Tonight is the Seattle Mayoral Candidate Arts forum: Ahead of the August 3 primary election (you should have gotten your ballot already BTW), Seattle City of Literature and a coalition of arts partners have organized a forum for some mayoral candidates. The group will discuss their pandemic arts recovery plans and visions for the creative sector in Seattle. Peep the candidates' responses to an arts questionnaire ahead of time, and then tune at 6 pm via Zoom to watch hosts Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman grill the contenders at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute. For more background info, check out my overview I published last week. Then watch this space for a report on the event from Mark Van Streefkerk tomorrow morning. I will not be able to cover the forum because....
Unstreamable is going to Bellingham! As Chase mentioned last week, we are taking this column on the road, baby! The good people over at the Pickford Film Center are hosting a FREE outdoor screening of unstreamable classic Pink Floyd's The Wall tomorrow. There will be giveaways, a DJ spinning some vinyl, TWO projectors, and food with Chase and I introducing the film. They've even made an Unstreamable theme song, which we'll figure out how to upload to this site soon. The movie starts at moonrise, so... see you there?
Who's down to carpool? The Olympia Film Society is hosting a barnburner of an event. For their reopening show, OFS wrangled Jon Heder and Efren Ramirez of Napoleon Dynamite fame for a screening of the iconic 2000s film down at the Capitol Theater on August 27. The night will include the aforementioned screening of Napoleon Dynamite and then a post-film Q&A with the actors who played Napoleon and Pedro hosted by Seattle artist Mary Anne Carter. Tickets will run you $50 ($45 if you're an OFS member). I'm dusting off my "Tina You Fart Lard" tee from JC Penney as I type this.
Kanye West is releasing a new album called Donda on Friday.
Seattle Deconstructed Art Fair is back! As the Seattle Art Fair seems to take another hiatus, 50 galleries around the city are banding together once again to put together a deconstructed version of the show this year—sans all the stuffy national and international galleries. The fair will kick off on the First Thursday of August in Pioneer Square from 6-8 pm, also marking the official return of the Pioneer Square Art Walk. But never fear if you can't make the opening; you'll have all month to look at all the local art your little heart desires. Be sure to stop by places like Greg Kucera Gallery, Wa Na Wari, Martyr Sauce, studio e, Koplin Del Rio, Martyr Sauce, Julian Peña Gallery, Columbia City Gallery, SOIL, From Typhoon, and more—check out the full list of participating galleries here.
There's going to be a cute show at Museum of Museums this weekend: Seattle-based artist Ursula Rose—whom you might recognize from the gorgeous tattoos she etches into people's skin—is showing a collection of work called A Body Alone over at the First Hill art space starting today and running through Sunday. Swing through to look at 48 nude drawings she's made over the past five years, along with new series of work in color. The opening event runs from 5-10 pm and is free to all.
This is probably the coolest thing Mayor Jenny Durkan's office will ever do: As part of the city's Welcome Back Seattle event series, the mayor's office announced that Digable Planets will headline a free Sunset Concert at Westlake Park this Sunday, July 25 at 8 pm. As part of the park's Welcome Back event, there will also be a Halloween in July event with trick-or-treating, face painting, and a Thriller dance class. On Saturday, Pioneer Square is also hosting a Welcome Back event with live music from The Black Tones and Shaina Shepherd. You can also pick up a free screenprint from Party Hat Gallery of a design made by Martyr Sauce's Tariqa Waters. Both days will feature pop-up vaccine clinics with all three vaccines available; the first 100 people to get vaxxed up at either clinic will get a free single-day ticket to the Day In Day Out festival in September.
The Freakout Fest lineup just got a bit bigger: The organizers behind the Ballard music festival have added over a dozen more lineups to the proceeding, included but not limited to: Sugar Candy Mountain, Marshall Law Band, Tangerine, Spirit Award, and Night Heron. Check out the full lineup (and snag tickets) here.
