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West Seattle 5-year-old, musicians, scenery star in music video
March 29, 2012 2:17 pm
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 |   West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

“Mor Yay” is the first video by Branden Daniel and The Chics, released in advance of their debut album “Keep ‘Em Flying,” which comes out in early May. And the video has lots of West Seattle flavor. First – if you watch it, you’ll see Alki backdrops and other West Seattle scenery (plus a few other Seattle spots). Second – five-year-old Hayes, who’s in almost every scene, is a student at Holy Rosary; his proud mom Kelly – who also happens to be married to the young star’s dad, lead singer/guitarist Brendan Daniel – e-mailed to let us know about the video. She says lifelong West Seattleite Matt Winter, The Chics’ drummer – produced and edited the video. In a news release about the video, Brendan explains, “When Hayes was 2 years old, some of his first words were ‘mor yay.’ This is what he called the music I played on my guitar, because people would clap and say ‘yay’ after a performance.” You can preorder the album online, by the way.

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West Seattle schools: Tickets on sale for Madison’s 1st musical
March 28, 2012 8:24 am
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 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | WS culture/arts

“Madison is VERY excited!” according to the website announcement from Madison Middle School about its first musical: “Beauty and the Beast,” to be performed at 7 pm April 6th and 10 am April 7th in the West Seattle High School Theater. (Thanks to Jenny for sending us a heads-up.) School productions can sell out, so if you want to be sure to get tickets, you can buy them in advance through the school office, $10/ticket (3429 45th SW).

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West Seattle schools: Chief Sealth’s Multicultural Night
March 23, 2012 9:09 am
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 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | WS culture/arts

The Chief Sealth International High School Polynesian Club‘s dance was the grand finale to a series of student performances last night, highlighting Multicultural Night in the school’s Galleria. Proud school-community leaders were on hand too, like principal Chris Kinsey and assistant principal Lupe Barnes:

Kinsey told us he was proud of the fact that everything was student-created, student-led, though the event was sponsored by the Chief Sealth PTSA – whose president Amy Daly-Donovan was on hand too – below at right, with school nurse Alison Enochs:

The wall poster behind them is a reminder that Multicultural Night was part of this year’s World Water Week observance at Sealth. Today, regular classes are suspended so the students can be part of an all-day teach-in, which includes workshops, guest speakers, gardening, and a youth-led Food Walk to highlight challenges faced by people in East Africa.

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West Seattle’s Christopher Boffoli up for Beard Foundation Award
March 19, 2012 1:45 pm
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 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle people | WS culture/arts

(Photo copyright Christopher Boffoli)
A toast, if you will, to West Seattle’s Christopher Boffoli, who’s just found out he’s nominated for a national James Beard Foundation Award – Christopher explains the Beard Foundation honors are considered to be “the Academy Awards of Food.” (Here’s the full list of nominees – as far as we can tell, he’s the only one from West Seattle this year.) Christopher’s internationally featured series of photographs – known in various contexts as “Disparity” or “Big Appetites” – has brought him a nomination in the Journalism/Humor category, specifically as featured by The Kitchn. The awards will be announced May 4th in New York City, which is where Christopher has a solo show coming up at Winston Wachter Fine Art in June; that show, in turn, has an “NBC First Look” crew coming to his studio this week to shoot a feature story.

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Artist Sheila Lengle wins West Seattle Garden Tour poster contest
March 19, 2012 11:36 am
|      12 COMMENTS
 |   Gardening | West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

Just four months till this year’s West Seattle Garden Tour on July 15th – and the poster-contest winner has been announced!

WSGT is pleased to announce the winning artist in our First Annual Poster Artwork Contest: Sheila Lengle of LengleArt with her entry “Ode to Picasso.” Sheila’s winning piece [above], along with over a dozen runner-up entries, will be on display at Windermere Realty in The Junction during the May 10, 2012 West Seattle Art Walk.

This year’s tour is Sunday, July 15, and showcases 9 fabulous local gardens. Our featured lecturer this year is West Seattle gardener and author Lorene Edwards Fornker, who was also a gardener on last year’s tour. Proceeds from the tour support our 2012 beneficiaries: The Bloedel Reserve, Neighborhood House YELS, Highline Botanical Garden, Kubota Garden, Barton Street Community Garden, Community Orchard of West Seattle, Seattle Chinese Garden and ArtsWest Theatre.

Sponsorship accounts for more than 50% of tour revenue and we are currently in the last few weeks of our sponsorship drive. We would like to encourage local businesses and individuals interested in sponsoring the WSGT and supporting our 2012 beneficiaries to become a 2012 sponsor. The sponsorship commitment deadline is April 1.

