The Port of Seattle, EMP Museum, Pearl Jam, and poster artists Ames Bros. today unveiled a new exhibit of screen prints commissioned over the years for the band’s promotional concert posters as part of the Experience the City of Music program at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The exhibit, located on concourse A, is the second music-themed attraction for the program from EMP Museum following an initial exhibit of Jimi Hendrix.
“As a first and last stop to new visitors, we are proud to highlight the unique artistry of the music culture within our region at Sea-Tac Airport and this exhibit shows there’s more to it than just the music," said Port of Seattle Commissioner John Creighton. “The music program continues to expand. We are grateful to everyone who’s participating with the various elements and our travelers continue to love it!”
Organized by EMP Museum, in collaboration with Pearl Jam, Ten Club and Ames Bros., PUSH ME, PULL ME: Pearl Jam and the Art of the Screen Printed Poster features 85 posters from more than 30 artists including the Ames Bros., Brad Klausen, Munk One, Ward Sutton, and others. These posters reflect the artists that created them, but they also become an extension of the band, referencing the musicians, the venues and cities in which they play, song lyrics, contemporary politics, a world of music, and a love of history and popular culture. But most of all, this myriad posters illustrates some of Pearl Jam’s core artistic values: the desire to foster a climate of creativity, to act as a patron for other artists, and to provide comment and critique on society and humanity.
“Historic and cultural milestones live on in these works of art,” says Jacob McMurray, Senior Curator, EMP Museum. “These posters commemorate amazing concerts, such as Pearl Jam’s four-night stand at The Spectrum in Philadelphia in 2009, where they closed down that fabled venue, but they also convey the band’s and the artists’ points of view on contemporary society. As such, these posters are more than just graphic ephemera, but in fact objects of often deep artistic and cultural meaning.”
When Pearl Jam formed in Seattle in 1990, posters were one of the few ways a band could communicate with their audience. They were vital to advertising a future show, but also important for conveying, through the art and design, the identity of the band. Soon after the alternative rock explosion in the early 1990s, as screen printing technology was being re-embraced for artistic purposes, Pearl Jam began commissioning posters for nearly every show they played.
"Back in ’95, on a snake farm in Bangkok, my brother (Jeff Ament) and I hatched a scheme to create a series of screen-printed posters for some upcoming shows,” said Barry Ament of Ames Bros. “There was no intent behind it, no long-term vision, just the need to be creative. Really just an outlet for fun. I knocked out several posters and within a few months Coby stepped in to join the fun. We were given enough rope to try new things, explore different styles and techniques and ultimately it brought out our best. The result is a massive body of work that we are truly proud of."
“The significance of the airport’s Experience the City of Music program cannot be understated,” said Kate Becker, Director of Seattle’s Office of Film + Music. “It shines the spotlight on Seattle’s rich musical history through carefully curated exhibits like the Pearl Jam Poster Exhibit, showcases the city’s rich musical diversity through a robust schedule of live musical performances, and gives visitors, both near and far, a taste of what we are fortunate to be able to experience daily – our dynamic and extremely talented local music industry.”
The new exhibit is located near gate A1 along three walls of the walkway and can be accessed by any traveler post security.
“It is very gratifying to see how the Experience the City of Music program at the airport continues to grow and develop,” said Nadine Zgonc, Seattle Music Commissioner and head of Brand Strategy and Account Architecture for PlayNetwork. “Being able to help bring a variety of media elements designed to showcase our region’s diverse musical identity and talent has truly been the highlight of my work at PlayNetwork and as a Seattle Music Commissioner. It’s a joy to come to the airport and watch how travelers respond and interact with all of the musical elements. I love what’s been done so far and can’t wait to see what comes next.”
More on the Sea-Tac Airport Experience the City of Music Program
Introduced in 2012, the award-winning Sea-Tac Airport Experience the City of Music program – a partnership by the Port of Seattle, Seattle Music Commission and PlayNetwork – is a comprehensive effort to enhance the traveler experience with the music of Northwest artists including overhead music, safety and public information announcements by artists, live performances, curated videos on terminal and baggage claim monitors, and a multi-channel web radio player available through the free airport Wi-Fi network.
In 2013, the program was honored as Best Arrivals Experience by the Future Travel Experience Awards to recognize innovative, ambitious and effective initiatives and organizations in the airline industry.
