West Seattle, Washington
10 Friday
Thanks to “k” for pointing out that West Seattle’s rock superstar Eddie Vedder won a Golden Globe Award tonight. It’s for the song “Guaranteed” from the soundtrack of “Into the Wild”; just last Monday, his video for the song premiered, billed as his first solo music video.
That’s Therese Diekhans and John Wray in “The Retreat from Moscow,” in its first weekend at ArtsWest (photo courtesy Rachel Jackson); other weekend highlights include tonight’s free Seattle Symphony concert at West Seattle High School, The Translucents playing their first West Seattle gig in more than a year (Easy Street After Hours tonight), Green Delridge Day tomorrow including your chance to join in the start of a new restoration project at Pigeon Point — in all, 27 events ahead:Read More
That’s watercolor artist Chris Kopet, one of four artists (with Nancy Bogni, Graham Fracha, and Inge Roberts) who have just opened “Fragmented Moments” at ArtsWest, where their reception happened during tonight’s Art Walk. You can see their work during regular gallery hours through February 9th. Below, paintings by Sarah Browning, whose work you can see at C and P Coffee all month long:
WEST SEATTLE MIDDLE SCHOOL INFORMATION NIGHT: We’ve been talking here about the fact this is the “school decision” time of year for many families, particularly those whose children are entering school or moving between elementary and middle, or middle and high school. 
We’ve been listing school tours and open houses on the WSB Events page, and tonight is one unique night of particular value to parents of 4th and 5th graders: Representatives from the public and private middle schools of West Seattle will be at Gatewood Elementary, 6:30-8 pm. According to the info page on the Gatewood website, it’ll work like this: “At 6:30 pm each school representative will give a brief overview of their schoolĆ¢ā¬ā¢s programs, philosophies and activities. You will then have the opportunity to ask questions and speak further with the various representatives.”
WEST SEATTLE SECOND THURSDAY ART WALK: 6-9 pm, you can wander The Junction (and a bit beyond — from Ginomai – with its free parking lot – in the north, to C and P Coffee in the south) to see art, meet artists, and enjoy a closer look at some of West Seattle’s unique businesses and venues. Here’s the list of participating locations and artists.
No time for post-holiday letdown, with 26 West Seattle-wide events listed here (including theater, music, movies, Rocky Horror, even roller skating):Read More
No midwinter hibernation going on in The Junction — the West Seattle Farmers’ Market (tulips from last Sunday @ left) and West Seattle Art Walk are both going strong. Next Farmers’ Market is this Sunday, with the later start now in effect through February (11 am-2 pm); next Art Walk is Thursday (6-10 pm) — click here for the list of participating locations and artists, just sent by Lora from WSB sponsor Hotwire Coffee (note this will be the second WS Art Walk for the new Twilight Art Collective location in the ex-Bikes & Brew space west of Easy Street). Meantime, for a list of more events coming up even sooner, our weekly West Seattle Weekend Lineup will be published here in a few hours.
If you’re looking for New Year’s Eve/Day excitement, we’ve got options on the WSB Holidays page; but if you’re looking for fun today through Sunday, 15 listings are here:Read More
It’s going to be another great weekend — and if your calendar isn’t full up already, there are 38 West Seattle events worth checking out, all listed ahead:Read More
We traveled from Admiral to The Junction tonight to check out the late-night shopping and West Seattle Art Walk happenings; above you see the biggest crowd we encountered, jammed into the new Twilight Art Collective space in the former Bikes ‘n’ Brew storefront west of Easy Street. Classic dance rock (example: Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”) thumped through the cheerful conversation din. We’ll go back soon for a more leisurely look at the art (such as a Kafka portrait that caught our eye). Twilight looks like a great addition to the funky side of Junction life. Though we didn’t get to The Junction till after 8 pm, we noticed good turnouts elsewhere, including a hive of shoppers buzzing around a sale table outside Clementine.
