Belltown artist reflects his neighborhood and country in new show

In December, Amy Tipton’s Belltown art gallery, Slip, was “booked ’til like August 2026” — until Buster Simpson dropped by the gallery. 

Tipton found a space — and now Simpson, a longtime Seattle artist and a bit of a Belltown legend, is showing abstract, challenging works from across his career at Slip in “Town and Country Crier,” on display through March 8. 

“Town and Country Crier” is an exhibit of selected “prop-up projects from Belltown and beyond,” featuring works that Simpson has developed in the neighborhood across the past several decades. As Seattle continues to evolve, Simpson hopes the show will “instill some sense of stewardship” for the city and neighborhood. 

As the country’s politics shift rapidly, too, the scope of the exhibit expanded. 

This art challenges more than it soothes: In “Town and Country Crier,” Simpson shows works from a “30-year street lab,” art tackling water pollution, flags doused in gasoline. His art explores power struggles that have led to this present moment: with sea levels rising, housing crises boiling, ocean acidification, threats to democracy. 

In a moment of “federal abandonment of climate change abatement,” the exhibit serves as a call to action: “Hear ye, hear ye, see ye.” Simpson urges that we pay attention, question things and join him in addressing some of today’s most pressing causes. 

When Simpson moved to Belltown in the ’70s, the city “was so raw. And I thought, well, maybe I need to find my own laboratory and stick it out.” Across decades, Simpson’s artistry developed in tandem with the neighborhood and the city, which served as a canvas for art that aims to be both pragmatic and poetic. 

Environment is central to Simpson’s work; his pieces are often integrated directly into the settings that inspired them. In Belltown, Simpson’s “artwork” over the years has included planting trees, creating seating and installing stormwater filtration systems. In 1978, Simpson put protective structures surrounding the trees he’d planted: “Tree Guards,” which are “kind of riddles in a way,” Simpson said. 

“What do they mean? They’re curiosity magnets. And, if everything is bland, then I don’t know what happens to our brains.” 

Some works offer riddles while others point out ironies. In 1987, Simpson installed a composting commode on First Avenue, intending to provide Belltown’s homeless neighbors a dignified, private place to relieve themselves. Eventually, the city shut it down. Simpson asked the city for a code-compliant solution, and though it was considered, the effort was deemed too expensive. And “as soon as (the toilet) left,” Simpson said, “people started pooping in the stoops again.” 

Waste and water pollution are major themes of the works shown at Slip. A diptych on display pairs an image of Simpson tossing limestone pills into waterways affected by acidification (because limestone neutralizes acid) with an image of the artist throwing rocks at a World Trade Center building. One is an offering to heal harms done; the other is a force against economic systems that dismantle ecological harmony. 

“It’s counterbalance,” Simpson said. “Two things offsetting each other.” 

Near that diptych hangs a photo of a piece commissioned by the city of San Jose, Calif., for a wastewater treatment plant that recycled wastewater methane release as fuel for the treatment plant. The piece highlights the “heroes of the plant”: the microorganisms that digest raw sewage to create the methane that now powers the plant. Again, the art is poetic and pragmatic: The commission cost San Jose less than what a contractor had quoted them, Simpson said.

Walking through the gallery during “Town and Country Crier,” the art highlights a web of issues facing our local and global communities. Simpson suggests we act with naive optimism. Whether any particular piece is constructive, destructive, additive or disruptive, they are tied together by a throughline of confronting our realities while offering visions of a better future. 

But Simpson reiterated that his works are not about expressing his individual hopes for the world. They’re a call to action. 

“When is (action) going to be something that we innately feel needs to happen,” the artist said, “instead of like, some wacko that does this stuff, (and) we’re just depending on him, the wacko, oh, the wacko will take care of this.” 

At 82 years old, Simpson hopes to outlive many of the problems that his art confronts, supporting environmental protections and democracy in his artist statement. In this new show, Simpson is ringing the bell and hoping you listen, too.