Mohamed Adan is the CHS summer intern. He is a graduate of Garfield High School and Seattle Central College. While at Seattle Central, Mohamed was the editor of the student newspaper. You can reach him at [email protected] or (515) 992-0893.
Finding ways to make the city streets work best for residents, businesses, and the community in increasingly dense areas like First Hill and Capitol Hill requires a little bit of strategy and tactical urbanism. The summer of 2015 will see the deployment of a few early test missions on our streets.
The pilot will close three blocks of Pike Street to car traffic on four Saturday nights in August. The first two nights, August 8 and 15, will be shorter and focus on crowd management and public safety. The second two nights, August 22 and 29, will expand on this concept with community based programming. Volunteers needed for data collection!Continue reading →
In a press release, Seattle College District Chancellor Jill Wakefield said Lange’s “skills, experience, and dedication make her a perfect match for Seattle Central.”
Lange holds a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from the University of Washington, where she has also served as vice president and vice provost for minority affairs and diversity since 2007. Her UW bio hails her as a “force for diversity,” and notes her efforts to support diverse students and faculty at the university.
Prior to working at the UW, Lange worked at the Seattle College District, both at the main office and at the North Seattle location. “I know the power of community colleges, I know how they transform lives … it’s a great place to work and be impactful in the community,” she told the Seattle Times.
A national search for a permanent president will start this fall.
Menchie’s can’t do it alone. Somehow, Broadway has survived the hottest summer in recorded CHS history with only one frozen yogurt provider. By August, forecasters say the Broadway frozen yogurt supply should be back to full strength — but this time with an independent provider in the mix.
In December, the Broadway location of the national Yogurtland shuttered. The space left behind by the chain will soon be home to Refresh Frozen Desserts and Espresso.
Bobby Gaon co-owns the new business with his wife and family members. He told CHS they snatched the space up as soon as it hit the market after another franchise player backed out, attracted by its close proximity to Seattle Central College.
The Broadway Building will see a summer of change for its tenant mix. Zpizza, another national franchise, is also planned to shutter and make way for something new in August.
Like Yogurtland, Refresh will serve frozen yogurt. The menu will also include “Italian ice, sorbets, soft serve custard and soft serve gelato” according to Gaon. Coffee sold at the store will be sourced from Kuma Coffee, a local direct trade roastery. The yogurt comes from Arkansas-based Honey Hills Farms. CHS pulled back the curtain on the inner workings of the frozen yogurt industry here when we talked to the owners behind the Broadway Menchie’s about their decision to work with a franchise.
The Refresh space is currently undergoing a $25,000 remodel. After it is completed, it will have an extended service counter, bar seating, and a graphic mural by a local artist.
Refresh is scheduled to open “early to mid” August.
Adam Sekuler’s work got the 2015 festival started (Images: Alex Garland for CHS)
The Yellow Fish Epic Durational Performance Festival is currently taking place at Seattle University’s Hedreen Gallery. Organized since 2013 by Seattle-based artist Alice Gosti, it is one of the only festivals dedicated to durational performance in the world.
Durational performance can be defined as “a [art] form through which TIME is manifested in its original (natural) purity and brought to the forefront as pivotal to the experience.” Basically, it is an artistic performance that takes much longer than the standard two hours.
Yellow Fish performances can be a little out of the ordinary. Last year, one performance consisted of two women “submerged in an inflatable kiddie pool” for more than five hours, with a wolf hide suspended above them dripping pig blood into the water. This year’s festival kicked off last week with a performance spanning three days. Artist Adam Sekuler, a Seattleite living in Colorado, spent this time leading a communal mourning for the “buildings, organizations, and stores that we have lost in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, according to Gosti.
In spite of its unusual genre, or because of it, the Yellow Fish festival has been pretty successful. Last year the festival attracted artists from across the United States and as far away as London. This year, due to budget constraints, the festival has featured mostly local artists, but Gosti says attendance has been “really good.” The festival has also raised more than six thousand dollars through the crowdfunding campaign CHS reported on last week.
Yellow Fish is scheduled to take place daily through August 6th. The majority of the performances will take place at the Hedreen Gallery and a few will be held at the local venues such as the Velocity Dance Center and 10 degrees.
Capitol Hill’s Gage Academy of Art is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year by spreading the goodness of its annual Drawing Jam across the summer and the city. In Volunteer Park Thursday night, the non-profit art school kicked off its 25 Jams series of public art events.
“We look forward to engaging as many people as we can in that most basic form of communication, which is drawing, “ event organizer Kathleen Moore told CHS.
You can “jam” again Friday night in Freeway Park along with Seattle Chamber Music starting at 6:30 PM.
Gage organizers say the event is hoped to bring “artists and art-lovers of all ages together to enjoy the simple act of putting hand to paper, using different locales, subjects and events to engage the public in observational drawing.”
25 Jams is a spin-off of Gage’s annual Drawing Jam celebration, which takes place on the first Saturday of December. On that day, Gage opens its studios to the public and supplies free art materials in a lively celebration of its mission to bring art to the community.
Thursday night in Volunteer Park, participants had access to tables and art supplies provided by Gage. Some sketched. Some doodled. Some rendered Yoda in Dagobah green.
Volunteer Park, meanwhile, will feature a different sort of art through the weekend as Shakespeare in the park and the Seattle Outdoor Theater Festivaltake over the green space.
A new face at 23rd and Union (Image: Mohamed Adan for CHS)
Picken (Images: Mohamed Adan for CHS)
Two new murals are joining the streetscapes in the Central District and on First Hill with a third popping up on a familiar E Pike canvas.
