Reason To Be

Reason To Be was an outdoor, interactive art installation made of kilnformed and laminated glass panels set into a decommissioned bus shelter, strung with a hammock by artist Jessica Jackson Hutchins. It was commissioned for the Seattle Art Fair in 2017. Seattle, WA

Bullseye Studio’s work with Hutchins began when she was selected as the Bullseye Glass Co. Winter 2017 Artist-In-Residence. During her residency at Bullseye Studio, Hutchins was given the opportunity for an open-ended, experimental and exploratory experience with kiln-glass. Hutchins maintained full reign of her exploration throughout the residency as her methodologies developed.

In the Spring of 2017, Hutchins was invited by the Seattle Art Fair to submit artwork for an outdoor installation. For this commission, Hutchins wanted to place her newly discovered love of kiln-glass material into a found, urban, metal armature for an outdoor installation. The goal of the installation was to create an aesthetically engaging temporary shelter. During Hutchins’ hunt for a ready-made steel frame structure in which to place glass panels, the artistic director of the Seattle Art Fair contacted TriMet (Portland, OR) and secured the gift of a 1970’s era bus stop to repurpose into the artwork.

During Hutchins’ time in residency and her additional six weeks with us fabricating the artwork, the Bullseye Studio fabrication team offered training and consultation, and helped with some of the physical labor of the work. But Hutchins, utilizing our materials and kilns, fabricated the work herself.