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
The forecast is for clear skies, as far as the eye – or at least the forecaster – can see. Including Thursday night, which will bring the next West Seattle Art Walk, 6-9 pm. Three dozen venues (from Shanti Salon and Spa in the north to The Kenney in the south [both WSB sponsors]) – all listed on the official map, which is here. If you want to plan your stops in advance, you can find some of the venues’ previews on the official WS Art Walk site. The Kenney, for example, spotlights artists Martha Hicks and Cyndy Jensen, along with local framer Fred Madrid bringing a collection of historic West Seattle photos (available for purchase), plus live music – details here. Shanti will show photography by Laurie Z. In The Junction, Nature Consortium e-mailed a special invite for you to stop by its office at 4210 SW Oregon – where Kathleen McHugh‘s art will be on display:
McHugh is a Seattle painter who, NC notes:
… has been featured in exhibits locally, nationally, and internationally in places as near as Youngstown Cultural Arts Center and as far as Slovakia and the Museum of Modern Art. Kathleen’s work explores humanistic themes and serve as ‘visual allegories about identity and relationship[s]’.” She also teaches eco-art classes with Nature Consortium and has been working as a teaching artist in the Pacific Northwest since 1994. On Thursday, she is offering prints from her Banff suite at the West Seattle Art Walk. Local Latin-folk band Ama Trio, featured at this year’s Arts in Nature Festival, will also perform at the office 7:30 – 8:30 pm.
(Photo courtesy ArtsWest)
Despite some changes in the off-season, the show must go on at ArtsWest, and tonight it does exactly that, with the first production of the 2011-2012 season, “Amy’s View” by David Hare. One review from back east describes it as “about the lure and pitfalls of materialistic society, about whether love and faith and perseverance will prevail over hedonism and greed…” and more. During the run, through October 1st, showtimes are 7:30 pm Wednesdays-Saturdays, 3 pm Sundays; you can buy tickets online here.
As school revs up, so does the quest for after-school activities. Here’s one coming up this fall, called to your attention by Carol at Southwest Teen Life Center – creative and free: The ACT Theater playwriting class, October 11-December 8, 3-4:30 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the TLC, 2801 SW Thistle. It’s described this way:
The Young Playwrights Program is a professional playwright/teaching program that teaches the basics of playwriting. Each student playwright completes a 10- to 45-minute original play by the end of the session. Students will have the opportunity to learn the art and craft of theater and be introduced to the basic knowledge and elements of how to write dialogue, create characters, and use action to create an entertaining, theatrical piece. Following the class, selected plays may be showcased through staged readings at the ACT Theater. Earn Community Service Learning hours for school. Receive free tickets to plays at the Langston Hughes Performing Art Center and the ACT Theater by enrolling.
You can find out more, and/or register, by calling 206-684-4115.
This year’s Summer Concerts at Hiawatha lineup was more star-studded than ever, including the closing act for the sixth and final concert of the summer tonight: Star Anna and the Laughing Dogs. Star Anna and most of her band live in West Seattle now, so they’re hometown musical heroes:
Katy says she’s thrilled with the response this year and expects the series will continue next year:
P.S. No Conan O’Brien sightings this week. But we did spot a couple familiar faces:
On the left, you probably recognize City Councilmember Bruce Harrell. On the right, someone we’ve known since shortly after we arrived in West Seattle 20 years ago, Dr. Shepherd Siegel, director of school-to-work for Seattle Public Schools. You just never know who you’re going to see at the outdoor concerts and movies in summertime; we’re glad to have been able to co-sponsor the series again this year (the full list of 20+ sponsors is on the right side of this webpage – if you enjoyed the free concerts, let ’em know!).
That’s a look at the crowd from last Thursday’s Summer Concerts at Hiawatha show (Caspar Babypants, with concertgoers including Conan O’Brien) – tonight’s the final show of the season, the hot-and-getting-hotter Star Anna and the Laughing Dogs, and we recommend getting there early to stake out your (free!) spot on the grass. One more reminder: BRING DIAPERS for WestSide Baby – give them to the series-presenting Admiral Neighborhood Association, and you’ll get a Popsicle treat in return! Showtime is 6:30 pm; don’t miss your final chance to be part of the summer’s biggest concert series, with a West Seattle-based rising star ready to play for you. Walk/bus/bicycle if you can (joined West Seattle In Motion yet?); parking alongside the lawn (which borders Walnut) can be tough. There’s usually room in the West Seattle High School lot next door, but they’re having an event tonight too (for freshmen).
