Carl Smool is a Northwest native who spent the first 30 years of his career working in Seattle, often in the margins and in-between spaces of the art world. Arriving in Belltown in the late ’70s, he was motivated to address social, political and environmental issues in his art; these issues continue to inform his work. While working as an editorial illustrator for The Rocket, his cover portrait of Ronald Reagan got the paper banned from Pacific Lutheran University; his graphic work for a campaign opposing Reagan’s re-election earned him death threats; and his altered billboards made national news. His work has appeared at the Center On Contemporary Art, the Whatcom Museum, the Mia Gallery, the Bellevue Art Museum, and many other venues.
In the ’90s, he expanded his work with Bumbershoot, the Seattle Arts Festival, creating numerous large scale installations, including a sinfully delightful fire ceremony in 1997. He designed the grounds and stage décor for WOMAD-USA (the World Of Music, Arts and Dance Festival held in Redmond) from 1998 through 2001, and in 1999, he brought his work to WOMAD UK. Carl’s five stage, 17 sculpture piece, “At the Crossroads, a Fire Ceremony for the New Millennium,” was commissioned by the Seattle Center, but got caught up in Mayor Paul Schell’s post WTO terrorist anxiety.
In the new millennium, Carl has created plaza artwork for Seattle’s light rail system, celebrating the nation’s most diverse community. He also worked with 14 middle-school students to create a large solar powered installation, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Seattle World’s Fair, at the Seattle Center. He now resides in Olympia, where he is pausing to more closely examine our global predicament, and asking: what’s next?