Empowering Seattle Artists: EnJoy’s Big Wins for Public Art in 2025
We loving hiring talented performers to activate our events! Pictured: Lou Mangione, Alex Zerbe, and Martha!
As we step eyes-wide-open into 2025, it’s impossible to ignore the challenges of our times—but art-making has never felt more vital. We are energized by the support for free public art and thrilled to announce EnJoy’s major contributions to downtown Seattle’s revitalization this summer. With creativity and imagination at the forefront, we’ll be producing dynamic “activations” as part of a citywide effort to reawaken our shared spaces with vibrant energy.
This fall’s grant and proposal-writing efforts bore incredible fruit: EnJoy received two prestigious awards! Thanks to Hope Corps, through the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture and Mayor Harrell’s Downtown Activation Plan, we’ll present a series of diverse performances across downtown Seattle in August, 2025. This bold vision includes dance, music, circus, and games, celebrating the city’s talent and engaging audiences with a kaleidoscope of cultures and art forms.
Crucially, this support enables us to pay scores of local artists, offering them invaluable opportunities to share their work while fostering connection and joy among Seattle’s communities. Like last year’s acclaimed world premiere of Venus & The Vixens: Games of Love, this project is powered by our fiscal sponsor, Shunpike, which allows us to fundraise and secure grants for our community-focused initiatives.
We’re also thrilled to announce that EnJoy has been awarded a Sustained Support grant from 4Culture, with an exciting boost this year thanks to the Doors Open legislation! This vital funding will help cover production and planning costs for our free public art activations, ensuring our work continues to address critical issues like engagement, isolation, and a hopeful vision for the future of our city.
After 35 years of creating art and performance in Seattle, we consider ourselves wildly lucky to be part of an extraordinary community of artists, organizations, ensembles, and troupes. From Martha’s groundbreaking production of the nation’s first Fringe Theater Festival in 1992 to our work as Co-Founders of UMO Ensemble, performers, directors and producers with Teatro Zinzanni, 20 years of performances with Moisture Festival, and hundreds of corporate and nonprofit clients, we’ve had the privilege of collaborating with artists across every imaginable genre.
This region is immensely blessed with talented and dedicated artists, and this year, we are deeply grateful for the opportunity to channel creativity into action, building a brighter, more connected Seattle for all. Let’s make 2025 unforgettable! In a good way!!