Shift opened in December 2004 in the renovated Tashiro-Kaplan arts complex, an artist live/work building in the Pioneer Square district of Seattle. The gallery was founded by artists Garth Amundson, Stephen Chalmers, Cara Jaye, Pierre Gour and Joni Papp with the primary goal of creating more freedom for artists to exhibit outside of normal gallery strictures. They aimed to support a cross-section of Northwest-area artists who work in a variety of media and who are dedicated to creating challenging and innovative art. The founders’ dedication to exploration and rigorous content carries forward today. Shift exists as an exhibition space in which its member artists can test ideas, take risks or refine directions that advance their work.

As a co-operative our artist members take financial responsibility for the cost of putting on shows, rent, marketing, maintenance, and sponsorship of an annual diversity scholarship. We take no commissions on sales in the gallery.

You can make a donation help support our mission of bringing exploratory, innovative and non-commercial art to Seattle in free exhibits that are open to the public.