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Art Beat

Office of Arts & Culture news and events

Seattle songbirds play City Hall, Oct. 21

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Take a lunch break and enjoy sweet indie folk and country serenades from The Starlings, 12 to 1 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 21, inside Seattle City Hall. The music is packed full of storied songwriting, tender vocal harmonies and acoustic goodness all “buoyed by shimmering vocalist Joy Mills,” writes the Seattle P-I. 

Go to the Seattle Presents website or call (206) 684-7171 for more information.

Don’t miss this all-ages opportunity to hear the Americana sound Maverick magazine called “organic…both delicate and edgy… For the lo-fi country enthusiast, the Starlings’ natural charm and raw potential, like the Starlings themselves, are a winning combination.”

Convivencia en acción: flamenco and folk at City Hall, Oct. 14

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Get swept up in the interactive fandango (folk and flamenco dance) traditions of Veracruz, Mexico at a free performance by Seattle Fandango Project, 12 to 1 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 14, inside Seattle City Hall. Dancing on box drums, festive melodies and bright flowing dresses immerse the audience in convivencia (the spirit of living and being in community). More information is available at www.seattle.gov/seattlepresents or by calling (206) 684-7171. Presented in partnership with Latino City Employee.

Come early at 11:30 a.m. for the Latino Heritage Award. Presented by Mayor McGinn in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, the award recognizes an individual making great contributions to the Latino-Hispanic community through leadership, creativity and dedication.

Seattle Fandango Project’s participatory concerts bring the elements of traditional Veracruz identity to the Seattle culture in a celebration of unity, diversity and trust. As one member stated, “There is a fandango, a coming together of community, a process of living music together…self nurturing, intergenerational, communal. It is very much a living tradition.”

Seattle “purr[s] with jazz,” says the New York Times

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Seattle’s thriving and dynamic jazz scene, galvanized by award-winning high school jazz ensembles and increasingly developing its own signature sound, caught the attention of the New York Times yesterday.

On the front page of Sunday’s “Arts and Leisure” section, Nate Chinen writes:

“Seattle, a city synonymous with alternative rock, has long sustained a provincial jazz culture, without much fuss or a signature sound […] To outside jazz partisans the city is known as an incubator for high school talent that usually flies the coop, heading East for conservatory training and professional careers. But the landscape has been shifting…a growing number of young musicians have been focused on building an autonomous scene, something distinctive and homegrown.”

Many of the artists and performers mentioned in Chinen’s article have been supported and/or honored by the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs. Clarence Acox, longtime director of jazz bands at Garfield High School, was a Mayor’s Arts Award recipient in 2007. Jazz pianist Deems Tsutakawa was honored with a Mayor’s Arts Award in 2005. And this Friday, Cornish College of the Arts President Sergei Tschernisch will also be honored with a 2010 Mayor’s Arts Award.

What’s the secret behind all of this talent and activity?  Equitable, accessible arts education that treats music as a true academic discipline. A dynamic and robust culture of music. And, finally, an investment in the arts and cultural sector that recognizes its role in supporting Seattle’s economic vitality as well as its quality of life.

Add it all up, and what do you get? In the words of John Gilbreath, executive director of annual Seattle jazz festival Earshot Jazz: an “independent-jazz ecology [where] all the factions are in harmony.”

Get ya boogie on, mon!

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Be sure to get ya boogie on when Seattle Presents hosts Clinton Fearon and Boogie Brown Band in a free concert at Seattle City Hall, 12 to 1:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 26. 

A key member of the legendary reggae group The Gladiators, Fearon also grooved with Yabby You, Jimmy Riley, Max Romeo, Junior Byles and many others.

In case of rain, the show will move inside the lobby and end at 1 p.m. Summer concerts are supported by Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union, Seattle Parks and Recreation, Summer in the City and Triamp Group.

Salsa heats up City Hall, Aug. 19

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The Seattle Presents concert series welcomes Latin Expression, 12 to 1:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 19, outside at City Hall plaza. Bring your dancin’ shoes because a floor is provided and The Seattle Times raves that this band “serves its salsa HOT, HOT, HOT!! Power salsa that gets people dancing.”

