Seattle’s Fremont Bridge will be turning 101 years old this year. To celebrate, the city’s Department of Transportation wants to do more than just bake a cake. It wants to stick a musician inside one of the bridge’s towers for two months. Sounds more like cruel and unusual punishment, right? But, it gets better. The musician will be paid $10,000!
This might be most Seattle thing ever. The Fremont Bridge will host an artist-in-residence from June to August of this year. In conjunction with the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, the Department of Transportation is currently accepting applications from “established professional” musicians/composers of all genres, living within a 100-mile radius.
The task? Thoroughly exploring “the historic bridge’s role and meaning for the city of Seattle and create music in response to this residency.”
The winner will be awarded a comfortable, albeit tight, working space inside the bridge’s northwest tower, complete with office furniture, air conditioning(!!!), and a 360-degree view of the city. The $10,000 prize will be split in half: $5,000 for the residency and $5,000 for sound project, presentation, and documentation.
While you aren’t actually allowed to live in the tower for those three months, public performances are encouraged! If an EDM DJ/producer wins, we have a few we’d vouch for, hello rave on a bridge!
This isn’t the first time Seattle has hired a creative mind to work in the bridge. In 2009, artist Kristen Ramirez was selected as the bridge’s first artist-in-residence. She spent her time producing a temporary sound installation that cited a verbal history of the structure. In 2016, writer Elissa Washuta used the tower as a writing studio from which she researched and wrote about Seattle’s topography and waterways. This year’s opportunity marks the first time this residency will be awarded to the music community.
Applications are due by 11 p.m, March 20th. Interested? Check out the complete job description, and application.
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