Arts & Culture
Washington’s Wildest Summer Festivals
From pirate invasions and slug races to geoduck shucking, Bigfoot lore, and Renaissance revelry, these festivals prove the state knows how to keep things strange.
We all know how wonderfully weird Washington can be—and perhaps some of the best evidence of this lies in its colorful, eclectic, and sometimes downright bizarre festivals happening throughout the year. While some of the state’s quirkiest festivals have already happened, like Poulsbo’s Viking Fest (third weekend in May) and Rhubarb Days in Sumner (mid-to-late…
So Long Havana Social Club
The Capitol Hill nightlife staple will close with one final Pride weekend.
A little over 20 years ago, Quentin Ertel walked into the space that would become his bar, Havana Social Club. It was near Tenth and Pike, a former auto showroom that had been taken over by REI, before REI moved out of Capitol Hill. “Part of it was falling down,” Ertel remembers, but there were…
Rearview Mirror: French Fashion Returns, Centennial Park Opens, and a Parfumerie Finds its Home
Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).
MAKING SCENTS For nearly 10 years, Atelier Madrona has offered Seattle bespoke scents crafted from high-quality raw materials. Founder Chelsey Owen is a Paris-trained master perfumer who believes in the power of storytelling through scent and its ability to tap into our memories and emotions. In June, the brand opened a fragrance boutique featuring the city’s first…
Studio Sessions: Eirik Johnson
In a residency hosted by Foster/White Gallery, local photographer Eirik Johnson observes the collision between nature and humanity, and the longing by the latter to leave a mark in place and time.
Most people view the advent of summer as a signal to slow down and relax, but for artist Eirik Johnson, this year’s warming months are a time to ramp up as he prepares to debut two creative projects. Born and raised in Seattle, Johnson, whose deeply emotional photography covers a range of subjects, will release a…
Fremont’s Naked Bike Parade Turns 35
What began with four nude cyclists in 1989 has grown into one of Seattle’s most joyful summer traditions.
The summer solstice is celebrated across the Northern Hemisphere. The longest day of the year brings warmer days, late sunsets, and plenty of excuses to spend as much time outside as possible—especially in our environmentally blessed corner of the world. In Sweden, Midsummer is celebrated with flower crowns, maypoles, folk dances, and eating pickled herring….
The Digital Resurrection of Place: Walking the Future Arts Way
In the heart of Seattle, where glass towers rise above historic streets and the pace of technological change continues to accelerate, a new kind of public infrastructure is taking shape, one built not from concrete, but from augmented reality, digital storytelling, and ancestral memory. Launching with a public opening ceremony at Pacific Science Center’s newly free…
Rearview Mirror: Icelandic Art, Airport Views, and Trailhead Direct
Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).
Art Is Everywhere Last week, I was in Iceland for Reykjavík Arts Festival, the biennial celebration of the arts, and I was blown away by how much it seemed to touch every corner of the city. Seattle and Reykjavík have been sister cities for 40 years, and this trip was about looking at what that…
A Global Approach to Bonsai
A new exhibition at the Pacific Bonsai Museum looks at the evolution of the ancient horticulture tradition around the world.
Explore the global evolution of an ancient art at the Pacific Bonsai Museum’s new “Bonsai United” exhibition. Discover how world cultures shape bonsai.
The Clouded Surf: Warren Dunes Makes Beach Music for Seattle
The local band is the unlikely mascot we need.
Contrary to what you might think, the best mascots are born, not manufactured. Yes, a lovable socialist monster like Gritty might emerge to provide a face for the soul of a city, but sometimes, there are artists who rise up to define the character of that city. One of the enduring memories I have of…
Best in Show: Schack Art Center’s Annual Juried Exhibition Opens in Everett
This spring, Everett’s Schack Art Center opened Present Tense: 24th Annual Juried Exhibition. A longstanding tradition, the show will feature pieces from artists working in a range of mediums, including painting, sculpture, glass, ceramics, printmaking, photography, and mixed media. “We select emerging artists and those with well-established practices,” says Schack’s marketing and communications manager, Aaron…
Studio Sessions: Jo Cosme
The Seattle-based multimedia artist and 2026 Neddy Award winner challenges the postcard version of Puerto Rico and centers the persistence of its people.
Jo Cosme knows how seductive a postcard can be. The Seattle-based Boricua (Puerto Rican) multimedia artist works across photography, installation, video, sound, and interactive elements to examine and pull apart how Puerto Rico is seen, sold, and misunderstood from the outside. Trained in photojournalism, with a BFA in photography from Puerto Rico School of Fine…
Seattle’s Drag Brunch Has History
The city’s Sunday shows started long before the mimosas got bottomless.
There was a time not too long ago, when drag performances—now a mainstay of Seattle’s queer scene—were kept under wraps. And when brunches, complete with singing and dancing queens dressed in dazzling drag as you sipped mimosas, weren’t a Sunday staple. During the 1940s and ‘50s, an era largely shaped by restrictive laws and bias…
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