hot new next
art
TOP: Smoke No.5, Paul Edmondson, archival print on paper. BELOW: Sarah Hurt, founder of Seattle Art Source. OPPOSITE: Night Library, Greg Boudreau, spray paint on reclaimed wood.
THE MATCHMAKER Forging perfect connections in the world of design.
Written by STACY KENDALL
AN ART DEALER WHO FOCUSES ON FINDING LOCAL ART FOR INTERIOR DESIGNERS?
That resource didn’t exist until October 2016, when Sarah Hurt launched Seattle Art Source, an online showcase of local artists’ work aimed at the design trade. The gallerist had often heard artists say they had no time to update their websites, while designers bemoaned the lack of a central marketplace to source work for their clients. Enter Hurt’s platform. “I’m an art matchmaker,” she explains. Fresh inventory is constantly added to Art Source, which designers search to select works that are sent to their project sites for consideration. Representing about 35 regional artists, Hurt supplies pieces running the gamut from $200 to $10,000 for projects ranging from first homes to the houses of serious collectors, and she’s also an adept facilitator of commissions. In June, Hurt opened a shared retail space with furniture maker Plank & Grain in the International District. As Seattle booms, she observes, “The only way to support the vibrancy that artists create in our city is to buy their art.” Both her virtual and her brick-andmortar galleries are doing precisely that. ❈
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