The painter is Bosshiko, one of the visiting artists from Japan whose informal Alki performance tonight was noted here in this morning’s “West Seattle Wednesday” preview. Allan, who tipped us to all this, explained that Bosshiko is renowned on the other side of the Pacific for his live-painting. With a canvas of Japanese washi paper, and black sumi ink, he painted with an audience:
He progressed:
And we rolled video on his brushstrokes as he approached the finish (his specialty is 30-minute “live-paintings,” but unfortunately we didn’t clock him):
His next stop is New York, for an exhibition, according to his Facebook page.
(Photos courtesy Juan Alonso)
Students and staff returning to Chief Sealth International High School in a week and a half – and people passing by, from hereon out – will notice something new in front of the auditorium: Award-winning Seattle artist Juan Alonso‘s six “Sentinels,” just installed Friday:
The work, commissioned by the Washington State Arts Commission and Seattle Public Schools, is crafted from stainless steel. Alonso explains it here (and on the explanatory plaque on site):
This is a tribute to our ancestors, to those who have passed down information to us so that we may do the same; to our teachers, those who inspire us, our heroes, our protectors, and those who create a legacy. To Chief Sealth, father figure of our city; and to my own father, whose designs inspired these sculptures and whose kindness has always been my biggest source of strength.
In the same post, Alonso shows a photo of his father with the designs to which he refers, ironwork at a home his family built in Cuba, where Alonso was born and lived till age 10. His other public work, as shown here, includes several pieces installed at White Center’s Greenbridge development. Alonso tells WSB “Sentinels” will have a public dedication during an open house at Chief Sealth the evening of October 13th.
(Trailer for “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” tonight’s season-ending West Seattle Outdoor Movies feature)
Here are highlights from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar for this final Saturday in August:
NICKELSVILLE FUNDRAISER: Fundraising car wash for Nickelsville, the encampment in southeastern West Seattle, to help it stay self-sustaining, with proceeds going to necessities such as portable restrooms and trash pickup. New location: Krispy Kreme on 1st Avenue South in SODO, under way now till 5 pm.
KIDS RAISE MONEY FOR FAMINE VICTIMS: Three West Seattle kids are raising money today to donate to a collection for Somalia famine victims at their church. They’re having a used book sale to raise money to give and have come up with about 200 books. The sale starts at 9 am in High Point, off 35th and Juneau, in front of the retention pond. Paperbacks are 50 cents and hardbacks a dollar. (Their mom says they’ll accept larger donations!)
GIVE THE RECOVERY GARDEN SOME TLC: 10 am-2 pm, community volunteer help appreciated, 26th/Brandon in North Delridge; here’s our preview from last night.
PICK UP PACKETS FOR ALKI BEACH 5K: 10 am-2 pm at West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor), California/Charlestown. (And it’s not too late to sign up for the fundraising walk-run to help breast-cancer patients through Northwest Hope and Healing – the 5K is tomorrow, 9 am, starting at Alki Bathhouse, more details here.)
HELP PLANT RAIN GARDENS: Volunteer help needed to plant the Sustainable Rain rain gardens in two local sites excavated in the last month, including 5902 California SW and, in White Center, Big Al Brewing (9832 14th SW). 10 am-noon, free refreshments for volunteers.
FIGHT IVY IN SCHMITZ PARK: Schmitz Preserve Park Work Party, 9 am – 12 pm. Join the resistance against the invasive threat of ivy in Schmitz Park. All ages welcome. Snacks provided. Sturdy shoes and long pants are a must. 5380 Stevens SW, just off Admiral Way.
CARE FOR THE CREEK: Longfellow Creek – Thistle Street Work Party, 10 am – 2 pm. Join EarthCorps and other community volunteers at our monthly work party along the riparian zone of Longfellow Creek. This greenspace is a three acre site located just to the east of Chief Sealth International High School. Once hugely overgrown with blackberries and garbage, walkers can now enjoy forested wetlands, winding trail, great views of the creek, a community garden and seating area beside a sensory garden. SW Thistle Street and 26th Avenue SW to find the greenspace.
