West Seattle, Washington
06 Monday
7:39 PM: We’re at ArtsWest (WSB sponsor) in The Junction, where the 2011-2012 season lineup is about to be announced. ArtsWest’s Alan Harrison and Christopher Zinovitch are scheduled to lead the announcement, along with We’ll publish updates as the announcements are made – stay tuned!
7:41 PM: The event is beginning with a discussion of ArtsWest’s current production “Distracted” by Lisa Loomer – in the tradition of ArtsWest’s “OnStage” talks, linked to all of their productions. Zinovitch is talking about the family dynamic of the production, which follows a journey through a family’s experience with ADHD, that he says doesn’t come down on any particular side of what’s right and what’s wrong. The cast categorizes the play as a “dramedy.”
8 PM: That’s followed up by a discussion of “Shipwrecked,” the next production on ArtsWest’s current slate. “It’s kind of like presenting ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ as a true story,” observed Harrison. Cast members are onstage and talking about the central character of this story touring as “the greatest liar of all time.” (This production too is directed by Zinovitch, who says “It’s not a piece for children, but it’s a piece to bring your inner child back to life.” That is not to say it’s not suitable for children – in fact, Harrison pointed out moments later, it’s for all ages, and there will be a student matinee on May 11 for which there’s still space – contact the theater to talk about tickets.)
(Brandon Felker with a monologue from “Amy’s View,” followed by discussion with Alan Harrison and Christopher Zinovitch)
8:33 PM: And the announcing is under way – minus a PowerPoint that was planned, and nobody seems to mind. First play: “Amy’s View“ by David Hare, September 7-October 1. “It’s a mother-daughter story,” explains Zinovitch, with the mother, an actor, as a “Peter Pan” figure, and the daughter having to bring her mother back to reality as their relationship evolves over 20 years, 1979-1999. He also discussed (we have this on video and will add later) the undercurrent of the play, about supporting the arts. Harrison talked about how this dovetails with ArtsWest’s mission – to foster conversation, among other things. Moments later, he revealed that this is “the highest-selling season we’ve ever had” at ArtsWest. “People are coming to ArtsWest and filling this joint on a regular basis!” That was greeted with applause from the sizable crowd that’s here.
(The rest of our as-it-happened coverage is after the jump …)Read More
(Photo by Danny McMillin, from the West Seattle Blog group pool on Flickr)
As we do most mornings, we’re taking a look at some highlights of the day/night ahead, from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar. First, two neighborhood meetings, including one with a timely agenda:
NORTH DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: 6:30 pm, Delridge Library (Delridge/Brandon). As announced by chair Karrie Kohlhaas, this one’s focused on emergency preparedness:
Imagine not being prepared when an earthquake, tsunami, mudslides, terrorist attack, or other disaster situation strikes, cutting you off from the rest of Seattle, from provisions, from electricity and other city services like waste management, police, fire dept…
We want Delridge to be prepared and in good shape if disaster comes our way, so we found the best people to come talk with us:
Debbie Goetz, City of Seattle Emergency Preparedness Training Specialist
Cindi Barker, West Seattle Hubs Coordinator and WS neighbor
Ben Canfield, neighbor volunteer creating a Delridge Disaster Preparedness Plan* Learn how you will know what’s going on if you can’t use your phone or computer
* Find out what supplies you should have on hand at all times
* Meet an amazing neighbor who organized a communication plan for West Seattle
* Ask questions of city and local organizers so you can empower your family
* Find out how you can get more involved in shaping a plan for Delridge
* Leave with information that could save your life or a neighbor’s life …Looking forward to meeting many of you for the first time. Meetings are upbeat and I try to keep them moving. We must be done by 7:45 because the library closes, so no worries that this is going to take your whole night! Hope to see you there!
PIGEON POINT NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: Northeast of NDNC, the PPNC meets tonight at 7 at Pathfinder K-8 (Cooper campus) School.
ARTSWEST ANNOUNCEMENT: What will West Seattle’s fulltime arts purveyor produce/present next season? The suspense ends tonight in a fun announcement event at the ArtsWest (WSB sponsor) theater in The Junction, 7:30 pm, free, everyone invited (and it’ll include a sneak peek at the current production “Distracted“).
