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yәhaw̓ Closing Weekend Celebration Events

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August 1 – 4, 2019
ARTS at King Street Station
303 S. Jackson St., Top floor
Seattle, WA 98104

All events are free, family friendly, and open to the public.

yəhaw̓ is an Indigenous-led, yearlong project that includes satellite installations, performances, workshops and trainings, artists-in-residence, art markets, publications, and partner events at more than 25 sites across Coast Salish territories and beyond. The exhibition at ARTS at King Street Station, running from March 23-August 4, 2019, is the centerpiece of yəhaw̓.

yəhaw̓ programs are accompanied by relationship-building and mentorship opportunities to support continued artistic development in their communities, with the intent that all participants will gain experience, exposure, and build sustaining connections. ARTS at King Street Station is ADA accessible and has all-gender restrooms. ARTS has a low/no scent policy; please arrive fragrance free.

Closing Events

Thursday, August 1
Open gallery hours 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Gallery Tour, 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
Meet at the Reception Desk

Get a free tour of the yәhaw̓ exhibition and King Street Station facilities led by an Indigenous artist alongside an Office of Arts & Culture staff member.

Performances on the Plaza, 5 – 7 p.m.
King Street Station Plaza, Corner of 4th Avenue S.

Catch live performances by Indigenous artists – including the world’s premiere Quileute Drag Queen Hailey Tayathy and bands Black Belt Eagle Scout and Ghost Horse – outside on King Street Station’s plaza. The gallery upstairs will be open late till 8 p.m. in conjunction with First Thursday Pioneer Square Art Walk.

Friday, August 2
Open gallery hours 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Curatorial Panel, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Large conference room

Join us for a panel discussion featuring Asia Tail and Satpreet Kahlon of the curatorial team, with additional presentations by yәhaw̓ community curators, followed by Q and A.  

Gallery Tour, 1:30 – 2:30 pm

Get a free tour of the yәhaw̓ exhibition and King Street Station facilities led by an Indigenous artist alongside an Office of Arts & Culture staff member.

Saturday, August 3
Open gallery hours 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Mentorship Program Artist Presentations, 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Large conference room

Drop in or stay for the day with three back-to-back talks by eight+ emerging Indigenous artists. Members of the yәhaw̓ Mentorship Training Program will share about their artistic practices and discuss experiences in their respective program cohorts in Seattle, Tacoma, or Portland, followed by Q and A.  

Gallery Tour, 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.

Get a free tour of the yәhaw̓ exhibition and King Street Station facilities led by an Indigenous artist alongside an Office of Arts & Culture staff member.

Sunday, August 4
Open gallery hours 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Exhibition Closing Reception, 1 – 4 p.m.

Come celebrate with us one last time as we conclude a year of Indigenous-centered programming across Coast Salish territories. We’ll open with a blessing, followed by storytelling, and remarks from the curatorial team. While you are here, get your picture taken in an artist-made photo booth, share your yәhaw̓ stories with filmmaker Raven Two Feathers (Cherokee / Seneca / Cayuga / Comanche) for their upcoming documentary, and don’t miss your last chance to see the yәhaw̓ exhibition featuring 200+ Indigenous creatives!

Gallery Tour, 1:30 – 2:30 pm

Get a free tour of the yәhaw̓ exhibition and King Street Station facilities led by an Indigenous artist alongside an Office of Arts & Culture staff member.

Downtown Summer Sounds 2019

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Produced by DSA and presented by Virginia Mason, Downtown Summer Sounds brings free local music to downtown Seattle throughout July and August. Formerly the Out to Lunch concert series, Downtown Summer Sounds continues a 42-year DSA tradition of supporting free live music for Seattle workers, residents and visitors.

New this year will be concerts at King Street Station Plaza, the new home of ARTS at King Street Station. You can listen to music and then check out the gallery on the top floor.

In addition, concerts will be at venues across the city including City Hall Park, Harbor Steps, City Hall Plaza, and King Street Station Plaza. Full Lineup

The concerts will take place from 12-1 p.m. every Thursday, July 11 through August 22, 2019.

