Welcome to
DAS SCHAUFENSTER
We are an artist-run experimental window space working to bring interesting, joyful, and thoughtful art to our neighborhood. Das Schaufenster is a German word meaning “viewing window or looking at window” emphasizing on the act of looking and not what is looked at.
Das Schaufenster was born from the loss of exhibition opportunities for artists due to the COVID19 pandemic. It is housed in an old corner store in the Ballard neighborhood, At the beginning of the pandemic when businesses boarded over we opened up a space to share art with our community and to provide artists with exhibition and curation opportunities. Within the first half year of our existence we have hosted the work of 17 artists from 9 states, monthly artist talks and a socially distanced performance in the neighborhood park across the street.
The challenges artists face from losing their work for over a year are multifaceted. Das Schaufenster gives artists the opportunity to exhibit their work regardless. Our goal is to serve the artists and curators we invite and to give them the freedom to utilize the space for their vision.
During the first year we had focused on artists that needed support the most. This included immigrant artists, artists with an activist component to their practice who are giving a lot of their time to the community and recent MFA graduates that had their graduation exhibition canceled as well as hosting a project by the Seattle Goethe Institute as their space had to remain close.
In the first half of 2021 we are working with two curators that have put together the first 6 months of programming of the year, showcasing the work of artists from Latin America. Please check out Upcoming Exhibition page for more details.
This space is not meant to be temporary, but rather an investment in the future. Hopefully we will be able to continue to share the work of many local, national and international artists.
Das Schaufenster is not a commercial gallery. If you are interested in an artists work, please contact them directly. We strive to pay the exhibiting artists a fee, to honor their time and effort. If you enjoy what we do and want to support this initiative or the artists, donations may be made through Venmo @Anna-Mlasowsky. Any money raised will go directly to the artists.
Please follow us on Instagram @das.schaufenster for updates, special events, and virtual artist talks.
Last year we received a SmArt Venture Grant from the Office of Arts and Culture and just recently a Mini Grant from the Awesome Foundation. Thank you all who have supported us and continue to support us.
