2nd AVE Sign Project
Common AREA Maintenance
Belltown Neighborhood (2nd & Blanchard)
Seattle, Washington, USA
Installed April 2021
Photo: Common Area Maintenance
"When we began Common AREA Maintenance (CAM) 5 years ago, a 50+ year old illuminated sign hung empty and in disrepair above our Belltown storefront. So we rewired it with the dream of creating a public rotating exhibition to showcase local artists’ work. A couple of years later and with the support of our partners, the 2nd Avenue Sign Project was born.
Lauren Iida is a cut-paper artist whose many influences include her family’s Japanese-American heritage and incarceration during WWII and her experience living and working in Cambodia, where she lives part-time and founded Open Studio Cambodia (@openstudiocambodia ) an art collective serving emerging contemporary Cambodian artists."
Lauren Iida is a cut-paper artist whose many influences include her family’s Japanese-American heritage and incarceration during WWII and her experience living and working in Cambodia, where she lives part-time and founded Open Studio Cambodia (@openstudiocambodia ) an art collective serving emerging contemporary Cambodian artists."
"The Artist" (2021) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, ink (presented as illuminated sign) Photo: Common Area Maintenance
“The Artist”, depicts a Japanese-American artist at work during a figure drawing session while interned at Tule Lake during World War II, inspired by a photograph Lauren found in Densho’s archives. “The Artist” is proof of art as both resistance and healing, and a means to maintain one’s identity and self-expression against oppressive circumstances."
Original photo National Archives and Records Administration Collection from Densho Digital Archives - Object ID (ddr-densho-37-509)
"Rock, Paper, Scissors" (2021) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, ink (presented as printed vinyl) Photo: Common Area Maintenance
Original photo National Archives and Records Administration Collection from Densho Digital Archives - Object ID ddr-densho-37-75
"We are also pleased to announce that we have expanded this project to include another of Lauren’s paper cut works - “Rock, Paper, Scissors,” a 10 x 5 image of children playing the game of chance, also from a photo in the Densho archives, visible in our storefront. “I use the element of chance a lot [in my work]. The idea that everything in life could be changed at the drop of a hat, that there’s an element of unpredictability in life,” Lauren said about the piece in a conversation with artist/activist Erin Shigaki."
"Densho artist-in-residence Lauren Iida sat down with Erin Shigaki — a longtime Densho friend, designer, and artist — for a conversation about how their art is influenced by their shared lineage as descendants of WWII incarceration. Since they couldn’t safely sit in the same room together due to COVID, this interview was conducted via Zoom with creative workarounds engineered by Common Area Maintenance, a beloved Seattle art space."
Public Art Location
Common Area Maintenance
2125 2nd Ave
Seattle, Washington, USA
2125 2nd Ave
Seattle, Washington, USA