“Imagine hearing your grandfather’s voice for the first time in 30 years telling you what it was like to take a boat from the old country,” said Lisa Kranseler, executive director of the Washington State Jewish Historical Society. “Or maybe listening to your cousin talk about borrowing money to open a store…You can experience these moving moments during a live performance that will take you into the lives of early Jewish pioneers in the state of Washington.” Tickets can be purchased here.

And on Tuesday, June 11, Budo Dance Theater from Osaka, Japan take you on a magical journey with Tabi Tama-Snaky Spirit. Written and directed by Majinhunter Mitsurugi and choreographed by Niranjan, Tabi Tama is short for “tabisuru tamashi” or “traveling soul.” The performance is at Langston Institute. Tickets can be purchased here.

Arts mean business

Read about all of this and more in our July eNews.

Read these stories and more here.

Image: Film still from Waterway by Britta Johnson, a stop-animation film about naturally filtering and cleaning water. The film is part of several temporary artworks that address environmental sustainability for The Next Fifty, the 50th anniversary of the 1962 World’s Fair. The performances run May 4 through May 27 at Seattle Center.

Read these stories and more here.

Image: Adam Frank’s CURRENT is a living map of Seattle’s hydro-electric generation and electricity use. One of six temporary artworks and performances that celebrate The Next Fifty, the 50th anniversary of the 1962 World’s Fair at Seattle Center. Photo by the artist.

Check out our March eNews, with information about upcoming arts education community meetings, funded CityArtists, opportunties to join our team, a new exhibition documenting family homelessness,  and more.

Check it out here.

Read these stories and more here.

Image: Members of the Seattle Baroque Orchestra rehearsing for Vivaldi Folia at Town Hall Seattle. Photo by Jeremy M. Johnsen.

Read these stories and more in the October eNews.

Read about all this and more here.

Seattle Public Schools just announced a $1 million planning grant to enhance arts instruction in the schools. We opened two calls for artists. The 2011 Mayor’s Arts Awards are coming up soon. The Seattle Mural at Seattle Center’s Mural Amphitheatre is getting a facelift. And Pioneer Square’s Occidental Square has turned into an experimental art gallery.

Read about all this and more here.

• Message from the director: Mayor directs more dollars to Youth Arts program.

• We have a job opening for a senior public art project manager.

• We’re seeking an artist or artist team to create an artwork along the Burke-Gilman Trail.

• Rebar, a multidisciplinary artist team, was selected to create a temporary artwork for the new Jackson Plaza in front of King Street Station.

• Stokely Towles is sure to make stormwater and our sewer system interesting via a performance artwork slated to debut this fall.

• In case you missed the news, Mayor Mike McGinn recently announced the recipients of the 2011 Mayor’s Arts Awards.

• Artist Nickolus Meisel’s cloud haiku, a series of cast-bronze pillows arranged along the Seattle Streetcar’s Westlake Avenue and Seventh Avenue stop, will be dedicated 3 to 4 p.m., Friday, July 22.

• Choklate will open the free, lunchtime, Seattle Presents summer concert series at City Hall, July 7.

• The Built Environment to open at Seattle Municipal Tower Gallery, July 7.

• Looking for funding? Check out the city’s new online grant portal.

• ARTSparks continues in July at Occidental Square, where an amazing array of installations and performances have transformed the urban park into an engaging and experimental art gallery of sorts.

• Seattle Center has a call out for temporaray art projects to celebrate The Next Fifty.

Image: Jennifer Dixon’s FlipBooks is an artwork composed of several sets of signs, each forming an “animated” story along Seattle’s Interurban Trail. We are currently seeking an artist for project along the Burke-Gilman Trail. Photo by Jim Tillman.