Tracking art thefts in the Seattle area

Welcome back to Good Day Live. I'm AJ Janivel. Thanks for taking some time to join us on your Wednesday. It is just about 12:14. We're going to talk about a situation that's happening in the city. Art theft. Joining me now is Adam Ivan and Josh O'Krent. Guys, thanks so much first off for taking time to speak to me. Tell me what you guys are dealing with. Josh and Adam, tell me kind of who you are and how this impacts you. Sure, my name is Josh Okrent, and I am one of the directors, founders of the Quality Flea Center on Capitol Hill and the founder of the Punk Rock Flea Market. And we are an arts organization, a cultural organization that presents markets and events, concerts, shows, all kinds of stuff. And one of the things that we do and love to do is create art that is available and free for the public to participate in. And that can be anything from concerts and theatrical performances to, in this case, we commissioned Adam here to do a series of murals that we... Thank that we mounted along a public sidewalk on 15th Avenue East on Capitol Hill. They were 12, is that right? 12 hand-cut, hand-painted wood panels. Thank It was a long-term commission, it was about a six-month project from initial sketches to finished paint to installation, you. which lasted about two months. We mounted those in a public place and they were beautiful. We have some videos, you guys can take a look. So here, these are Adam's work. you. And, Adam, how many of these did you do? You said... So there are 12 panels in all, and they were to fill this long strip outside of the Quality Police Center, really front and center where people can, Um whether they're going to the Punk Rock flea market or they're just walking to the grocery store or walking to school, they can interact with these kind of colorful characters on a daily basis. Thank So Saturday night, eight of them were stolen off of the front side of the building. you. And you can kind of see in these photos, they were really created to address a very specific design problem, which is it's a former grocery store, the former QFC, and the walls you. are textured in such a way, I don't know if it was an anti-graffiti BD, uh... ...strategy, but regardless, there's a series of textures on the wall, which makes them really hard to paint, and so we brainstormed, we came up with this idea, oh, we can do some individual pieces that we can create, cut out, and then seal and bolt to the walls. So the plan was they weren't going to go anywhere. They were well affixed. But, uh... Someone else had a different plan. Yeah, and these are cool because I believe the first time I saw them, and correct me if I'm wrong, was around the time of the Punk Rock Flea Market. Yes. And that is this huge event that brings out people to a kind of quieter part of the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. Thank The space, already unique in the sense that it is a former grocery store. you so So you guys found this spot, you made it your own. And then, Adam, you took the time, a lot of time, much to create these pieces of art to kind of build community, not just, for you know, you're hanging stuff up. This is a big thing for you guys. being Art, the work that you do, it is to build community. It is to welcome people. The idea of the punk rock. here. flea market, the do-it-yourself, to go into a grocery store and kind of reclaim it for a part of the community. So you put it out there, and you go through the work so that they can withstand the Seattle fall and winter that's to come. But the last thing you expect that they'd have to be withstanding is someone stealing it. Yeah, and it's not a profit-driven enterprise, any of it. It's all about the community working together and giving back to the community. And that was the spirit with which these were created. And so it's particularly galling that someone just helped themselves and took them away from everyone that enjoys them and appreciates them. And like we said, it's not the first time that that's happened recently. We've had a couple big thefts happen in the art community in Seattle, Tacoma. Shannon Bodrogi, who has a studio in the Tashiro Kaplan building that's open to the public every Pioneer Square Art Walk. They had a whole series of pieces taken outside of their studio, Thank you for watching this video. and unlike these pieces, those pieces were for sale. They weren't commissioned. Shan wasn't paid, just like Joseph Brooks, a Tacoma-based artist who had a big installation in the Tacoma downtown post office, which has been showing art for over a decade. I showed art there in high school. A very calculated theft happened of his work a couple months ago. They caught a guy on camera, you know, in a mask. And like, coming back to our pieces, They weren't easy to pull off of the wall, they were well mounted, they had to be mounted because there wasn't really any other way to display art on that wall, that's why we came up with the idea of mounting panels on the wall to do something fun for the neighborhood, whether we're open or whether we're closed, because the Punk Rock Flea Market hires literally thousands of artists to