EUROPAKIDS INTERNATIONAL PRESCHOOL OPEN HOUSE: Ni hao! Hola! Guten Tag! EuropaKids International Preschool (WSB sponsor) is celebrating its 6th year in West Seattle and we are having a Fall Open House at 10:30 am to introduce our new Mandarin Chinese program. The EuropaKids half-day program is a multilingual language PRESCHOOL dedicated to preparing your child(ren) for the upcoming elementary school years by using the gift of foreign language as our focus. Please RSVP for the Open House at the SW Community Center in West Seattle; call Nicole at (206) 708-5784.
DUWAMISH RIVER FESTIVAL: Celebrate the river, with free entertainment, education, and more. Noon-6 pm, right on the river’s shore at 7900 10th Avenue South in South Park, with West Seattle participants including Alki Kayak Tours, details here. And a few more: Mariachis, Duwamish Tribal dancers, an eclectic lineup of live music, free tamales and BBQ, environmental and health education booths, and children’s activities. More announced highlights:
· *Jaime Méndez, *from UNIVISION, and *Paulina López, *South Park community member*,* bilingual (Spanish/English) Masters of Ceremonies;
· *Supersones*, Son – the acoustic dance music of the Cuban countryside that inspired modern Salsa;
· Also* Mariachi Guadalajara, The African ConeXion Project *and others.
LIGHTHOUSE TOURS: Last weekend this year to tour the Alki Point Lighthouse, 1-4 pm.
TERRY BROOKS’ ANNUAL HOMETOWN READING: West Seattle-residing bestselling author Terry Brooks makes his annual appearance at Westwood Village Barnes & Noble, 2 pm (more on his website,, including info on his just-published “Legends of Shannara: Measure of the Magic”).
SEASON FINALE FOR WEST SEATTLE OUTDOOR MOVIES: Rescheduled from July 16 rainout, West Seattle Outdoor Movies presents “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” at dusk, courtyard next to Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor), 4410 California SW. Movie’s free; bring your own chair/blanket, and money for fundraising raffle/concessions.
SEASON FINALE FOR MOVIES ON THE LAWN: Unique Families of Seattle presents “Nim’s Island,” free outdoor movie at 9246 36th Ave SW, arrival time: 8 pm (donations welcome), film starts around 9 pm. Private residence so space is limited, must RSVP to attend. E-mail joanna@uniquefamiliesofseattle.org
Have an event for the calendar? Send info as early as possible – so more people find out about it! Don’t worry about waiting till you have flyers, photos, logos, attachments – don’t need ’em! – just write up who/what/when/where, right in your e-mail, and send to editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks!
(African Children’s Choir photo courtesy West Seattle Christian Church)
The weather’s summery and so are our highlights from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
WADING POOL EXTENSIONS:Delridge and E.C. Hughes are the West Seattle wading pools that will be open today even though their schedules were originally ending earlier – details here, and there’s more wading-pool info here.
CLOCK’S TICKING FOR COLMAN POOL: Only one more week for Colman Pool‘s 7-day-a-week summer operations (followed by one “post-season weekend”), so if you haven’t been to West Seattle’s only on-the-beach public salt-water pool yet, you don’t have too many more chances; swimming starts at noon (pool schedule/other info here)
FINAL ‘OUTDOOR CONCERT AT THE MOUNT’: Last Friday night in August and that means the fourth and final outdoor concert at Providence Mount St. Vincent (WSB sponsor) – tonight it’s world music by the Selam Band, with dinner/wine/beer on sale at 5:30, music (free!) at 6 pm, free popcorn/snow cones too. It’s on the south-side patio at The Mount, 4831 35th SW, bring your own chair/blanket.
RAINBOW BINGO: It’s back at the Senior Center of West Seattle tonight, with a tropical theme, hosted by Sylvia O’Stayformore. The night starts with food at 6, entertainment at 6:30, bingo at 7. More details in our preview from last week.
OPEN-AIR OPEN MIKE: Encore presentation of Cultivate Open Mike in White Center, right next to Dubsea Coffee. Bring your shades, lawn chairs and blankets, and come enjoy talented local artists 7 pm at Greenbridge Plaza, 9910 8th SW (just south of SW Roxbury).
AFRICAN CHILDREN’S CHOIR: Young singers and dancers from Uganda, internationally renowned as the African Children’s Choir, are touring the region and will present a free concert tonight at West Seattle Christian Church activity center on 42nd south of SW Genesee, 7 pm (**updated time**).
