West Seattle, Washington
13 Monday
Emily Juarez is one of the artists you can meet during tonight’s West Seattle Art Walk. She’s at West Seattle Runner (2743 California SW; WSB sponsor) until 7 pm – preview her work here. WSR is one of the newest participants in the Art Walk. You can visit several other businesses hosting artist receptions tonight – from North Admiral to Arbor Heights – or you can enjoy art online; the official Art Walk preview for this month explains how (and where, and when – as late as 9 pm for at least one venue)!
(Photo by Machel Spence)
Here’s what’s happening, with nine days until spring:
PANDEMIC BRIEFING: As noted in our nightly pandemic-news roundup, state health officials’ weekly briefing/media Q&A is at 9:30 this morning; you can watch here.
(added) GOVERNOR’S BRIEFING: Just announced this morning, Gov, Inslee’s having a briefing/media Q&A too. 2:30 pm – watch here.
DEMONSTRATE FOR BLACK LIVES: Second of this week’s two streetcorner sign-waving events:
Black Lives Matter sign waving
Thursday, March 11, 4 to 6 p, corner of 16th SW and SW Holden
Come build awareness that will help tear down the systems that have oppressed Black lives for over 400 years on this continent. Hold signs, meet neighbors and stand for racial justice. Organized by Scott at PR Cohousing, endorsed by Hate-Free Delridge. Signs available.
CO-OP PRESCHOOL PIZZA FUNDRAISER: 4-9 pm, get food at/from Proletariat Pizza (9622 16th SW) and mention Lincoln Park Co-op Preschool – they’ll get a share of the proceeds!
WEST SEATTLE ART WALK: You can enjoy art in person and/or online again this month – official hours are “5 pm until late” but Click! Design That Fits (4540 California SW; WSB sponsor) is starting its artist reception at 4 pm – see the official Art Walk preview for all the ways and places to see art this month. (WSB is a community co-sponsor of the West Seattle Art Walk.)
BAR-S CLEANUP: Again tonight, 5:15-6:15 pm, be at Bar-S (64th SW/SW Admiral Way) to help prepare it for the West Seattle Little League season – details in our preview.
WORDS, WRITERS, SOUTHWEST STORIES: This month’s speaker, presented online by the Southwest Seattle Historical Society at 6 pm, is T. Andrew Wahl with “Comic Book Reality: Superheroes and the Power of Representation.” Free! Our calendar listing has registration info.
What are we missing? Send your event info to westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
You’re invited to get out and enjoy art tomorrow night, during the monthly West Seattle Art Walk – the last one of winter, but the weather’s looking good. From Art Walk organizers, here are sites where the artist is expected to be present (distanced and masked, of course) tomorrow night:
CLICK! DESIGN THAT FITS
4540 CALIFORNIA AVE SW
Amanda Whitworth INDOORS + RECEPTION 4 pm-6 pmWEST SEATTLE RUNNER
2743 CALIFORNIA AVE SW, SUITE #101
Art for the Tender INDOOR+RECEPTION 5 pm-7 pmVERITY CREDIT UNION (ART WALK PARTNER)
4505 CALIFORNIA AVE SW
Marie Skoor INDOORS + RECEPTION 5 pm to 8 pmBRACE POINT POTTERY & GALLERY WITH ALKI ARTS
4208 SW 100TH ST
Group Show: James Lopresti, Genna Draper, Carol Pierce INDOOR+RECEPTION 5 pm-8 pmFOGUE GALLERY
4130 CALIFORNIA AVE SW
Group Show: Michele Harps, Carolyn Autenrieth INDOORS+RECEPTION 5 pm to 8 pmSNIP IT’S HAIRCUTS FOR KIDS WEST SEATTLE
4506 CALIFORNIA AVE SW
BaGua B INDOORS + RECEPTION, 5 pm-8 pmWEST SEATTLE CELLARS
6026 CALIFORNIA AVE SW
Mark MacDonald, INDOORS+RECEPTION 5 pm-7 pmWEST SEATTLE GROUNDS
2141 CALIFORNIA AVE SW
Jenna Roby INDOORS + RECEPTION, 5-9 pmCAPERS
4525 CALIFORNIA AVE SW
PA Mathison INDOORS, 5 pm to 7 pm
Other participants are offering virtual art, displays without artist receptions, or displays during business hours; the Art Walk team will be out live via social media, too. For all those details, and more on the receptions/artists listed above, check this month’s official preview!
