Artists Announced for Next Windows Alive! Installment

Top from left: Cathy Lapsley – “Canyon Dreams,” John Cooper – “Lion,” Kiara Castro – “La Dehumanization.” Bottom from left: Jaice Brasker – “Gorgeous Conclusion” and Amanda Ontiveros – “Putrification stoneware oxidation.”

While formal installation will have to wait until the end of social distancing restrictions, artists have been selected for the next Windows Alive! display in Downtown Yakima.

“Due to the COVID-19 outbreak and Gov. Inslee’s stay-at-home order, the complete show has not been installed,” said Windows Alive! Coordinator Jane Milford Cooper. “But you can enjoy the artworks online until they are installed as soon as it is safe to complete the project.”

The artists, their complete artist statements and a sample of their respective works can be found at https://windowsalive.com/

Following are the Yakima-area artists selected for the new Windows Alive! exhibit, including an excerpt from their artist statements,

  • Jaice Brasker: “A signature element in my art is the use of large size canvases. For this I believe these somewhat overwhelming pieces give the art a larger voice.”
  • Kiara Castro: “Through digital photography and analog processes I create works that convey the struggle, pain and hardship I and others like me have encountered, while simultaneously celebrating Latinx heritage.”
  • John Cooper: “You spend hours laboring over a drawing that will be gone in a day or two, washed or blown away, trampled by feet, cars and bikes. That’s the fate of all street art. So, after collecting a few digital images, I just walk away to draw another day.
  • Cathy Lapsley: “I work with pastel, collage, assemblage and mixed media.  I enjoy repurposing materials. I will sometimes use natural elements in my collages. For example, tree bark, feathers, rocks, shells and even a broken bird’s egg.”
  • Amanda Ontiveros: “I find art is not very inclusive for the blind, so I aim to make art available to bigger part of society. Making artworks that are meant to be touched or handled, which they can feel, is important in creating an all-embracing experience for more people.”

Each received a $250 stipend.

Seven years ago, the Yakima Arts Commission, an advisory group appointed by the Yakima City Council, developed the Windows Alive! idea to harness the creativity of Central Washington artists.

Following a submission and evaluation process, the above artists were chosen to be part of the latest “Windows Alive!” exhibition.