Got holiday shopping left to do? Tonight you can shop throughout The Junction, and even get your presents wrapped, as part of “Wrap It Up” — More than a dozen businesses are open late (including the participants listed on the official flyer, which you can see here (linked from the Clementine blog). While you’re in The Junction, the monthly West Seattle Art Walk will deck the halls — be sure not to miss Divina, Ginomai, and Hotwire on the north end. (Participating artists and venues are listed here.) And in the heart of The Junction, Twilight Art Collective is welcoming visitors into its new space (ex-Bikes and Brew, west of Easy Street; here’s our original report on them from last month). And this isn’t even all that’s happening in WS tonight – more on that as the day goes by.
On the eve of the Seattle Streetcar‘s debut (wah, we’re envious): We thought the singer’s name sounded familiar when we read this P-I Big Blog post about a “Ride the S.L.U.T.” song to go with the famous T-shirts. Indeed — the song’s creator, Ken Cofield, was in the WSB West Seattle Weekend Lineup just this past weekend, because he played C and P Coffee Company last Saturday night. If you were there, you can say you knew him when. (His trolley song is a one-song CD, with availability explained at his website.)
What a night last night turned out to be — not just because of the Christmas Ship, but also because “West Seattle Art Attack” and accompanying elves (explanation and background here if you need it) struck again. Here are a few of the pix that arrived with the WSAA communique:
If you missed it in the comments on this post last night – “West Seattle Art Attack,” the mysterious glass artist who roamed West Seattle around Halloween (as reported here, here, here, and here), has surfaced again. Pictured at left is one of the “elves” who accompanied WSAA on an attempt to find a certain house last night; we’re told they may be out and about again over the weekend – stand by for updates.
Tonight is opening night for WSB sponsor ArtsWest‘s holiday production, “O. Henry’s The Gifts of the Magi.” And ArtsWest is asking audience members — and anyone who stops by ArtsWest while the play is running now through December 23 (checking out the art gallery, visiting the box office, whatever) — to bring their own “gifts”: ArtsWest is collecting donations of new books, new toys, new clothing, and diaper packages, all to be donated to WestSide Baby. As ArtsWest executive director Alan Harrison says in an AW press release: “‘Love thy neighbor’ is the credo of the season. O. Henry’s story about Della with the gorgeous hair and Jim with his grandfather’s priceless pocket watch is most famous for its ironic twist, but more than that, it tells us that love is the greatest gift of all. If we can help our neighbors at WestSide Baby by finding a way to supply their children with clothing, a book, or even a new toy, then we’ll all have a loving holiday indeed.” (ArtsWest photo by Matt Durham)
Joining the WSB sponsor lineup this morning: ArtsWest in The Junction, where “O. Henry’s The Gifts of the Magi” opens on Wednesday. (ArtsWest provided the photo at left, taken by WSB contributing photographer Matt Durham — who provides official photos for many AW productions; it shows Jessica Skerritt as Della Dillingham.) As described on the ArtsWest website, “Gifts of the Magi” is “a musical version of the classic O. Henry story about a young married couple, flat broke, but rich in love.” It plays Dec. 5-23; the best place to see the list of days/times is on this page where you also can buy advance tickets online. Or you can drop by ArtsWest while you’re in The Junction this weekend for Hometown Holidays; the AW team also suggests that tickets make great holiday gifts (season tickets start at $99; two adult tickets for $58; gift certificates $5 and up; the Box Office has more details @ 206-938-0339). Thanks to ArtsWest for supporting WSB, and thanks to our other sponsors, listed on this page along with info on how other prospective advertisers can join them.
Some great RRRs have flooded the inbox the past few days so we’ll be posting a little more often than usual this weekend — thanks in advance for everyone who so helpfully joins in the discussion and adds their thoughts. This morning, we have one from Mike that is as much an idea as a request – but as we told him, we know West Seattle is full of musicians, so we’ll put it out there and see who pipes up:
Would you know if there are any ad hoc music jams going on in WS? IĆĀ¢Ć¢āĀ¬Ć¢āĀ¢ve been curious to gauge the interest for a ĆĀ¢Ć¢āĀ¬Ć āhacks to herosĆĀ¢Ć¢āĀ¬ĆĀ guitar (or other musical instruments) jam session (my expertise on the guitar falls somewhere in between hack and hero). My thought was for interested parties to meet at a pub or coffee house on quieter nights (perhaps earlier in the week when business is quieter so we donĆĀ¢Ć¢āĀ¬Ć¢āĀ¢t cause a disturbance for the chosen establishment, but would generate business from thirsty musicians). Besides creating a fun, interactive community event, it would help us casual WS wanna-be-musicians expand our ĆĀ¢Ć¢āĀ¬Ć āchopsĆĀ¢Ć¢āĀ¬ĆĀ playing music with others in a friendly, public setting.
