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Art Beat

Office of Arts & Culture news and events

Restored totem stands tall at new home

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For more than three decades, weather and insects took their toll on a waterfront totem pole. So when the Port of Seattle called, we were happy to lend a hand to return the totem to its original glory and install it at its new home in Elliott Bay Park. Tiffany Hedrick, the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs’ conservation technician, worked with the Port and a Tlingit tribal representative to refurbish the Port-owned pole. Watch a two-minute video to get a glimpse of the crew fast at work.

The Port commissioned the 32-foot-tall totem in 1975. Its first home was Alaska Square at Pier 48. John Hagen, Ed Kasko and Cliff Thomas, members of Alaska Indian Arts, Inc., carved the pole to honor the relationship between Alaska and Washington. After nearly 25 years at the pier, the Port moved the totem to one of its outdoor terminals before installing it at Elliot Bay Park earlier this month. The Port rededicated the totem at a ceremony featuring traditional ceremonial dances by members of local and Alaskan tribes.

Seattle Sketcher draws on the arts

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Skectch of Hammering Man by Gabriel Campanario.We think it’s cool that Gabi Campanario, who has a sketching gig with the Seattle Times, draws on arts and cultural events to tell the city’s story. Last week, he stopped by Jovino Santos Neto’s free lunchtime concert at City Hall, billing the concerts as a welcome break from the cubicle. Campanario also sketched the Christopher Columbus statue, which is temporarily under cover to protect it from vandals, and Hammering Man, who will undergo repairs to his arm in early November.

Kaiser talks ‘Art of the Turnaround’

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If you missed Michael Kaiser’s visit to Seattle in late August, hear what he had to say on Seattle Channel. The Kennedy Center president offers practical advice for struggling arts organizations riding out the recession. Kaiser’s stop in Seattle was part of a national tour based on Arts in Crisis: A Kennedy Center Initiative. He is the author of The Art of the Turnaround: Creating and Maintaining Healthy Arts Organizations.

Seattle Channel Video can be played in Flash Player 9 and up

Meet SAM’s new leader

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Seattle Art Museum has a new director, Derrick Cartwright. You can meet him at a CityClub event, Tuesday, Oct. 20 at Washington Athletic Club. KUOW’s Marcie Sillman will moderate the “Conversation with Derrick Cartwright,” which is part of CityClub’s Arts & Culture Series. Registration opens at 11:30 a.m. The luncheon program is 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. Click here to register. We’re pleased to be one of several co-presenters.

Before coming to Seattle, Cartwright was executive director at the San Diego Museum, director of the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College, and director of the Musée d’Art Américain Giverny in France. He succeeds Mimi Gates, a 2007 Mayor’s Arts Award recipient, who retired in June after 15 years as SAM’s director.

Also, check out SAM’s new blog SOAP, where Cartwright writes he is in “deep listening mode” his second week on the job.

Contemporary Brazilian music at City Hall this Thursday

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Untitled-1Master pianist, flutist and composer Jovino Santos Neto performs contemporary Brazilian music with his trio Thursday, Oct. 15, noon to 1 p.m. Jovino is beloved for his musical playfulness and stunning dexterity.

The free concert is part of the Seattle Presents lunchtime concert series at City Hall. Check out the rest of the fall concert schedule here.

Emergency planning seminar set for arts orgs.

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Untitled-1The fall arts season is in full swing. So is flu season. And the winter storm season isn’t far behind.  When disaster strikes, many arts and cultural organizations have no plan to help them prepare for, respond to and recover from an emergency.

Being prepared means having a plan BEFORE a crisis hits. Many arts and cultural organizations are busy paying the bills and launching the next show, leaving precious little time to craft an emergency plan.

Sound familiar? If so, take time now to plan for the next disaster. Arts and cultural organizations are invited to a free emergency-preparedness seminar, 2 to 4 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 21, at Seattle University’s Piggott Auditorium. Get more details and register here.

The seminar is hosted by Seattle University, in partnership with ArtsFund, 4Culture, the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs and Public Health-Seattle & King County.

Meet emerging artists, see their work

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We bought some art from emerging Northwest artists to add to the city’s Portable Works Collection. Come check out the artworks, meet the artists and enjoy some free eats. We’re hosting an artist reception, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 13, at the Seattle Municipal Tower Gallery.

On display are 25 works by 17 artists—including paintings, prints, photographs, sculpture and mixed media. The featured pieces are part of a larger recent purchase by Seattle City Light totaling 86 works by 56 artists. We’ve divided the purchase up into three shows. This show is the second installment. It closes on Dec. 31. The rest of the artworks will be on display in a third exhibition opening in January. Preview all the artworks online.

Image: Justin Gibbens, Double-headed Redtail (detail), 2008; watercolor, gouache, ink, pencil, tea on paper; 40″ x 26″. Photo by Justin Gibbens.

Listen up: we talked arts ed with school board candidates

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We sat down with the five candidates for Seattle School Board and asked them a series of questions about arts education. Hear what they have to say about the role of the arts in closing the achievement gap and boosting graduation rates, their arts experiences as kids and their views on the value of arts in the classroom.

Listen to the full interview (they run about 15 minutes) with each candidate or hear the candidates’ responses to specific questions.

We recorded the interviews at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center on Sept. 24 and 25. Special thanks to the Youth Media Institute headed by Seattle Arts Commissioner Estevan Muñoz-Howard and to student recording engineer Cham Ba.

Image: Beacon Hill Elementary students delight at an Imani Winds performance. The quintet was in residence at the school as part of the UW World Series Community Connections program. Photo by Lee Talner.

Meet Mayor’s Arts Award winners

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055Watch Miss Melba tap her way into kids’ hearts at her South Seattle dance studio. Learn about the man who helped make Seattle Opera an international sensation. See how one organization helps artists succeed at the business of art. Hear breathtaking music by the country’s largest youth symphony, and meet a painter whose outlook on life is as inspiring as his artwork.

Nearly 400 people joined Mayor Greg Nickels at Seattle Center on Sept. 4 to honor the recipients of the 2009 Mayor’s Arts Awards. If you missed the party, you can  meet this year’s winners on Seattle Channel.

Image: Nancy Guppy, host of Seattle Channel’s Art Zone In Studio, presided over the Mayor’s Arts Awards ceremony at Seattle Center, Sept. 4. Photo by Randy Nichols.

Mayor’s budget: dedicated funding for arts

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image_fundingMayor Greg Nickels today presented to the City Council his proposed 2010 budget, which maintains funding for arts grants and sends 75 percent of city-admission-tax revenues to Seattle’s Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs. For complete details on Mayor Nickels’ 2010 Proposed Budget, visit his homepage.

This is very good news in the wake of a major national recession and underscores the importance of arts and culture in a healthy city.

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