but does not waste applicants' valuable time. This is our first time providing these grants, so we highly value your opinion. We will publish a survey after awardees have been announced, but prior to that please reach out with any questions or feedback on anything about the granting process.

12/30/2023

We are happy to report that our first round of Living Artist Grants is now accepting applications! Three low-income emerging visual artists who apply and are chosen by our selection committee will receive a financial grant of $1,000 each. Awardees will also be showcased in multiple LAC gallery shows along with promotion on our platforms throughout 2024.

The application closes January 19, 2024, at 5pm. A committee of LAC’s board members and past volunteers will choose finalists to interview and select the 3 awardees. Awardees will be announced on February 2, 2024.

This application is open to all artists who meet the eligibility requirements. People of color, women, and LGBTQIA+ individuals are strongly encouraged to apply. Applicants do not need to have any prior affiliation with LAC, though we encourage folks from our existing community to apply.

Read more and apply here: https://livingartistscollective.org/grants. Reach out with any questions. GOOD LUCK!

12/13/2023

We have *almost* fully funded our pilot round of grants, which means artist applications are launching SOON! We started out with $556.61 from our September fundraiser. Then, our push brought in $791.46 (after fees). A generous donor doubled that AND matched it through their work’s program, totaling $1420 and bringing us to $2768.07!! Which means we only need another $231.93 before we can launch the artist applications. Please donate now: https://livingartistscollective.org/ -grants. Every little bit counts.

Do you work for a company that matches gifts to 501(c)3 nonprofits? Please look into it! As you can see, matched gifts push us to our goal so much quicker than hustling for smaller donations. Thank you for supporting local low-income visual artists. Artists who wish to apply to receive funding can sign up for our newsletter to be informed when the application drops. 💚

Photo features a viewer checking out work by Amelia Shipman, Marina San Miguel, and Alex Sylvester at our 'you are not alone' show in April this year.

12/01/2023

Another awesome Ballard artist is Andrew Tomingas (). Andrew is a born Seattleite who works on art from his converted attic studio, one end of which contains his drawing table, easel, and airbrushing tools, the other of which is set up for recording music.

His recent black and white works were born out of wanting to “explore what happens when I go big, fast and loose”, with the goal of “trying to capture the interaction of water and light.” He thinks that the piece he’s currently working on, “Koi”, might break his black and white streak and end up with color in it.

This year Andrew had his first chance in years to show his visual work, including his piece “AGONY & ECSTACY” in LAC’s “Support artists while they are alive” Magnuson Park Gallery show. In addition to his airbrush work, he is working on finishing an album. He enjoys pairing his songs with trippy photos he’s taken on his travels.

Read the full article featuring 3 LAC Ballard artists here: https://www.myballard.com/2023/11/28/ballard-artists-to-watch-and-how-you-can-support-them/.

11/30/2023

It’s time for another Ballard artist feature! Sami Ariaz is an artist originally from Peru focused mainly on painting. He found himself in Ballard in 2018 after moving to the U.S. with his wife and 5-month-old baby. From his small studio on Ballard Avenue, he teaches online and works on his projects, enjoying the peaceful space in an old building with light often streaming in until late. He says it “makes me remember my times as a painter in Paris.”

This year was exciting for Sami, with an exhibition of his work at Axis in Pioneer Square. His next project is about La Belle Époque era in Paris: Pieces depicting the French girl from the mysterious masked balls in Eyes Wide Shut by Stanley Kubrick. He hopes to finish it in mid-2024.

Slide 1: Sami working on a pencil drawing as an exercise.
Slide 2: Two canvases from Sami’s new Paris-inspired project.

Follow Sami on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samiariazfinearts/. You can also check out the full MyBallard article featuring 3 LAC artists: https://www.myballard.com/2023/11/28/ballard-artists-to-watch-and-how-you-can-support-them/.

11/29/2023

We made it almost half-way to fully funded grants on Giving Tuesday! And that’s even before the promised donor match. THANK YOU to our wonderful Seattle community for showing up for low-income artists. We are excited to open the application soon. Artists in that category (under $50k/year income), you can sign up for our newsletter to be notified as soon as it launches: https://livingartistscollective.org/newsletter-signup.

If you haven’t donated yet, please help us keep going: https://livingartistscollective.org/ -grants! Everything in this fund will go directly into grants, nothing else. We can’t wait to make this part of our regular offerings, and it helps us tremendously with fundraising to have the backing of community donations. 💛

11/28/2023

Very exciting news today! We have an article to share in MyBallard today, featuring our organization and three LAC artists: https://www.myballard.com/2023/11/28/ballard-artists-to-watch-and-how-you-can-support-them/. Congrats to Jess Ray, Sami Ariaz, and Andrew Tomingas, all artists doing amazing work in Ballard. Thank you to Geri and Meghan for coordinating this fun collaboration.

The first featured artist, Jess Ray, is an illustrative watercolor and acrylic artist who has lived in Ballard and worked on art from her kitchen table for the past four years. When it comes to picking subject matter, she mainly chooses to make works about people, because she likes twisting features and expressions. Jess describes her process as play, even though it is often dark or horror-themed. She explains that, “I want the viewer to feel like we've shared an inside joke or a secret.”

Jess has had an exciting year, participating in two LAC shows, several events with Push/Pull, and an artist feature at Venn Gallery. She has been working on a new series lately that is, as she puts it, “a little bit about rejection, a little bit about redemption, and a lot about making fun of myself (and everyone else).”

Image 1 is Jess's Venn Gallery feature, 2 is "Exuva", and 3 is "Sushi Man", all courtesy of the artist. Congrats, Jess! It’s been amazing to work with you this year.

Thanks to those who have already donated for to our pilot grant program! We're nearly a third of the way to funding the first three low-income artist grants, and you can watch the progress via our website. Please donate what you can! Every bit helps: https://livingartistscollective.org/ -grants.

11/27/2023

Back in September, LAC launched our pilot grant program alongside our annual fundraiser. By January 2024 we hope to fund three $1,000 unrestricted artist grants for low-income artists (under $50k annual income) in the Seattle area. We bring it up again now because, in honor of tomorrow, Giving Tuesday, a donor has generously offered to match donations up to $1,500!! This is huge for us! Donate now: https://livingartistscollective.org/ -grants. Every little bit counts.

Artists, the application for this award will open soon. Sign up for our newsletter to hear about it first: https://livingartistscollective.org/newsletter-signup.

Photo by Films About Artists features LAC’s official mascot, Kylo (son of Board President Annah), receiving pets from artist Raili Janese at the closing reception of our Magnuson Park Gallery show last month.

Living Artists Collective

05/17/2024

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01/28/2024

01/15/2024

12/30/2023

12/13/2023

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11/30/2023

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