City Arts: Future List 2013
City Arts
It’s morning in Seattle, but the ambitious and intrepid among us were awake before dawn. The people on our annual Future List—artists, curators and tastemakers—will improve your coming year. This is your early introduction. – SEE MORE
Profile of Diana Adams, Proprietor of Vermillion Gallery and Bar
Age Classified
Neighborhood Capitol Hill
Hometown LA, upstate New York, Flagstaff, Seattle
Favorite restaurant Pettiroso
Go-to karaoke song “Islands in
the Stream” by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers
Childhood nickname Jellybean
Recent personal achievementAnytime I parallel park on the first try
If you passed by Vermillion on Capitol Hill over the course of 2012, you may have seen, through the gallery-bar’s windows, a life-size polar bear sculpture rising from within the bloody ribcage of a whale. Or a goth band playing to a throng of people dressed like extras from the Joy Division film Control. Or a DJ spinning Cochin Moon, an album of Bollywood-inspired electronic music from 1978. Or a bunch of vintage pinball machines.
Vermillion’s front room is a full-blown gallery; the booze is in the back. Located on one of Capitol Hill’s busiest blocks, it’s both a coveted showing space for local artists of all stripes and a haven for artful drinkers.
“I went into this because I couldn’t afford the art that I wanted to be exposed to,” says Diana Adams, owner and creative force behind Vermillion. “So I decided to bring it to me. I thought, if I can’t give artists money, I’ll create a venue where they’ll be able to get money from somebody else.”
Adams worked as a photographer and at a dotcom before opening Vermillion in 2007. She curates the art, books the music and works behind the bar every day. The space’s clean design and unpretentious vibe make it a place where people want to hang out, creating a neighborhood hangout with a sense of perpetual replenishment.
“I like to be the fly on the wall and behind the scenes but still directing the interacting,” she says. “Every single person is contributing, or taking away, or keeping the dynamic going. I do my job and everybody else gets to be a part of it.”
Category: Press
