We are very excited bring ElectricSEA to the Seatte in the halls of PublicDisplay.Art and the ArtLove Salon, which is funded by the Conru Foundation. We are also very excited by the opportunity to partner with PublicDisplay.Art, another nonprofit dedicated to fostering a thriving creative community in the NW, in part through arts exhibition opportunities in their quarterly magazine. For Electric SEA, PublicDisplay.Art is generously allowing us to use their space for our pop-up lab, and one floor up in the same building we will be able to use the ArtLove Salon for breakout groups, the showcase exhibition, and wrap-up party.
That said, we have heard concern regarding the ArtLove Salon’s association with the Conru Foundation, due to articles published in the Guardian and Hope not Hate exposing donations made by Andrew Conru to groups that promoted racist ideologies. He has since disavowed these groups (see Seattle Time article in 2024), attributing these contributions to insufficient due diligence when assessing grant recipients.
We at Third Place Technologies are anti-racist and believe strongly in diversity, equity and inclusion. In considering the use of the ArtSalon event space for the hackathon, we did our own due diligence examining this issue, including reviewing the original articles, and reading Conru’s Nov 2024 Open letter to the community, where he stated that these donations were a mistaken attempt to advocate free speech on both the left and the right, and do not reflect his true values. “I have cut all ties – including any form of financial support or ownership stake – with organizations and individuals who do not align with my values favoring equality, diversity and social progress.” We met with our trusted connections at PublicDisplay.Art who have worked with him directly and asked for their perspective. We visited the ArtSalon and read the display about the Foundation’s history and goals. We also reviewed their recent donation history (see Conru.com and Instrumentl reports). After some discussion with our committee, we decided to take Andrew Conru at his word, believe that his intent to support the local arts community is well-meaning, and that with the addition of a more formal review committee, his Foundation will not support groups promoting racist ideologies again.
We are optimists and believe in the human capacity for positive change, and do not seek to “cancel” someone who has since made the right moves in word and deed. We love partnering with PublicDisplay.Art, and support and appreciate the Conru Foundation’s mission to facilitate education, community, and innovation opportunities for artists in the Northwest. We are thankful for the free use of PublicDisplay.Art offices and the ArtSalon event space, and the $10,000 grant from the Conru Foundation that helps make Electric SEA possible and free to the public.