We seek to be a vital platform for cultural exchange and creative inspiration. Since 1979, acclaimed artists such as Jaehyo Lee, James Fitzgerald, Albert Paley, John Grade and Judy Onofrio have filled the city with creativity and innovation.
City Art Collection
Over 120 permanent and portable artworks document the dynamic moments and complexities of Bellevue’s cultural life, and these pieces serve as an important resource for future generations. A segment of the collection is devoted to artworks that raise the discourse on the defining aspects of Bellevue’s civic life, exploring the diverse identities of our residents, converging cultures, international connections, technological currents, and the interplay between nature and the urban experience that make Bellevue’s environment unique.
Portable Art
In 2020, the Arts Commission purchased 20 new works for the city's portable art collection, diversifying it with a range of visual art mediums and artistic voices. Portable art also increases the number of artworks accessible in city buildings in Bellevue neighborhoods. Prior to this call, the city only had a handful of portable artworks, with one or two being added every few years. Information about the portable art purchased in 2020 and the artists who created the pieces are available in Portable Art Collection 2021.
In 2022, the Bellevue Arts Commission purchased 29 more artworks to continue supporting local artists through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The call for artworks garnered over 1,000 available works submitted for purchase.
Opportunities
NEW call for arts is open now! The City of Bellevue is seeking an artist to design a creative Pride intersection pavement treatment in Downtown Bellevue, WA, in collaboration with City staff and community members. This opportunity is open to artists living in King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties in Washington State. The selected artist or artist team will design a creative intersection pavement treatment celebrating LGBTQIA+ Pride that the City of Bellevue will install. The deadline for consideration is November 8, 2023.
Apply here, and the full call can be accessed here.
Piloti
Downtown Park - NE entrance artwork
Piloti by artist Marc Fornes/THEVERYMANY is part of a new entrance into the Downtown Park at Bellevue Way and NE 4th Street and is conceived as a key location on the Grand Connection. The work consists of fluted columns that will rise to form an artistic canopy with perforated light filtering through. The artwork, comprised of over 6,600 unique panels with over 60,000 handmade folds and fastened with over 180,000 rivets, reflects Bellevue’s innovative technology sector, love of natural forms and robust creative community of thinkers and makers. The artwork was opened to the public in May 2023.
Rooted
Rooted
Rooted by Jill Anholt, originally planned for the intersection of 121st Ave NE and Spring Boulevard, has now moved to NE 12th St and Spring Boulevard.
Rooted is an inhabitable, interactive sculpture located at the junction to the Eastrail connector. The artwork is inspired by the organic natural forms of tree roots recalling very specific natural and cultural histories of displacement for communities in Bellevue, due to colonization and industrial development. The artwork, like tree roots themselves, also speaks to ideas of connection and resiliency within nature and people, as well as their capacity to endure and to sometimes even to prosper despite extremely challenging conditions.
The work is created from Corten steel I-beams shapes, the base materials of industry which have been altered, shaped and seamlessly joined together to create an organic sculptural form composed of two towering shapes. The pair of art elements reach towards each other, their roots intermingling, as well as reach upwards to the sky where their wide bases coalesce into two circular voids: one expressing the memory of a tree trunk reaching infinitely up into the sky, the other filled with reflective metal, bringing a viewer into an intimate and participatory relationship with the sculpture below.
Yonder Sky
Yonder Sky
Artist Po Shu Wang is currently fabricating Yonder Sky for the 130th Ave NE streetscape design team to integrate into the broader project. This project will be installed between the future Spring Boulevard and NE 20th Street in BelRed.
Currently untitled, Wang has created a site-specific artwork that relates to its Magnetic Declination of 15.66° E in the year of its conception. An Info plaque in front of the sculpture will invite the public to collaborate with the artwork to create a uniquely Bellevue musical composition in real-time. A proximity sensor embedded at the front of the sphere of the sculpture allows the public to place their hand over it and activate different layers of human vocals over the music.
Artist Opportunities
Artist Opportunities
We will list current opportunities for Artists here as they become available. Please visit the below pages to find out more about ongoing and past opportunities:
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Call for Visual Artists - The City of Bellevue is seeking an artist to design a creative Pride intersection pavement treatment in Downtown Bellevue, WA, in collaboration with City staff and community members. This opportunity is open to artists living in King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties in Washington State. The selected artist or artist team will design a creative intersection pavement treatment celebrating LGBTQIA+ Pride that the City of Bellevue will install. The deadline for consideration is November 8, 2023. Apply here, and the full call can be accessed here.
- Arts Grants Program - The City of Bellevue offers annual grants to artists and nonprofits. Applicants can expect to apply in late summer/early fall for the following year's grant cycle.
- Utility Box Wraps Program - The Arts Program has launched a multi-year project to cover utility and signal boxes around Bellevue. Check the Utility Box Wraps Program tab below to find out more about future calls for artists.
- Eastside Artist Roster - This roster is open to artists and organizations on the Eastside. Any qualifying artist is eligible and there is no approval process once an application is submitted. See the below tab for more information on the roster and how to apply.
Eastside Live - Arts and Culture Calendar
Eastside Live - Arts and Culture Calendar
The City of Bellevue, in partnership with arts non-profit EastHUB, has developed a convenient and comprehensive way to share Eastside arts and culture happenings with the community through a new website, EastsideLive.org. Artists and cultural organizations can submit events and activities to be listed on the site, designed to be a central resource to find events, happenings, features and information about the vibrant arts community in Bellevue and the Eastside.