SING IT!: Karaoke with Kelli at Skylark Café and Club (WSB sponsor), 9 pm
RAISE A GUIDE PUPPY: West Seattle See Dogs meets 6:30 pm, Merrill Gardens-Admiral Heights (WSB sponsor) lobby at 2326 California Ave SW. Do you have love and time to share with a puppy? Call Ruth Oldham at 206-953-0268 for information on how you can raise a Guide Dog Puppy or just show up at our meeting! More info at www.guidedogs.com.
FREE WORKSHOP: “Building a Better Home” free workshop at Ventana Construction (WSB sponsor) for those interested in custom homebuilding or remodeling, 6 pm, more info on Facebook invite page (but call to RSVP).
BINGO! Every Monday night, it’s Bingo at Alki UCC church – doors open at 5:30 pm, games start at 6:30 pm (read more here)
(WSCO’s Toni Reineke and Rob Duisberg – photos by Patrick Sand for WSB)
What a season for the West Seattle Community Orchestras. The name alone is a big development – the organization was founded as, and known for a long time as, Westside Symphonette, but to recognize what it’s become, multiple intergenerational groups, it’s now known as West Seattle Community Orchestras. The youth programs are a particular point of pride – so to ensure funding to make sure all kids can play, WSCO organized its first-ever fundraising gala. And that historic event last night at Kenyon Hall was a wall-to-wall success, with more than 100 people filling the hall for buffet dinner, drinks, music and dancing:
Dozens of performers of all ages and talents were part of the program. We recorded video of some of them – here are five minutes of highlights, starting with Kenyon Hall maestro Lou Magor playing the hall’s centerpiece, “The Mighty Wurlitzer” and featuring excerpts from five other performances (we wish we had recorded them all!):
The evening, emceed by Adam DeBruler, also included a wide array of silent-auction items, including many donated by other West Seattle (and environs) arts organizations in support of WSCO. We checked with WSCO founder Toni Reineke to see if they have any totals; she says their preliminary tallying indicates the event definitely came out “in the black,” and she adds, “We thank everyone who attended and those who contributed in so many ways — food, labor, energy, smiles, music—and their lusty singing! A special thanks, of course, to Lou Magor!” As she announced last night, the next WSCO performances are May 3 and 10 – more on those soon; meantime, they practice at Chief Sealth International High School every Tuesday night, and are always open to new musicians – check www.wscorchestras.org for contact and schedule info.
You can make it a “good time for a good cause” doubleheader this Saturday night and Sunday midday with two events that WSB is honored to be co-sponsoring:
WEST SEATTLE COMMUNITY ORCHESTRAS’ SPRING GALA: Saturday night, the intergenerational three-group West Seattle Community Orchestras are raising money for their youth programs with a night of music, silent auction, and light dinner at West Seattle’s Kenyon Hall. The gala is at 7 pm Saturday, doors open at 6:30, tickets $25. To check on availability, e-mail Abe Santini at abe@wscorchestras.org.
NATURE CONSORTIUM BRUNCH: Then Sunday, mimosas are on the menu for the Nature Consortium‘s annual brunch. So are roasted-vegetable stratas, the acclaimed cuisine of Tuxedoes and Tennis Shoes Catering (WSB sponsor). And you’ll be inspired by a performance from the NC’s Youth Art Program. It’s noon-1:30 pm Sunday at the The Hall at Fauntleroy. It’s free to register (NC contributions will be requested during the event). Just go here to get your name on the list.
(Added Saturday night – our photo from the Madison/Aki Kurose booth, with Lilien and Joseph)
Peruse the list of exhibitors for the Emerald City Comic Convention, continuing all weekend at the Washington State Convention Center downtown, and you’ll find a distinctly West Seattle name – Madison Middle School. Teacher Greg Hatcher is there with his afterschool cartooning class again this year. Last year, they collected donations to help make sure their program could continue; this year, they’re raising money by selling a book – “Doodle Inc.: The Cartooning Class Reunion Special,” with work by cartooning-class alums. You can see the cover and some of the art here, in a story Hatcher wrote about the project and how it came together. Seattle’s Child magazine featured them too. At the event, look for them in booth 511; if they haven’t sold out yet, the book’s going for just $5, with that entire price supporting the student cartooning program. Emerald City ComiCon is open 10 am-7 pm today, 10 am-5 pm tomorrow, ticket info here (and here’s this year’s celebrity lineup – headlined by William Shatner).