create t-shirts, do murals on the inside of the Quality Flea Center where we host the market, but that one was specifically For the neighborhood, we've had a really good community just outpouring of, you know, they want these panels back. There are children who walk past these panels every day on their way to school, that that was like the best part of their morning, or just out walking your dog. Those characters started becoming a part of the community, and at this point, you know. We just would like to see him back, right? Yeah, think about the children. Think about the children. No, but I mean, you guys kind of bring up a good point is that was a empty grocery store. And that is a different part of Capitol Hill. It's more community and more neighborhood feel. And so when you have an empty grocery store, the work that, Josh, you do every couple months with the punk rock flea market to bring it alive. On top of that, you have other events that go on. There's a big event happening this weekend, a wrestling match that we spoke about last week. So this is kind of the quirky, fun, unique part of Seattle, this community. And so for Adam to have your pieces up there, it really did add to that feeling of the neighborhood. And you talk about, too, these other thefts I saw on social media. These artists put their work out there and if you're not an artist you can't fully grasp. It's not as if you just did a day's work. This is a part of you. These are hours. This is a visual image that you have in your head that you work to take from your own mind where only one person can see it and put it out to the world. So it's a very intimate process to create art. You kind of have to to open yourself up. to put your work out there to the public and it's not easy and so when you do that and when you spend the time doing it it's not like artists are making millions of dollars and there is not Banksy or something today these are local people who probably have other forms of work that they have to do to survive and this is a passion for them so they get to be in a gallery what a cool Cool experience. And maybe someone does buy it and it makes you kind of feel validated like this, this, and then someone comes and steals it. Not to mention it's a time when people are feeling under siege, artists are feeling under siege anyway, by the inundation of AI driven graphics design, where people are, artists are being hired less and less to create something and to do commission pieces, because why would you if you can go to the chat bot and create whatever you want to do to advertise your business or advertise your restaurant. So it's particularly... You've got to be brave, you've got to be tough to be out there and be doing art, making art and creating art by hand and putting it out there for the public. You really are digging deep inside yourself to try to express something, or not, or it's a commercial piece or whatever it is you're creating. But either way, there's a human involved in this and there's human feelings and, like you said, human emotion and human passion to create the art that we're putting out there and for someone to come along and help themselves and just take it just feels wrong on so many levels. You need human-driven creativity more than ever for, you know, the dark days and for the young people, you know, to carry on these traditions of making, you know, before we forget, you know, so there's a lot of reasons why just any form of creativity is needed in this time, in this day and age, and, you know, to take it away from, like, especially, like, a community space or from an artist trying to make a partial living off of it, you know, is kind of a bummer. Yeah. And I think I would love to talk on that because this seems almost malicious. There's no objective dollar amount that this art could be flipped for. It's not like, Adam, they're stealing your pieces and they know, oh, I can get X amount from this. It's either someone who likes art and says, I like this, which kind of feels more disgusting because it's like, well, if you're appreciative of local artists and your decision is to steal, that's wild. Or it's someone who is misinterpreting what they're taking and think that maybe they can make a quick buck from it. Either way, the person who's stealing, I don't know if they grasp what they're doing other than really just hurting local creatives. Or if they care. It's driven by some selfish need just to own it or have it or destroy it or whatever it is that's motivating some momentary impulse. Yeah, it's not very community-minded. And this art, you know, it's not a Warhol. It's not a Banksy. It's not a Chihuly. It's not a Keith Haring piece. You know, you can't just take it to a black market and make a hundred grand off of it or something, or, you know, I don't know, fifty bucks. You know, it's just that's, there's not a lot of profit to be gained. Probably going to wind up sitting in a basement somewhere, if not a landfill. Right. That's what's tough about it, because we don't get to ask the person why they did it, but it's really strange. I guess you would hope they did it because they like it, and they just say, I want that. Don't take