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Preview: Seattle Art Fair and Pioneer Square’s Weekend of Art Abundance

Take in the main event if you can afford it—the $35 and up art extravaganza taking place this weekend at Century Link Event Center—or check out these equally exciting (and free!) satellite happenings

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One of the best things about the Seattle Art Fair (August 2–5) is all the accompanying activity it inspires—a full weekend of art offerings in conjunction with, in response to, or maybe even in criticism of the main event. While popular, less expensive alternatives-to-the-big-fair-fairs such as Out of Sight won’t be taking place this year, take note of our roundup of other—free—events going on outside the Clink Event Center. While you’re at it, don’t miss tomorrow’s Pioneer Square First Thursday Art Walk, featuring artists such as Timea Tihanyi, whose 3D printed pottery is highlighted in our August issue.

Path with Art presents a show of posters especially conceived for Pearl Jam’s homelessness benefit concerts, “The Home Shows,” at Safeco Field Aug. 8 & 10, designed by artists with lived experience of homelessness. 5–7 p.m. Aug. 2, 8, & 10. Path with Art, Pioneer Square, 312 Second Ave. S, pathwithart.org

The Jacob Lawrence Gallery is sponsoring an outdoor screening of Kerry Tribe’s 51-minute documentary film Exquisite Corpse, which traces the Los Angeles River and the landscapes and neighborhoods it passes through. 8:30 p.m. Sat., Aug. 4, Occidental Square, art.washington.edu

Another outdoor projected film bears a trenchant message: You Are on Indigenous Land by artist/activist Tracy Rector, to be screened at dusk each night, Aug. 2-5, on the southwest exterior wall of the Inscape Arts building, 815 Seattle Blvd. S., inscapearts.org

studio e gallery will offer “a cornucopia of paintings and works on paper” by more than 40 established and emerging Pacific Northwest artists (represented by Greg Kucera, Linda Hodges, G. Gibson, and several other top-of-the-line Seattle galleries) in the street-level storefront space in the new Avalara Hawk Tower, 255 S. King St. The space is open starting at noon Aug, 3–5, with an opening reception at 4:30 p.m. Thurs., Aug. 2

When the site for Capitol Hill’s Chophouse Row was being excavated, the remains of a 19th-century pioneer homestead were discovered—and now SHED Architecture & Design has built an art installation in the courtyard above that spot that echoes that bygone domicile. The unveiling of Ghost Cabin will be celebrated all day with music and a chainsaw-carving demo, hosted by The Cloud Room and City Arts. Chophouse Row, 1424 11th Ave., 2–9 p.m. Sat., Aug. 4

To try to understand just how immense the solar system is, check out Chris Burden’s Scale Model of the Solar System (1983), which is just what it says it is. A 13-inch model of the sun will be set up in New York gallery Gagosian’s booth at the Fair, and Mercury, Venus and Earth, proportionately sized, will also be visible there—they’re close enough to the sun. To see Pluto, though, you’ll have to travel all the way out to the Seattle Art Museum where Burden’s sculpture of that planet will be set. You’ll find Jupiter at the Pro Shop at Century Link Field, Saturn at the Provident Building, Uranus at the London Plane and Neptune at Diva Dollz in Pioneer Square. Find them quick—this piece will be on display only during the Fair, Aug. 2–5

A pop-up gallery at Photon plans to highlight “Seattle’s alternative underground visual artists—self-represented and distributing their work through alternative channels, creating contemporary art with heavy influence from graffiti and street-art culture” in works by A. Codd, Claude206 and Leo Shallat. Photon Factory, 4810 Airport Way S., photonfactory.org. Free. Noon–late, Fri., Aug, 3 & Sat., Aug. 4

At Piranha Shop, another pop-up exhibition, Vice & Virtue, co-organized by Treason Gallery and the Hong Kong/L.A.-based Avenue des Arts, will show the work of national and international artists from both galleries (including locals such as Duffyleg of Electric Coffin), along with others making their Seattle debut. That’ll run August 3–5 with an opening reception 7 p.m. on Friday. 1022 1st Ave. S.; treasongallery.com/viceandvirtue

Rearview Mirror: Crocodile Guardians, Late-Summer Potato Salad, and a Halloween Costume Hunt

Rearview Mirror: Crocodile Guardians, Late-Summer Potato Salad, and a Halloween Costume Hunt

Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).

COOKING WITH ASTER PANTRY A few leaves turn, my inbox fills with fall festival pitches and cozy brunch menus, and suddenly I want to stay home with a glass of wine and cook. I love this nesting season, though I’m not ready to give up summer produce. Earlier this year, I wrote about Seattle chefs…

WALKDONTRUN Returns This Saturday, Turning Downtown Seattle Into a Sprawling Art Show

WALKDONTRUN Returns This Saturday, Turning Downtown Seattle Into a Sprawling Art Show

In its second year, the free festival brings 200-plus artists to a 20-block route September 19, with a secret garden and a former 7-Eleven stocked with art.

Most walks through downtown Seattle involve trying to get somewhere. On September 19, the crosswalk itself might be the reason to stop. Heap Troupe will turn a four-way crossing into a performance, one of dozens of encounters planned for this year’s WALKDONTRUN. The free, all-ages art walk stretches across more than 20 blocks. From 11…

At Two Dot Schoolhouse, Ruth Marie Tomlinson Builds an Artistic Community

At Two Dot Schoolhouse, Ruth Marie Tomlinson Builds an Artistic Community

For nearly 20 years, the Seattle artist and her husband have welcomed artists, writers, and musicians to a historic Montana schoolhouse. Now they’re searching for its next stewards. 

At her solo exhibition last year at The Vestibule, Seattle artist Ruth Marie Tomlinson presented a new series of work inspired by her close readings of British nature writer J.A. Baker’s The Peregrine and Icelandic author Sjón’s The Blue Fox. As if on sheets torn from a sketchbook, her pages included excerpts and outtakes of…

Rearview Mirror: Seahawks Off the Field, Seattle on the Board, and Smoked Oysters

Rearview Mirror: Seahawks Off the Field, Seattle on the Board, and Smoked Oysters

Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).

HOOKED ON KNOCKS Admittedly, I am late to this one. The Seahawks’ first season of Hard Knocks, the HBO series that follows NFL teams through training camp, premiered in August, but until last week, I had never heard of it. To be honest, my football knowledge starts with knowing what a touchdown is and doesn’t…