The new Sorrento Hotel parking garage mural is the work of Ellen Picken, an artist originally from Spokane. Picken’s black and white geometric design triumphed in a competition with 40 submissions from around the world, an impressive feat for a novice with only one public mural under her belt.
For the past two months, Picken has been working diligently on the mural with her assistant Phyllis Austin. Picken is passionate about transforming the space, which was formerly a hideous concrete wall, into something worthwhile and inclusive.
“I want to provide a space that let’s people feel the way they want to feel, and that’s why I don’t put in any figure work or anything with too much symbolism,” Picken told CHS.
Weirdo’s work on E Pike as of July 1st (Image: CHS)
The mural was expected to be completed this week and was funded by by a joint public-private partnership between the City of Seattle, the non-profit Seattle Mural Projects, and and Magnetic/ERV, the company that operates the Sorrento.
On E Pike, the latest mural on the north side of Neumos is a work from artist Weirdo depicting musician Shannon Perry of Seattle band Gazebos as part of a project with Capitol Hill Block Party producers and the Capitol Hill Arts District to bring attention to the neighborhood’s visual artists at this year’s three-day music fest starting July 24th.
Meanwhile at 23rd and Union, a new mural outside Uncle Ike’s and The Neighbor Lady was completed by artist Joey Nix. Nix’s murals are found all over Seattle and he told CHS he enjoys doing large-scale projects. The mural is 2 1/2 stories high and 20 feet wide and is a full-figure portrait of Amanya, a bud tender at Uncle Ike’s. Nix took a photograph of the woman at the Arboretum and based his work on the image. The t-shirt she’s wearing has the word “Uhuru” on it, Swahili for freedom. Nix says his satisfaction comes from the hope that a lot of people will see and enjoy his work. “I hope they enjoy it, it’s for them, it’s for the public,” he said.
Artist rendering of the shop design for Eye Eye (Image: Best Practice Architecture)
A few months ago, Bootyland moved out of its store at 1317 E Pine citing a steep increase in rent. The children’s clothing store will be replaced by Eye Eye, a new optometry clinic and eyewear store. In addition to possibly providing you with a fashionable set of frames and better vision, the change provides some small amount of insight into the retail lease market around Capitol Hill and, specifically, in Pike/Pine.
“The rent is not cheap, but I still see it as a good opportunity,” says Will Pentecost, the man behind Eye Eye. Originally from Tennessee, Pentecost is an optometrist who moved to Seattle in 2008. For the past several years he has been practicing out of an optical shop in Columbia City and is excited about starting his own practice on Capitol Hill where he has lived since 2009.
Pentecost said his business will work to be socially responsible by making making eye care more affordable for those without insurance. Uninsured customers will have the option of signing-up for a monthly low fee membership plan that will give them a “significant discount” on eyeglasses, Pentecost told CHS. People enrolled in Washington’s Medicaid program will receive free membership.
When it opens, Eye Eye will sell items such as luxury vintage eye frames and eyewear from independent and green-friendly companies. Customers will also receive what Pentecost says will be quicker service thanks to an on-site finishing lab.
Currently Eye Eye’s space is undergoing a complete renovation by Best Practice Architecture and Design. It is scheduled to open by August. Bootyland has since reopened in Wallingford.
Someday, Capitol Hill merchants will fly pink, blue, and white along with the rainbows.
The third annual Trans* Pride Seattle took place Friday evening. Organized since 2013 by the Gender Justice League, Trans* Pride aims to celebrate and uplift trans and gender non-conforming people.
The event kicked off at 6:00 PM with a large march starting at Seattle Central College. Hundreds of people took part in the march, many waving the blue-pink-white transgender flag and chanting slogans demanding equality for trans people. The march went down a few blocks of Broadway and Pike and ended at Cal Anderson Park.
The mood was definitely elevated following Friday morning’s Supreme Court ruling that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage. Many LGBTQ leaders say transgender rights issues should now become a priority. In one small example, legislation was proposed this week in Seattle that will designate single-occupancy bathrooms in the city as “all-gender.”
By 6:30 most of the marchers had arrived at Cal Anderson. There they viewed a number of performances and speeches. Numerous speakers praised Jennicet Gutiérrez, the transwoman who interrupted President Barack Obama to demand the release of trans people detained by ICE.
Design rendering of the future station (Images: Weinstein A+U)
Fire Station 22 on North Capitol Hill will soon be demolished and rebuilt. This Saturday, the Seattle Fire Department will host a second design open house at the station. The open house will be from 10 AM to noon.
In 2003, Seattle voters passed a $167 million levy to improve and upgrade fire stations.
The new Station 22 will cost a total of $11.7 million. According to David Jackson, a project manager working with the City, construction is expected to begin the first quarter of 2016.
Residents interested in understanding the architectural plans for the new station should attend the open house, says Kyle Moore, Seattle Fire Department spokesperson. “This is a chance for the community to weigh in on what the fire station will look like,” Moore said. According to Moore, the open house will give residents the chance to hear information about the project and meet with the project managers working on it. There will also be firefighters present to answer any questions.
The last open house in January was attended by approximately 250 people. This open house will bring new updates as the construction plan enters its final stages.
A Seattle Design Commission presentation about the new project from architects Weinstein A+U is below. Continue reading →
Organizers from the Capitol Hill EcoDistrict behind a plan to create a pedestrian-only zone in Pike/Pine have set a target for their test mission:
