“A lot of things happen in the [artistic] process that are unpredictable, and I like to respond to those situations and find a way for it to work. That’s what excites me.”
Kalina Winska is an artist who grew up in Poland and has been living in Seattle for three years. Earlier this year, she moved her studio from Georgetown to Capitol Hill because she loved the energy and vibrancy of this neighborhood.
Her work is inspired by her concern for climate change and her fascination with digital weather maps. Kalina’s paintings are vibrant and play with juxtapositions.There are layers of contrasting colors, hard lines, and softer brushstrokes. Continue reading →
Steve Jensen has been working out of his Capitol Hill studio for over 37 years. He is the son of Norwegian immigrants and he comes from a family made up of fishermen and boat builders. At first glance, it’s apparent that his artwork is inspired by Scandinavian culture, Viking boats, and other nautical elements. Beneath the surface however, is a story on how a person can take something incredibly painful and transform it into something beautiful and healing.
“My best friend asked me to build a carved boat for his ashes when he died. One month later, he died of AIDS.” Steve built wooden boats for the ashes of his best friend, both of his parents, as well as a former long-term partner. These boats were then buried at sea. To him, this is a modern take on a Viking funeral. He has since received multiple requests to build more funeral boats. Continue reading →
It overcame the pandemic and the city’s red tape but the Museum of Museums will not survive another rainy season in Seattle.
First Hill’s MoM announced it will close on September 1st.
“From the very beginning, when we set out to restore and re-imagine this mid-century medical building as an art center, we knew that our operations would be tied to the building’s capacity to house us,” founder Greg Lundgren said in a letter announcing the closure Thursday. “Over the past 4 years, it has become increasingly apparent that maintaining a 77-year-old building comes with significant challenges.”
According to Lundgren, the old building on Boylston just above Broadway needs expensive repairs.
“Late last winter our plumbing issues came to a head with unfortunate closures of our first floor while our team dealt with days of pumping and hauling gallons and buckets of water out of the building,” Lundgren writes. “After significant investments from both the museum and our partnership with Swedish Hospital, the plumbing issues have only worsened, demanding an investment that neither MoM nor Swedish can undertake.”
No amount of creativity can help when roof drains are connected to the main sewer line and that main line has also collapsed. With the inevitable return of Seattle weather, MoM is shutting down. Continue reading →
PopRox Studio, a Seattle dance studio that offers “confidence building, judgment free dance classes for kids and adults,” has announced its plans to open a new studio on Capitol Hill in the Chophouse Row commercial development.
It will be the growing business’s second studio, after its first location in University District.
Co-founders of PopRox Studio, Kinsey Flores and Cathy Barnett, officially announced plans for the new studio this week.
“We explored the neighbourhood quite a bit, and absolutely loved what the community had to offer to help us grow,” Barnett said. “The Chophouse Row is also a unique location, which hosts brands with a similar ethos like ours.”
The new studio will be located on the lower level of the 11th Ave Chophouse Row building where a series of businesses have rotated through. But the PopRox effort to create the new studio will be a larger investment. The new PopRox will debut in January 2024. Continue reading →
The first “immersive art experience” show is now open in The Teal Building, the former home of long-gone Capitol Hill gay bar R Place.
The Seattle: City of the Future exhibition runs through June 25th and presents a 2023-era vision of Seattle’s 1962 World’s Fair “City of Tomorrow” spirit.
It also might present a look forward at the future of the auto row-era building as previous plans for a restaurant-focused redevelopment are shifting.
A neon-lit dystopian alleyway by Brandon Traynoff, an uncanny video of a (fake) human at a climate refugee camp by Ruben David Rodriguez, and a forest of hand-decorated tree trunks by Jean Bradbury are a few of the installations. The artistic mediums also vary: 3D glasses, artificial intelligence, projectors, mirrors, and yarn are all used in wildly different ways.
CHS reported here on the plans to use the former R Place building as a LGBTQ+ community arts center after the purchase of the property by Tam Nguyen and plans for the Little Saigon restaurant family to expand to E Pine and overhaul the auto row-era structure.
Shelly Farnham of Third Place Technologies said the first show planned for the space was inspired by something she has long been hoping to build.
