Big fall for Fauntleroy resident Donn Bennett. His eponymous Drum Studio in Bellevue has just been honored as “Best in Western Washington,” for musical instruments. And tomorrow, he’ll rally hundreds of drummers for the annual “Woodstick Big Beat” mega-drum charity-benefit event he organizes – not in West Seattle, but not that far, if you want to go help local children’s charities and see an inspiringly thunderous display of musicians’ teamwork. Donn says, “We’re featuring Danny Seraphine, original drummer from Chicago, and 7 other top pro drummers” – along with hundreds of Northwest drummers, gathering tomorrow at the Juanita Field House in Kirkland. The official announcement explains more:
They’ll join drummers in 15 cities across North America to set 2 new Guinness World Records for drummers playing a song simultaneously. One record for the most drummers playing a song in a single location, the other for the most drummers playing together via live internet connection. The entire international event will be directed from our Kirkland, WA, location.
Drummers in Birmingham England assembled 588 drummers in 2008 to beat our previous record of 533 set at Qwest Field in 2005. On November 6th 2011 we’ll attempt to bring the record back to the Northwest where it all started. All proceeds will go to the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation to purchase musical instruments for underfunded local schools and to Camp Korey, a camp in Carnation WA for kids battling serious illness.
The event is 2-4 pm tomorrow (Sunday), 10601 NE 32nd; doors open at 10 am. Admission is $12/participant (register online here), $10/spectator, all going to charity. Quite a sight and sound, as you’ll see on the highlight reel from last year (above) – especially once it gets to the overview of the entire Field House.
(Photos by John Hinkey unless otherwise credited) By Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
It was standing room only in Alki Elementary’s gymnasium Thursday night when students in Native American costumes held a Potlatch as part of an in-school cultural program created by Native American Artist and teacher Ronn Wilson.
A Potlatch is a traditional Native American ceremony that involves storytelling, song, dance, and gift-giving. Alki’s Potlatch was the culmination of a six-week Artist-in-Residence program called “Of Cedar and Salmon,” in which Wilson taught students the traditions and culture of Native Northwest Coast people. He’s been visiting the school twice a week for the past six weeks, sharing stories of how native cultures lived off the land, and teaching skills such as “good listening” and “showing respect.” He adds: “This is a very small piece of a big picture.”
Wilson painted the stage set; the students colored their headdresses as a school project. Kindergartener Freja showed us hers:
Students from all grades participated in drumming and performing dances such as “The Welcoming Dance” and “The Lightning Serpent Dance.” Wilson himself performed dances in elaborate costumes, including the headdress that didn’t just stick out its tongue — it stuck out a tongue with a frog on it.
The gift-giving portion of the Potlatch came at the end, when Wilson presented his own orca painting to the school, and former Principal Clover Codd(left) presented new Principal Chanda Oatis with a print of the painting:
Plus, each participating student got a poster showing the orca design and everyone present received bookmarks depicting the stage set designs.
Ronn Wilson says that beyond “getting kids to connect to Native American culture and tradition, I hope this is a catalyst for them to dig into their own history and connect to their elders.”
(“Spur” the guitarist – photo courtesy Skeleton Theatre)
The all-out animatronic extravaganza Skeleton Theatre is back this Halloween, confirms Maia Low, spouse of creator Chris Walker: “The show is basically the same this year – Bonaparte’s Reunion Concert. There is added video and more effects this year. We’ll be running the show from 6:00-9:00 pm on Monday, Oct. 31 and Tuesday, Nov. 1 on the hour and the half hour.” Bonaparte (get it?) is a legendary, albeit skeletal, rock band. Their video-recorded reminiscences, “Behind the Music” style, are part of the show, on a big screen over the animatronics onstage. You’ll find Skeleton Theatre in the yard (visible from the street) at 36th/Hanford (map). You can see our coverage from last year, including video, by going here. The show’s free, but the crew appreciates online donations to help cover expenses.
Halloween season seems to have started extra-early this year – with two weekends full of fun. Last Sunday, a macabre musical event spooked spectators at Tibbetts United Methodist Church (WSB sponsor) – the annual Halloween Piano Recital by students of John Van Lierop, Jr. He reports, “Students dressed in a variety of costumes and played their scary pieces on the piano. Even (the teacher) was dressed up as Santa Claus. Highlights of the evening included the well-known Toccata and Fugue by JS Bach as well as Dance Macabre by Saint-Saens. Fun party games such as a candy-corn relay race and musical chairs were enjoyed by all the students at the end of the recital!” Lots of Halloween events on the WSB Events calendar … and if you’re looking for the business-district trick-or-treat days/times, they’re all listed here.
