The City of Burien– in partnership with The Maverick Apartments and Merrill Gardens Senior Living at Burien – are currently presenting the works of Kathleen Skeels and Roxanne G. Fawcett until the end of June 2018. These new exhibits will be featured at the Maverick Apartments art window at the corner of 6th Ave SW and SW 150th Streets, as well as at the Merrill Gardens art windows on 4th Ave SW between SW 150th and SW 151st Streets.

CATWALK, artist Kathleen Skeels, at The Maverick www.kathleenskeels.com

“For me my art is an alternate world, a place of possibility and discovery where I am at my most capable and where the rules are of my own making. I’ve been drawing since childhood in black and white and color. It’s play. It’s memory. It’s a refuge. I usually work in clay, sculpting the figure from my imagination informed by my studies from life. These ceramic sculptures also double as a ground for my drawing and painting. My sculptures make impossible worlds tangible. They give me a playground that holds me enthralled for as long as it takes to complete the work. Lately the world has seemed a bit of a cat and mouse game, or maybe a cat and bird game. So I present CATWALK, in which very fat cats enjoy their day. The Maverick Burien is a handsome corner stage for the display of art. I’m glad to share my work there. I will return to The Maverick Burien to add new elements to this installation to give people a motive to stop and take a second look.”

LIFE IS ABOUT USING THE WHOLE BOX OF CRAYONS Artist Roxanne G Fawcett, at Merrill Gardens www.RGFawcettArt.com

“I am drawn to paint in series, forming a relationship with the subjects and themes – a poppy, a jackrabbit, a horse or a bold abstract – and telling a story with them as they evolve. I invite others to join in my exaggerated delight and respect for the Natural World. While there may be color, whimsy and a touch of iconoclasm in my work, I try to exercise discernment and reverence for the essence of my subjects. I hope the interplay between the realistic and the representational will present new perspectives on landscapes, color and life. My quasi-representational art is achieved with acrylic paint on canvas or paper. I employ diverse media, paint and papers applied with brushes, pallet knives, fingers, squirt bottles, rollers, scrapers, anything that can add interest and dimension.” About the Downtown Art Exhibit Spaces The City is partnering with The Maverick Apartments and Merrill Gardens to bring art to downtown Burien. The plan is to showcase community art in the windows for three-month intervals.  As part of the design review process for the two developments, the City encouraged the architects to create a display space for local art. City design standards require buildings to have specific elements to make the downtown a pedestrian-friendly place. This includes how a building presents itself to the street. The goal is to avoid blank walls and make the streetscape more interesting to the pedestrian. There are multiple ways to achieve this: retail space, landscaping, and art displays. The City worked in partnership with the developer to meet the intent of the design standards. The result was the inclusion of display windows in the final design–meeting both the buildings’ needs and contributing to our downtown streetscape.]]>

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