Western Bridge is a nonprofit space dedicated to contemporary art, founded by the Seattle collectors Bill and Ruth True. The True Collection contains works in video, photography, and other media by an international roster of mid-career and emerging artists. Works from the collection have been exhibited in many major museums in North America and Europe. Western Bridge originated from a desire to keep more of the collection on view here in Seattle.

Operating out of a renovated 10,000 square foot warehouse in Seattle's industrial district, Western Bridge will present the current state of artmaking through thematic group shows drawn from the True Collection, focused exhibitions on contemporary artists, and newly commissioned works, through summer 2012.

Press
See reviews, features, and podcasts about Western Bridge and its exhibitions. Go to the Press page >

About the Building
Western Bridgeís warehouse home was built in the mid-50s for a construction company of the same name. The nameís reuse preserves something of the history of the site while indicating the role Western Bridge seeks to play — as a connector between private collecting and public exhibition, and between Seattle and the international contemporary art world.

The renovation was designed by Roy McMakin/Domestic Architecture. McMakinís design overlays a symbol of domesticity — the double-hung house window — onto the entry of a concrete warehouse. This points to Western Bridgeís dual status as a public home for a private collection. Inside, the building weaves private and public spaces in an interlocking composition, offering galleries in a range of scales to suit art in various media.



Staff
Eric Fredericksen is the director of Western Bridge. He is a former editor and writer at The Stranger and Architecture. Collections and exhibitions are managed by Matthew Cox, a former preparator at the Henry Art Gallery and Bellevue Art Museum.