Get your culture fix on the Hill this weekend with  musical theater, dance recitals from Cornish students, book and poetry readings, open mics, off-the-radar live music, and more. 

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Thursday, February 21

• Be there to celebrate groundbreaking on 12th Ave Arts — music, free pizza… and speeches! Starts at 12:30 PM.



• Northwest wines tasting from small to medium producers. Includes pinot gris, pinot noir, sangiovese, and two outstanding blends. Vino Verite (208 Boylston E), 5 – 8p.
• Sustainable farm-sourced  wine tasting with selections from Patton Valley. Essence Wine (415 E Pine), 6 – 9p.
• This is Also Now: Pre-Party Preparations is part of a lecture series on Northwest art. Tonight’s topic focuses on the art and culture of indigenous tribes and the influence on contemporary artists. With Scott Lawrimore and Raymond Boisjoly. Frye Art Museum, 6:30p. 
• AwesomeFest 2013: join the Seattle Chapter of Awesome Foundation for their two year party. Hear about latest grant winners, and help pick the next micro-grant winner. Substantial office (900 E Pine), 7 – 10p.
• Breadline monthly structured readings and performances plus open mic. Vermillion 7 – 10p. 

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• Author reading: Ron Currie Jr reads from Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles, a “A postmodern love story, self-consciously playful in a Vonnegut-ian way.” Elliott Bay Book Company, 7p.
• Nothing But a Man, a 1964 film, is adapted from a 1933 stage play and is “one of the most sensitive films about black life ever made.” Screening through Feb 28th at Northwest Film Forum, 7p and 9p.  
• See Sam Shepard’s play Buried Child as produced by Seattle University Theatre Department. Opens Thursday and continues weekends through March 3rd. Seattle University Lee Center for the Arts (12th and E Marion), 7:30p
• Next to Normal, a Tony award-winning rock musical about bi-polar disorder, continues its run with Balagan Theatre through March 2nd. Generally good reviews if you are into musicals. Balagan at Erickson Theatre, Thurs through Sunday, various times.
• There’s a row over Broadway heights with a vote at the Capitol Hill Community Council as flashpoint. 6:30 PM. Cal Anderson Shelterhouse.

Friday, February 22

• Poetry Reading: Koon Woon reads from Water Chasing Water, and Keith Holyoak reads selections from his poetry in the classical Chinese style. Elliott Bay Book Company, 7p.
• Open mic where all forms of art are welcome. Black Coffee Coop (501 E Pine), 7 – 11p
• Book launch party for The Sweet Revenge of Celia Door by Karen Finneyfrock. We attended a reading when this young adult novel was a work-in-progress and it is hilarious. No joke. Richard Hugo House, 7:30p 
• Lake Union Civic Orchestra plays Beethoven, Debussy, and Shostakovich. Go hear your civic friends, neighbors, and countrymen and be delighted and surprised by their hidden talents. Town Hall, 7:30 – 9p.
• Hot Mess: modern dance mayhem where high art meets high entertainment. Velocity Dance Center (1621 12th Ave), 8p.
• Live music: Spencer Moody, Ben Von Wildenhaus, and Corey J Brewer at Cairo (507 E Mercer), 8p.

Saturday, February 23

• Celebrate 16 years of the Century Ballroom and help the venue dig itself out of a mess with the tax man.
• Childrens Storytime at the castle in Elliott Bay Book Company, 11a.
• Gallery talk: informal talk with artists Carolyn Law, NKO, Norman Lundin about thieir works on paper commissions for the current installation Gallery Talk. Frye ARt Mueseum (704 Terry), 2 – 3p.
• Community cinema: The Powerbroker is a film about civil rights leader Whitney Young, who was often attacked by Black Americans for his methods to open doors, which contrasted with the Black Power Movement of the time. Frye Art Museum, 2p.
• Madeleine Albright: Prague Winter. Former Secretary of State  discusses her new book a memorial from her early years in Prague from 1937 – 1948. Town Hall, 2 – 3:30p.
• Yoga in a nightclub! What will they think of next? Q nightclub (1426 Broadway), 3:30 – 5p.
• Author readings: African American Writers Alliance members read selections of their work in conjunctions with African-American History Month. Elliott Bay Book Company, 7p.
• Live music: LP Release show for Grave Babies, with Crypts, Vice Device and YourYoungBoy. Bring earplugs! Highline Bar (210 Broadway E), 9p.

Sunday, February 24

• The sixth annual 2013 Urban Poverty Forum focuses on Northwest tribal membersin and around Seattle who still face conditions of poverty. Forum includes representatives from Native American-focused non-profits and tribal leaders. Town Hall, 1 – 2:30p.
• Seattle Opera Preview: La Bohème includes informal lecture and musical excerpts. Frye Art Museum, 2p.
• Smokin’ Fish is a lighthearted documentary about a Tlingit who leaves mass art production for a summer to learn to prepare his grandmother’s specialty recipe for smoked salmon. Northwest Film Forum, 8p.
• The 8th Annual Academy Awards Party is a fancy-yet-affordable affair which benefits Three Dollar Bill Cinema and Gay City Health Project. Dress up and act like you’re on the red carpet while enjoying snacks and no-host bar. The Social (517 E Pike St), 4p.