Dreaming Big in Seattle: How Nebula fuses art, tech, and storytelling

Photo by Bruce Clayton Tom of “The Heart”

A few months ago I was sitting at the bar at the 9lb Hammer with metal artist Chris McMullen. He is the mastermind behind the kinetic sculpture in the final room, the Boiler Room, in Ghosts of Nebula that we affectionately called, “The Heart”. We were discussing the project at the Georgetown Steam Plant looking for a way to showcase his sculptures in my narrative. For a few minutes the conversation drifted to darker topics: living in the expensive city of Seattle, the overwhelming noise of politics, the post Covid world that we don’t yet understand. A silence fell and our spirits. Then, we looked at one another, raised a beer, and said,

 “Let’s do some crazy art shit at the Steam Plant.” We laughed. Existential crises averted.

 I’ve been self-producing art events for over 30 years. If I’m not stepping off the edge of another crazy cliff I’m not sure if I’d recognize myself. It’s in the blood.

 It’s December 2024. Ghosts of Nebula has wrapped. There were more than 100 performances over 11 nights in 3 weeks. More than 2200 people experienced it. A small army of designers, performers, electricians, technicians, bartenders, writers, and marketers pulled together to bring to life this once discarded industrial masterpiece of a building. We told our alternate history. We opened a portal to another world. True, some of the characters were lost forever in the void of dreams, but every audience remember returned to the real world safely and mostly sound.

 We put our mark on the plant and made a statement about our art: where we’ve been, where we are, and where we want to go.

 Experimental, independent, and local. This is who we’ve always been. It was the underpinning philosophy of Café Nordo born out of Circus Contraption when Erin Brindley relocated her non-profit Ripple Productions from New York City to Seattle. The mission has always been, “new and innovative storytelling”. This is and will be the basis of Nebula. We will provide transportive art creating fully realized worlds that draw you into a state of discovery and elicit wonder.

 Wonder makes the world a better place, and when we closed Café Nordo we chose to put our focus on that brand of magic. 

 We researched what producers are doing in other cities and what is capturing today’s audiences. We gathered a group of investors and entrepreneurs who want to see this particular brand of entertainment thrive in Seattle.  We’ve built relationships with new artists across the gamut of creative fields. And, as Ghosts of Nebula demonstrated, we are exploring new multi-medium narratives as we weave the real world with the digital world, the history of Seattle with the fictional future of dream technology, performance with exploration.

 This year we built a foundation for what is to come.

 We are looking for a new home in Seattle. A place where we can build a Laboratory of Dreams and actualize this hybrid form of theater where you choose what letter to read and what door to open, what technology to interact with and what performer to follow down a dark hall.

 This will be a new institution in Seattle. Opening doors of possibility. Expanding the arts economy. Utilizing multiple types of artists across multiple platforms with diverse viewpoints we aim to build a welcome and eclectic environment.

 As we search for this new home we will continue to weave stories in 2025. First, working with our artists we will begin to design the Dream Laboratory Facility digitally, building it bit by bit and flushing out the world of Nebula. Perhaps there will be virtual tours of the facility. Secondly, we will continue to open cracks in the real world and expose the multiple dimensions around us. Look for more messages from the Odd & the Curious society about the alternate history of Seattle. Discover a series of hidden NebTech contraptions that seem to be stealing dreams. Unlock the puzzle left behind by a mysterious group of street artists with a warning, “Keep your Dreams.”

Let’s raise a glass together and do some crazy art shit in Seattle.

Learn more about our plans for the permanent Nebula facility here.