Photos and descriptions of this year’s gardens along with sponsorship information, lecture topic and beneficiary information are currently posted on our website westseattlegardentour.com.

Sheila’s artist statement for the contest included this: “I’ve been an artist since the first time I put crayon to paper, and have been lucky enough to have been in and out of a variety of creative businesses during my 64 years. At this state of my life I want to work hard, paint a lot and market my work so I can be an artist who makes a living. … I’m self-taught thus no rule guides me. I feel so free to create. I’ll paint whatever, whenever and with anything I want…rather like a spoiled child. I think that’s a passion. I’m thrilled to feel this way and want to for the rest of my life.”

P.S. As for the tour itself, ticket books will be $15 per person (children 12 and under are free), available in June, while ticket vouchers will be available online from brownpapertickets.com, starting next month.

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ArtsWest chooses new managing director: Line Sandsmark
March 16, 2012 1:33 pm
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 |   West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

Just in from ArtsWest, which is two weeks away from announcing its lineup for next season – the Junction-based arts enterprise has chosen a new managing director. Here’s the announcement:

ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery announces the appointment of Line Sandsmark as its new Managing Director, effective March 22, 2012.

Ms. Sandsmark recently returned to the Northwest, after twenty years’ arts management and producing experience in Scandinavia and Europe. After acquiring an undergraduate degree in Comparative Literature from the University of Washington, and studying Critical Theory and Film Analysis at the graduate level at the Sorbonne, Sandsmark turned to film in the late 1990s, producing award-winning short films through her own production company, Kaliber Filmproduksjon, continuing as a regional grantmaker for the Norwegian Ministry of Culture, and heading the Copenhagen-based European Documentary Network.

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West Seattle schools: Sealth musicians’ awards; Big Band Dinner
March 14, 2012 10:40 pm
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 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | WS culture/arts

From Marcus Pimpleton, news about some of his Chief Sealth International High School musicians – including an event coming up weekend after next:

Please join me in congratulating the following Sealth students who were selected for Commendation Awards from the 2012 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. The award states that the students were selected for “giving a Superior Solo Performance within an Ensemble or Combo.”

Spencer Duncan, piano
Janelle Maroney, voice
Will McMinn, alto sax
Paal Nilssen, alto sax
Cameron Nakatani, trumpet
Nehemiah Parker, trombone
Emma Pierce, clarinet

(You can see all these students in action and many more at the Big Band Dinner dance on March 24th – see below for more on that:

On Saturday, March 24th, from 6-10 pm, please join the jazz ensembles of Chief Sealth International High School and Denny International Middle School for a night of jazz music, dinner, and dancing in the Chief Sealth International H.S. Galleria. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for students. Dinner will feature Otis Pimpleton’s awesome barbecue chicken, chicken gumbo from the New Orleans restaurant, red potatoes, baked beans, rice, and cornbread. A vegetarian option is available upon request and attendees will enjoy the sounds of the Denny Jazz Band, Chief Sealth High School Jazz Ensembles I and II, and the West Seattle Big Band. Students interested in dancing without the dinner, can purchase a special dance-only ticket for $10. This will be a fun night…. please come out and support our jazz students.

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West Seattle Community Orchestras: The gala; the concerts
March 11, 2012 3:59 pm
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 |   West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

You’ve seen her photos here on WSB and elsewhere (including her own site), and last night Trileigh Tucker contributed some of her work (with her in the photo, an image of Snoqualmie Falls) to the gala/auction for West Seattle Community Orchestras. This was the second year WSCO held a gala, and the first time at Highland Park Improvement Club, where of course, there was music – including Elliot Reid‘s guitar performance:

WSCO’s fundraising helps make sure more young musicians can participate in their programs. They’re usually looking for new members, and their groups practice on Tuesdays – check out their website at wscorchestras.org for the latest info. From their Facebook page, we’ve gathered listings for upcoming appearances – the Symphony Orchestra at 7 pm March 20th at Bridge Park, the Debut and Intermediate Orchestras at 6:30 pm March 27 at Highland Park Elementary and at 6:30 pm May 8th at Chief Sealth International High School, and the Symphony Orchestra at 7 pm May 15th, also at CSIHS.