West Seattle’s own South Seattle College Co-op Preschools are presenting a four-concert kids’ music series this spring – no charge but if you can donate, that’ll help support scholarship funds for West Seattle families in need.
The Spring Virtual Music Funfest has concerts planned March 20 (Squirrel Butter), March 27 (Bruce & Bonnie), April 10 (Gabrielle Macrea), and April 24 (Eli Rosenblatt), all at 10 am – here’s the flyer.
If you’re not familiar with the schools, the announcement explains:
The SSC Co-Op Preschools have been serving West Seattle and beyond for over 75 years. We’ve always been committed to making early childhood education accessible to anyone in our community. In the past, money for scholarships has been raised through in-person fundraising efforts (such as concerts and movie nights). Clearly, these aren’t possible due to COVID-19.
COVID-19 also means that more families in our community need help than ever before. We want to be able to provide West Seattle families with affordable early childhood education, community support, and parent education, regardless of their current financial situation.
So, the Parent Advisory Committee organized the online concert series! To get tickets, with or without a donation, go to tinyurl.com/SSCMusicFest, select one of the event names, and then follow the “Tickets” link.
South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) invites you to an onlinre speaker series with six events over the next three months – free! Here’s the announcement:
South Seattle College faculty will host a virtual speaker series titled Artist as Storyteller: Adaptation, Resiliency, and Environmental Justice, with the first event tomorrow (Tuesday, March 9).
The series, supported by the Seattle Colleges Performing Arts Fund, will welcome BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) artists, performers and activists to share their work and explore what it means to be an artist in today’s social and cultural climate. All events are free, open to the public and hosted virtually on Zoom.
From beatboxing and butoh to drag, photography, and tattoos, the Artist as Storyteller speaker series will feature six artists. It begins on March 9, 2021 and concludes on June 8, 2021. Links to learn more and join each speaking event are available at www.artistasstoryteller.com.
The series was organized by four South Seattle College faculty members and they will host future series in 2021 and 2022.
Artist as Storyteller Event Schedule:
Tuesday, March 9, 2021, 1 – 2 p.m.: Butylene & One: Seattle-based Latinx drag performers
Tuesday, April 13, 2021, 1 – 2 p.m.: Haruko Crow Nishimura: dancer, vocalist, and co-director of the Degenerate Art Ensemble
Tuesday, April 27, 2021, 1 – 2 p.m.: Nicole Paris: freestyle beatboxer, YouTube star, and children’s book author
Tuesday, May 11, 2021, 1 – 2 p.m.: Nic Masangkay: Seattle-based Filipinix cultural worker in music, poetry, multimedia and transformative justice
Tuesday, May 18, 1 – 2 p.m.: Emma Kates-Shaw: handpoke tattoo artist of the Bad Apple Tattoo Collective
Monday, May 31, 1 – 2 p.m.: Binh Danh: inventor of the chlorophyll printing process, photographer and artist
The series theme, “Adaptation, Resiliency, and Environmental Justice,” emerged from the challenges and new possibilities of the COVID-19 era. We cannot safely gather in the community spaces of galleries, theaters, or music venues. We have experienced and borne witness to economic devastation, racial inequities, insecurity of healthcare systems, the violence of failing political systems, and a changing climate that has wrought havoc on our more-than-human world.
However, art making, activism, and storytelling persists and provides a refuge and space for reflection in this time of isolation. Artists, performers, and activists are on the cultural front lines of helping us understand the future through new forms of digital and adaptive storytelling. In bringing the public and artists together in conversation, we hope to create a new community formed with a foundation of resiliency and persistence shared by all.
