"Blades of Change" seeks to connect artists with communities in a collaborative exploration of history, storytelling, and environment. This engagement is facilitated by a large supply of raw material consisting of aerodynamic fan blades (each the size of a door) from a power generator at Satsop, an abandoned nuclear plant. To date, 12 artists from King County, WA have created sculptures from the blades, several working in teams. Participating artists have been about 75% women and 17% BIPoC. Selected through both open call, as well as directly invited, artists are then matched with communities to create artwork from the blades. The blades subsequently find a home with the community as temporary or permanent public art. Alternatively, they travel between exhibition venues, with the organization assisting artists with grant funding and placement in regional outdoor sculpture exhibitions and other public art opportunities. “Blades of Change” Mission: Our organization helps emerging, underrepresented artists gain experience in community-based public art projects through temporary placement of repurposed fan blades from nuclear cooling towers. We help bring arts programming to underserved communities such as retirement homes and rural areas.
