Blades of Change

Blades of Change is an equitable arts and community storytelling initiative transforming industrial nuclear fan blades into monumental canvases for artists. 

The nuclear fan blades (each 6 x 4 feet) originated at the never-completed Satsop Nuclear Power Plant in Elma, WA. They were discovered by lifelong artist, educator, and environmental activist, Jill Drllevich who founded Blades of Change in 2017. We work with artists of all disciplines who transform these iconic pieces of history into new works of art.

Recent Events and Exhibitions: 

2025 Auburn Downtown Sculpture Gallery

2025 Echoes of the Floating World Exhibition, Tacoma Art Museum

2025 Indigenous Art and Nuclear Justice student activity, University of Washington

2024 Lost & Found: Journey Home, Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience

2024 Marshallese Day of Nuclear Remembrance with Marshallese master weaver, Emma Joran, Burke Museum, University of Washington

2024 Elder engagement project with artists Gina Ariko Maroni and Tom Gormally, ERA Living, Wallingford Neighborhood, Seattle 

2024 Hiroshima to Hope Nuclear Remembrance Event, Greenlake Neighborhood, Seattle

2024 Auburn Downtown Sculpture Gallery

2024 Grand Re-opening Union Street Station, Sound Transit, Seattle

UPCOMING: 

June 2025 Woolworth's Window, Spaceworks Tacoma 

June 2025 Mary Keisau Fellowship with Lauren Iida and Blades of Change, Twispworks, Twisp, WA

July-August 2025 Blades of Change: A Happening, A/NT Gallery, Seattle Center

The vision and passion of our founder, Jill Drllevich, has been the foundation of our programming. Drllevich, a life-long artist, arts educator, and environmental activist came across 200 nuclear fan blades from the never-completed Satsop nuclear power plant in Elma, Washington in 2014. She rerouted them from the landfill with the intention of giving them to artists to use as canvases to think creatively about sustainability and as storytelling tools. Each of these infamous pieces of history is 6 x 4 feet tall, and weighs over 200 lbs.  

The evolution of her original vision over the years has launched Blades of Change into the thriving multidisciplinary arts and storytelling initiative that it is today. We are fiscally sponsored by Shunpike and are the recipients of both 4Culture Sustained Support and Conru Foundation grant funding. 

Learn more at our website www.bladesofchange.com