(Walker Rock Garden photo courtesy Lita Gill)
Just six weeks after first word it was going up for sale, West Seattle’s quirky Walker Rock Garden apparently has a buyer. We checked its website for word of upcoming “open” dates for the site, and discovered an undated “breaking news” item declaring: “The property is now under contract so do not wait to come and see the Walker Rock Garden. DO IT NOW!” No future “garden open” dates are listed as of right now, but the Walkers’ granddaughter Lita Gill had told us in a previous exchange that you can contact the listing agent directly to ask (Brad Cooper, 206-383-0197). She told WSB in January that while they hoped to find a buyer who would preserve her grandparents’ rock creations, they wouldn’t require it as a condition of sale. Earlier this month, the property, with a small home on a double lot, was listed for $392,000. We have an inquiry out to see if they’re commenting on the in-progress sale. Meantime, Michael tipped us this past weekend to a new online story with more details on exactly how the Walker Rock Garden’s stonework was crafted – you can read it here.
(Erin, Cheryl, and Mary from Twilight Artist Collective, powering along at Link)
So you’ve spent months working on curating, installing, and in some cases creating, ALL the art for an entire new block-long mixed-use development. Could be grounds for fatigue. Do the proprietors of Twilight Artist Collective look tired? On the contrary, they were positively perky when we revisited them the other day, checking on the progress of their work at Link (now about a month away from opening) in The Triangle. The Junction photo mural is one of the newest pieces; the stairwell mural is also finished (here are our previous photos while it was still a work-in-progress), featuring birds and bees, among other touches:
Other birds you’ll see in Link include seagulls on the 4th floor, courtesy of Mary:
Link’s lobby is showcasing art too, including this “bridge to nowhere”:
The Twilight team tells us their installation work should be done this week. Link continues pre-leasing, with move-ins to start next month; its three retail tenants are also preparing to open – Chaco Canyon Organic Café and Breathe Hot Yoga in April, Bright Horizons in May (we’re taking a closer look at them later this weekend, in advance of their next “parent information night” coming up this Thursday).
After days of installation work (you’ve seen it in progress if you’ve driven SW Thistle this past week), the front of Chief Sealth International High School‘s auditorium is now graced by a portrait of its namesake, in the school colors, in a two-sided louvered style – red if you’re looking west, blue if you’re looking east.
Before it was repainted during the two-year renovation project, that section of the auditorium’s facade simply bore the lettering “Chief Sealth High School” – here’s the previous look, and here’s an even older view. (The story of Chief Sealth/Seattle himself is told here, at HistoryLink.org.)
If you weren’t among the 200 or so people in the Chief Sealth International High School auditorium Saturday night, you missed something truly breathtaking in the three-hour, multi-act “Soul Jambalaya” event, a celebration of African-American history (musical and otherwise) to benefit Denny International Middle School musicians. We were there from start to finish, recording video so you can enjoy (or re-enjoy) highlights. Our top clip is the show-opener, the entire Denny-student-performed “The Stolen Ones and How They Were Missed” by Marcia Tate Arunga, explained in this story by Jack Broom from the Seattle Times (WSB partner). From Denny principal Jeff Clark‘s morning-after note today:
I was so proud of the students who performed the scene from our play based on the book, The Stolen Ones and How They Were Missed by Marcia Tate Arunga. Ms. Tate Arunga — and the many talented artists she brought with her — did a beautiful job working with our students and community; we are very grateful for their time and many talents. Thank you also to Ms. Patricia Rangel, who coordinated all the details of this play so effectively.
