BUILDING BRIDGES, BUILDING SPACE
This winter brings profound changes for Bridge Productions as we begin our transition into a multi-spoked project featuring, most prominently, an online arts journal. Over the next three months we’ll work closely with the artists we represent to seek opportunities beyond Bridge Productions both within and outside the region. And of course, I have a few exciting things in the works for myself! What follows are some details about what comes next for Bridge Productions and our community:
A LOOK BACK & TOWARDS THE FUTURE
The intersection of writing and visual arts has always been at the core of everything we do. Bridge Productions /LxWxH began in 2010 as an online gallery which was launched from a tiny tabletop in my 250 square foot apartment, producing 4-6 curated box sets per year and corresponding popup events at Vermillion on Capitol Hill. From 2012 to the end of 2018 (with brief hiatus mid-2015), Bridge Productions was a brick and mortar space in the Georgetown neighborhood, where I and my collaborators expanded our scope beyond the traditional role of the white cube. While there, we focused on accessibility, interrogated the meaning and purpose of a gallery, and created a dynamic gathering place for a diverse array of programming. We featured everything from curated box sets, monthly exhibitions, publications, poetry readings, performances, and music to artist talks, panel discussions, informal/impromptu symposiums, safe space for protesters, and community-building as activism. This wouldn’t have been remotely possible without the artists, writers, guest curators, and supporters who believed in this project every step of the way; who graced our publications, walls, ceilings, and floors with their work; and who have played an integral part in keeping this dynamic vision alive.
Now, in 2019, Bridge Productions is returning to its roots, shifting to become a presentation platform featuring an online arts journal as well as periodic curatorial projects, online shows, publications, and events. These changes will begin slowly, starting with one or two essays or articles a month on our journal. Over time, we’ll launch several other exciting methods of storytelling through our website and social media. In some ways, we’ve already begun— thanks to curatorial assistant Alexis L. Silva, we’ve already held two instagram residencies with great success and will continue these in 2019! We are also excited to announce we’re hosting Brooklyn painter Paolo Arao for a solo exhibition of new works this late spring/early summer, and will announce a location very soon!
As a non-commercial platform no longer bound by walls, city, or region; we will have the ability to serve a larger community through digital residencies, social media coverage, short-form writing, essays, and criticism. And we’re excited to see where our other projects take us in curating, in-print publications, and public programming. This is our way of supporting the arts ecosystem at large: showcasing the work of artists, independent curators, writers, and performers and the venues which house them such as pop-ups, galleries, museums, and artist-run spaces. Throughout our work, we strive to nurture a fluid and responsive platform creating meaningful opportunities for artists, producers, patrons, and supporters to convene in celebration and support of the arts.
And yes, we are keeping our name because we believe it leaves the door open to a wide range of possibilities that allow us to continue growing.
We are honored to have worked with so many incredible people over the past eight years, but the most sincere and heartfelt gratitude goes to the artists we’ve represented the past three years: Kat Larson, Dave Kennedy, Emily Gherard, Sue Danielson, and Kim Van Someren; and of course Bridge Productions alumni Julie Alpert and Tim Cross. Through March, Kat, Dave, Emily, Sue, Kim, and I will continue our partnerships on the Bridge Productions website and Artsy page, while planning our next steps. It’s important to each of us that we close the books in the best way possible and set a path forward in positivity and sustainability. Each of these artists have great things coming up in the year ahead, including some very exciting exhibition announcements, so stay in touch with them as much as possible, follow them on instagram, and sign up for their newsletters!
Now, in 2019, Bridge Productions is returning to its roots, shifting to become a presentation platform featuring an online arts journal as well as periodic curatorial projects, online shows, publications, and events. These changes will begin slowly, starting with one or two essays or articles a month on our journal. Over time, we’ll launch several other exciting methods of storytelling through our website and social media. In some ways, we’ve already begun— thanks to curatorial assistant Alexis L. Silva, we’ve already held two instagram residencies with great success and will continue these in 2019! We are also excited to announce we’re hosting Brooklyn painter Paolo Arao for a solo exhibition of new works this late spring/early summer, and will announce a location very soon!
As a non-commercial platform no longer bound by walls, city, or region; we will have the ability to serve a larger community through digital residencies, social media coverage, short-form writing, essays, and criticism. And we’re excited to see where our other projects take us in curating, in-print publications, and public programming. This is our way of supporting the arts ecosystem at large: showcasing the work of artists, independent curators, writers, and performers and the venues which house them such as pop-ups, galleries, museums, and artist-run spaces. Throughout our work, we strive to nurture a fluid and responsive platform creating meaningful opportunities for artists, producers, patrons, and supporters to convene in celebration and support of the arts.
And yes, we are keeping our name because we believe it leaves the door open to a wide range of possibilities that allow us to continue growing.
