Ep 282 – Andrew Conru of The Seattle Prize

Andrew Conru (0:00)

And when it comes to the art, I think that there's, especially today in modern life, this type of traditional figurative art is so deprecated and so hidden that this is a goal of trying to say, okay, let's put people in front of hundreds of different types of figurative art so that as you walk through, you can understand how varied and how diverse life is. And from that, you can have a better appreciation for other people's struggles. All right, all right. Here we are.

John Dalton (0:43)

Hi, Andrew.

Andrew Conru (0:45)

Hi, how are you doing?

John Dalton (0:46)

I'm good. How are you?

Andrew Conru (0:49)

Oh my gosh. You know, it's always the last minute, you're like, okay, where's that link at? And-

John Dalton (0:53)

Yeah.

Andrew Conru (0:55)

Well, sorry about the delay. I'm glad I've made it.

John Dalton (0:57)

No, that's fine. That's fine. Okay. So for someone who's listening, I'm talking to Andrew Conru, in Seattle, in America. And just to give you time context for our conversation, today is Friday, the 6th of March, 2026 Andrew is the founder of the Seattle Art Prize. So let's start with that. What is the Seattle Art Prize? What's it all about?

Andrew Conru (1:24)

Well, it is, you know, it's actually an ongoing project we're doing. It's, you know, I think it's kind of a, you know, modern experiment in patronage. You know, it's, I'm bringing together as many classically trained artists that I can bring to Seattle and giving them an option to spend one year completely unhindered by financial pressures and that. And with one mission and goal is to create their life's masterworks. This is kind of something that's has plagued a lot of artists of recent because there's, in order to create really large, interesting, epic works, you know, you need to have time. And a lot of artists are struggling. So that's a way to kind of kick it off. So we're first year into it.

John Dalton (2:13)

Right. So this is the second round now that's open, is that right?

Andrew Conru (2:17)

Yeah, our first cohort started in October of last year. Now that's been a whole like six month process to find them and bring them in and everything. And we just opened the applications for year two.

John Dalton (2:31)

Right. Okay. Very good. Okay. Well, I asked for questions on my social media and some people sent in some questions. So this one's from Amy Lynn Martinez in Jacksonville. I hope I'm pronouncing your name right, Amy Lynn. And she says, what's the most important thing you're looking to hear about slash see in the project proposal? Do we need a fully fledged plan or is an idea and concept sketches appropriate? A year is a long time and it's more than likely plans will morph and shift as the art reveals itself.

Andrew Conru (3:06)

Yeah. You know, this is ongoing, a challenge for most artists to be able to come up with an idea. You know, sometimes it's not, it's not the traditional, sorry. You know, there are multiple ways to come up with an idea. One is you get this inspiration, you go straight to canvas and you work it out. And then the other one is a long journey that could take years even to come up with, you know, the composition, the storyline and everything. But for this project, for one, you have two months in which to fill out the applications with a little bit of a nod for the people who do it early. The applications do on April 30th. But when it comes to, like, you know, what we're looking for, it's mostly a passion to use your artist skills for the public good. You know, and it's different than a lot of artists who are, you know, basically painting so that someone, either painting for self-enjoyment or they're painting because they want to sell the work. You know, it's a different mindset to say, okay, I'm going to come in and just, you know, my work is going to be important enough so that when someone stands in front of it, their life is better. And, you know, when it comes to actually the specifics of what they want to upload, you know, that's something that's ongoing. It could be as simple as a quick sketch or a thumbnail or just the concept, you know.

And then so that's we're kind of open minded right now because this is our evolving process in trying to figure out who's a great fit.

John Dalton (4:35)

Yeah, right. So how does the jurying process go? Is it just yourself or is there a group of people? And what kind of criteria do you use?