City Hall and King Street Station Plaza Concert Schedule:

Thursday, July 11 City Hall 12-1 pm Naomi Wachira
Thursday, July 18 King Street
Station Plaza 		12-1 pm Bleachbear
Thursday, July 25 City Hall 12-1 pm SPL Playback
Showcase:
Gabriel
Teodros &
Tiffany Wilson
Thursday, Aug. 1 City Hall 12-1 pm Abbey Arts
Showcase:
Hoop & Drench Fries
Thursday, Aug. 8 King Street
Station Plaza 		12-1 pm Evan Flory
Barnes
Thursday, Aug. 15 City Hall 12-1 pm Otieno +
Rain City
Rock Camp
Thursday, Aug. 22 King Street Station Plaza 12-1 pm Totem Star
Showcase

For more information and a full schedule visit Downtown Summer Sounds

ARTS partnered with UW Evans School on a study of the creative economy

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In 2019, a Capstone team of University of Washington Evans School of Policy and Governance graduate students undertook a study of the region’s creative economy under the direction of the Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS) and Office of Economic Development.

The report, Assessing the Creative Economy of Seattle through a Race and Equity Lens” (2019) is an intentional, qualitative, and quantitative creative workforce study with a race and social justice lens.

ARTS and the UW students were interested in identifying barriers at the entry, middle, and established tiers of creative economy work. Then, the independent research team designed recommendations for how to increase access for those who historically have been left out.

The original data collection included a survey that generated 255 responses from the public, a majority of responses came from artists of color.
About the researchers

The University of Washington Evans School of Policy and Governance research team was comprised of MPA graduate students Aline Moch Islas, Casey Moser, Shomya Tripathy, and Louie Tan Vital. This effort was led by Mytoan Nguyen-Akbar, PhD, Impact and Assessment Manager and Mellon/ACLS Public Fellow at ARTS with on-going research partnerships between ARTS and UW Prof. Joaquin Herranz, Jr., PhD, the faculty member who advised the students on this capstone project.

Design firm Civilization selected to create Connecting Artworks Project for the AIDS Memorial Pathway

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Design firm Civilization was selected to create a series of artworks conceived as a “connective tissue” that will create thematic elements across multiple sites at The AIDS Memorial Pathway. These artworks will be at points around the pathway to help identify the multiple art zones, and guide individuals towards them. The artworks will be located within three art zones specified in The AMP Master Art Plan.

In 2020, the plaza over Seattle’s Capitol Hill Light Rail Station and the north edge of Cal Anderson Park will become home to The AMP: AIDS Memorial Pathway. The way-finding artworks designed by Civilization will help visitors find the art zones from the transit entrances/exits, through and around the plaza, and to Cal Anderson Park. They will allow visitors to encounter the different experiences provided by the art pieces along The AMP, create attractive sightlines, and connect all of The AMP without using formal text signage.

The AMP will offer visitors opportunities for meaningful participation in the ongoing fight to end HIV/AIDS and discrimination that can arise in a community during a crisis. It will be a reminder of our collective need to be active, remain vigilant, and stand ready to fight scapegoating and discrimination however and whenever they may arise. A passionate group of volunteers and community leaders, including people living with HIV, people of color, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community, are working to make The AMP: AIDS Memorial Pathway a reality.

Civilization is a design practice that builds identity systems, digital experiences, printed materials, environmental graphics and exhibitions that are engaging, empathetic, sustainable and create meaningful connections. They work on a variety of projects for public, private and non–profit clients that share their commitment to creating positive change and promoting greater insights about our world.

Their practice is a recipient of the National Design Award for Communication Design from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in honor of “excellence, innovation, and enhancement on the quality of daily life.” Their internationally recognized work is included in the permanent collection of SFMOMA and the Milton Glaser Design Archives at the School of Visual Arts, has won numerous awards including a Webby Award for Best Activist Website, and is regularly featured in print publications as well as most major global media outlets such as The Guardian, The New York Times, The Huffington Post and NPR.

Indigenous Art Installation Debuts on King Street Station Plaza

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Free celebration includes blessing, and storytelling.
Friday, June 21, 2019, Noon – 3 pm
King Street Station Plaza, 303 S. Jackson Street at the corner of 4th Avenue S., Seattle

Brings the Medicine Sundial, a temporary public sculpture intended to bring healing, recognition, and awareness of this land’s First People by activating the King Street Station Plaza, debuts on Friday, June 21. The installation, which features six, 28’ tall fir tree poles that form a semicircle and public gathering place, is created by artist and architectural designer Kimberly Corinne Deriana (Mandan/Hidatsa) in collaboration with Coast Salish carvers. Brings the Medicine Sundial is Deriana’s first major public art commission.

On the day of the installation’s debut, the summer solstice, the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, in collaboration with yəhaw̓, will host an afternoon of celebration and arts engagement, aligning with its goal of creating an outdoor gathering area honoring the Earth. Planned activities – all free and open to the public – include a land acknowledgement and blessing by Denise Emerson (Skokomish/ Navajo) and storytelling by Jill and Sasha LaPointe (Upper Skagit/Nooksack).

