Cascadia in Motion: A Recap
A gallery opening, an artist panel, and one wall of self-portraits that stole the whole night. Here's everything we got up to at Cascadia in Motion, lululemon University Village's Pacific Northwest art collaboration.
Walking Into Cascadia in Motion
I’m still thinking about the light in that room after all these months. Sorry friends, this post is a little late. The Summer has been peak busy and while this event is still ringing in my heart, I wanted to share the night with you.
July 31st, a warm Friday evening, lululemon University Village, three walls holding three completely different ways of looking at the Pacific Northwest, and a room full of people who showed up just to stand in front of art. That alone felt worth celebrating.
Cascadia in Motion was never meant to be a quiet opening. It was a gallery show, an artist panel, and a party all layered into one night, and by the time I walked in, the room already had that low hum of a space about to be full. Refreshments out, sound curated by Chris Charma humming underneath everything, and full of beautiful people who came to support their loved ones.
Three Artists, One Region
Cascadia in Motion brought together three different visual languages, all pointed at the same question: what does the Pacific Northwest actually feel like, not just look like. Jacque Churchville folds nostalgic cartoon characters into real-world PNW scenes, chasing that specific, unguarded joy cartoons give kids and adults alike. Barry Johnson works in portraiture and figure, using space itself as a shifting backdrop to explore Black identity and visibility. And my pieces sat somewhere in the atmosphere between the two, forest as spine, fog as exhale, summit as pulse, trying to capture the quiet charge before a body moves.
Three completely different entry points into the same region, hung in the same room, in partnership with lululemon. Seeing them side by side on opening night, rather than just in my own head, was its own kind of gift.
Claudia's Corner
Set up in front of my paintings, my sister Claudia owner of Seattle Paint Party, was running the part of the night I keep hearing about from guests. She'd pre-painted a canvas of loose, colorful blobs, each one a suggested face shape, and set out markers and gems for anyone who wanted to turn one into a self-portrait.
There's something about handing someone a blank-ish face and a handful of art supplies that gets past the "I'm not an artist" wall almost instantly. People who walked in just to look at paintings ended up standing at that wall for twenty minutes, deciding on eyebrows, arguing with a friend about gem placement, laughing at what they'd made. It turned a gallery opening into something people got to make with their hands, which is very on-brand for Claudita.
Go See It, and Go See the Space
The collection is still up at lululemon University Village, and if you're anywhere near Seattle, I'd genuinely love for you to go stand in front of these pieces in person. Photos flatten things that are meant to be felt at scale, and this is a rare chance to see three different PNW perspectives in the same room.
While you're there, take a real look at the space itself. It's a beautiful, flexible room that lululemon makes available to rent, and if this event proved anything, it's how well it holds a crowd, a panel, and an art activation all at once. If you've ever wanted a venue for something creative, this one's worth knowing about.
A Question for You:
Watching Claudia's face-portrait wall fill up all night got the two of us talking. We already share a studio at Basecamp 2 as Wolf Sisters, and we've both taught classes before, but never one together, in a space like this.
So I'll ask it here first: would you be interested in a class with Claudia and me, something playful and hands-on, in that same spirit as the wall of self-portraits? Reply in the comments or shoot me a message and let me know. Genuinely curious how many of you would show up.
With Thanks
None of this happens without the people behind the scenes. Huge thanks to Mikey McClarron and the whole lululemon Seattle team for hosting us with so much care, and to Uloma and The Playful Llama for pulling every piece of this together. Proceeds from Cascadia in Motion go toward The Feels Foundation's youth arts workshops and artist development programming, so thank you to everyone who came out, bought a ticket, or just stood in that room with us. It mattered more than you know.
