by Amanda Ong
From now until April 27, the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture is accepting applications for the 2023 CityArtist Grant. This year grants are available for performance artists, a category that includes dance/choreography, music/composition, theater, and playwriting.
Continue reading CityArtist Grant Applications Open to Performance Artists Until April 27by Amanda Ong
On Dec. 10, 2021, the City of Seattle Office of Economic Development (OED) and then-Mayor Jenny Durkan announced the launch of Seattle Restored — a new program focused on activating vacant commercial storefronts in Downtown Seattle neighborhoods. The program has partnered with the Seattle Good Business Network and Shunpike, as well as other property owners, to provide spaces and support for local artists and entrepreneurs who can then use their designated space for 2 to 4 months, with hopes for eventual longer-term leases and expansion into different neighborhoods.
Continue reading OED’s ‘Seattle Restored’ Program Will Bring BIPOC Artists to Downtown Seattle Storefrontsby Kamna Shastri
There is a Coast Salish story about a number of neighboring villages, each speaking a different language but sharing the same land. While they did not understand one another, they had a shared challenge: When the Creator had made the world, he had left the sky a little too low. The village communities realized that though they spoke different languages, they had a shared word that could help them change the situation.
yəhaw̓ — a Lushootseed word meaning “to proceed” or “move forward.” Together they called out synchronously. Each time the word escaped their lips, a collective sound powerful and potent, the sky moved up just a little more.
This is the story behind yəhaw̓ Indigenous Creatives Collective, a newly birthed nonprofit which became a larger movement after beginning as a one-time art show at King Street Station in 2019.
“We felt like that was a really beautiful story in terms of art and the power of art and culture to unite communities and become a source of shared empowerment,” said Asia Tail, one of the collective’s three founders.
Continue reading yəhaw̓ Indigenous Creatives Collective is Here to Lift the Sky and Make a Space for Indigenous Artby M. Anthony Davis
Fall is here. And with it comes rain, gloom, and days that turn to night in the blink of an eye, as well as a never-ending news cycle that circulates between Trump administration shenanigans (so glad he’s almost gone!) to constant reminders that not only is COVID still a problem, but numbers across the country — including King County —are higher than ever. You know what would be amazing right now? A free music festival!
And lucky for us, Bad Habit Media has announced Shelter Fest, a new online music festival created in response to the shelter-in-place mandate and how it has disproportionately impacted the arts and service industries, as well as communities of color. All day this weekend, Saturday November 14 and Sunday November 15, Shelter Fest will provide direct support to local artists, businesses, and restaurants by fostering a creatively designed music festival that is both socially distant and surprisingly intimate.
Continue reading Shelter Fest: An Online Music Festival Celebrating Black Artists and Local Restaurants