Famous as tonight’s Summer Concerts at Hiawatha headliner was, he was a bit upstaged in terms of crowd buzz, by the TV celebrity who’s now been sighted twice in West Seattle in the past three nights – Conan O’Brien. Tuesday, it was his visit to Cactus on Alki (as seen on Facebook); tonight, “Coco” (dad of 2) was among the hundreds going gaga over Caspar Babypants, who got a jump on things:
Yes, we have video too:
Without concertgoers even realizing they had a chance at an extra celebrity sighting, Team Babypants drew perhaps the biggest crowd ever for the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s hot series of free concerts:
Mr. Babypants was of course joined offstage by his wife/creative partner, artist Kate Endle, whose work is on his CD covers (among other collaborations, plus her own solo projects):
One more Hiawatha concert – next Thursday, 6:30 pm, another very hot ticket, Star Anna, who you might recall rocked Easy Street Records in The Junction earlier this summer. Free – come early, and bring your own blanket/chair. (WSB is proud to be among the series co-sponsors, as we have been for each of the series’ three seasons.)
ADDED FRIDAY: A couple more Conan-at-the-concert photos from WSB’ers:Read More
(African Children’s Choir performance in Kentucky this past June)
Another weekend of big events in West Seattle (and environs) is just days away. We’ll be previewing them throughout the week, starting here: Young singers from Uganda who are touring our state right now will be in concert at West Seattle Christian Church this Friday. The African Children’s Choir will perform in the church’s Activity Center (map) at 7 pm; doors open at 6:30. You can read here about how the choir members are chosen and trained; most are between 7 and 11 years old. It’s been almost exactly two years since the choir’s 2009 visit to WSCC.
(Photo courtesy Avalon Glassworks, used with permission)
West Seattle’s Avalon Glassworks has a long history of helping local nonprofits – and the latest is the Seattle Public Library Foundation, which will get a portion of the proceeds from the newly announced holiday ornaments shown above. $30 each. You can check the ornaments (and other blown-glass art) at their shop on Avalon Way just south of the West Seattle Bridge. (They’re available online too.)
The ornaments caught our attention as we were just about to publish this reminder: Seattle Public Library branches are closing for a week-plus again this year, as a result of city budget cuts. That closure starts a week from tomorrow (August 29) and continues through the Labor Day holiday on Monday, Sept. 5th, so the libraries won’t reopen till Tuesday, September 6th. More info here.
(Photos/video by Patrick Sand for WSB unless otherwise credited)
If you didn’t experience it in person today at the Nature Consortium‘s Arts In Nature Festival– which continues tomorrow at Camp Long – you can watch our clip to see and hear the “fire organ” by kinetic sculptor/sound artist Trimpin, one of an almost-endless array of amazing sights and sounds at the festival. At midday today, a festival tradition – the Species Parade (which happens again Sunday at 1:45 pm):
(Photo courtesy Trileigh Tucker)
Puppets by Sarah Lovett were part of the parade, glimpsed by some while wandering between performance zones. Here’s an owl puppet we spotted before the parade:
Even setup can be interesting – this was part of the preparations being made for The Cabiri(who perform again Sunday at noon):
Throughout the park, you’ll find music. On Saturday, the Park West Chamber Players performed:
(Photo courtesy Trileigh Tucker)
Local writer/photographer/musician Trileigh Tucker says that from left to right, the players are Kate Vincent, Jane Johnson, Karen Larsen, Robert Baker, Saralee Stata, and Ann Kendall. She adds, “Most of these wonderful musicians are affiliated with the West Seattle Community Orchestras.” Then there’s music in the dome:
Rose Laughlin was there at midday today:
Right about the same time, West Seattle-based Caspar Babypants entertained families in the Camp Long Lodge:
Throughout the park, festival venues are both indoors and outdoors, many interactive/participatory. The festival schedule for tomorrow is here; Camp Long is at 5200 35th SW.
Another West Seattle author is one week away from his customary annual reading here in the home ‘hood: After releasing “Legends of Shannara: The Measure of the Magic” this Tuesday, megaselling fantasy author Terry Brooks will be at the Westwood Village Barnes and Noble the following Saturday (2 pm August 27th). He has drawn a crowd there every summer, dating back at least as far back as WSB goes (our coverage: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010).
Another West Seattle author is one week away from his customary annual reading here in the home ‘hood: After releasing “Legends of Shannara: The Measure of the Magic” this Tuesday, megaselling fantasy author
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