Under the direction of Denny music-program leader Marcus Pimpleton, who put together “Soul Jambalaya,” the Denny Jazz Band wowed the crowd too:
Pimpleton also leads the band program at Sealth, whose Jazz Band 2 was featured as well – here’s one of their numbers (with soloists identified at the end of the clip):
Sealth’s drummer guested with Septimus, a veteran Seattle group that was among the non-student acts on the bill:
Septimus was in reggae mode for that song, though they also played some blues; a pure reggae performer was on the program, too, even more reggae from Jamaican native Clinton Fearon:
And there were two stage-shaking, crowd-rousing gospel performances, too – including Seattle’s own Total Experience Gospel Choir, led by Pastor Pat Wright:
The brothers-and-sisters group Oliver Generations of Faith brought their own style to the Sealth stage:
While Marcus Pimpleton joked to the audience toward show’s end, “You got $10,000 worth of music,” admission was free, and voluntary donations were collected for Denny musicians’ upcoming California travel. (You can still donate – here’s where to send a check.) Two more acknowledgments from principal Clark’s post-show note:
I would like to express my sincere thanks to everyone who came last night to support the students at Denny and Sealth at our Soul Jambalaya event. The event was a huge success! …
This whole event was the creation of Mr. Marcus Pimpleton, who, as he always does, did a phenomenal job pulling together such a fantastic event. Mr. Pimpleton has a team of volunteers who help with set up, backstage, and with countless other things–thank you, volunteers. Last night, Mr. Pimpleton said, “This is what being an International School is all about.” I absolutely agree. Thank you, Mr. Pimpleton, for all that you do for our children, our school, and our community!
Clicking “play” will get you to a sampling of music for West Seattle native Trevor Ras, who plays Skylark Café and Club (WSB sponsor) tonight for his CD release party. 8 pm, $7 cover. (The new album – his second – is “Blue Sky,” and is on sale at West Seattle’s own Easy Street Records, by the way.) … This afternoon, it’s the annual rock ‘n’ roll live auction at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), “Vinyl Countdown,” raising money for animal advocates, 2-5 pm (more info on The Feedback’s home page) … Want to help animals by giving a cat a new home? There’s an adoptathon noon-3 pm at Next to Nature in The Junction (4543 California SW) … Also in The Junction, a new farmer (with fresh goat and cow milk) and live music today at the West Seattle Farmers’ Market, 10 am-2 pm, plus the West Seattle Tool Library with a sewing demonstration, as previewed here, and the final performance of “Emilie” at ArtsWest, 3 pm (tickets available online. … A 2 pm matinee closes out this weekend’s run of “The New New News” at South Seattle Community College‘s Olympic Hall (details here) … More on the calendar!
It can get a little confusing if you start talking about “the mural at Link,” since the new Triangle building in the Harbor Properties family is sibling to Mural in The Junction (both are WSB sponsors) … but here, the pictures tell the story.
Work has begun on the mural decorating the stairwell at Link, part of the 40-plus-work buildingwide art collection being curated by Twilight Artist Collective in The Junction. They’re putting up the other work too. And one of Twilight’s trio of proprietors is among the mural’s artists:
Twilight’s Erin Staffeld is working on the mural with Curtis Ashby and John Osgood (more of his work can be seen here).
According to Harbor’s Emi McKittrick, the first move-ins at Link are still expected to happen sometime next month.
If you pursue your passion, it’s said, it can take you a long way – and West Seattle photographer Machel Spence‘s photographs of local fungi are now on their way around the world. She announced this weekend that she’s “in the current winter issue of Fungi Magazine – there is an article inside with more photographs and I was chosen for the cover shot too! I think it’s such an amazing boost for West Seattle and another reason why we should protect our parks here!” Many of her photographs, views into a sometimes-tiny world you have walked by and through a million times and never noticed, are from Lincoln Park. Her website has a link you can use to get a copy of the magazine, whose founders say it’s both for amateur and professional mycologists.
Spring approaching – and it’s the major season for fundraising galas. Some of them are annual traditions – and then every year new ones emerge, like this one: The intergenerational three-group West Seattle Community Orchestras have just announced their first-ever Spring Gala, to raise money for their youth programs – that’s half the WSCOs’ 120-musician membership! – as founder Toni Reineke notes in the announcement, the group “fill(s) the gap for students wishing to pursue their talents in music, at a time when many local music programs have suffered budget cuts.” If you buy your ticket early, there’s a discount. A night of music, with a silent auction and light dinner, is promised, at West Seattle’s Kenyon Hall. The gala is at 7 pm Saturday, March 12th (doors will open at 6:30 pm), with tickets $20 if purchased before March 1st, $25 afterward. To get your advance tickets, e-mail Abe Santini at abe@wscorchestras.org.
