Art
passes
between.
About us
Space for art
that needs space.
The Vestibule is an artist-forward exhibition space in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. We frequently showcase 3D projects and noncommercial installations. We work closely with artists in collaborative exhibitions, and we invite artists as guest curators. We support the sale of artworks on a low, sliding scale for commission and do not exclusively represent artists. We are a platform for artists who do not yet have or do not want representation.
Mission
We give space to art that needs space to exist.
The Vestibule is a micro-cultural center and artist-forward exhibition space that showcases conceptually driven, 3D, 4D, and installation art from the Pacific Northwest. We give space to art that needs space to exist.
Vision
We envision a community of citizens that supports public space for art that needs space. Art lives in a vestibule, the passage between private and public life, between inside and out. Vestibule names not only passages in architecture but in the body—eyes, nose, ears, and the so ons and so forths. Art passes between. We dream of a culture in which everyone opens the vestibule of their private life to public life. Open access to physical space for art is an essential part of a healthy democracy. Showing up in person for art and culture is essential work of citizenship.
Values
Open access / public art
Time-specific / cross-disciplinary
We value open access to physical space for art, showing up in person for art and culture as essential work of citizenship, ephemeral time-specific work, and cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary projects.
The Vestibule gives access to free, public art in a primarily residential neighborhood in North Seattle with few dedicated art galleries.
We value time-specific work: performance, participatory events, community contributions, and artwork that changes over the course of a show. We hold panels, performances, discussions, and meet-ups.
We frequently showcase womxn and nonbinary artists in pursuit of supporting artists not historically represented by commercial art structures. We encourage submissions by persons of color and Indigenous artists.
Showing up in person
Performances / readings / screenings
Sponsorship and funding
The Vestibule is fiscally sponsored by the 501c3 Northwest Film Forum. We receive sustained support from 4Culture and funding from Allen Family Philanthropies Arts through ArtsWA. Livein206 / Adam Weissman Realty also offers generous support through its community partnership program.
Vestibule 1.0
Visitors could sleep inside installations and beside new work by Pacific Northwest artists. Emerging artists showed work commission-free; short-term rental income helped maintain the space.
Vestibule 3.0
We hope to recreate elements of the original space in a future studio to be constructed on Lopez Island. Stay tuned for news on this long-term plan.
Acknowledgments
The Vestibule acknowledges that we are on the ancestral land of Native communities including the Puget Sound Salish and Duwamish peoples.
We acknowledge that we benefit from the prosperity of the United States, which was built on the labor of enslaved people. Please join us in expressing our deepest respect and gratitude for the descendants of those who built this country.