(Photos courtesy Derek Moon)
That’s Derek Moon, and if you don’t know him already, you will soon, as he embarks on a new adventure to enhance community/cultural life in West Seattle. He’s opening Jet City Labs in the West Seattle Junction space just vacated by 8 Limbs Yoga.
Via email, we asked what he has planned – here’s his reply:
In a nutshell, we fancy ourselves “a creative space for creative people doing creative things”. Jet City Labs is the creative branch of ABCompany (a digital services consultancy). Jet City Labs will offer hourly rentable workspace to creative professionals, artists, musicians, entrepreneurs, small businesses, and the community-at-large. We also provide training, workshops, production & marketing services for anyone looking to expand their digital presence and reach. Once things open back up, we will also host small arts productions featuring local and international artists with the goal of providing opportunities for artistic collaboration, and to bring increased visibility on West Seattle as a cultural destination.
And here’s why you might already know him:
I moved here to Seattle in 2014. I’m the guy DJing during the Sunday farmers market, the West Seattle Beerfest, The Summerfest, at Supreme (and the old Red Cup) — The BLM march this summer, and that spontaneous 2020 Election Day party…that was me DJing too. I’m the host of WW Seattle on Worldwide FM (one of the largest online radio stations in the world). Most recently I served as the community manager & web guy at Easy Street Records. I’ve been working in technology, arts & music for over 20 years in places like Chicago, Atlanta, West Africa, and Washington D.C. I’m passionate about building the connections between the arts and small business, and firmly believe in the importance of a community having spaces to nurture and participate with the arts. Looking forward to getting to work!
He’s hoping to get Jet City Labs off the runway in April.
Thanks to Keri for the photo, taken Wednesday evening: “Out rollerblading with my 13-year-old and was so lucky to see this at the viewpoint on Alki Ave. Had I not been on rollerblades, I would have climbed down to try to include the living city with the sand drawing. Love the fleeting works of art in our community. Bravo to the artist.” (If you’re reading on desktop/laptop, click the pic for a larger view.)
(WSB photo)
Thanks for the tips! West Seattle muralist Desmond Hansen is working on another signal-box mural – this time on the northwest corner of 35th/Barton, by Super Deli Mart. The portrait is of Trevon McKoy, also known as hip-hop musician JuiceTheGod. Mr. McKoy was just 21 when he was murdered on lower Queen Anne three years ago; fans, friends, and family had a long-running memorial in the Westwood neighborhood where he lived with his grandmother. Hansen’s previous signal-box portraits include tributes to other musicians gone too soon, starting with Jimi Hendrix, painted at California/Fauntleroy three years ago.
Earlier this month, we shared a call for local student writers and artists to send in work for a zine that Lauren Grosskopf of West Seattle-based nonprofit literary press Pleasure Boat Studio plans to publish, In case a young writer/artist in your household missed the announcement, she’s extended the deadline to next Tuesday (March 2nd). It’ll be “a small magazine of kids art, comics, poetry, writing for elementary and middle-school ages.” From the original announcement:
Kids can send in anything they’ve done that they like, or make something new. It will be in full color. This may be a one-time thing or I may put one out yearly depending.
Please send high-res JPEGS or PDFs to:
—
Lauren Grosskopf, Publisher/Designer
lauren@pleasureboatstudio.com
She’s publishing the zine to celebrate “children’s creativity and expression.”
A Sunday morning listening note: After All Ways West Seattle podcaster Keith Bacon spent time recently talking with us about WSB, he decided to run the interview in two parts, and his newest episode features the conclusion. Also featured in the current AWWS episode: Writer Sean Petrie, the “Typewriter Guy,” seen (in pre-pandemic times) creating poetry in public and, most recently, the book “Listen to the Trees,” including West Seattle-inspired poems. Keith has produced more than 20 episodes of All Ways West Seattle so far, all available here.