The basketball games we mentioned earlier weren’t the only student competitions on Saturday – just got this report early today from Marcus Pimpleton, band director at Chief Sealth International High School (among other local roles) – the video above is from the winning performance:
Please join me in congratulating the members of the Chief Sealth International High School Percussion Ensemble on winning the percussion ensemble division of the Elliott Bay Music Educators Solo and Ensemble Contest at Seattle Pacific University Saturday morning. The students received a rating of superior and will move on to represent the Greater Seattle area in the WIAA/WMEA State Solo and Ensemble Contest on April 29th in Ellensburg.
The Chief Sealth percussion ensemble is comprised of concert and marching band members from the Chief Sealth High School Band’s drumline. The participating students have demonstrated a great deal of initiative from the selection of the piece, to organizing their own practice schedule to individually mastering their parts. They have taken our percussion program to a whole new level of musicianship, pride, unity, and intensity. I would especially like to acknowledge Josh Chan and Justin Bales, the volunteer coaches who have helped to prepare the students for the festival.
P.S. – Some of Chief Sealth’s band musicians are on the program for the big Soul Jambalaya benefit next Saturday night (details in our previous story on that).
That’s the official (current) trailer for “Loaded,” the project by West Seattle filmmaker Jamie Chamberlin, who just sent word that intern filmmakers are needed to help:
We are looking for intern filmmakers to come on board the LOADED Rock and Roll Feature film currently being shot in Seattle.This project has a built-in international distribution deal and will be an opportunity to get a solid credit on resume. Depending on proficiency , it could lead to a paid position and opportunity to align with an award winning production team. We are looking for: Visual artists. Editors. Cinematographers. Graphic Designers. For info or resume submissions: info@blackdahliafilms.com
Its synopsis, after the jump:Read More
A West Seattle student is among the winners in the city’s Neighbor Appreciation Day student art contest. Above, Sanislo Elementary fifth-grader Chandra Burnham took third place (see a bigger version of her work here). Winners (all listed here) are being honored this Saturday during Neighbor Appreciation Day, which also features myriad special fun city events (fire station tours, free swim at Southwest Pool, and more) – see them listed on the WSB West Seattle Events calendar.
One more art note before the night’s out: Though the West Seattle Art Walk (tomorrow, 6-9 pm) is definitely the bigger of the two, the White Center Art Walk is livening up our southern neighbor each month too … and tonight, WSB’er Amanda is putting out the call for more participants:
Calling all West Seattle Blog and White Center Now-reading artists! The White Center Art Walk happens every 3rd Saturday of the month from 6pm – 9pm. Proletariat Pizza, Full Tilt, Big Al’s, Dzul Tattoo, Dubsea, Company, Salvadorean Bakery, and Rozella’s are some of the participants. With all the new places moving into White Center, it’s becoming a great place to see local art!
We are looking for artists to participate. There are no commissions or hanging fees either! We are in need of two artists for this month (the 19th) at Full Tilt and Big Al’s. Looking for family friendly art, but are open to all kinds of art. Please contact Amanda Kay Helmick for submission information. smyliegrl at gmail dot com
A film crew is coming to Fauntleroy, starting this Saturday. As a few WSB’ers have mentioned in e-mail, notices have been distributed to nearby homes, and “No Parking” signs are up; we also have spoken with location manager Dave Drummond, who shares this information:
The independent feature film “After the Ghost” will be filming scenes at a residence in Fauntleroy, a short distance north of the ferry terminal. Filming will occur on February 12-16 and Feb 19-21, both during the day and sometimes at night. The production is coordinating with the Fauntleroy Community Association and all nearby residents regarding parking, noise, and other potential impact to the area. Traffic on Fauntleroy Way should not be significantly impacted during daytime and peak hours. Minor traffic delays may be experienced late at night in that area, as Seattle Police will be conducting intermittent traffic holds for some scenes.
