It’s time for the Seattle Art Fair, taking place July 23–26 at the Lumen Field Event Center.
I probably don’t have to explain art fairs to anyone, but art fairs are the glitzy cousin of trade fairs, usually housed in fluorescent-flooded convention centers, where galleries gather under one roof to show off their hottest, most buyable work. The daddy of art fairs, Art Basel, started in Switzerland in 1970; in the subsequent decades, more art fairs were born, which begat satellite fairs and an entire ecosystem that has come to dominate how art is shown and sold.
In 2015—three years before his death—Paul Allen gifted Seattle our very own art fair. It was a big deal then, and it still feels important that we have one; it gives our city cred. Now in its 10th year, Seattle Art Fair has been met with a new twist, as numerous local galleries have jumped ship to start a new satellite venture: Assembly Art Fair, held on the same dates, across town at West Canal Yards.
Their reason for the split: fairs are too expensive. Fairs are a cash cow for the companies that produce them; Art Basel booths famously cost over $100,000 (not counting the additional cost of travel, shipping, staffing, accommodations, etc.). At the Seattle Art Fair, the cost of a booth is substantially lower (the largest booths cost around $25,000), but it’s still a lot to shoulder—especially if you’re not selling enough work.
While SAF has not broken stride in steadily applauding Assembly from the sidelines, the fact remains that a huge chunk of local galleries (and their cash) have flown the coop. It’s worth noting that this situation is not Seattle-specific: in recent years, galleries everywhere, from mega to mini, have been rethinking fair participation.
We could talk all day about whether we need fairs at all, but at the end of the day, they can be really fun. They bring the people together (like FIFA, only less drunk!).
Now here’s your cheat sheet for art fair programming and a few non-fair breathers, starting this weekend into next week.
July 18
SHOW14 (Freeway Park)
Before the fairs, get some fresh air. SHOW14 is a free, outdoor dance performance and party (7 to 10 p.m.) at Freeway Park, presented by Co-Dance, the experimental dance party production spearheaded by Emma Lawes and Maya Tacon. The lineup is fire: Amanda Morgan, Cameo, Miguel Almario, Miss Texas 1988, and sush, followed by tunes (after 9 p.m.) by DJ Dark Wiley. Get tickets here.
July 15–19
The de la Torre Brothers (Tacoma Museum of Glass)
Tacoma Museum of Glass has a visiting artist program that draws artists from around the globe, inviting them to make glass magic in their iconic hot shop (with amphitheater seating for guests). This week, the artists are Einar and Jamex de la Torre—aka the de la Torre Brothers, some of the coolest kids making some of the chicest glass art around. (They are chic in other materials, too—their recently installed piece at Seattle Airport is a colossal lenticular!) The Brothers’ visual universe melds pop culture, religious imagery, and traditional Mexican folk art in a vortex of excess and the carnival grotesque. If you need a visual illustration of horror vacui, it’s this. If you’ve never seen real glass masters at work, this will blow your [insert glass joke here].
July 22–26 (The Fairs!)
TLDR: For the hardcore, block out Wednesday for Assembly Art Fair (+ secret after-party) and Thursday for Seattle Art Fair, plus the five floors of exhibitions at Railspur Studios and Ben Zamora’s installation at the Jack. For the crowd-avoidant, Friday and Saturday are your friends. (There’s usually a last-minute art fair swell on Sunday.)
Assembly Art Fair (West Canal Yards)
Assembly Art Fair is banking (literally) on the presumption that they can create an experience that’s just as (or more) substantive and seductive for collectors. They’re running in the opposite direction from trade-show aura, banishing the fluorescence and drinking in pure sunshine light at West Canal Yards, with installations and art from 17 heavy-hitter galleries in Seattle, Portland, Dallas, and Los Angeles. I’m not sure what you have to do to get on the list for Assembly’s VIP vernissage on Wednesday, but I suggest you find a way, as it will be the fête of the week. The afters will be at a (publicly undisclosed) location nearby. Try to sniff it out! If you can’t make it on Wednesday, the doors open to the public on Thursday and continue in stride with SAF through Sunday. Ticket options range from $15–40 for single-day, weekend, and full-fair passes.
Seattle Art Fair (Lumen Field Event Center)
This year, Seattle Art Fair is hosting 95 galleries (spanning 13 countries and four continents) and turning to the Pacific Northwest’s textile scene for a theme. Our region isn’t known for textiles per se—the textile trend has been gaining steam globally in recent years—but the works being highlighted here are a good introduction to some outstanding work, such as Ko Kirk Yamahira’s “hand-unwoven” suspended installation (presented by studio e) and a tapestry series by Lucy + Jorge Orta exploring “speculative cosmologies and planetary change.” Shout out to Priscilla Dobler Dzul, whose clay sculptures from her series The Guardians will be on display. I’m also looking forward to Trulee Hall’s mystical weird work making an appearance somewhere overhead.