You never know when you might see a star at Easy Street Records in The Junction. Of course, John Doe‘s appearance was announced two-plus weeks ahead of time, so this was no chance encounter, but still. Easy Street proprietor Matt Vaughan waved a copy of Doe’s newest CD “Keeper” while at the mike for the intro:
John Doe was warming up for an acoustic show scheduled a few hours later at the Tractor Tavern on the north side of town.
Next, he and his longtime band X hit the road, starting in New Orleans later this week, then joining Seattle’s own Pearl Jam for a swing through Central and South America (schedule here).
What could be scarier than creating art in front of an audience? The Halloween Art Jam is happening right now at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) in Morgan Junction. When WSB contributor Christopher Boffoli stopped by about an hour ago, three artists were busily working – and a fourth was on the way, according to Feedback proprietor Jeff Gilbert. Above, that’s Eric Osborne; next, Steve Klinkel:
He told Christopher they’re expecting to keep going until at least 11 pm – so if you’d like to see the works in progress … which will eventually be available for sale, by the way – head on over to 6451 California SW – Vblast is part of the lineup too:
Jeff, ever the impresario, says he has another art event in the works — 10 artists, 10 easels, they all paint a portion of each one. But first – The Feedback has more Halloween fun to scare up – check out the calendar to see what’s up.
As the spooky season begins in a few days, one of the first festivities is the annual Halloween-time production by the West Seattle-based Cabiri, an 11-person troupe of acrobats, contortionists, aerialists, and dancers. This year, the show is “The Ghost Game: Winternacht,” described in the Cabiri’s announcement as “a dark, festive evening of dessert theater featuring aerial acrobatics, modern dance, and scary winter tales from folklore and mythology.” Suitable for 15 and up, they say (a little too scary for youth below that age). Not only does the setting at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center give you a close-up look at the flying, dancing performers “depicting ghosts, witches, and cold, wintry tales from ages long since past,” Winternacht also offers treats from dessert sponsors including Sugar Rush Baking Company and Dilettante Mocha Café. The show opens this Friday (October 21st); Sunday (October 23rd) is pay-what-you-can night, October 30th is “PG night” (OK for 10 and up), and Halloween is “audience storyteller night.” You can buy tickets online here.
You just can’t escape the Alaskan Way Viaduct this month. Not only because of the ubiquitous countdown to the 9-day, 10-night closure, but then, there’s art like Cheryl Robinson‘s paper/wax-on-wood creation, on display at Link (WSB sponsor), where Cheryl and her Twilight Artist Collective-mates made all the art happen. Cheryl’s “On the Viaduct” is featured on the fall-quarter West Seattle Art Walk posters/postcards:
… so we started tonight’s Art Walk coverage with her work. We also stopped by The Kenney (WSB sponsor), where quilter Doris McHenry was one of the resident artists showing work:
The Kenney also had a bazaar raising money for the Resident Life Care Fund, helping pay the rent for those whose resources run out too soon. Back in The Junction, ArtsWest opened a new exhibition a few days ago, “The Edge of Night,” and participating painter Jean Bradbury was at tonight’s reception:
Further south along California SW, Art Walk night also meant one of the periodic Open House events at longtime WSB sponsor M3 Bodyworks. They’re showing work by Sarah Barrick:
One of the great things about Art Walk night is that it’s even more an introduction, than a self-contained event – most if not all the artists/exhibitions can be enjoyed throughout the rest of the month. So whether you did or didn’t make it out tonight, take a look at the official Art Walk website atwsartwalk.com and think about visiting local businesses for art’s sake as well as for purchases and services.
West Seattle’s newest neon sign is at Freshy’s Coffee in the Admiral District. We got word from Western Neon that it was going up today, and caught it shortly after their crews finished. Freshy’s (2735 California SW) just celebrated its sixth anniversary last month, by the way. One thing you might not know if you’ve never been there, or haven’t been in lately – soup is on the menu, with the latest varieties often listed on their Facebook page.
(With the Chengdu students are educators, L-R, Liu Jing, Lisa Clayton, Jen Dowell)
West Seattle schools have been at the forefront of the increasing amount of Chinese-language learning offered to students – with the Confucius Institute based on the Denny-Sealth campus – but did you know that English-language learning is key for students in China, too? That’s a big reason why this group of 4th- and 5th-graders from Chengdu Longjiang Road Primary School in central China (map), is spending three weeks at Pathfinder K-8 on Pigeon Point. Their visit was arranged by Pathfinder assistant principal Lisa Clayton (who also happens to be the mom of two China-born daughters).
