Art fairs come in all shapes and sizes, from neighborhood festivals where artists set up tables with their work to huge, international fairs like Art Basel and Frieze, where galleries compete for the chance to pay tens of thousands of dollars for a booth that gets their art in front of jet-setting collectors and in-the-know art lovers. The Seattle Art Fair, begun in 2015 by the late Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, edges toward the latter in scope and design, while retaining a mid-size feel that allows local galleries to shine amid their counterparts who travel from across the country and globe. Several art dealers and critics have noted changes in the fair’s lineup since its inception, with the fair becoming increasingly regional and a few big-name galleries like Gagosian and David Zwirner not returning.
This year’s fair, the eighth iteration, takes place July 25-28 at Lumen Field Event Center, with around 100 galleries participating, up from nearly 70 last year. New York-based Art Market Productions, which is producing SAF, remains committed to mixing the regional with the international and to devoting attention to new buyers and non-collecting visitors, said Kelly Freeman, SAF director. As usual, SAF will be a gathering place for the city’s creative community as it intersects with visitors from across the world.
Which leads us to an important byproduct of art fairs: to rally the local art scene to show off, enticing fairgoers to venture out of the exhibition hall.