one. Don't take ten of them. Take a picture. No. Take a picture. Yeah. So let's talk about this. You guys are coming on here. You've highlighted a situation that's happening. We don't know who's done this. We don't know why it seems like there is. It's been a few in a pretty short amount of time. It would seem interesting if it was one person. It probably is just more someone, multiple people are doing the same kind of thing. But how can people help? I mean, Adam, your artwork is very unique. What are you hopeful for with sharing your story? You know, it's just been great to see that people really did enjoy the work. And, you know, if I never see these pieces again, all I can think about is making more. Thank You know, all it did was sort of light a fire to say, okay, well, people care about this, then let's make more and share them with the community and, you know, buy more human-made art. And there's some truth to that, right? Things won't get better until they get better. And so I do think part of our response is you're going to be, you. make more art and put more art out there and find a way to make it safer and more theft-proof. And that's got to be part of the response, is not to just go and hide and be like, oh, I give up. But... What I would love to get out of this, out of you speaking with us and the good response that we've had on social media, is to get the pieces back. It's just for somebody to see this show or to see one of our posts or, you know, see a story and be like, hey, I know who did that. I know where those things are. And just reach out. And there's no, you know, we're past the point of judgment. It doesn't matter, like, what drove this. It's just bring them back. They're, they're... They're ours, and they're the community's, and we want to have them back and make them public and be able to share them again. Yeah, and so folks know you can reach out to both Josh and Adam on social media, probably through... Yeah, Punk Rock Flea Market or Quality Flea Center. Or Adam Ivan. And yeah, let us know. And if you just have a hint of... Make it anonymous. Drop it off. I know who was out drinking in Capitol Hill with a screwdriver on Friday night. And it could have been them. Yeah. Give us a heads up. Maybe we can reason with them and get the pieces back. Negotiate. No pictures or video of when it happened or anything like that? No. We're... No. Nope, we have cameras. We do not have cameras on that front wall. Yeah. Well, we're talking about some bad stuff. If you guys can help out Adam and Josh, their social medias are available, the Punk Rock Flea Market and Adam Ivan. We're talking about all the negative. You guys do have some awesome stuff, though, that is recent. Josh, a huge event going on at the Space this weekend. Yeah, always something big going on at the Quality Flea Center. Heelface Magazine is releasing their next magazine at the Quality Flea Center this weekend, this Saturday, Saturday night. That's going to be huge. It's beautiful. It's the intersection of wrestling and music and trans culture, and it is this beautiful, big, multicolored spectacle going on with live DJs and live wrestling and art, and it's going to be a scene at the Quality Flea Market at seven at 7 o'clock on Saturday. But we've got the next Punk Rock Flea Market coming up December 11th through 13th. And we have all ages shows happening almost every weekend, live music, cheap entry, live music, all kinds of local bands, punk bands and otherwise. Yeah. Always something happening. And people can keep up with that with the Instagram and social medias. Or qualityfleacenter.com for our Instagram. Why don't you show up? Show up, 416 15th Avenue East on Capitol Hill. Come on by. You just released a comic you've been working on. The book is available. I saw it physically at Fantagraphics. I saw a table of yours at the Short Run Comics Festival this weekend. So you just have a new book out. New book out. It'll be available at the Punk Rock Flea Market, as well as I'll be painting some new wood panels that will be available for the Holiday Market as well. And just... Punk Rock Flea Market is the best place to get your last-minute DIY one-of-one creative. Holiday gifts and it'll always be one dollar entry forever. So it's for everyone. Yeah. Can't stop once that Yeah. Your comic that you just put out, what is it called? And can you also still get it at Fantagraphics? Yes. So I have a series called Spiraland and for the Halloween season, I released Spider-Bat and the Haunted Mountain, a Spiraland Halloween. You can get it in store at Fantagraphics bookstore in Georgetown. Yeah. And this is a cool book. This is All, Adam did it himself, all creator, all on paper, and it is all ages. It is kind of a fun, because, you know, it could be anything. I read it, and it's a fun story, and anyone can really pick it up and read it. Guys, thank you so much for taking some time to talk to us. Thank you. It's a tough situation, you know. We appreciate you coming out here, and hopefully this helps. Yeah, it's terrible, but it's nice to have a chance to talk about it, and I hope it gets to the right person. Yeah, yeah. All right, Josh and Adam, we appreciate you guys.