Once Removed: Seattle Artists Transform Condemned Houses into Ephemeral Art Spaces

Galleries Zoë Hensley and Sammy Skidmore launched Once Removed, a project inviting artists to temporarily transform vacant houses slated for demolition in Seattle. The first iteration took place in a small bungalow in the Greenwood neighborhood in late February 2026, with five artists working over five days in an unheated, mid-renovation space. The exhibition featured works by Jenikka Cruz, Ali E. Meyer, Gaeun Kim, Nadia Ahmed, and Rachael Comer, using impermanent materials like wax, cornstarch, charcoal, and video. Approximately 350 visitors attended the opening, which evolved into a performance and social gathering. The house was demolished in early March, with footage of the destruction captured by a security camera left inside. The project aims to counteract gentrification and the loss of shared cultural spaces, with the organizers planning future iterations in West Seattle on June 13 and in Ballard later in the summer. Hensley and Skidmore, both 31, met in summer 2025 and quickly collaborated out of frustration with traditional gallery formats. Hensley is a practicing artist and gallerist at Foster/White Gallery; Skidmore works at Traver Gallery and is a touring musician in the band Dining Dead. The project was made possible by a developer who granted access to the house.