On the evening of August 8, 55 firefighters responded to a dumpster fire in the alley near the Ballard Collective, which eventually spread inside the building. The blaze damaged businesses, art studios, fashion designs, and supplies, robbing artists of their creative spaces and source of income.
Over a month later, the building still reeked of smoke, pieces were undergoing remediation, and artists still didn’t know where they would go from there.
For Elizabeth Red, the Ballard Collective was the first place where she could create her custom shoes. After attending a shoe-making school in Argentina, Red fell in love with the craft, getting addicted to the process. But with the space at Ballard Collective closed up for the foreseeable future, Red now hopes to rent another space in the Seattle area.
“My art space is like a sanctuary for me,” Red said.
Red’s shoes and supplies were smoke damaged, while other artists had spaces and pieces destroyed beyond repair. Artists making oil paintings, photographs, and sculptures found that a few pieces spared, thanks to other spaces showcasing their work. But the majority of the collective has either been destroyed or is currently going through smoke remediation.
Rachel Wilsey has always been an artistic person but didn’t start making painting a career until 2022. For her, simply the act of painting gives her joy; it is a way of giving back to herself. She enjoys spreading that joy to viewers when they look at her most recent doughnut-style pieces.
While some of Wilsey’s creations are still going through remediation, the spared pieces are on display at the Smal Market in Ballard, alongside others from the collective. Thanks to the generosity of the market and Ballard Alliance, the artists can have a space there until the end of the year, at no cost.
“Artist studios are really hard to find, so we’re kind of scattered,” Wilsey said. “But to have a space that’s still here in Ballard, that can represent our group, feels really good.”
The collective sentiment over losing the space is not just about the damage to supplies and art, it is the loss of community. Daniel deWolff, cofounder of Luto Vhum alongside his partner Maëlle deWolff, has been a part of the collective since 2020 as both fashion designer and building manager.
“It's a good course, not that I want to see it end like this,” he said. “The space felt the way it did, looked the way it did because of all the people who have been through there.”
Jyotsna Ambarukhana has been at the collective since 2022, and it was her first art studio. Ambarukhana focuses on mostly geometric, abstract art. Some of her pieces are also on display at the Smal Market.
“I haven’t made anything, and it’s driving me crazy,” Ambarukhana said. “I feel like it defines my existence in some way, because I’ve always been creative. Without this part, there would be a lot of me that’s not there.”
For many at the collective, including Samantha Kasprowicz, Stephanie Ames, and Aubrey Benasa, their art was a major source of income for them. Ames is an abstract artist working with metal, also with a background in jewelry design. Kasprowicz is a photographic artist, with projects focusing on the invisibility of women in society and using a banana as a motif. Benasa has been creating oil paintings inspired by Seattle and the PNW since the pandemic.
Still, all of the artists are in a state of limbo. The investigation of the fire is still pending, the building still smells of smoke, and the search for a new space is ongoing. Since the fire, the community response has been supportive, offering help and spaces. Now, all the artists ask is that people continue buying their work and supporting local artists.
To support or learn more about the artists impacted, some GoFundMes and the artists' social media platforms are provided below:
www.gofundme.com/f/help-the-ballard-collective-artists-rebuild
- www.gofundme.com/f/help-get-nice-gallery-rebuild-after-a-devastating-fire
- www.gofundme.com/f/support-jens-art-supply-recovery-from-the-fire
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