“After the Ghost” will be directed by Seattle’s Skip Moody and is being produced and shot entirely in Western Washington. For more information about the production or the impact to the Fauntleroy area, please contact Location Manager Dave Drummond at dave@drummondmedia.com
“After the Ghost” is described online as a “present-day supernatural drama”; you can find out more about it here.
(Photos by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB)
Ready to tour the new Knowing the Spring Courtyard at the Seattle Chinese Garden on the campus of South Seattle Community College on Puget Ridge? It’s ready for visitors, Wednesdays-Sundays noon-4:30 pm, after a “soft opening” on Sunday afternoon.
That’s program director Julia Freimund welcoming visitors at the garden’s also still-in-the-formative-stages Discovery Center. More garden photos after the jump:Read More
Accompanying this poster/flyer today, an invitation from Denny International Middle School‘s principal Jeff Clark:
I am pleased to invite the West Seattle community to an upcoming benefit concert on Saturday, February 19, at 6:45 pm at the Chief Sealth International High School Auditorium. Mr. Pimpleton, our amazing band director, has put this together as a fundraising event for our students. He and I have a goal that every student can go on every music trip-without exception. This fantastic benefit concert is something he has organized to help send all of the Dolphin musicians to California this year. I hope that you, your family, and friends can join us for this event-I know it will be great.
If you can’t read the flyer above, here’s a fullsize version.
(Courtesy Aguero Photo)
This is the third year of Avalon Glassworks‘ “Feed the Core” fundraiser for White Center Food Bank, and it’s getting close to a milestone, according to a news release we received today – 34 more apples to sell till the amount of money donated hits $10,000. The apples sell for $80, with half of that covering the production costs and the other half – $40 per apple – going to WC Food Bank, which can buy up to 200 pounds of food for that sum. So far, they have sold 216 apples! Once they hit 250, and therefore the $10,000 mark, AGW owners Shannon and Jon Felix are planning a celebration – and hoping that’ll be possible by early summer. P.S. If you can’t get to Avalon Glassworks in person (2914 SW Avalon Way), the apples are available online.
(Video and photo by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB)
Three more stage productions in our area this weekend (in addition to ArtsWest‘s ongoing “Emilie“) – and two of them open tonight. “Age Only Matters if You’re Cheese” – the romance/musical co-created by 90-year-old Yvonne Belshaw, featured here earlier this week – starts a three-show run at Fauntleroy Church, and the Saturday matinee is already sold out. We dropped in on last night’s dress rehearsal; that’s Shellie Moomey and Jenny Mandt in the video above – they star along with Kevin Finney:
As of last night, some tickets remained for the performances at 7:30 pm tonight and Saturday – call 932-5600 – any tickets that remain will be sold at the door, but there’s no guarantees. (1:44 PM UPDATE: Tonight’s show is now sold out, but call to ask about Saturday night.)
HIGH-SCHOOL PLAYS: Two schools have crime comedies on deck. Tonight West Seattle High School‘s Drama Club opens a three-night run of the student-directed “A Little Murder Never Hurt Anybody,” 7:30 pm, tickets $7 with reservations (call 206-252-8834) or $12 at the door … Tomorrow night the Chief Sealth International High School After-School Drama Club presents “The Real Inspector Hound,” 7 pm in the Little Theater, admission free.
If it were just 30 degrees warmer, all that sunshine would feel just like summer. Something else that might put you in the mood: Looking ahead to summer outdoor fun. Two notes:
WEST SEATTLE SUMMER FEST: Checking the WSSF website, you’ll see the West Seattle Junction Association is already taking applications for vendors and exhibitors at this year’s festival (July 8-9-10) – the applications are linked here. And applications for musicians and other performers are promised next Monday (February 7th). But another big summer event is taking musician applications already …
SUMMER CONCERTS AT HIAWATHA: The Admiral Neighborhood Association has extended the deadline for musicians to apply to be part of this year’s series on the east lawn of Hiawatha Community Center – a free series that drew thousands last year. The dates run from late July through early September; ANA hopes to have the slate set by April. You can get full details on applying by going here.
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