It’s a big question: “How has COVID-19 impacted you and your community?” A competition is about to open for youth making art in three categories – media, visual, writing – addressing that theme. The organization presenting it is Mission InspirEd, “a high-school-student-run, Seattle-based education nonprofit” which explains that “to tackle education disparity, we organize free classes, tutoring, seminars, and more, and have impacted more than 2000 K-12 students.” They want to reach as many Seattle-area students as possible, so they asked us to share the announcement. The competition is Tales of Quarantine, for students 6-18, with the opportunity to win up to $1,000. It starts this Monday; read the rules and meet the judges by going here.
(Stone Cottage, circa 1940s)
As moving day nears for the historic Stone Cottage, the volunteers working to save it are inviting you to the last of four “Finding the Story Stones” events – live online tonight, the family-friendly Karaoke Rock Concert & Music Trivia Competition. Some of the singing’s already handled:
In the photo, Save The Stone Cottage committee member Mike Shaughnessy recorded Steve Theile and Lora Radford of the West Seattle Junction Association singing the Steve Miller Band‘s “Rock’n Me” in the middle of Walk All Ways.
They’re among the local business owners and special guests – including Chris Ballew (Caspar Babypants) and Blaine Cook (Zippy’s Giant Burgers and rocker) and more! It’s an interactive event that will allow you to join in the fun and compete for prizes; the :winner” of the fourth and final Story Stone will unlock the “Story of the Duwamish.”
It’s happening on Zoom at 7 pm tonight if you want to participate in trivia; if not, you can also just view here.
P.S. Crowdfunding for the Stone Cottage’s move to its new temporary home continues here.
In our photo above, that’s Reeve Washburn, coordinator of the West Seattle Art Walk – and tonight, Reeve is also a featured artist at one of the indoor receptions. Meet her and see her paintings at CAPERS (4525 California SW) in The Junction until 7 pm, just a few doors south of another of tonight’s receptions:
Until 8 pm, photographer Doug Early is at Verity Credit Union (4505 California SW; WSB sponsor). But if you can’t, or don’t want to, get out to any of the (distanced and masked, of course) receptions, you can enjoy Art Walk other ways – see some of the featured work on this month’s lineup update, for starters. That link is also where you’ll find out about businesses where you can see featured art all month long during regular hours; much of it is for sale, too. The Art Walk (co-sponsored by WSB) is every second Thursday.
Here’s an invitation for creative youth, from West Seattle-based nonprofit literary press Pleasure Boat Studio:
A local WS press is putting out a small magazine of kids art, comics, poetry, writing for elementary and middle-school ages.
Honoring and appreciating children’s creativity and expression, with the main impetus behind the project being that I imagine kids would really enjoy seeing each other’s art, comics, stories, and poems… Hence, a little zine, for kids, by kids!
Deadline 2.21.21
Kids can send in anything they’ve done that they like, or make something new. It will be in full color. This may be a one-time thing or I may put one out yearly depending.
Please send high-res JPEGS or PDFs to:
—
Lauren Grosskopf, Publisher/Designer
Lauren@pleasureboatstudio.com
(WSB photo, last month)
Two weeks ago, we reported on vandalism defacing this mural on the West Seattle Junction Post Office – someone splashing beige paint over the depictions of a woman and two children of color, just to the right side of the parade-float royalty in the scene. Volunteers removed some of the paint, but couldn’t get it all. The West Seattle Junction Association announced today that donations will cover the cost of restoration:
Through the generosity of community donors, a $500 donation from the Alki Art Fair, and a significant donation from Mashiko, we can move forward restoring the mural and applying a critical graffiti coating to the entire surface.
WSJA executive director Lora Radford tells WSB that muralist Bob Henry, who has restored other historic West Seattle murals, will do the work when it gets a little warmer and drier. P.S. The mural-restoration crowdfunding campaign is still ongoing, here.
The first of the West Seattle Junction murals to be renovated – the Hi-Yu Parade scene on the south-facing wall of the Post Office – needs a little more work, to repair damage done by a vandal. Sometime recently, someone splashed beige paint across a particular group of parade-watchers depicted in the mural, to the right of the parade royalty – a woman and two children of color, seated on the curb. We heard about the vandalism via a tip, and checked it out this weekend. After we brought it to the West Seattle Junction Association‘s attention – as WSJA has been heading up the mural-renovating efforts these past few years – volunteers have removed some of the vandal’s paint, so the three people are partly visible again:
It will need professional repair, though, and the muralist who’s renovated several other local murals in the past three years, Bob Henry, will be consulted. The mural’s 2007 renovation, we noted at the time, followed tagging vandalism.