Eastside Artist Roster
Eastside Artist Roster (EAR)
The Eastside Artist Roster is open to artists living and working in East King County (Bellevue, Bothell, Duvall, Issaquah, Kirkland, Mercer Island, Newcastle, North Bend, Redmond, Renton, Sammamish, Snoqualmie and Woodinville) to use for craft, public art, music and performance opportunities. The City of Bellevue will use the roster as a resource for selected small public art projects (up to $30,000) geared towards emerging artists seeking to enter or establish themselves in the field of public art, curators working on future Bellwethers (Bellevue’s annual contemporary art event), and an outreach resource about other upcoming opportunities and events, including larger public art projects.
- The roster will open for online applications starting August 1, 2020. There is no deadline to apply, and the application will remain open indefinitely.
- Artists can elect to have their information available to other Eastside Cities.
- As long as artists meet the criteria for the roster, applicants will be considered "admitted" to the roster. There is no panel review.
- Information on the Roster application can be updated by contacting publicart@bellevuewa.gov
Bellwether
Bellwether
Bellwether is Bellevue's semi-annual arts festival. The exhibition typically features over 50 different artists bringing new kinds of art, activation, and expression to Bellevue.
This year, Bellwether will be managed by Performing Arts Center Eastside. Please visit their website for more information about the festival and upcoming opportunities.
Mural Program
BelRed Mural Program Pilot
Currently, the BelRed Creative Arts District has very low visibility. Only 26 percent of respondents to the recent 4Culture Creative Consultancy Report were aware of the Arts District Designation.
There is also a sense of urgency to do something that fosters the BelRed Arts District identity with one community member describing the pace of City implementation as “Glacial.”
In the summer of 2023, the BelRed Mural program will breathe new life into BelRed Arts District, infusing the neighborhood with vibrant colors, compelling narratives, and awe-inspiring imagery. The Arts Commission have carefully selected a group of talented local artists with unique styles and perspectives who will paint their stories on walls centered around NE Spring Boulevard and 132nd Ave NE in the heart of the Art District.
Be part of the experience as these talented individuals wield their brushes, turning mundane surfaces into living, breathing masterpieces. Witness the evolution of each mural, from conception to completion, as the district's walls come alive with energy and creativity.
Our Mural Program is not just about art; it's about building community and fostering a connection between artists, businesses and residents. Engage in conversations with the artists, hear their stories, and gain a deeper understanding of the inspiration behind their work. Together, we will create a space that reflects our art district's diversity, spirit, and identity.
Utility Box Wraps
Utility Box Wraps Program
The City of Bellevue wraps utility boxes around Bellevue in artworks printed on vinyl. This program is launched in phases, the first two covering boxes in BelRed and Downtown Bellevue. Any future phases of the program will be announced here.
Phase One
The first phase of this project covered 15 utility boxes in BelRed. Below is additional information about each box from the artists that created works specifically for this project.
Box 1: Larine Chung, Crossing Paths
NE 10th Street and 116th Avenue NE, southwest corner
Box 2, 3: Juliana Kang Robinson, Better Together, We Belong
NE Spring Boulevard and 120th Avenue NE, northwest corner; NE Spring Boulevard and 121st Avenue NE, northeast corner
Box 4, 5: Marsha Rollinger, Past Present, Urban Tech
NE Spring Boulevard and 123rd Avenue NE, southeast corner; NE Spring Boulevard and 124th Avenue NE, southwest corner
- Details about the box design here.
- Download free Coloring Pages here designed by Marsha Rollinger.
Box 6: Molly Keen, Untitled
NE Spring Boulevard and 132nd Avenue NE, southwest corner
Box 7: Raili Jänese, Canada Geese
NE Spring Boulevard and 136th Avenue NE, southeast corner
Box 8: Vikram Madan, An Utterance Ineffable
Bel-Red Road and 150th Place NE, south corner
Phase two
The second phase of this project covered 11 utility boxes in Downtown. Below is additional information about each box from the artists that created works for this project.
Box 1: Rohini Mathur, Colors of Joy I, II
NE 10th St & Midblock Crossing, northwest corner
Box 2: Carmel Mercado, A Tutti Frutti Crossing
NE 10th St & 108th Ave NE, southwest corner
Box 3: George Tuton, Water Lilly
NE 8th St & Bellevue Way NE, northwest corner
Box 4: Teresa D'Ambrosio, Winter Reflections, Mountain Beauty
NE 8th St & 108th Ave NE, southeast corner
Box 5: Shima Bhamra, Spectrum
NE 8th St & 110th Ave NE, southeast corner (yet to be installed)
Box 6: Soo Hong, Praise for You, Dive with Me
NE 7th St & Bellevue Way NE, northeast corner
Box 7: Rey Daoed, The Shoppers, The Sidewalk, Passerby, 11AM Saturday Morning, The Intersection, The Crosswalk
NE 6th St & Bellevue Way NE, southeast corner
Box 8: Amy Ferron, All Day Long the Earth Sings, The Sun Beckons
NE 4th St & 106th Ave NE, northwest corner
Box 9: Gail Baker, Three Brown Trout
NE 4th St & 108th Ave NE, southwest corner
Box 10: Martha Spieker, Current Events
NE 12th St & 116th Ave NE, northeast corner
Box 11: Soo Hong, Green Pops
Wildwood Park