We recently had the privilege of touring three Seattle artists' studios while hearing how they formed their distinctive practices. Find part one here.
MULTIDISCIPLINARY DESIGN STUDIO
You may be familiar with fruitsuper through their SODO shop or their art curation for Cedar Hall in U.S. Bank Center, but Sallyann and Joe's studio is, at any given time, working on many additional creative ventures. Their multidisciplinary design studio is responsible for ceramic butter dishes, Icelandic festival exhibits, a collective offering business advice for creatives, and tenant programming to encourage returning to downtown offices. This broad reach is part of the fruitsuper sercret sauce. As Sallyann says, "Everything feeds and fuels and learns from each other. Chase your own curiosity."
CREATIVE COMMUNITY
The installation in U.S. Bank Center is a stunning example of fruitsuper's unique capabilities along with their extensive network. The gallery includes a range of texture, pattern, depth, and materiality. Sallyann credits her alma mater, Pratt Institute, with her ability to design in three dimensions. In school, this was developed through rigorous study of the basic elements through projects like the sculpture Sallyann is holding above. On a gallery wall in a public lobby, this includes considering how to incorporate dimensionality without blocking use of the escalators or inviting physical contact with the art (think safety hardware and diagrams studying reach range of the tallest humans).
Along with visually obvious variety, the pieces in Cedar Hall showcase a diverse group of artists including an intentional artist age range of six decades. Sallyann and Joe have used their success as creative entrepreneurs to bring others along with them. "Seattle as a creative community has the philosophy of the rising tide. It's only going to benefit all of us if the ecosystem is thriving."
THEN + NOW
There are so many intriguing treasures all over the fruitsuper design studio. Sallyann showed off her favorite - a sculpture of dried spaghetti rescued from the bottom of the pot. "I could never make anything that whimsical."
Mr. Rogers inadvertently mentored both Sallyann and Joe through his factory tours. "Like most of the public I had no idea where things came from...those blew my mind as a child."
Sallyann wants you off Pinterest when it comes to the creative process. (At objekts we're big believers in analog Pinterest.) Go to the library, look for a specific book, and see who else you might bump into along the way.
Find more from fruitsuper here: https://fruitsuper.com/
Coming soon: Part three where we visit Stevie Shao's studio.