(WSB photo)
As previewed this morning, this year’s first West Seattle Art Walk is happening now! Above is one of the artists you can meet, Edimbo Lekea, the painter who founded Natty Dread Illustration to tell the “Untold TRUstory of the Afro-Diaspora.” You can meet him and see his art at Snip-Its (4506 California SW) until 8:30 tonight. Some other artists are having receptions elsewhere, while some have work you can enjoy online, and others are showing work you can enjoy at local businesses throughout the month – go here for the full lineup.
Thanks to Dan Kearney for the photo. West Seattle artist Desmond Hansen painted that signal box at 35th/Henderson, just north of Southwest Library, this weekend. He wrote on Instagram that the box is dedicated “to children living with disabilities and special needs” – read his full explanation here.
Georgetown-founded Fogue Gallery is expanding to its proprietor’s home neighborhood, West Seattle. Patti Curtis says the new space on the north edge of The Junction, 4130 California SW, makes sense: “I have lived in the West Seattle community for 25 years, I raised my daughter on the very block the gallery is located, I am at home here.”
The two-story Fogue Gallery space features original fine art and jewelry by 15 artists, all over the age of 50: “I’m gonna make old cool!” Curtis promises. She exolains that she lost a job at age 53 – “a lot of people at my company got let go because we ‘aged out'” – and so she decided to put her energy into creating an enterprise for people 50+ to “feel relevant.” The gallery’s name is a play on “(old) fogey.”
Fogue also offers interior design and art consultations by appointment via teleconferencing – you can shop for art that way, too. Fogue’s West Seattle location will have a grand-opening celebration on Saturday, January 2nd, starting at noon – stop by and find out why Curtis and her artists vow they’re “inspiring … not retiring!”
Eight months ago, we featured fiddler Dawn Hepburn joining neighbors in “making a joyful noise” when that was happening during the evenings early in the stay-home days. Today, she brought musical joy to Alki with Christmas songs, and shared a video clip so you could enjoy the serenade even if you weren’t at the beach.
The sun’s setting and Christmas Eve begins in earnest. Want some local music for your holiday cheer? West Seattle’s own Mode Music Studios (WSB sponsor) staff perform an eclectic variety of holiday music in the video above – Mode’s Virtual Holiday Singalong: “We have excerpts from musicals, classic holiday songs, rocking covers, and some original works.” It’ll be on YouTube, free to access, through the end of the holiday season.
(WSB photo, Summer Fest Eve 2017)
This year without events and live performances has left many performers struggling. Among them, a West Seattle festival fixture – The Bubbleman. Among the countless cancellations this year were events presented by the Morgan Community Association and West Seattle Junction Association, which want you to know about crowdfunding for him, writes Phil Tavel, vice president of MoCA:
The Morgan Community Association and the Junction Association want to say THANK YOU to the Bubbleman for all of the good cheer that he has brought to West Seattle over the years.
This is a year when those in the crowd can give back a little something to help the performers who have given so much to us.
Here is a link to give whatever you can to the man with the purple beard, the rainbow car and a million bubbles and a million and one bubble jokes.
Happy Holidays to Everyone!
MoCA and the Junction Association!
With three days to go until Christmas, maybe you’ve already heard the Mariah Carey version of “All I Want for Christmas” a hundred times. Here’s an alternative: Listen to the Leyva Family Band version! Michelle Leyva emailed to tell us about their downloadable Christmas music album, fundraising for Keep Music Live Washington, an advocacy group fighting for the future of live-music venues shuttered during the pandemic. Proceeds will go to that group; the Leyvas are offering their Christmas collection for $5, or anything more you want to pay, explaining, “We miss live music and so look forward to hearing it again soon with all of YOU.” You can find the album, and preview it, by going here.
| 1 COMMENT