We are honored to have worked with so many incredible people over the past eight years, but the most sincere and heartfelt gratitude goes to the artists we’ve represented the past three years: Kat Larson, Dave Kennedy, Emily Gherard, Sue Danielson, and Kim Van Someren; and of course Bridge Productions alumni Julie Alpert and Tim Cross. Through March, Kat, Dave, Emily, Sue, Kim, and I will continue our partnerships on the Bridge Productions website and Artsy page, while planning our next steps. It’s important to each of us that we close the books in the best way possible and set a path forward in positivity and sustainability. Each of these artists have great things coming up in the year ahead, including some very exciting exhibition announcements, so stay in touch with them as much as possible, follow them on instagram, and sign up for their newsletters!
WHAT SHARON'S DOING NEXT
I will be on sabbatical through the end of April as I focus on full-time writing and independent curating; while continuing to expand my work both within and outside the Pacific Northwest region. My time will be spent on research and publication of a few of my favorite subjects on contemporary issues and movements in the visual arts, and I’m thrilled to return to my origins just ten years after introducing my original blog Dimensions Variable. I truly believe this renewed focus on writing and advocacy will open up an even broader range of transformative possibilities, enabling me to do my best work in support of artists!
A GRATUITOUS EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE
While this is a shift, not an end, I’d still like to take a moment to thank some incredibly important people who have motivated this humble space, not the least of them being the entirety of artists, writers, and guest curators I’ve worked so closely with over the past eight years but most especially those with whom I've worked in deep friendship and partnership over the past three years: Thank you so much Dave, Kat, Emily, Kim, and Sue.
Bridge Productions wouldn’t be what it is without the presence of Julia Greenway of Interstitial and the curators of The Alice who are: Julia Freeman, Julia Heineccius, Bettina Judd, Natalie A. Martínez, Minh Nguyen, Thea Quiray Tagle, and Dan Paz (as well as past curators S. Surface, Satpreet Kahlon, Molly Mac, and Julie Alexander). Without all of you, the Hamilton Building wouldn’t have existed as the joyful, tight-knit community it became, and I’m grateful everyday for the curatorial rigor, outstanding support, laughter, and love that each of you bring.
Much love and gratitude to those who participated in the gallery’s curatorial internship & course program: Nicole Bearden, Sequoia Day O’Connell, Alexis L Silva, and Mari Nagaoka; each who helped provide support on social media, at art fairs, and in the gallery space; and whose invaluable insights and suggestions helped shape not just the curatorial course program but who we are as a space of empowerment and support.
Endless thanks to Larry Reid and Emily Shepherd, who have been generous and true arts leaders in Georgetown for so many years, who welcomed Bridge Productions/LxWxH with warmth and open arms in 2012 and who continue to be the neighborhood’s greatest arts advocates, if not the city’s. Thank you both for all you do for artists across Seattle.
Immeasurable thanks to all our mentors, fellow gallerists and art dealers, colleagues, collectors, local and national press, advisors, patrons, and supporters for your efforts and contributions over the years, for your attendance and presence online and at the gallery, for your sage wisdoms and shared resources, and for your enduring support of all the various shapes Bridge Productions has taken along the way.
Sharon Arnold
January 2019
Bridge Productions wouldn’t be what it is without the presence of Julia Greenway of Interstitial and the curators of The Alice who are: Julia Freeman, Julia Heineccius, Bettina Judd, Natalie A. Martínez, Minh Nguyen, Thea Quiray Tagle, and Dan Paz (as well as past curators S. Surface, Satpreet Kahlon, Molly Mac, and Julie Alexander). Without all of you, the Hamilton Building wouldn’t have existed as the joyful, tight-knit community it became, and I’m grateful everyday for the curatorial rigor, outstanding support, laughter, and love that each of you bring.
Much love and gratitude to those who participated in the gallery’s curatorial internship & course program: Nicole Bearden, Sequoia Day O’Connell, Alexis L Silva, and Mari Nagaoka; each who helped provide support on social media, at art fairs, and in the gallery space; and whose invaluable insights and suggestions helped shape not just the curatorial course program but who we are as a space of empowerment and support.
Endless thanks to Larry Reid and Emily Shepherd, who have been generous and true arts leaders in Georgetown for so many years, who welcomed Bridge Productions/LxWxH with warmth and open arms in 2012 and who continue to be the neighborhood’s greatest arts advocates, if not the city’s. Thank you both for all you do for artists across Seattle.
Immeasurable thanks to all our mentors, fellow gallerists and art dealers, colleagues, collectors, local and national press, advisors, patrons, and supporters for your efforts and contributions over the years, for your attendance and presence online and at the gallery, for your sage wisdoms and shared resources, and for your enduring support of all the various shapes Bridge Productions has taken along the way.
Sharon Arnold
January 2019