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West Seattle schools: ‘Bite’ at WSHS draws a triple-digit crowd
March 9, 2012 12:10 pm
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 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | WS culture/arts

(Photo by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
More than 100 people joined in the “Bite of West Seattle” event – potluck dinner and cultural performances – presented by West Seattle High School‘s Diversity Club last night. So reports WSHS student Nathaniel Solis, who shared photos from the event – we stopped by in the early going and caught the locally based Au Lac Vovinam Lion Dance Team warming up; Nathaniel caught them in action:

(This and subsequent photos by Nathaniel Solis)
Three more of Nathaniel’s photos, ahead:Read More

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‘Girls’ Fight Night Out’ kicks ‘The Collectibles’ up a $ notch
March 9, 2012 7:21 am
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 |   West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

They showed up at Lee’s Martial Arts in West Seattle last night, not just to lend a hand to the soon-to-debut online comedy series “The Collectibles,” but to lend a leg too:

The occasion was “Girls’ Fight Night Out,” centered on martial-arts work with Lee’s co-owner Lisa Skvarla, who is a professional actor as well as a nationally renowned martial-arts expert – and a cast member (as superhero “Ultrafemme”) for “The Collectibles,” which premieres at Emerald City Comicon next month. Also involved with the production, our tipsters for this event, Raechelle Downing and Todd Downing – Todd is co-writer/co-director/producer, while Raechelle is a line producer:

If you want to help “The Collectibles” finish raising $ to complete its first round of 10 webisodes, you can donate through the button on the right sidebar of the show’s website.

Meantime, a side note: You might remember reading about Todd here when he asked two nights ago for WSB’ers to join in the push to save the Washington film industry’s incentive program. Citizen campaigning is credited with helping the bill get passed by the State House 92-6 last night (with “yes” votes including local Reps. Eileen Cody and Joe Fitzgibbon), not long before the Legislature’s regular session ended, and it now awaits Gov. Gregoire‘s signature.

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West Seattle schools: Opening night for Lafayette play
March 8, 2012 1:03 am
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 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | WS culture/arts

(Photos courtesy Edgar Riebe)
Wednesday night, about 100 third- through fifth-graders from Lafayette Elementary debuted in this year’s school play, “The Wartville Wizard,” at nearby West Seattle High School Theater. The school bulletin describes it as “a story about littering and how
one wizard takes care of the problem,” adapted from a book by Don Madden. The title role is played by Leo Schuehle:

“The Wartville Wizard” will be performed three more times – once for the school, twice for general audiences (Friday and Saturday at 7 pm).

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West Seattle meeting March 29th for public schools ‘arts plan’
February 28, 2012 2:36 pm
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 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | WS culture/arts

West Seattle will be the site of one of five meetings just announced regarding creating a “comprehensive arts plan” for Seattle Public Schools. The local meeting is at 6:30 pm Thursday, March 29th, at Chief Sealth International High School. Read on for the full announcement of what the district is hoping to do:Read More

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Web comedy series ‘Local Brew’ pours local humor
February 22, 2012 8:23 pm
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

Heard of the new Seattle online comedy video series “Local Brew“? We hadn’t till a week ago, when their clips were used between presentations at the Seattle Metro Chamber of Commerce‘s “IN-NW” conference. Just before a panel including your editor here was introduced, a bit of peninsula-aimed humor turned up on the conference stage’s bigscreen. We asked the “Local Brew” folks if it were available online so we could share; it wasn’t then, but it is now, as part of their “third episode.” We’ve coded the clip above to start with the short-short segment. You can see more of the team’s work (a bit in the spirit of “Almost Live!” though we suspect they hear that ALL the time) at localbrew.com. (We can’t find their “about us” page but Crosscut wrote about them last month.)

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Art under the bridge: What’ll be beneath the Spokane St. Viaduct
February 20, 2012 5:50 pm
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 |   West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

While at SDOT headquarters downtown two weeks ago to discuss the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project, now in its final months (our story’s here), they mentioned that they would soon be able to share renderings for the art to be included in the work, part of the SDOT Art Plan, which in turn is part of the city’s “1% for art” rule. And here’s a peek:

Project manager Stuart Goldsmith explains:

>Merge Conceptual Design (Franka Diehnelt and Claudia Reisenberger) out of Santa Monica, CA will install a colorful paint treatment for a large number of concrete columns under the Spokane St. Viaduct between East Marginal Way and Fifth Ave. The design will treat much of the space under the viaduct as one artwork; changing the atmosphere and enlivening the space, creating distinct zones to help with orientation, and creating a strong identity that can be experienced by a diversity of user groups.

The artists will create eight different zones, each featuring its own color scheme and iconic imagery. Every zone will focus on a narrative related to neighborhood history or contemporary uses. Each narrative will be “told” using graphic icons and barcode patterns that reference aspects of the neighborhood.