Thursday afternoon or evening is when you want to go if you’re aiming for the unbridled champagne spectacle of it all (how I miss the VIP oyster lounge of the Allen days!), but there are some great talks taking place across the other days, including chats with Jim Woodring and Emily Counts, and panels covering subjects like artist residencies in the PNW. I’ll be there Sunday afternoon, participating on a panel called Staying: Why Artists Choose to Build Lives Here (and What It Takes). Full list of panel talks here. Tickets start at $50.19 for a single day, $81.40 for a pass.
Recollections (Actualize AiR)
Any seasoned fair-goer knows the satellite events are usually (let’s be honest) the best part of fair season. Friday night marks the opening of the third annual summer showcase at Actualize AiR. Called Recollections, the exhibit features new work by the current 2026 AiR cohort, curated by Shannon Hobbs, an artist (and Actualize resident) with exquisite taste and knack for alchemizing base material into sculptural poetry. The Friday reception runs 6–10 p.m., with open studios on the second and third floors from 6–7 p.m. There will also be a performance by my current art crush, atm/overdraft, at 7:30 p.m. in the gallery, followed by dance party vibes until 10 p.m.RSVP HERE.
IN A DREAM YOU SAW A WAY TO SURVIVE (The Jack)
You may have climbed through The Gathering, Ben Zamora’s large, rainbow-ish sculpture at 14th Ave and Madison. It’s one of the most successful public art pieces erected in the city in the past decade—photogenic, romantic, resonant with gayness (though the colors technically harken to the shades of Seattle sky from sunrise to sundown), and excellent for wayfinding. But Zamora is best known for his large sculptures made of light. He’s a master of weaving labyrinthine, geometric structures in the air with humble fluorescent tubes or LEDs. He’s designed for the Berlin Philharmonic, Kronos Quartet, Kunsthalles, and Coachella, but he’s also made breathtaking work close to home; his 2018 piece I REMEMBER / THE HOLLOW FEATURES OF WHAT REMAINS at the Factory remains one of the most stunning immersive things I’ve ever experienced. This month, Zamora is building something new that will debut alongside the fair at the Jack. Titled IN A DREAM YOU SAW A WAY TO SURVIVE (a nod to Jenny Holzer), this immersive landscape will be a reconstruction of Zamora’s childhood home, made entirely of linear tubes of light, and built entirely from memory. I suspect this will be one of the best off-site experiences of the week.
Multiple Exhibits (RailSpur Studios)
Another must-see are the many exhibits sprawling across the many floors of RailSpur (big reception night is July 23, 5–9 p.m.). These include two impressive group shows that take (successful) big swings: Hello My Name Is (Level 3, curated by Al-Baseer Holly) and Grand Gesture (Level 5, produced by ARCADE and curated by Tommy Gregory, Senior Project Manager at Port of Seattle). A Matter of Ghosts: Material Never Dies debuts on Level 4.Full disclosure: I’m one of the organizers of this exhibition, so I’m biased, but it will be good. Bringing together work by 13 current and former artists-in-residence from the Recology King County AIR program (profiled in The Stranger in 2025), A Matter of Ghosts demonstrates the stunning breadth of artistic possibilities contained in scrappy, grungy waste stream material.
Also debuting Thursday night, Growing Forward: The Neddy at 30 Years features work by 22 Neddy Artist Award finalists and recipients who have been recognized in the past three decades. The exhibit unfurls on RailSpur’s Level 2, which has been freshly built out (the paint still wet—Dominic Nieri doesn’t sleep) as a new floor of artist residency studios and exhibition space. Finally, Populus Seattle, RailSpur’s Urban Villages sister hotel, is hosting a series of events to celebrate 2026 Neddy finalist Cristina Martinez, whose new mural A Soft Place to Land recently went up along Occidental Promenade, just in time for SAF (you’ll pass by it as you’re heading toward Lumen Field Event Center). At 70 by 150 feet long, it’s the largest work of Martinez’s career. It’s also the largest permanent commissioned mural in Pioneer Square’s history. To mark the occasion, Populus Seattle is mounting an exhibition of Martinez’s work, including new pieces, limited edition merch, and prints. On Sunday, there’s a collector brunch for Martinez at Salt Harvest (10 a.m.–2 p.m.), so you might as well book a Saturday night at the hotel and make a staycation of it!
Let There Be Light (Cannonball Arts)
A stellar show featuring work by some truly all-star artists, Let There Be Lightat Cannonball was curated by Anthony White, one of Seattle’s most prolific and connected artists. He’s made use of those connections to gather a compelling group (hello, Emma Stern) of works that highlight the human figure in contemporary painting and sculpture. For fair week, Cannonball is offering a private tour of the show with White on July 24 at 3 p.m. It’s free! I suggest snagging a spot while there’s still space. Cannonball will also be open to the public (pay-what-you-can) on Saturday, July 25, from 2–6 p.m.
July 24–26
I Shot Andy Warhol (Northwest Film Forum)
After all this, if you need to get the hell away from art and art people (in the flesh), crawl into a dim, cozy hole at Northwest Film Forum for the Unstreamable series, brought to you by Scarecrow Video. There’s a bunch of good stuff from which to choose; I suggest Mary Harron’s 1996 indie classic, I Shot Andy Warhol, about the SCUM Manifesto–writing militant feminist Valerie Solanas. Cuz there’s no such thing as too much art, right?