“There are 20 of us in a room together and he says, ‘here’s this building, let’s do something with it,’” Farnham said. “I was like ‘I have an idea, I’ve been wanting to do this maze thing for a while.’” Continue reading →
Members of the public want the Photographic Center Northwest to consider accessibility and technological advancements in its new building, according to discussions at a public forum on the project that will make a new home for the nonprofit in a new mixed-use development on its 12th Ave property.
The forum was held earlier this month to share goals for construction of the upcoming seven-story commercial and residential Photographic Center Northwest facility on Capitol Hill as well as to address concerns from the community. The forum focused on future plans of PCNW as it begins its transition into building a new space.
Designing and building a new space at the current PCNW location will allow for more growth with advances in technology, education, and photography, the organization says.
“The project will also address a growing demand for programs, services, and education,” Terry Novak, the executive director of PCNW, said.
Novak led the forum, which was mostly attended by PCNW volunteers and faculty. The forum lasted about an hour and a half with most of the time being used for questions from the audience. Novak began the forum by explaining PCNW’s reasons for changing facilities as well as providing a brief timeline and plans for future construction and programs.
“Right now we’re finalizing designs for the new space and outlining educational programs for the period during construction,” Novak said. Continue reading →
As its venues including Capitol Hill’s Egyptian Theatre begin hosting the 2023 Seattle International Film Festival, cinema nonprofit SIFF has announced it is adding the city’s grandest silver screen to its family.
“We’ve acquired the Seattle Cinerama Theater from the estate of Paul G. Allen and will be reopening later this year,” the organization announced before Thursday’s opening night of the 49th edition of the festival. “This acquisition adds to our current venue offerings: SIFF Film Center, SIFF Cinema Uptown, and SIFF Cinema Egyptian. We look forward to stewarding this historic venue for magical moviegoing experiences well into the future—with all of you.” Continue reading →
As it prepares for the 18th year of the TRANSlations: Seattle Trans Film Festival, Capitol Hill film nonprofit Three Dollar BillCinema has also made a change of address.
The organization has a new Capitol Hill home, moving its offices into the newly formed E Pine complex of Gay City. LGBTQ health and community facility Gay City moved into its new Capitol Hill space last summer on E Pine and took on a new mission as “Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center.”
Next week, Three Dollar will host the 18th TRANSlations to kick off Seattle’s month of peak film festival activity including the return of the SIFF: Seattle International Film Festival starting May 11th.
TRANSlations gets the festival ball rolling starting Thursday, May 4th with screenings and events both online and in-person. For Capitol Hill film lovers, the 2023 festival will be an excuse for a field trip out of the neighborhood. Continue reading →
“Stunning 1909 Craftsman” homes hitting the market at $1 million in the Central District aren’t that unusual but the real estate listing for a new property that went up for sale over the weekend is.
The glamour shot for 911 24th Ave includes a distinctive “HOOD CLOSED TO GENTRIFIERS” sign in the front yard. A closer look reveals the house is the home of Central District Black arts and community space Wa Na Wari.
“Inside, the light-filled living and dining room provides plenty of space for entertaining, with a gorgeous wood-burning fireplace and classic hardwood floors that are sure to delight,” the listing reads.
The organization tells CHS that all is well with the nonprofit and the sale is part of the process of settling the estate of the house’s longtime family ownership. Wa Na Wari plans to launch a competitive bid for the house, the longtime home of co-founder Inye Wokoma’s grandmother, Goldyne Green. Continue reading →
The overhaul of Pagliacci’s Pike/Pine pizza headquarters has made new space for black art and community on Capitol Hill.
Black Arts Love — “a welcoming community space that is inclusive to all that support our mission of amplifying and uplifting black artists” — is now open in the 400 block of E Pike neighboring the Seattle pizza maker’s slice bar and “Center for Excellence” that opened in a 2020 overhaul of the company’s Capitol Hill headquarters.
The new venue is a mix of arts, retail, and community gathering from an organization that has grown through prop-up events and the leadership of founder Malika Bennett.
Bennett has said she created Black Arts Love out of a response to police killings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling in 2016: Continue reading →