The art work will be one of the final components completed along the westbound surface-level Spokane Street before it reopens as the project finishes up this summer. The artists were chosen almost three years ago – as noted in this city newsletter – from among more than 200 applicants.

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Local café seeks local artists: Chaco Canyon’s invitation
February 20, 2012 4:37 pm
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   Triangle | West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

The folks at Chaco Canyon Café, the organic vegetarian/vegan restaurant at Link (WSB sponsor) in The Triangle, are inviting artists to come show their stuff. Here’s the invitation we were asked to share:

Call to West Seattle Artists! Chaco Canyon Café is looking for your art to display on our walls!

Criteria:
1. West Seattle and White Center artists preferred.
2. Paintings preferred and we welcome pieces with a bright and vibrant color palette.
3. Artists must be willing to keep their work here for a minimum of 6 months and to host at least one Art Walk event during that period.
4. Have approx. 12 large pieces, or an equivalent number of small or medium pieces available for display.
5. Have all work neatly and appropriately framed with the ability to hang from a single hook provided.
6. Be ready and able to put up art during the week of March 19th.

For those interested, please e-mail photographs of your works to anise@chacocanyoncafe.com. We hope to come to a decision by the beginning of March.

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Launch party for The West: ‘West Seattle people supporting West Seattle arts’
February 19, 2012 11:16 am
|      12 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

Story, photos, and video by Stephanie Chacharon
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Disclaimer: The contents of this evening included profanity, alcohol, and ear-ringing chords.

It was a party with prologues: WSB first covered the kickoff for the new arts-advocacy organization The West in November, and on Thursday previewed the posse’s society debut, which happened last night, as The West galloped in to the West Seattle Eagles Aerie, partially removing its veil of mystery.

I followed a fresh trail of cigarette smoke, black leather, cowboy hats, and flyers directing attendees to the Aerie’s back door. Welcome to The West.

Walk through the door to be welcomed by an instant treat: West Seattle’s own DJ Cherry Canoe.

She set the stage for the evening, both with her turntables and with her hoots of delight as neighbors and friends passed her booth.

Hang your coat by the door, and enter a controlled chaos of light, fog, chatter, and a steady hum of expectation. Open bar in the back, free drinks in exchange for the hope of a donation.

The room was a mix of ages, styles, and reasons for being there. This was The West — for now, at least.

Everyone present echoed a common theme: “We didn’t know what to expect … but this party rocks!”

The live music kicked off with Jordan Cook of Reignwolf:

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Video: Damien Jurado’s ‘full circle’ performance @ Easy Street
February 18, 2012 8:49 pm
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 |   West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

As Damien Jurado performed a free in-store set at Easy Street Records in West Seattle this evening, the art on his guitar seemed particularly appropriate:

He had told the Easy Street crowd that “home” for him was, once upon a time, about a block from The Junction’s iconic music store – and that the songs on his new album “Maraqopa” were written there, so this appearance was like “coming full circle.” The first one, “Nothing Is the News,” starts about 2 minutes into our clip, which caught the back half of another song, plus his explanation of “Nothing …”:

After his set, Easy Street proprietor Matt Vaughan told the audience his store was the only place in the world Jurado’s album was on sale – at the moment (it’ll be officially released next Tuesday):

And certainly the only place anyone could get one autographed tonight! Jurado also lists nearby White Center as a former residence, though now he is based in Shoreline.

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Saturday night, ‘The West’ rides into the West Seattle sunrise
February 17, 2012 9:58 pm
|      9 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

When last we checked in with “The West,” it was a concept galloping around a mixer upstairs at Mission three months ago.

Tomorrow night, The West rides out of the stable and into the spotlight. Or might we say, instead of the classic “riding into the sunset” Western metaphor, rides into the sunrise.

If you hang out on Facebook or Twitter, you might have seen the mysterious hints…

What’s been said publicly so far is that tomorrow night’s invitation-only event is at the West Seattle Eagles Aerie in The Junction, and will feature live music. But what’s The West about? We managed to cajole an advance interview out of two people from the core group – Lora Swift from Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor) and Swift Media Solutions, and Oliver Little from The Workshop. Lora’s had a high profile not just for her businesses but for organizing popular events such as West Seattle Outdoor Movies and leading the West Seattle Art Walk behind-the-scenes group for quite some time (recently handed over to Twilight Artist Collective). As for Oliver – some of West Seattle’s biggest events wouldn’t have happened without him behind the scenes. Summer Fest, for example.

