It’s happy hour on a summer Thursday evening in mid-July, and the pop-up art gallery at the AXIS building in Pioneer Square is bustling with art walk attendees admiring the work of artists Leo Shallat and Rodney King.
Leo Nguyen works in Pioneer Square and runs a clothing brand in the neighborhood called Community Garden, where he’s worked for nearly two years. When we stepped out on the sidewalk to chat, he said it was good to see so many people around.
“We need a revival out here, just in Pioneer Square, as you're walking around here, you see a lot of empty buildings,” Nguyen said.
He said while some of the buildings may be empty, they’re full of character and texture and a perfect setting for art.
“It just gives you that good feel of the city because this is also above the underground city that originally was Seattle,” he said.
Around the corner, a three-piece band entertained those inside the “Beneath The Streets,” one of the dozens of venues participating in Pioneer Square’s First Thursday Art Walk. Carolyn Stern was one of the patrons in attendance.
“I have not been down to the art walk in many many years,” said Stern. “And it's such a beautiful night.”
Changing perceptions
Like so many things, the long-running tradition of Pioneer Square’s art walk was interrupted by the pandemic. The art walk returned in 2021. But many office workers in Pioneer Square did not.
Along with other parts of Seattle’s downtown core, the neighborhood has seen its office vacancy rates soar in recent years – it climbed to nearly 30%.
But one constant has been the art scene, including long-standing galleries and music venues that were central to the grunge movement. That arts scene is something that lots of folks – from boosters to business owners to city officials – say can help pump new energy into Pioneer Square now.
They also hope it can change perceptions about the neighborhood as a dangerous place. A fatal shooting at an afterparty celebrating an art collection in Pioneer Square on July 25 didn’t help.
Creative ways to fill empty spaces
James Coley is with the Seattle’s Office of Arts and Culture. He oversees a space tucked away above King Street Station that you might not know about unless you know where to look.
“And should you find your way in the second floor up the stairs or via the elevator, when you come to the top floor, you're greeted by a communal living room sort of space,” Coley said. “And then just beyond that, a 7,500-square-foot art space.”
The upstairs of the King Street Station used to be railroad offices. Now, the city-run gallery hosts works from big name artists and up-and-comers too. That seems to be a common theme in Pioneer Square: finding creative ways to fill empty spaces.
“We’re seeing more markets pop up, we’re seeing more music pop-ups,” said Lisa Howard with Alliance for Pioneer Square. “And I do think being able to have spaces accessible to try things is really important.”
Foot traffic in the downtown core has still not fully recovered from the pandemic, and Howard said there’s a perception Pioneer Square is unsafe because it’s a place where unhoused people and people dealing with addiction go to find services. She said she emphasizes that in her conversations with the city.
”From a visitor’s perspective, it’s responding to need as much as responding to something that would be a dangerous situation,” Howard said.
One of the most celebrated events
Pioneer Square is in a prime position to attract lots of visitors with its proximity to the waterfront and to pro sports venues T-Mobile Park and Lumen Field, and of course, its connection to the arts. Businesses see opportunities to be a part of it.
One of them is the RailSpur development, which is renovating a historic building on Occidental. It’s set to open next year as the 120-room Hotel Westland.
RailSpur commissioned 30 artists who spent the last three months in a building next door, creating hundreds of pieces of original art inspired by the Pacific Northwest that will hang in the hotel. Henry Watson with RailSpur said having the new hotel filled with original art will help the building blend seamlessly into the neighborhood.
“Outside of the sporting events that happen down the street, First Thursday Art Walk is one of the most celebrated events down in Pioneer Square,” Watson said. “People come from all parts of the city to see it and for the hotel to have something like this, to participate in this already amazing community is really exciting.”
It was at the RailSpur development where the shooting happened July 25. In a statement to the Seattle Times, a spokesperson said their team was "deeply committed to the safety and well-being of our community members."
Alliance for Pioneer Square didn't expect attendance at this month’s art walk to be affected by the recent shooting, something it calls a tragic – but isolated – act of violence.