The sculpture Brings the Medicine Sundial features free-standing tripod structures forming a sundial/dais and gathering circle that honor the Earth. Six fir lodgepoles will stand on what is now King Street Station Plaza for the first time since 1855, when the Treaty of Point Elliott outlawed the construction of Indigenous structures within Seattle city limits. The logs, sustainably harvested by Skokomish foresters, illustrate a shared cultural reference central to the theme of “lifting the sky” from the inaugural exhibition at ARTS at King Street Station, yəhaw̓ (on view through Aug. 4). yəhaw̓ is inspired by the Coast Salish story of Indigenous people from many tribes coming together and using poles to hoist the sky above the Earth. The word yəhaw̓ is used across languages to communicate and to form unity in this process.

yәhaw̓ is a year-long Indigenous community-based project culminating in the inaugural exhibition at Seattle Office Of Arts & Culture’s ARTS at King Street Station from March 23 – August 4, 2019. The exhibition is accompanied by a mentorship training cohort, satellite shows, residencies, vendor opportunities and partner programs. yәhaw̓ features the work of 200+ Indigenous creatives at over 20 sites across Seattle and beyond. Curated by Tracy Rector (Choctaw/Seminole), Asia Tail (Cherokee), and Satpreet Kahlon, yәhaw̓ celebrates the depth and diversity of Indigenous art made in the Pacific Northwest. Learn more at yehawshow.com.

About the artist: Kimberly Corinne Deriana is a Mandan and Hidatsa architectural designer and artist who specializes in sustainable, environmental, Indigenous architecture, housing, and planning. Her design methodologies focus on incorporating Indigenous lifestyle practices in relationship to past and present: design for seven generations. Deriana strives to achieve exceptional design by weaving together respect for individuality, honor for cultural identity, and appreciation for contemporary quality, manifested in the shape and structure of sustainable buildings and communities.

Facebook: @kimberlyderiana, @seattlearts, @yehawshow
Instagram: @kimberlycorinne, @seaofficeofarts, @yehawshow

Project Credits: Kimberly Corinne Deriana (Mandan/Hidatsa) – Artist & Designer; Rob Purser (Suquamish), Delbert Miller (Skokomish), Tina Kuckkahn-Miller (Ojibwe), Sayalts Miller (Skokomish) – Carvers; Absalom Shantz – Lead Fabricator; Christopher C. Shaw – Professional Engineer; Tracy Rector (Choctaw/Seminole), Asia Tail (Cherokee), Satpreet Kahlon – Curators; S Surface – King Street Station Program Lead, Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.


Free celebration includes blessing, and storytelling.

Friday, June 21, 2019, Noon – 3 pm

The AIDS Memorial Pathway gets activated with temporary art this summer

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Five local artists will bring The AMP alive

The Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS), in partnership with The AMP: AIDS Memorial Pathway commissioned five artists to create a series of small-scale temporary artworks and performances for the AMPlify Memory Project. Beginning June through November 2019 the temporary art installations and performances will be situated at various locations in and around the future permanent site of The AMP, including the north edge of Cal Anderson Park and the Capitol Hill Light Rail Station.

The AMPlify Memory Project invited artists trained under the AMP’s Public Art Bootcamp to create temporary artworks that will bring awareness, remembrance, and reflection to HIV/AIDS, setting the stage for the permanently-sited projects.

Selected artists and projects:

Clyde Petersen

Drone Butch Blues, performance
Saturday, June 22; 6 p.m.
Cal Anderson Park, NW corner near the Chinese Scholar Tree

The music of Drone Butch Blues is based on writings by contemporary and historic GLBTQI authors like David Wojnarowicz, Joan Nestle and Tom Spanbauer. Topics of secret and forbidden love, sex with strangers, the lives of hustlers, the lasting impact of AIDS, historic events and rebellions, are all interwoven with personal narrative and oral histories. The entire album will be performed on June 22 at Cal Anderson Park, and a screen-printed poster with lyrics to Our Forbidden Country will be given to all attendees.

David Rue

A Physical Homage, performances
3rd Fridays, June through November, 5:30pm

The dancing body will be used to create a temporary living homage to those that dedicated their voice to the AIDS epidemic while also celebrating the lives of those affected by it. A series of curated pop up performances will exemplify the physical intersection of exuberance, effervescence, and resilience.