In just three years, the airport playlist has grown to 729 songs with 240 Northwest musicians. Over 40 Northwest artists have volunteered their time to record overhead welcome, security and informational announcements including Grammy award winners and nominated artists Macklemore, Ludovic Morlot, John Popper, Sir Mix-A-Lot, Ann Wilson, and Quincy Jones, plus other diverse artists such as Ben Gibbard, Jerry Cantrell, Brandi Carlile, Allen Stone and many more.
Live music programming consists of three performances daily, ranging between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. at various locations throughout the terminal past security. In the two years of performances, 58 different Northwest musicians have played 1,800 hours of live music.
More Details and Schedules
For detailed schedules, locations, a video of live performances, and how musicians can participate, visit the Sea-Tac Airport Music Initiative page. You can also find sample audio clips of the welcome and informational announcements from top Northwest artists, plus more information on the program.
When you are at Sea-Tac Airport, travelers can submit feedback or let the airport know what they are hearing by following @flySEA on Twitter and using #SEACityofMusic.
Individuals may follow the exhibit online and stay up to date with the latest messaging using the hashtag: #PearlJamAtSEA.
About Sea-Tac Airport Experiene the City of Music
In private/public partnership between Sea-Tac Airport, the Seattle Music Commission, and PlayNetwork, this effort is a comprehensive program to enhance the experience of millions of traveler’s each year through exposure to the diverse variety of musical artists from the Pacific Northwest. The program includes overhead music in common areas, live artist performances throughout the terminal, music-themed artist exhibits curated by the EMP Museum, artist-recorded overhead announcements, curated videos on terminal and baggage claim monitors, and a multi-channel web radio player available through the free airport Wi-Fi network.
About Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Operated by the Port of Seattle, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA, KSEA) is ranked as the 13th largest U.S. airport, serving nearly 37.5 million passengers in 2014 and more than 319,000 metric tons of air cargo. With a regional economic impact of more than $16.3 billion in business revenue, Sea-Tac generates more than 171,000 jobs (109,924 direct jobs) representing more than $2.8 billion in direct earnings and $565 million in state and local taxes. Twenty-five airlines serve 78 non-stop domestic destinations and 21 international cities.
About EMP Museum
EMP is a leading-edge, nonprofit museum, dedicated to the ideas and risk-taking that fuel contemporary popular culture. With its roots in rock 'n' roll, EMP serves as a gateway museum, reaching multigenerational audiences through our collections, exhibitions, and educational programs, using interactive technologies to engage and empower our visitors. At EMP, artists, audiences and ideas converge, bringing understanding, interpretation, and scholarship to the popular culture of our time.
About Pearl Jam
In 1991, Pearl Jam's debut album, Ten, catapulted the little-known Seattle-based band into superstardom. Ten studio albums, hundreds of unique live performances and hundreds of official official live concert bootleg releases later, the band continue to be critically acclaimed and commercially successful -- with over 60 million albums sold worldwide.
Pearl Jam released their Grammy Award winning tenth studio album, Lightning Bolt, through Monkeywrench Records/Republic Records on October 15, 2013. Lightning Bolt debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart as well as #1 on iTunes in over 50 countries and is available now at www.pearljam.com, via iTunes and all major retailers.
About SEATTLE CITY OF MUSIC™
The City of Music Initiative launched in 2008 as an effort to celebrate and grow Seattle’s music culture. Musicians, record labels, radio stations, clubs, festivals, and music-focused nonprofits, and civic organizations all contribute to what makes Seattle such an iconic music city. This initiative strives to build a cohesive framework of support for this infrastructure and leverage it for growth and expansion.
Programs include the annual City of Music Career Day, City of Music Internship, City of Music Roadshow Summits, Musicians Priority Load Zones, and Sea-Tac Airport’s ‘Experience the City of Music’ program. The Seattle Music Commission works towards the realization of this Initiative by cultivating partnerships, developing policy, and facilitating connections between the community and the music industry to make Seattle a place where musicians thrive, communities are strengthened, and music businesses flourish.
About PlayNetwork
PlayNetwork helps brands use music and entertainment media to enhance customer experience, in-store and beyond. These experiences add emotional interaction points that increase engagement and influence lifetime value. Clients engage PlayNetwork for custom music and media supervision, audio/visual systems engineering and installation, branded entertainment campaigns, technology and software development, global music and content licensing, original video and motion graphics, in-store and on-hold messaging, advertising networks, and more. They partner with over 400 brands across 100,000 locations in 110 countries, reaching more than 100 million people every day. For more information, visit www.playnetwork.com.
Contact: Adam Hollander, Director, Marketing, PlayNetwork, ahollander@playnetwork.com, (425) 629-1839.
