Our current urban landscape: Watch the Seattle skyline today. Then watch it tomorrow. In the blink of an eye, it changes.

The city we lived and worked in just ten years ago is truly unrecognizable. The growth, fueled in part by the meteoric expansion of a handful of larger corporations, is the private developer’s dream. Rents and housing prices are some of the highest in the nation. Those with resources can find an endless supply of investment opportunities in Seattle and an equal number of new commercial outlets to enjoy the windfall. The primary focus is economic. We’re left with an explosion of new office buildings, condos, and commercial spaces whose core motive is profitability.

The fallout? We find ourselves separated more by class, race, and socio-economic levels. The urban environment feels increasingly sterile. Culture becomes an afterthought. And spontaneous, collective artistic expression and the experience of blending with all walks of life are limited only to the streets where raw life and interaction is always happening.

The potential to build our culture intentionally:

Love City Love is taking this raw life that has always happened on the streets throughout time, across culture and in every major city in the world, and nurturing it within safe, beautiful spaces adjacent to the frenetic development all around us. In a neighborhood where upscale housing development and bars have claimed the landscape, Love City Love emerged as a blank canvas for the creative community to convene. We believe continuing to craft this alternative is not only possible but crucial to keep art and culture alive and thriving in our city.

The project’s purpose is:

• To be more intentional about creating an authentic culture here in Seattle that gives space for emerging artistic collaborations, for people of all ages, backgrounds and economic means to experience and participate in artistic expression and experiences that weave us together as a unified whole.

• To create a vessel for the emerging artist in all of us to grow, learn and expand beyond what we think is possible for ourselves and pursue creative ambitions in a holistic, sustainable way.

• And to build a culture that gives us an alternative to the digital world so we remain fertile to new ideas, broader perspectives, the visceral experience of a city, and our own humanity.

Love City Love has already established itself as a cultural catalyst in three buildings in Seattle: the Bauhaus building on Melrose and Pine, the CK Graphics building at Summit and Pike, and the Azteca building on Eastlake Ave. E. By activating these otherwise empty spaces, the audience for Love City Love’s open and inclusive format has grown rapidly and received significant attention. In each venue, Love City Love hosted art shows and pop-up shops from local artists and designers, produced on-going music and dance collaborations drawing hundreds of people every week, showcased the work of young artists in spaces they would not otherwise have access to, and supported art-making workshops and classes for a wide range of participants. The energy and excitement is palpable, as collaborations and projects emerge amongst unlikely players, and as more people gravitate to this unique space. The project has sustained itself through broader collaborations, photo shoots, space rentals and other paying clients who were drawn to the beauty and aesthetic vibration of Love City Love’s talented staff and curators. For public events, they have held to the principle of no alcohol to support every individual in the space to stay conscious and awake to the exchange and cultural possibilities between them.