  • June 21, Students from the School of Spectrum Dance Theater, Capitol Hill light rail station, South Mezzanine;
  • July 19, Randy Ford, Capitol Hill light rail station, North Entrance;
  • August 16, Kyle Bernbach & Gilbert Small, Northwest Corner of Cal Anderson Park;
  • September 20, Nia Amina-Minor, Capitol Hill light rail station, North Entrance;
  • October 18, Marco Farroni, Cal Anderson Park, near fountain;
  • November 15, Dani Tirrell, Capitol Hill light rail station, North Entrance.

Gabriel Stromberg

Taking Shape
On view June 13—November 15, 2019
Sited on fencing along Broadway, between E John St and Denny Ave E.

Taking Shape interprets the evolution of queer history and identity through a sequence of forms. Starting with the pink triangle, the universal emblem of LGBTQI empowerment, a series of shapes progresses from contained and static geometry to the image of a circle—a symbol which evokes the concepts of connectedness and fluidity.

Pete Rush

Condom Quilt
On view June 13—November 15, 2019
Sited on fencing along Broadway, between E John St and Denny Ave E.

Alongside the rise of the AIDS epidemic was a sudden and widespread use of condoms. The natural act of having sex suddenly became a scary proposition for many. Condom wrappers attached in a patchwork quilt pattern will depict symbolic and human heart shapes, bringing joy and delight while transforming a symbol previously seen as a harbinger of doom, into something to be celebrated.

Timothy White Eagle

There Comes a Time When You Have to Give Them Back
On view June 13—November 15, 2019
Sited on fencing around the Chinese Scholar tree at the corner of Denny Ave E & Nagle Place.

In Apache tradition, the Gaan or Mountain Spirits are called to bring healing. Dancers embody the Gaan while wearing elaborate headdresses or crowns, and it is said that the moment the crown touches the head, the individual is gone and Spirit is now present. The artworks will be representations of loved ones lost to AIDS, with symbolic faces and crowns. The faces will be drawn with soluble charcoal paint, which will slowly fade while the permanent crowns remain.

Trading Secret Sauce Recipes in the Creative Careers Cohort

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Written by Erin Naomi Burrows, Seattle University MFA in Arts Leadership practicum student.

The Creative Careers Cohort, launched in March, 2019, wrapped up three-sessions of sharing best practices (i.e. secret sauce). Through these in-person learning gatherings, the Cohort surfaced core themes, strategies and questions on how best to serve Seattle youth in career-connected learning. Six participating organizations presented their programmatic components, integral skills cultivated and offered each other feedback via “notice, wonder, challenge” Post-it notes.

During the second session a number of resonating issue areas connected the three presenting organizations. Reel Grrls teaching artist staff shared their new pilot program for Big Picture High School students, Learning Immersive Technology (LIT), a partnership with Arts Corps and Totem Star, that connects teens to emerging virtual and augmented reality, 360 filmmaking and video game design art forms. By exposing young people to these cutting edge forms of media making, Reel Grrls emphasized their role in co-creating the future. Youth participants are connected with industry professionals and encouraged to dream big and allow room for the importance of failure, flexibility and perseverance.

MoPop’s The Residency, an intensive summer hip hop production and performance program backed by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, shared their belief that creativity is not a form of enrichment but a clear pathway to career development. By focusing on building up both technical and interpersonal skills, youth quickly gain the confidence to record and perform with mentorship from former program alumni.

One organization with deep roots in Seattle’s hip hop history, Massive Monkees, shared their vision of the philosophy “each one, teach one” in their youth program, Extraordinary Futures, which supports students becoming teaching artists. Youth gather after school in their International District studio space, The Beacon, and focus on dance and “adulting” sessions ranging from cooking for yourself to financial planning.

The final session of the Creative Career Cohort in May focused on dialogue between the Cohort members and brainstorming across six themes that emerged from the first two meetings:

  • Accessibility
  • Accountability
  • Aging Out / Alumni Engagement
  • Belonging
  • Evaluation
  • Assessment, and Sustainability

One observation across all six presentations is the resounding love that all teaching artists and staff have for youth participants. In many presentations, the work of building long-term relationships and structures for alumni to return as mentors, and furthermore, as colleagues, was emphasized as a primary way to build a culture both of belonging and accountability. The most substantial brainstorm of the final session was on how to make programs even more accessible to participants via travel support, augmenting programs for youth with disabilities including scent-free policies or sections at events and translating flyers and program information for families.

The balance of current strategies and questions raised for continual improvement and inclusivity demonstrates that even at our best, we all have room for learning and growth.

The Secret Sauce of Creative Career Connected Learning

A bottle labeled "Love"

Combine ingredients with love and 2-10 hours weekly of high quality, fresh arts programming with as many dedicated teaching artists as possible.

