Our weekly round-up of arts and culture news relating to the Seattle region.

 Nonprofits move beyond black tie to raise funds

Puget Sound Business Journal, Valerie Bauman

Donors received a surprise last year when they opened their invitations to the Gilda’s Club Seattle “Diamonds and Dew Drops” benefit ball.

For Jobs, Some Suggest Funding Arts

Wisconsin Public Radio News, Chuck Quirmbach

Wisconsin is no better than 41st among states in recent job creation. Milwaukee Art Museum director Dan Keegan says Wisconsin could do better at luring entrepreneurs to the state if there’s a more vibrant arts and cultural scene.

Seattle knitters weave steampunk, needlecraft into book

The Seattle Times, Katya Yefimova

The Ladies of Mischief, a Seattle knitters group, has so much fun with creating clothing and dabbling in steampunk, they decided to combine their loves into a book that contains knitting patterns and an adventure novel.

How fitting: Kafka’s “The Trial” in Seattle’s Ellis Island

Crosscut, Thomas May

Arbitrary, inscrutable bureaucratic authorities with the power to determine individual fates. The tension of not knowing. The cruelly frustrating uncertainty of the whole process. In spite of the trappings of reality, life’s daily rituals twisted into a surreal waiting game.

Opening Nights: August: Osage County

Seattle Weekly, Kevin Phinney

The movies have their thrills and moments of excellence, but only the stage can provide a rapid-descent spelunking into the depths of what drives us all. August: Osage County, which won both the Pulitzer and Tony for best drama in 2008, is that kind of play.