Since there’s no classes tomorrow, the students are wrapping up their first week today; we stopped by to meet them early Tuesday. In a quick chat before the school day revved up, the students told us they are enjoying all aspects of their visit – not just getting to practice their English, but also making new friends, playing with their host families’ pets, enjoying seasonal all-American traditions like a visit to a pumpkin patch.
The students are here in the U.S. with their school’s assistant principal Liu Jing; a frequent Pathfinder substitute teacher, Jen Dowell, has been hired to help out during their stay. None of this comes out of the school’s budget or any other public funds – Clayton worked it out with the Northwest International Student Exchange, based in Portland, which handles it all. This is part of a monthlong U.S. visit for the students, which started back East and continues after their West Seattle stay, with a trip to Disneyland!
Tomorrow is opening night for the 2011 Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (WSB sponsor), and once again this year, the festival includes screenings in West Seattle, at the historic Admiral Theater. This morning, SLGFF has sent a news release with details of the 11 films you’ll be able to see at The Admiral, starting one week from tonight – read on!Read More
Story and photo by Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Walls are being painted bright red, orange, and purple inside the storefront at 4709 42nd Ave SW (vacated by SIMA Martial Arts, which moved to The Triangle), and some walls can be drawn on with multi-colored chalk. This space is becoming home to Young at Art, an art workshop that will be open to kids and adults to learn and play with arts and crafts.
Owner Theresa Anderson tells WSB that the space will be a combination workshop and artist’s studio, with art wor kstations positioned around the space and focusing on particular mediums.
(Photo courtesy Twelfth Night Productions) “Life is a cabaret, old chums … come to the cabaret!” You can do exactly that this Saturday night, while enjoying not only exceptional entertainment, but also a dessert buffet, and the sweet knowledge you’re helping a local nonprofit performing-arts troupe. Here’s their invitation:
The investment in Twelfth Night Productions from our tremendous donors keeps this volunteer-driven organization alive, enriching the greater community with the gift of the performing arts. Each year we raise nearly a quarter of our annual budget at the Cabaret Fundraiser. We look forward to seeing you there!
The evening will feature light appetizers, a dessert buffet, raffle prizes (including getaways to Lake Chelan and Victoria, B.C.), and fabulous entertainment from Twelfth Night Productions’ seasoned players.
Saturday, October 15th, 2011
The doors open at 7 PM
Seattle Lutheran High School Gym
4141 41st Ave SW (enter at Genesee and 41st)
Tickets are $50 per person, or $450 for a table of 10
Purchase your tickets at Brown Paper Tickets or RSVP to Cronin.Anna@gmail.com
Please join us and support your local theater troupe! For questions, please call Anna at 206.937.1394.
West Seattle photographer Machel Spence, of mushroom-imagery fame, has a new book out, and will be showing her work at shows around the region the next two weekends: Snohomish County Mycological Society’s Fall Mushroom Show this Sunday, 10 am-5 pm at Floral Hall, Forest Park, in Everett, and the Puget Sound Mycology Society‘s Wild Mushroom Show, noon-7 pm Saturday, Oct. 15, and 10 am-5 pm Sunday, Oct. 16, Mountaineers Club at 7700 Sand Point Way NE in Seattle. She describes her book as follows:
80 pages of incredibly beautiful mushroom photographs taken by me in my local forests, I am giving 10% from every book sold to Fungi Magazine so the word about mushrooms can continue to get out in the world. I am a contributing writer and photographer for this non-profit magazine. There are 100 photographs of fungi from in and around West Seattle and Mt. Rainier. It’s a pocket book of pure loveliness for your eyes…
Just as impressive – the studio itself (see it here), and its setting, on a bluffside overlooking the Sound.
And now, more than two dozen students from West Seattle’s Roxhill Elementary have stories to tell for quite some time, as does hip-hop artist Psalm One, with whom they have been working the past three days to create and record a song for an upcoming album. In our clip above, part of the student group recorded their part of the song’s chorus in a session this afternoon, while the rest of the group toured the studios (which impressed the artist too – she tweeted this tonight:)
The Roxhill residency – writing the song the past two afternoons at the school, then recording today – was the second stop of Psalm One’s 9-city national tour with the literacy program America SCORES. And the young songwriters are quite proud – two girls in the first group of singers showed off their handwritten lyric sheets:
We asked America SCORES how Roxhill was chosen – it’s the only Seattle stop on the tour – and the answer was, simply, “It was their turn.” The album will be available online after the tour ends in December.