Serves hundreds of Seattle youth via six incredible arts organizations with plenty to share.

1 cup creativity
1 cup collaboration
1 cup growth mindset
1 cup resilience
1 cup critical thinking

Mix in youth-led events, storytelling, radio, music, hiphop, dance, spoken word, VR/XR films and other art forms.

Logos for The Creative Advantage, Arts Corps, Massive Monkees, KUOW Radio Active, Reel Grrls, The Residency, Totem Star

Civic Poet honors our Seattle Living Legacies

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Saturday, June 29, 2019, 2:30 – 6:30 p.m.
ARTS at King Street Station
303 S. Jackson St, Top Floor
Seattle, WA 98104

On Saturday, June 29 writers and poets will recognize and honor our 2019 Seattle Living Legacies:  Storme Webber, Georgia MCdade, and Mary Ann Moorman with written work and readings. The inaugural celebration will focus on active and instrumental ways each nominee has raised the bar and who live exemplary lives that change and impact multiple people in many ways. The reading and celebration will take place after the nominees are interviewed about being a Living Legacy by Seattle Civic Poet Anastacia-Renee. 

photo by Brad Curran

Mary Ann Moorman (Seattle’s Aunt Mama Storytable) is being honored for her storytelling, artistic, multicultural commitment to diversity and personal social change agent contributions to Seattle communities (and beyond), which have been historical and monumental.

Storme Webber’s cultural, artistic, humanitarian, philanthropic and interdisciplinary work for and about-marginalized voices are only a few of the contributions she has made to Seattle communities (and beyond). Over the years, her grassroots’ work with Voices Rising and pivotal public readings and programming have been historical, her/storical and monumental.

Georgia McDade is being honored for her work as the charter member for the African American-American Alliance Writers as well as being a trailblazer and role model as the first African American woman to earn a Ph. D. in English from the University of Washington. In addition she has made numerous creative, humanitarian, philothrapical and social justice contributions to Seattle communities (and beyond).

ARTS Welcomes Rick Reyes as Racial Equity Coordinator

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Rick is a Seattle-based, Tacoma-born, researcher, organizer, creative, and the new Racial Equity Coordinator with the Office of Arts & Culture. Trained in writing, critical race theory, and public policy at Seattle University, Rick’s previous research, art, and work explore epistemologies to better understand assumptions on race, class, and gender that produce real-life impacts on people of color and those at the center of structural oppression. As a researcher, his work includes discussions on disaster politics and the privatization of education, the power of narrative, and the intersections between science and social construction.

Rick’s work experience includes community outreach, communications, and program development at and in partnership with organizations such as the Museum of Pop Culture, Seattle University, the Office of Arts & Culture, Napster, and Seattle Theatre Group.

An avid musician and writer, Rick finds community in performing with, recording alongside of, and going to performances with fellow musicians, writers, and creatives.

Square Feet 2019: Staying Power

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On April 28-29, ARTS hosted the fourth installment of the Square Feet event. This roughly annual mini-conference explores different issues related to cultural space. This year the keynote speaker was Gus Newport, who spoke (at the Wing Luke Museum) about his work as a community organizer, a developer of affordable housing, and a cultural space creater in neighborhoods and cities across the country. His talk was streamed live and is archived here.

Karen Toering, Uche Okezie, and Gus Newport (L-R). Photo by Sunita Martini

The conference (at King Street Station) also included breakout sessions, a panel discussion, and the graduation of the 2018 Build Art Space Equitably (B.A.S.E.) Cohort. The sessions ended with the return of the Large Foam Check Challenge, an inclusive budgeting exercise that offered participants the opportunity to direct over $10,000 of ARTS spending towards a project of their devising. Last year, the funding was aimed towards the creation of a Tiny Cultural Space. That project is underway in partnership with Sawhorse Revolution and Estelita’s Library. This year the idea the group generated was about honoring and recording the oral histories of Indigenous people who are living in Seattle unhoused. The project, in partnership with urban Indian organizations, would directly pay participants for their stories.

Large Foam Check Challenge winners 2019. Photo by Sunita Martini

Structure for Stability (The PDA Report)

Following nearly two years of work and a significant Racial Equity Toolkit process, ARTS also presented its newest publication. Structure for Stability: Recommendations for Developing Affordable Community-Based Cultural Space provides an in-depth analysis of the challenges facing cultural spaces and artists’ spaces in Seattle and offers recommendations for the creation of a new, independent, mission-driven entity, to be capitalized through the Office of Arts & Culture’s bonding capacity, that will lease, develop, and hold real estate in partnership with community for use by artists and cultural organizations. The report is available here.