“There are 300 football fields of vacant commercial real estate in the downtown Seattle area. That leads to a lot of issues, but we’re also benefiting from it. We wouldn’t be able to do this 10 years ago. We wouldn’t be able to negotiate such a low, low rate—a savings we’re able to pass on to the artists.” Kate Bailey is talking about Actualize Artist in Residency, the women-led, artist-run arts nonprofit that has, in three short years, persisted against all odds and obstacles to become one of the city’s hottest, most energetic, and exciting orgs. Actualize was born out of frustration over the lack of artist studio space around town—a common lament and a catch-22 in a space-rich city where incentives for property owners to lease vacant real estate are practically nonexistent. Bailey kept trying anyway. The seeds of Actualize were planted in 2023, when the former Microsoft employee negotiated partial use of the gutted and graffitied Rite Aid located just south of the terminally troubled intersection of Third and Pike, which had been transformed by C. M. Ruiz into a nomadic art space called Nii Modo. Where racks of hygiene products once stood, Bailey and a handful of artists put up walls for 10 studios. “I think what we’re doing is a very Seattle thing to do—creating the thing you want to see in the world.” When that opportunity came to an end, philanthropists Shari D. Behnke and Edie Adams (whom Bailey knew as a coworker at Microsoft) supplied seed funding to secure Actualize’s next physical space at the Coliseum Building. More temporary walls went up, this time creating space for 35 studios, offered at no cost to artists for an entire year. When that arrangement ended, Bailey hustled to raise funds and sift through the city’s glut of vacant space to find owners willing to work with them. Last September, they landed a lease in the Prefontaine Building in Pioneer Square, where 35 studios currently fill nearly three of the building’s six floors. The overarching vision of Actualize is to provide stable studio space—one of the foundations of a stable career. But Actualize is much more than just studios. The ground floor gallery has become one of First Thursday’s buzziest stops. A recently opened gift shop sells members’ work. (Members keep 100 percent of all sales.) Soon, they’re launching member-led workshops. “I think what we’re doing is a very Seattle thing to do,” says Bailey. “The kind of DIY energy that this city is notorious for—bringing people together to build something out of a labor of love, creating the thing you want to see in the world.” She cites Vera Project as a huge inspiration. “We want to see more of that energy rekindled. We would love for people to see Actualize as a model, as proof that you don’t necessarily need a big donor—even though that was incredibly helpful for us to get started.” Since pivoting to their Prefontaine home, Actualize has been finding ways to make the operation sustainable, from corporate sponsorship and monthly patronage programs to renting out their gallery space. Studio fees are worked out on a sliding scale; artists can volunteer time to the organization in exchange for a studio or pay up front if they have the means but are short on time. Whether you’re fresh out of art school, have a full-time job, or have kids, they’ll find a way to make the residency work. Co-directors Bailey and Judy Anderson are proof of concept: in addition to being an artist, Bailey worked for 17 years designing hardware for Microsoft, including prototypes for the Surface tablet. She’s currently the lead designer on a team building products for Vale, a Pioneer Square–based matcha company. Anderson is a curator and mother of two, and is currently enrolled in the Arts Leadership MFA program at Seattle University. Bailey notes that many artists with full-time jobs can’t afford to take weeks, months, or years off from work to accommodate traditional residencies and other programs designed to advance an artist’s career to the next stage. Actualize is designed to accommodate artists at any point in their life and get actual eyes on their work. Despite Anderson and Bailey’s administrative titles, Actualize has always been about the body, not the head. “We wouldn’t be able to run the organization without the support from the artists,” says Bailey. “Two people couldn’t have done this alone. From the very beginning, we were bringing everyone together to literally raise the walls that we would put art on.” “We want to run Actualize with just enough of a grip that we’re still allowing it to become whatever it wants to become,” says Anderson. One of the striking things about Actualize, as you walk through one of their open house nights during art walk, is how porous it all is. Photographers, sculptors, painters, designers, and performers working in every conceivable medium mingle with the closeness and comfort of a big family. Not quite a cult; maybe cult-adjacent. “We’ve tried a ton of things that didn’t work out and we had to pivot over and over,” says Bailey. “I think that willingness to try, and the grace the artists give us, is a huge component of this. They understand we’re building the plane as we fly it, and they’re on board to experiment with us and try things that haven’t been done before. You need a community that’s willing to catch you if you fall.” They’re not slowing down. Actualize is looking to take over another block of office space in the building in the fall, opening up 15 more studios. They’re also on the hunt for an executive director. “It’ll be a game-changer for the organization,” says Anderson. “It’s a huge consideration for us as we grow: how to remain artist-led and experimental, with the goal of not putting the weight of the organization on the backs of the artists. We want to make sure that even the artists who are volunteering full-time and not paying anything aren’t overextending themselves, so that they still have the bandwidth to make their art.” “The moment we’re in right now has a lot in common with New York and the Lower East Side in the ’70s,” says Bailey. “All of a sudden there are just huge amounts of space available, in a very desirable location. That sparked an entire artistic movement.”   More 2026 Genius Award WinnersFilm | Food | Literature | Music | Performance | Visual Art The post Visual Art Genius: Actualize Artist in Residency appeared first on The Stranger. ...read more read less