Recent Projects

Commission by the Parkwood Association to do a mural at Twin Ponds Park.

Article here: https://www.shorelineareanews.com/2015/09/twin-ponds-park-restroom-gets-makeover.html

Doing a faux stained glass installation at Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle. Opening November 2014. More information can be found at: https://storefrontsseattle.com/2013/05/31/storefronts-seattle-is-proud-to-announce-the-2013-2014-artist-roster/

http://storefrontsseattle.com/2014/10/22/just-in-time-for-winter-water-water-everywhere-in-south-lake-union/

Shunpike’s Storefronts program returns to South Lake Union with a new series for the dark days of winter. From 3-D abstractions to carousel horses, manipulated photos of water, kinetic birds, and needle-felted white deer, we are proud to present these eight new installations from our roster.

Michiko Tanaka
Underwater

Artist and scenic designer Michiko Tanaka’s Underwater installation is influenced by her stint as a stained glass artist working in churches and cathedrals. She uses traditional theatre set painting and lighting techniques to create a simulacrum of a stained glass window influenced by Japanese fables.

Recently I was chosen as the winner of The 63rd Street Mural contest. My design will be painted in July 2014 at the underpass of 63rd and Aurora. Below is a site dedicated to the mural and it’s process.

http://n63rdstreetmural.wordpress.com/blog/

More press about the mural:

http://www.seattletimes.com/photo-video/photography/new-view-on-your-commute/

“Promenade”

rendering for the 13′ x 200′ mural

Volunteers painting in mural

Seattle Times article:

LINDSEY WASSON / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Seattle resident Jim Sykes paints an elephant as fellow volunteer Emma Mitchell, 14, goes for more supplies while they work Sunday on artist Michiko Tanaka’s mural design, “Animal Silhouettes,” which covers about a 200-foot span of an underpass on North 63rd Street at Aurora Avenue North. Previously, a mural painted in the 1990s decorated both sides of the underpass, but it was covered with so much graffiti that in 2012 it was removed. Soon after, Kerry Fowler, an area resident who wanted to bring a mural back, began organizing a community effort to paint a new one. Fowler said several community businesses have helped donate toward the $5,000 needed to match money from Seattle’s Neighborhood Matching Fund, while dozens of residents came to help paint over the weekend. “The community really stepped up,” he said. The committee in charge of the mural has agreed to maintain it for five years, and a graffiti-resistant coating will be applied.

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fseattlemag.com%2Fvibrant-new-murals-seattle%2F&data=05%7C01%7C%7C1fcbb22b61874138e5e808db61abfcf8%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638211163533553974%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=ybkrOTyOqWjpTgeyP5oHahuj%2B%2FA1QIMb0xW%2FU7k3d8o%3D&reserved=0

From Seattle Mag

From August 1st-September 15th I will be one of twelve artists participating in “Art Interruptions”.  Each artist will be doing a temporary installation funded by Seattle Office of Arts and Culture.  My installation will be at various locations on the Seattle waterfront.  I will wheat paste posters, postcards and hang banners.

More info here: http://artbeat.seattle.gov/2013/05/30/artists-selected-for-art-interruptions-2013-temporary-projects/

One of four banners based on my grandmother’s sayings

Marion Street Ferry terminal Entrance.

Art Beat Blog (Office of Arts and Culture)

Twelve emerging artists have been selected to create temporary art installations along the Beacon Hill Neighborhood Greenway and the Central Waterfront for the project Art Interruptions 2013, in partnership with the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT). The artworks will inhabit city sidewalks and parks and offer passers-by a brief interruption in their day, eliciting a moment of surprise, beauty, contemplation or humor. Each artist will develop a series of artworks on display for approximately six weeks beginning in August.

I spent three months as an artist in residence at Twispworks (Twisp, WA). In exchange for my stay I was commissioned to do a a project for the campus. I chose to do an installation in a facade on the campus. I chose to do a series of faux stained glass windows with fables of the Okanagans (a local tribe) featured in each one.

Methow Arts

Now in its second year, the TwispWorks artist residency is a partnership with Methow Arts Alliance and Confluence Gallery that invites artists working in a variety of media to visit Twisp for three months and interact with the local arts community. Visiting artists live and work on the TwispWorks campus, and either leave behind a piece of artwork for the TwispWorks campus, or create an educational art project. Local artists also use studio space at TwispWorks through the residency program.

http://www.methowvalleyarts.org/hot-topics/exploring-creativity-culture-through/

Interview from KTRT 97.5 The Root

During my residency at Twispworks I would go out and sketch the local scenery. I turned some of the sketches into paintings and eight of them ended up being shown at The Confluence Gallery.

Confluence Gallery & Arts Center continues to develop as the center of cultural activities in the Methow hosting lectures, world music, as well as education and professional development opportunities for artists. As one of the few non-profit art galleries in the country, CGAC is intertwined in the community as a gathering place and host to a wide variety of groups and art classes for children to adults.

Located in North Central Washington State, CGAC has flourished as hub of the arts community for over 25 years. CGAC is located in downtown Twisp, the heart of the Methow Valley. We hold six group and individual exhibits a year, each showcasing the work of local, regional and national artists. CGAC also boasts an amazing array of jewelry, ceramics, textiles and other hand crafted items in the Gift Shop.

My film: “Chief Seattle’s Reply” will be part of the 2012 Tacoma Film Festival
The Tacoma Film Festival celebrates current independent film from around the globe. We especially encourage filmmakers from the Pacific Northwest area to submit to our festival. And we encourage all accepted filmmakers to attend the screenings and events, if possible! This is our time to celebrate you, the filmmaker, and the invaluable artistic talents that you provide to the film community. Each year we strive to enrich our community by bridging the gap between ourselves and outstanding works of independent film.

For more information about the film festival, go to:

http://www.grandcinema.com/page.php?id=43

Recently I was commissioned by Agency to artistically represent Washington State Universities’ International Research and Development project, Latrine Cap.  Piece will be part of The Washington Global Health Alliance expo at Mc Caw Hall and Intiman theater as part of Seattle Center’s 50th anniversary.

For my presentation I made a 20″ x 30″ collage and 4 mini collages to explain “Latrine Cap”

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• the 20″ x 30″ collage
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Four pieces will be shown at:

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I am showing again at The Tollbooth Gallery from April 15th to the end of August.  This time the theme is Northwest weather with a “rain barometer”, quotes about northwest weather, and a video loop about the water cycle.

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excerpt from The Spaceworks Website:

• The Many Words for Rain

  10 APR

  Taking Tacoma’s temperature: Michiko Tanaka at the Tollbooth Gallery, opening April 13.
  Michiko Tanaka returns to the Tollbooth Gallery on April 13 with an interactive video installation about the weather, The Many Words for Rain. According to Tanaka, the installation at “The World’s Smallest Art Gallery” has three parts: part one features a “rain barometer” (shown above), with a movable arrow “that people can adjust to what they think the current precipitation is like.” This component of the installation will be wheatpasted on the back of the tollbooth.

  Part two consists of images of clouds printed with zany words about the local climate, and will also be wheatpasted onto the video gallery. “This part will also be interactive as people will be invited to add their own comments about northwest weather.” Part three is a video loop about the water cycle.

  Take a stroll down to the Tollbooth Gallery for this show…it’s the one chance you’ll have to control the weather. The Many Words for Rain by Michiko Tanaka, at the Tollbooth Gallery, 11th & Broadway, April 13-August 31, 2012.

• There was a lot of feedback on this piece after 4 months of being up (50% being profanity), here are the gems:
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