Friends of the Southwest Branch Library are getting the word out that it’s signup time for the 20th annual Southwest Community Art Showcase. Artists of all ages, working in any medium, can sign up by Saturday, October 15th – just a week and a half away; work will be displayed at the SW Library (35th/Henderson) October 16-November 12, with a meet-the-artists reception at 2 pm November 6. To sign up, just stop by the branch, or call 206-684-7455.
You often hear about writers’ residencies at schools – but West Seattle’s Roxhill Elementary is about to get a singer/songwriter in residency, and students will be writing a song with her. The clip above is a song by Chicago-based hip-hop artist Psalm One, who is coming to Roxhill next Monday and Tuesday to write the song, which will then be recorded on Wednesday. Psalm One’s song in the clip above (PG-rated), “Woman at Work,” includes echoes of the fact that her resumé includes work as a chemist (explained in her bio)! This is part of the ASCAP Songwriter Residency @ America SCORES, a program whose organizers explain as combining literacy and athletics in an afterschool program for elementary-school students in underserved communities. The Roxhill song will be featured on an album that “includes Psalm One’s original songs with other SCORES teams throughout the nation,” according to one of three separate announcements we’ve received about this big event.
Some diners/drinkers in West 5 on Thursday afternoon might have wondered what was up – as they happened to be sharing the popular Junction establishment with a film crew. Local director Jamie Burton Chamberlin is wrapping up shooting on the rock-n-roll feature film “Duff McKagan’s Loaded.” We dropped by and talked briefly with a band member from Loaded, Jeff Rouse:
We first reported on the movie almost a year ago, when Chamberlin put out a casting call for some other local scenes – you can read the synopsis in that report. Here’s an all-music trailer from earlier this year:
(Photo courtesy Potter Construction)
The giant pencil on that truck is a West Seattle-based artist’s sculpture with the “write” stuff, and tomorrow, it’s scheduled to get a new home, in front of Potter Construction (WSB sponsor). Here’s the announcement:
At 9 AM on Tuesday, September 20, West Seattle business owner Gary Potter of Potter Construction will begin installation of a larger-than-life sculpture of a yellow pencil on California Ave. SW. The 13.5-foot sculpture is to be installed on the street-side facade of Potter Construction’s main office at 5606 California Ave. SW. Beyond a visible way to display Potter Construction’s inspired knowledge and experience in the art of home remodeling, Potter sees this as an opportunity to be on the cutting edge of community art projects that have a positive effect on West Seattle neighborhoods.
This playful facsimile of an everyday pencil with its bright pink eraser is the creative collaboration of Rock Brothers, under the direction of artist and West Seattle resident Stephen Rock. The sculpture is made from one solid log and was hand-tooled by the three brothers on a very large lathe in their workshop in Ellensburg, WA. The colorful, hand-painted pencil was first seen as part of a larger Rock Brothers’ sculpture titled “Brush Pile” in a juried outdoor exhibit at Cal Anderson Park in 2010. This installation of multiple large-scale paintbrushes, pens, and pencils was part of MadArt in the Park’s mission to “bring art into our lives in unexpected ways and to create community involvement in the arts.”
Beginning tomorrow, every visitor and passerby of Potter Construction’s office at 5606 California Ave SW will experience this blend of joyful art with Potter Construction’s inspired commitment to enlivening everyday lives.
You can scroll down this page to see how the giant pencil was used in the aforementioned “Brush Pile” installation.
Several proud members of the West Seattle Community Orchestras e-mailed to share the news that WSCO is featured in a current show on Seattle Channel – and we just got the code for the specific story, so you don’t have to watch the entire program to get to their spotlight. Check it out above (or, here’s a direct link to the entire show). As noted here a few days ago, WSCO’s new season starts next Tuesday – but we just received word of a few changes to the schedule/locations, so if you are a new or returning member, or planning on checking it out for prospective membership, PLEASE click ahead for the new information:Read More
Last year, what was originally Westside Symphonette metamorphosed into West Seattle Community Orchestras. This year, the community instrumental-music organization is on the brink of a new season, with word of more changes/additions. If you’re a musician (youth or adult), now is the time to join WSCO – registration is open, and rehearsals start one week from tomorrow. Read on for the full announcement with details:Read More
As the spooky season begins in a few days, one of the first festivities is the annual Halloween-time production by the West Seattle-based 
Tomorrow is opening night for the 2011 
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