Winter Celebration Mural by Teresa Grasseschi at fruitsuper
× The making of a winter celebration mural ×
A CONVERSATION WITH FRUITSUPER CO-OWNER SALLYANN CORN AND MURALIST TERESA GRASSESCHI
Interview conducted over email by Space.City’s Julia Frost and Kate Murphy, February 2021
Sallyann (fruitsuper) and Teresa (muralist), How do you two know each other? Past collaborations?
SALLYANN CORN: We met via JOIN Design years ago. The absolute best part about Seattle is the creative community. It is small and so loving, and everyone eventually connects.
TERESA GRASSESCHI: I used to own and run a stationery business and became a part of Sallyann’s artist collective. She has always been so good at creating community and lifting other makers. I shut down my stationery business a few years ago. It became too much as my freelance career started taking off. We have remained friends throughout the twists.
Describe how fruitsuper’s mural series originated at the start of the pandemic, as well as the process of working with Teresa and any past artists.
SALLYANN: Our first mural was quick, scrappy, vibrant, and we thought it would be super temporary. As in, maybe up for a couple of weeks? Ha! Since our first mural in March 2020, we’ve had six. Our shop is so much more than just retail, and we’ve missed the events we were able to host in the past. This ongoing mural series has been our way of thanking and celebrating our creative community. The best part about all of our murals has been the team effort. Each artist comes with their own vision and methods and we adapt and create them together. We’ve been able to experiment with various media (giant collages, linocut posters, etc.), which makes each one unique. Teresa is a delight to work with; she brings a goofy and honest reality to all of her projects.
Tell us about this winter wonderland mural, and the process of creating it on the storefront?
TERESA: I knew this winter was going to be a different experience and I found myself daydreaming of the ease and joy of winters past - snow days where the neighborhood lines up to barrel down the hill in a laundry basket - fun for the sake of fun. It became my stipulation for the piece, the purity of fun. If the scene didn’t make me grin, I tossed it. The skating rink became my favorite pretty fast. There are hilarity and tenderness to skating that are so pure.
I always create a tight black and white sketch to scale, a color profile, and an execution plan for a mural before I start painting. Most of the work is actually front end, that way I can focus solely on speed and accuracy when I am on site. Transfer and painting took about a week. I set the bar high for myself with complexity and color saturation, but all of it was worth it. I love that piece, it is a small slice of joy and I hope it brings everyone comfort.
How would you describe the role of public art this past year and entering 2021?
SALLYANN: Watching the murals go up throughout the various neighborhoods of Seattle starting in March-April 2020 was incredible. At times heartbreaking and scary but also showcasing the vibrancy and grit that our creative community has to offer. Now, more than ever, public art is the best way to bring us all together during our collective seclusion. Our galleries have been brought outside for all to enjoy.
TERESA: I think in large respect, this past year has cemented the importance of artists in Seattle’s public spaces. Artists have collectively had a rough go of the pandemic. Even though art jobs are the first to be considered unnecessary and chopped, we always show up in force for the emotional wellbeing of our communities. We are quick to create free resources for protests/mutual aid groups, coloring sheets for kids stuck at home, mini outdoor galleries for people to enjoy on walks, hold online concerts and create merch to save music venues, and of course, paint giant murals to make you feel less alone in an empty boarded up landscape. We are essential. It is my hope as the world gets vaccinated and things finally inch closer to normal that this year’s knowledge isn’t forgotten and new opportunities become extended. I would love to see Seattle fund more public mural pieces, maybe join the larger arts culture of creating a recurring public mural festival.
A mural's life is sustained by its community. The first mural I ever did was for Molly Moon’s Wallingford location. It is a little guy in the alleyway. Whenever I’ve stopped in for ice cream since they always gush about how beloved it is to people. When your work becomes an addition to a community’s identity, you’ve really done your job upright. I grew up in Ballard, and our local video store, Rain City video, had this mural on the side, a silhouette of a 50's family watching tv, and above it a banner of text that read ‘never a cloudy day’. It became a real symbol of home for me. Since the business shut down last year, I’ve actively avoided that street- I don’t ever want to find out if the mural got painted over. It lives rent-free in my brain’s definition of home forever.
What is it like changing scales from smaller print works to larger public murals? Describe how the temporary nature of this work affects your art?
TERESA: When I make small-scale work, I focus solely on my vision, which makes the work feel personal and precious. When I work on a mural piece, the approach is the exact opposite. In making mural work, I am actively working for harmony in the overall design. If a mural does not consider location and accompanying design, it fails. I would love to work closely with more interior designers on pieces for community-driven spaces. Over the years, I have learned to let go of my attachment to my mural work after I complete it. Any good design work will grow past you. You have to let go for others to experience it on their terms. Once I leave a mural on the last install day, I say my goodbyes to my own experience with it and push it off to live its own life.
It has been a very difficult time for small businesses, but fruitsuper has maintained a lively presence — what other ways have you innovated this past year / how has it changed you now and in the future?
SALLYANN: Wow, thank you! Our community is everything to us — you’re the reason we’re here! Since day one, we have celebrated the individual creatives, dreamers, makers, and doers. And though we can’t be together, we can still be creative together. We’re still collectively feeling loneliness, loss, and striving to reconnect to our creative selves. We try to be open and honest about what we’re personally going through, knowing we are not alone in our experiences. We’ll be dedicating the first few months of the year to reading, refueling, and stocking up on books to feed your creative souls. We’ll continue to be as active as possible within the constraints of separation and safety. Knowing that we all need to stay and feel connected!
What public artists do you admire or draw inspiration from?
TERESA: I know it sounds silly, but in recent years I have tried quite hard not to admire other artists. in the past, that practice led me to other myself from the art world. I now try hard to see all artists’ work through the lens of ‘what is undeniably human about this person’ and their work as an answer to that. I have gained a lot from that practice. As far as personal inspiration, I pull from a lot of childhood memories, Mary Blair’s work formed my base ideas of color and the power of lighting. I learned how to draw from obsessing over Joy Roger’s book ‘Giants Come in Different Sizes’ and all things Tomie de Paola. I was really fascinated with Picasso as a kid and when reading was hard for me, I assigned “Picasso shapes” to letters and memorized words through pictures. I think all of that is in my work now in some way.
SALLYANN: Isamu Noguchi, forever and always. Donald Judd, Henry Moore, Beverly Pepper, Louise Bourgeois, Carmen Herrera, George Tsutakawa, Richard Serra.
What is your favorite space in Seattle (art, architecture, urbanism)?
TERESA: The Ballard Locks. They have a history and a regular functionality that is intermixed with this small little park connecting two neighborhoods. It’s a super interesting blend of nature, city, and community that I think is deeply underrated, even though it is consistently covered in goose poop.
SALLYANN: The brick plaza surrounding the Federal Building on 2nd Ave downtown is my absolute favorite. I’ve walked through these corners countless times, and each time it’s a different experience. Different lighting, different weather conditions, shadows, limitless paths to choose from.
fruitsuper shop is located at 524 1st Ave S in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood
Photos courtesy of fruitsuper, Teresa Grasseschi, and Ana Barots.