If you have a jam to tell Mike about, or would be interested in helping him organize one, but would prefer to contact him personally rather than leaving your info in a comment, you can e-mail WSB and we’ll forward your contact info to him. Meantime, stand by for a few more RRRs later today; we archive all of them here.
Several people have e-mailed WSB to ask about this – wondered about it ourselves – and finally we have the answer: The ex-Bikes & Brew (etc.) spot in The Junction, just west of Easy Street, will be the new West Seattle home of Twilight Artist Collective — here’s what Erin Crawford tells us about Twilight:Read More
In addition to what’s already listed in our latest West Seattle Weekend Lineup (posted on WSB every Friday morning), we just got word from Julie @ Divina (California/Genesee) of an event there with live music 8-11 tonight. The rain stopped – go out! (We’re going to try to take that advice ourselves.)
After more than a month at ArtsWest, “Bat Boy” flies off into the night following two more shows tonight (7:30 and 11 pm; tickets available online). Throughout the run, local theatergoers have continued to stream in; we got this unsolicited rave just yesterday from a WSB regular: “We saw it last night, my first experience at ArtsWest. It’s totally over the top and perhaps a little edgy for some folks around these parts (not me, but I was enjoying the reactions from some audience members almost as much as the show) but still hilarious and very entertaining.” It’s drawn reviews from this one in the Weekly (second item) to this one in the P-I to this one at the youth-edited site teen tix. After tonight’s “Bat Boy” finales, ArtsWest moves on to more traditional holiday fare, with O. Henry’s “The Gifts of the Magi” opening December 5th … although we have to say, “Bat Boy” in a Santa hat might have been a hoot. (“Bat Boy” photo by Matt Durham, courtesy ArtsWest.)
We say that, in honor of the Seattle International Comedy Competition happening tonight at Admiral Theater; also in that vein, you can go batty with “Bat Boy” at ArtsWest for its final performances this weekend — those are among 40 WS weekend events ahead:Read More
Busy night – WSB team members have been to the High Point Neighborhood Association pedestrian safety tour (video on that later) and a couple stops along the monthly West Seattle Art Walk in The Junction. Participation is especially strong on the north end, where we dropped in on Ginomai at the SW corner of 42nd/Genesee, which opens artists’ working studios during the Art Walk, and Divina (California/Genesee), where student art from several schools around West Seattle is on display – if you missed it during the Art Walk, you can check it out at Divina any time till the day before Thanksgiving – here are just a few samples (the wire sculptures at the bottom of the photo, and more hanging from the shop ceiling, are particularly cool):
While in The Junction, we also noticed Shadowland‘s sign is up – we’ve discussed its quirky exterior here before, and will check back in daylight for a wider, brighter perspective:
First: Word comes from Divina that the shop @ California/Genesee will feature student artists, K-12, from around West Seattle, during tomorrow night’s monthly West Seattle Art Walk in The Junction (more participants are listed on the Art Walk blog). A separate e-mail, from Amy, alerts us to the fact that this year’s Poetry on Buses poets include two Gatewood Elementary students — 6-year-old Sharon Zumwalt (read her poem here) and 6-year-old Giovanni Paredes (read his poem here); this year’s winning poets are being celebrated at a launch party tonight.
OK, so last night’s election results suggest nobody’s in much of a mood to give government more money. However, as we have reported here previously, this is the time of year when local governments are deciding what to do with the money they already have (or are slated to get) – and Seattle Public Library supporters have an urgent call for library users to help make sure the library’s needs are “on the books” if you will:Read More
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