Arts
Seattle Celebrates Black History Month
A guide to events happening throughout the city in February
From the Northwest African American Museum to the Museum of Pop Culture, Seattle residents have an abundance of opportunities to celebrate the achievements of African Americans in February during Black History Month. The annual celebration began in the United States in 1976. Countries around the world also celebrate the month. Here’s a guide to events…
Book Excerpt: Marmots May Be Running Out of Time
New book explores endangered species in Pacific Northwest
In her debut as a book author, Josephine Woolington turns back the clock to examine events that have shaped Pacific Northwest wildlife in an effort to provide a deeper sense of place for those who call this unique and beautiful region home. Where We Call Home: Lands, Seas, and Skies of the Pacific Northwest sheds…
Arts Story: Forgotten Voices
A world premiere production by a local playwright and actor looks at the history of Black theater in America
Breakout: “History of Theatre: About, By, For and Near” runs from Jan. 28 through Feb. 12 at Kreielsheimer Place, 700 Union St. in Seattle. When actor-playwright Reginald André Jackson started doing workshops for his upcoming play, “History of Theatre: About, By, For and Near,” which looks at the untold stories of African American thespianism, he…
Seattle Artifacts: The Mystery of Chief Seattle’s Death Mask
Is it real? Where did it come from?
In different parts of the world, and throughout the course of history, death has been memorialized in a variety of different ways. One of the more intriguing was death masks. Typically, a wax or plaster cast was made of a deceased person’s face, which then served as a model for sculptors when creating statues and busts. …
The Art of Weathering Winter: Foraging, Bathing, and Gold Dust
Two Seattle chefs on the soothing hobbies that get them through the winter
Though I’ve lived in Seattle nearly my entire life, the early winter sunsets, which fall like a set of blackout curtains over the world, never fail to feel like a curse. This year, though, I wanted to challenge myself to find a better way to get through it. Could it be an opportunity to surrender…
Hip-Hop Healing in Seattle
Rapper Carter Costello’s house is more than just a venue for artists
The last time I was at Seattle rapper Carter Costello’s house was under the cloak of night. I had been invited to an art and music show — featuring Seattle photographer and artist Baby Claypool, a duo of fire dancers, rapper Nobi and Costello — by local photographer James Gerde. Once I set foot on…
Seattle’s Prince of Plastic
Artist Anthony White’s work offers deep, and sometimes uncomfortable, cultural commentary
Overheard conversation at artist Anthony White’s current exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum plays out like a zeitgeisty spoken-word soundtrack that weaves between the past and present, hitting various cultural milestones along the way. “Is that Lindsay Lohan?” “Look, Nintendo!” “Do you notice the Greek columns?” “Ah, Lisa Frank!” The joyful cacophony is a reaction…
Seattle’s Ruinous Media Brings City’s Weirdness to its Music Podcasts
Ruinous Media captures the Seattle experience, and then some
Podcasts are full of murder, mystery, mayhem and sports. Seattle’s Ruinous Media is focusing on another genre, music, with a veritable cast of well-known Seattle characters who tell stories in an engaging and compelling way. Along the way, Ruinous has exported Seattle’s unique brand of “weird” to audiences across the United States and around the…
Book Excerpt: ‘Cotton Teeth’
When I was 28 years old, I was diagnosed with a late-stage cancer and given a prognosis of “three months at best.” At the time, my wife was eight-and-a-half months pregnant with our only child. Not wanting to terrify her with the news, I chose instead to take the train from New York City to…
Seattle’s Inclusionary Future
What if everyone is important?
Editor’s note: Brenda Cooper is a Kirkland-based short-story writer, poet and futurist who has written 10 novels. Her most recent books are “Edge of Dark” and its sequel, “Spear of Light.” The former won the 2016 Endeavor Award for science fiction or fantasy by a Northwest author. In this column, Cooper discusses the importance of…
Coming Up, Coming Out: One Seattle Doctor’s Tale
‘Making the Rounds’ examines love and life
Patricia Grayhall’s memoir was a half-century in the making. Grayhall, a retired Seattle medical doctor, just released Making the Rounds: Defying Norms in Love and Medicine, a story of her coming-of-age in the 1970s as a young woman striving for love and a career as a doctor when neither was approved by society at the…
Taiwanese home cooking meets the Midwest
Frankie Gaw’s cookbook celebrates Asian-American identity through food
When Frankie Gaw came out to his mom in his 20s, he didn’t know what to expect. With Asian immigrant parents, you never know. But, as is frequently the case, our parents deserve more credit than we give them. “I’ve probably known since you were 5 years old,” she told him. “I’ve just been waiting…
Seattle Artifacts: The Spotify of its Day
The Multiphone was Puget Sound’s first streaming music service
Deep in the heart of Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood sits a turn-of-the-century brick building that was originally used as horse stables for a nearby racetrack. Its restored interior now serves as a museum of sorts, with an eclectic mishmash of antique coin-operated machines, vintage signs and old Seattle memorabilia. The curator of this unique collection is…
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