Watch a video of Latin Expression.

Summer concerts are supported by Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union, Seattle Parks and Recreation, Summer in the City and Triamp Group.

The Gladiator is here… in Seattle

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United Reggae magazine recently published a two-part interview with Seattle reggae master Clinton Fearon. Be sure to mark your calendars for Fearon’s upcoming free concert, 12 to 1:30 p.m., August 26 at Seattle City Hall.

Part 1 of the interview recaps Fearon’s work as bassist, singer and songwriter for reggae super group The Gladiators, his move to Seattle and the release of his new record Mi Deh Yah.

Part 2 focuses more on the Gladiators, Clinton’s time at Studio One and Black Ark, the move to Seattle and the creation of Boogie Brown band.

How arts organizations are surviving tough times

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The past two years have been tough ones for artistic and cultural organizations in Seattle and across the U.S. That’s why Kelly Tweeddale’s new piece on Crosscut, “How Seattle Opera Is Surviving Tough Times,” stands out like a beacon.

As executive director of the Seattle Opera Association, Tweeddale presides over an organization that she openly admists “has been at battle with multiple enemies,” including a precarious economy, rapid changes in the way that audiences engage the arts, and the institutional risk-aversion that takes hold when money is tight.

And yet she writes that the Opera has not only survived, but even flourished this year; earlier this month, the Opera reported that it expects to have a balanced budget for the fiscal year that ended June 30th. Tweeddale attributes this remarkable victory to an “amazing army” of people on and off the stage,  from hard-working marketers, human resource directors, finance and development staff, and trustees, to the many talented musicians and singers that light up the Opera stage.

The Seattle Opera’s story this year is a refreshing reminder of the power of determined artists and the professionals who support them – and the loyal audience that supports the whole operation. And, above all, it shows how much can be achieved by fighting for arts and culture, even in tough times.

Feel the luvin’ at City Hall, Aug. 12

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The Seattle Presents summer concerts keep on rockin’ with Handful of Luvin’, 12 to 1:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 12 at City Hall. The quartet’s fiddle-driven roots music cheers even the hardest of hearts and blends folk-rock, reggae and world rhythms with pop hooks and Celtic swells.

In case of rain, the show will move inside the lobby and end at 1 p.m. Summer concerts are supported by Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union, Seattle Parks and Recreation, Summer in the City and Triamp Group.

It’s hip to be square, Aug. 5 at City Hall

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Direct from their ongoing “Urban Square Dance,” the Century Ballroom brings The Tallboys to Seattle City Hall, 12 to 1:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 5. 

A dance floor is provided and no dance experience is required to have a rollicking good time. Watch a video of The Tallboys. 

The show is part of Seattle Presents, the free year-round concert series at City Hall.

In case of rain, the show will move inside the lobby and end at 1 p.m. Summer concerts are supported by Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union, Seattle Parks and Recreation, Summer in the City and Triamp Group.

Check out our August eNews

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In this issue:

Message from the Director: “Will the last person leaving Seattle turn out the lights?”

We’re seeking:

…an artist to develop a site-specific art project for Fire Station 30 in Seattle’s Mount Baker neighborhood.

…an artist to develop and fabricate a single artwork design to inlay at 10 to 15 new sidewalk locations.

…an artist to develop site-specific artwork for the Mercer West street improvement project.

The Office will celebrate Salon, a new public artwork by artist team SuttonBeresCuller, Aug. 21.

Eight local emerging artists will provide images of original artwork for temporary panels for the fence surrounding the Civic Square construction site in downtown Seattle.

Kick it this summer with free concerts at City Hall’s outdoor plaza, Thursdays from noon to 1:30 p.m.

Bumbershoot visual artists and designers dish about their work.

See 28 rarely seen artworks from the city of Seattle’s portable works collection.

The latest Seattle OnHold mix is available by podcast.

Take advantage of the warm nights with free outdoor movies and concerts.

Image: John Fleming, 17 Year Old Eyes (detail), 2009, recycled stencils, chipboard, and plywood, 25″ x 50″. Artwork will be photographed and produced on a temporary panel surrounding the Civic Square construction site. Photo courtesy of the artist.