Seattle Art Fair 2015.
Photo: Erin McCutcheon, Seattle Met.

After a successful inaugural run last year, the Seattle Art Fair is changing focus this summer.

Curator Laura Fried will be serving as artistic director in the second iteration of the fair. Fried, who is based in Los Angeles and has served as curator at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (CAM), will be responsible for the event’s peripheral programming, including pre-fair activities, talks, panels and presentations.

Curator Laura Fried.
Photo: Courtesy of Art Market Productions.

“We are excited to present a program that is artist-driven, public-oriented, responsive to the most invigorating art practices today, and which highlights the great breadth of work coming out of the Pacific Northwest, the West Coast, and the Pacific Rim,” said Fried in a statement.

Fair director Max Fishko told artnet News in a phone interview that the inaugural fair relied on a committee of curators, but this year they’re shifting gears. “It was always a priority for this project to bring a real curatorial vision and do more with the programming than just window-dressing,” Fishko said. “We decided in the second year to go with a single voice.”

This year’s lineup boasts an impressive batch of exhibitors, counting David Zwirner and Pace as returning participants. Gagosian gallery is absent in the first round, however, but the second round will be announced after the March 11 deadline.

Altogether, the fair is slated to feature a total of 75 galleries.

Atmosphere at the Seattle Art Fair 2015.
Photo: Tori Dickson. Courtesy of the Seattle Art Fair.

Here’s the first round of participating galleries for the 2nd edition of the Seattle Art Fair:

Returning participants:
ACA Galleries (New York)
Allan Stone Projects (New York)
Ameringer | McEnery | Yohe (New York)
Charles A. Hartman Fine Art (Portland)
Charlie James Gallery (Los Angeles)
David Zwirner (New York)
Donald Ellis Gallery (New York)
G. Gibson Gallery (Seattle)
Forum Gallery (New York)
Gallery Jones (Vancouver)
Greg Kucera Gallery (Seattle)
James Harris Gallery (Seattle)
Jenkins Johnson Gallery (San Francisco)
Jonathan Ferrara Gallery (New Orleans)
Kaikai Kiki Gallery (Tokyo)
KOKI ARTS (Tokyo)
Mariane Ibrahim Gallery (Seattle)
Monte Clark Gallery (Vancouver)
Nancy Hoffman Gallery (New York)
Pace Gallery (New York)
Paul Kasmin Gallery (New York)
PDX CONTEMPORARY ART (Portland)
Richard Levy Gallery (Albuquerque)
Roq La Rue (Seattle)
Samsøn (Boston)
SEASON (Seattle)
Upfor (Portland)
Winston Wächter Fine Art (Seattle)
Zurcher Gallery (New York).

New participants:
Backslash Gallery (Paris)
Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery (New York)
Claire Oliver Gallery (New York)
Gallery Luisotti (Santa Monica)
Jane Lombard Gallery (New York)
Jason Jacques Inc. (New York)
Jerald Melberg Gallery (Charlotte)
Kagedo Japanese Art (Orcas, WA)
Marlborough Gallery (New York)
Michael Rosenfeld Gallery (New York)
Pace/MacGill Gallery (New York)
Paul Thiebaud Gallery (San Francisco)
Petzel Gallery (New York)
ROSEGALLERY (Santa Monica)
Sapar Contemporary (New York)
Shoshana Wayne Gallery (Santa Monica)
Zieher Smith & Horton (New York).

The Seattle Art Fair will be held at CenturyLink Field Event Center, and runs from August 4 through August 7.