Skip to content

Arts

Read More ›

Inspiring Architecture of Seattle Churches

Here’s the church, here’s the steeple: a new book celebrates the architecture of houses of worship

1213churches

This article originally appeared in the December 2013 issue of Seattle magazine.

!–paging_filter–pSome of Seattle’s most spectacular architecture can be found in local churches, but those among us who go to church—perhaps only at this time of year—rarely explore beyond the familiar. A new book makes clear what a shame this is by showcasing the tremendous diversity found in church design. emInspired: Churches of Seattle/em, by Rick Grant (Documentary Media; $34.95), takes readers inside 52 area churches (including a few on the Eastside) and offers a brief history of each. But the real stars here are the shots by Seattle photographer Lara Swimmer, which show just how dazzling the interiors can be. We may have walked or driven by these buildings countless times, entirely unaware of the astonishing beauty within. The soaring ceilings of St. James, the rich Russian iconography at Saint Spiridon Orthodox Cathedral, the midcentury-mod take on stained glass at Gethsemane Lutheran, the stark splendor of St. Mark’s Cathedral, the sleek minimalism of University Unitarian—all reveal the great heights to which designers have gone to draw parishioners’ eyes upward. Most telling of the book’s success? It makes you want to go to church.nbsp;/p

 

Rearview Mirror: Spinasse at Home, a New Spa Experience, and Seattle Mag’s Reader’s Choice Awards 

Rearview Mirror: Spinasse at Home, a New Spa Experience, and Seattle Mag’s Reader’s Choice Awards 

Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).

YOUR VOTE MATTERS Everyone has a favorite restaurant, coffee shop, or local boutique. Call me old-school, but I will die on the hill that Caffe Vita has the best coffee in town. Disagree with me? Now’s your moment to speak up. Each year, we survey Seattle magazine readers, asking them to weigh in on everything…

Studio Sessions: Ling Chun

Studio Sessions: Ling Chun

The Seattle-based artist brings playful color to ceramics and neon while exploring memory, transformation, and life between cultures.

For Ling Chun, creating begins with something sensed before it can be named. Working with clay, glass, light, and sometimes synthetic hair, the Hong Kong-born artist gives physical form to things that words cannot always hold. “For me, the magnitude of making goes far beyond the object that is eventually produced,” Chun says. “The object…

The Magic of PAX Is Stronger Than Ever

The Magic of PAX Is Stronger Than Ever

PAX West draws more than 100,000 people to Seattle each year. Co-founder Jerry Holkins reflects on what the gaming convention set out to change, how its community has grown and why gathering face to face still matters.

Access to game news as it was happening was difficult back in the day. Even with the advent of the internet, communication between game publishers and journalists was still a very elite affair.  I used to fake credentials—via fax machine!—to attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo, mostly just known as E3. It was simultaneously as loud…

Your Guide to Bumbershoot 2026

Your Guide to Bumbershoot 2026

Navigate Seattle’s wildest end-of-summer weekend with 20 picks spanning Death Cab for Cutie, Blood Orange, wrestling, skateboarding and—obviously—movies made in 48 hours.

Four years after Bumbershoot returned with its quirkiness revivified, Seattleites broadly acknowledge the two-day multimedia extravaganza as a welcome finale to the summer festival season. Fests like Bumbershoot are designed around a choose-your-own-adventure model, but if you’re the kind of person who looked at this year’s sprawling lineup—featuring multiple bands, artists, and exhibits happening at…