So if these are representatives of The West, you start to get the idea the group is ready to make things happen. Indeed, that’s where this is going.Read More

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West Seattle schools: 2 Madison musicians to All-State
February 17, 2012 8:14 am
|      11 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | WS culture/arts

We stopped by Madison Middle School on Thursday afternoon for orchestra members’ quick command performance of the Beatles classic “Eleanor Rigby,” after hearing from Madison music director Clark Bathum, who had big news about two of his musicians:

Congratulations to Lauren Estep (viola) and Caroline May (violin), who will perform with the Washington Junior All-State Orchestra at the Washington Music Educators Conference in Yakima this weekend. After a highly competitive audition in the fall, both were selected to join other top musicians from around the state. This is Caroline’s first selection to the group. Lauren was selected to the All-Northwest orchestra last year. Both girls are looking forward to the performance this weekend and are really excited about getting to travel and play together. The staff and students at Madison are really proud of Lauren and Caroline and wish them the best of luck.

In our video, Caroline is at left, Lauren at center, with Samantha Bushman , violin (2nd from left), Annabel Foucault, bass (2nd from right), and Madelyn Hollister, cello (right).

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Ticket time for West Seattle Community Orchestras’ 2nd annual gala
February 17, 2012 1:57 am
|    Comments Off on Ticket time for West Seattle Community Orchestras’ 2nd annual gala
 |   How to help | West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

Tickets are now on sale for the second annual gala benefiting the West Seattle Community Orchestras. This year, it’ll be at Highland Park Improvement Club, 6:30-9 pm on March 10th. Musicians from all three of WSCO’s orchestras (“all ages and abilities”) will perform, and a silent auction is planned, along with a “smorgasbord dinner.” You can buy tickets online now; they’re $20 till March 1st, when the price goes up to $25. Go here to buy yours (that link is also where you’ll find the form to donate an item to the silent auction).

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Want to learn Chinese? Hang out ‘on the Corner’
February 15, 2012 3:08 pm
|      11 COMMENTS
 |   Puget Ridge | West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

By Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Using a concept that originated in China, where people would gather in park corners or on street corners to practice their English, the Seattle Chinese Garden on the north side of the South Seattle Community College campus is hosting a series of “corner” gatherings to teach Chinese language and culture.

The first one is tomorrow.

According to Julia Freimund, program director of the Seattle Chinese Garden, this series is a collaboration between the garden, Chinese Language Teachers of Washington, The Confucius Institute of Washington and Chief Sealth International High School. Instructors from each organization (Freimund, Chunman Gissing, Donna Tang, in photo at right, and Pollyanna Wang, who took the photo) have been creating a curriculum meant to teach Chinese culture and language in a fun, hands-on way.

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West Seattle man performs with Pacific NW Ballet – without dancing
February 12, 2012 1:30 pm
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle people | WS culture/arts

Story and photo by Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

The baristas at Bird On A Wire Espresso probably know Allen Galli better than the average Seattleite, but this actor and West Seattle resident is getting national attention for his role as “Sancho Panza” in Pacific Northwest Ballet’s current production of “Don Quixote,” which wraps with a 7 pm performance tonight.

The attention is due to this production’s unique concept and staging by international dance superstar Alexei Ratmansky. What’s unique about this ballet is that two of the main characters: Don Quixote, played by Tom Skerritt, and Galli’s Sancho Panza, don’t dance. Or speak. Allen Galli does however, get thrown into the air.

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West Seattle weekend scenes: Denny/Sealth’s ‘Soul Jambalaya’
February 12, 2012 4:51 am
|    Comments Off on West Seattle weekend scenes: Denny/Sealth’s ‘Soul Jambalaya’
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | WS culture/arts

(Photos courtesy Jeff Clark)
It was the most star-studded slate of music in West Seattle this weekend – and it was a hit, reports Denny International Middle School principal Jeff Clark:

The Denny International Middle School and Chief Sealth International High School Soul Jambalaya Concert was a big success! The students and special guests provided an amazing evening filled with the rich sounds of Jazz, Gospel, Blues, and Reggae. Another fantastic event made possible thanks to the dedication of Mr. Marcus Pimpleton!

Above, jazz musicians from Denny; next, their counterparts from Sealth:

Next, reggae veteran Clinton Fearon (whose upcoming gigs are listed here):

And here’s Septimus:

The Total Experience Gospel Choir performed as well. While the show was free, donations were accepted for the student music programs, which have some high-profile events ahead, as you can see on their online calendar.

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