Future Arts Way Opening Ceremony @ Pacific Science Center Arches
Join us for our Future Arts Way Opening Ceremony, under the arches at Pacific Science Center as we debut this one of a kind mixed reality experience featuring works of art by local artists and technologists.
Debuting during FIFA World Cup 2026, Future Arts Way: Other Earth 2026 is a nonprofit-led, city-scale augmented reality (AR) public art project. It is designed to connect visitors and locals to Seattle’s culture through Coast Salish, Afrocentric, and community storytelling from an “other” perspective, with immersive, place-based mobile experiences through a custom no-downloads wayfinder. Seattle is a thriving world technology hub that has the highest wage gap between computer and arts occupations, so Future Arts creates large scale programs such as this one to bridge the gap and connect community, commerce, artists, and technologists.
WHAT IT IS:
1) The AR Walking Path “Arches to Clock Tower”
A 2.5-mile route from Seattle Center’s Pacific Science Center to the stadium district, ending at King Street Station, featuring mixed reality (XR) artworks and vinyl ground “launch pads” that guide people through stories and histories around flora and fauna, placed near curated emerging arts centers,location partners, and small businesses. The experience will live on a custom wayfinder platform powered by Houdini Interactive and will remain active through September 2026, with hopes for future installations.
2) The Downtown Midway Landmark (3rd & Pine):
A large-scale mixed-reality installation transforming 3rd Avenue & Pine Street corner with vinyl interactive murals, activating the skybridge at the former Macy’s building, with
support by Downtown Seattle Association, and geospatial augmented reality technologies for a more advanced, interactive Parasitic Healing Waterfall ricocheting off the skybridge into the street, viewed through a mobile device.
3) Currents Cohort: Coast Salish Storytelling in AR
The Currents Cohort is a group of Coast Salish artists, knowledge holders, storytellers, policymakers, herbalists, and traditional foods specialists who answered an open call to explore Indigenous storytelling through augmented reality, with the expectation that no prior digital experience was needed. Brought together by multimedia artist Alina Nazmeeva, ecologist Alex Kosnett, and the Future Arts Way team — with grant support from the University of Illinois — the cohort gathered over a series of sessions to share stories and co-create visions of a resilient, Native-led future.
What emerged from those gatherings is a collection of individual and collaborative works that are being brought to life with support from Future Arts’ Creative Technologists and the project’s initiators, Alina Nazmeeva and Alex Kosnett. Each piece will be showcased along the Downtown Seattle corridor as part of Future Arts Way's augmented reality walking path.
Participating Artists and Creatives include:
Alex Kosnett (Türkiye-Brazilian)
Alexis Eggertsen (USA)
Alina Nazmeeva (Tatarstan / USA)
Ash Frantz (Enrolled Makah, Lower Elwha S’Klallam, Duwamish)*
Azure Bleu Boure (Suquamish)*
Chenoa Egawa (Lummi and S'Klallam Nations)*
Divine Ndemeye (Burundo-Canadian)
Daniel R. Smith (Swinomish)*
Gabriel-Bello Diaz (Puerto Rican)
Jenée Redecker (Chehalis)*
Jose Gabriel Contreras (Venezuelan)
Lu AfterBuffalo (Jamestown S'klallam)*
Mazzy Ungaro (Muckleshoot)*
Mike Peredo (Canadian)
Nychelle Schneider (Snoqualmie)*
TJ WhiteAntelope (Lummi)*
Valerie Segrest (Muckleshoot)*
* -Coast Salish Artist
WHY NOW:
The World Cup is expected to bring 750,000+ visitors and global attention to downtown Seattle, coined as the “second World’s Fair moment”. Future Arts Way turns that moment into a grounded cultural and civic narrative: more movement, more discovery, more local spending and a post-event cultural asset that remains for the community through 2026. That’s a win and a big ROI for our Creative Economy, bridging Seattle’s arts and technology communities.