A blank wall is an inviting “canvas,” especially when it’s right across the street from a new apartment building set to open in November.
Instead of a blank wall, the lower floor tenants who move into the new Stream Uptown apartments, 708 Sixth Ave. N. will be able to look out on a colorful painting of iconic, local scenes.
The project was completed on Aug. 30 under the auspices of Urban Artworks, a local non-profit whose goal is to promote positive empowerment for underserved and court-involved youth by creating public art murals.
Urban Artworks partners with King County's Juvenile Courts Education Employment Program (EET). According to Urban Artwork’s statistics, 70 percent of the youth who complete the program do not reoffend.
Under the guidance of Urban Artwork artists Emily Tablieson and Kevin Drake, the youthful participants showed up every day, putting on their work boots and hard hats and learned workplace ethics and employment skills.
Marc Angelillo, one of the managing partners of Stream Real Estate, said he was driving down First Avenue one day when he saw a couple of artists painting a traffic control box. He stopped and found out they were with Urban Artworks. Soon enough, the blank wall facing the new apartment complex he was building became an Urban Artworks project.
Headquartered in Belltown, Stream Real Estate constructs apartment buildings around Seattle. Angelillo said his goal was to bring the beauty of Seattle’s neighborhoods and environs to the blank wall in Queen Anne. The images include views from Volunteer Park and the waters of the Lake Washington Ship Canal.
Angelillo said Urban Artwork’s mission fits with his company’s philanthropic bent, which, he added, includes environmental awareness.
Stream Apartments, where construction started in July, will have 118 units and most will go at market value — approximately $1500 per month.