Author Archives: AGPhoto

‘I know there has to be black artists in Seattle’ — Black Arts Love amplifying art and bringing community together on Capitol Hill

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Malika Bennett knows Capitol Hill, and after a Howard education and ten years in the other Washington, it’s time for this Capitol Hill to know her. Growing up on the Eastside and in the Central District, Bennett took off with the Running Start program at Seattle Central during high school and got to know the neighborhood well.

Her 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.

While in her masters program in D.C., Bennett found community in arts spaces. Busboys and Poets, a local restaurant with a bookstore, gift shop, and open mic, inspired Bennet with how they represent local creatives. “You have got to find something outside of work to keep up the balance, and for me, it was going to open mics.”

Eventually, Bennett got involved with the Emergence Community Art Collective, found a mentor, and grew her inspiration into action by producing her own events. “It was just wonderful how it all came together. Everybody was having such a good time. I mean, it just warmed my heart, it was really healing. Just the collaboration, the connection, the positivity, the creators and seeing all of their beautiful art and creations and products that they handmade, or even just businesses that are popping up and they were there to promote their business. It was incredible.”

Bennett moved back to Seattle in 2014, finding work as an administrative assistant at Harborview. Becoming frustrated with the helplessness she felt in the face of police violence and other issues facing the black community, she felt called to build community through art. The creation of Black Arts Love, which aimed to support black artists and creators in the community, helped focus their energy.

“I had this dream”, Bennett told CHS. “It was this blueprint of a whole bunch of black leaders that were all top of their field. They were using their talents to come together. And there was this blueprint of what we could do to help our community. And so I woke up and I said, Malika, what are your talents? And I realized, well, I’m good at event planning and good at PR. I’m good at marketing. I love art. I love creativity. I find the arts to be very healing at the same time.” Continue reading →

Still rising, Capitol Hill’s Phoenix Comics celebrates its 10th anniversary (and 11th Free Comic Book Day!)

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Nick Nazar

Capitol Hill’s Phoenix Comics and Games is marking 10 years on Capitol Hill this May as a staple of the comics and queer communities, offering a safe and inviting space for people of all backgrounds to enjoy comic books, board games, and collectibles. Saturday’s Free Comic Book Day is only part of the celebration.

“It’s been fantastic. It has been a lifelong dream come true. And the way Capitol Hill has really opened itself to me has been amazing,” Nick Nazar tells CHS. “We started 10 years ago not really sure if this was the right place or the right space. And you know, 10 years later, not only are we still here, but we’ve expanded. We’re continuing to offer our events and services to the Hill, and we get people from all over.”

Nazar attributes the success of the store to its status as a queer-owned and operated business that provides a community space for everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

“We have a community space that is open to everyone. There’s no charge to use it, just a request at the moment for masking in the space itself. And we do our best to welcome the queer community and to be out there helping people,” Nazar said. Continue reading →

David Schomer on coffee and Espresso Vivace’s 35th anniversary

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Capitol Hill-born Espresso Vivace is celebrating 35 years of artisanal coffee this week and founder David Schomer decided to mark the milestone in a familiar place — behind the counter. CHS found him Thursday pulling shots inside Vivace’s Broadway Brix building location. He’ll be at the South Lake Union cafe Friday with three Vivace 35th anniversary special single origin coffees — Ugandan Bonabana with notes of savory chocolate, heavy body, Indian Monsooned Malabar with notes of salted caramel, and Bourbon Pointu with notes of candied apple.

CHS: What’s the secret to keeping a coffee shop going for 35 years?
David Schomer: Not expanding beyond your capabilities. Focus is the secret, especially in this market. Continue reading →

Otherworld Wine Bar brings new life to revival of 114-year-old Pike/Pine building

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After two years of permitting and construction, Otherworld Wine Bar is opening its doors on Capitol Hill and helping to bring new life to this corner of upper Pike/Pine.

With a successful soft opening over the weekend behind them, owners Matt Lucas and Ben Chaykin are more than ready to start popping corks for Capitol Hill customers. Tired of the process, but happy to be open, Lucas tells CHS, “it’s been a really good reception.”

This is the first business for the partners Lucas and Chaykin, but thanks to their Juice Club pop-up events, they already have a following.

“We were able to kind of like, take what we did at those clubs and create somewhat of a small community through those events,” Lucas said. “And now we’re lucky to open up an entire space.”

Both call Capitol Hill home, so they were happy to accidentally stumble across the opportunity. CHS reported here way back in December of 2021 on the early plans for Otherworld as part of an overhaul and revival of an old commercial building where 14th Ave meets Pike and Madison. The new Otherworld space is part of an afterlife, indeed, for the 114-year-old building home to plenty of neighborhood ghosts. The project from Coldwell Banker Bain Capitol Hill turned the one-time auto row-era grocery into new offices for the real estate firm and a space for the wine bar. Continue reading →

Why the Seattle Fire Department is burning down this Capitol Hill house

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If you live near Broadway between Mercer and Harrison, you may have smelled smoke or seen the multiple unit response by the Seattle Fire Department starting early Tuesday morning. But it’s all good. They were the ones setting the fires.

A Capitol Hill corner destined for redevelopment — and already singed in an accidental fire earlier this winter — is burning this week in exercises to help SFD firefighters train under real flames and conditions in the densely packed neighborhood.

Battalion Chief Jared Fields told CHS why they were setting a vacant house on fire in the middle of Capitol Hill at Federal and Republican across from Broadway Hill Park.  “What we’re doing here today is conducting some live fire training in an acquired structure,” Fields said.

In addition to posting notices on social media, SFD says it asked its firefighters to go door-to-door to notify neighboring homes and businesses of potential impact from the two days of exercises. The practice burns will continue through Wednesday.

The previously scheduled practice comes following a rare deadly fire on Capitol Hill. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill Comedy/Bar: bright lights in a dark room and the feeling of going big time on Broadway

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Work started last week to bring laughs and a new entertainment venue to Capitol Hill’s Broadway. As the lease was signed and building access granted, construction began on Capitol Hill Comedy/Bar. Comedy is a dark undertaking.

“Sunlight is the enemy of stand-up comedy,” owner Dane Hesseldahl told CHS during a visit to check out the work in progress.

CHS reported here in February on the plans in the old Highline space above Broadway just north of E John for Capitol Hill Comedy/Bar, part of a long-running stand-up comedy presence at Capitol Hill’s now-shuttered Jai Thai.

As CHS visited last week, a team was working on the kitchen and prepping the concrete floors to be ground down and sealed to create an industrial vibe. Once complete, tables, and chairs will be brought in, aiming for a dark and intimate, speakeasy feel in the dramatically dark space.

Hesseldahl is hoping to create a small venue that feels like performers have made the big time. Continue reading →

Yeah, the Capitol Hill rogue crosswalk was cool but have you tried joining the Seattle Street Fixers to help keep city’s places to walk and bike clear?

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Priest, Cipoletti, and Hoster

In need of clipping along E Madison

On Sunday’s cold but sunny morning, eight Seattle residents met on an E Madison sidewalk and began unpacking their bikes and buckets full of tools from home or borrowed from the Capitol Hill Tool Library.

The goal of the Seattle Street Fixers, a small but growing crew of volunteers who meet up via a Google Group and Twitter account, is to take on projects to make the city safer for everybody like clearing pedestrian space and bike lanes from overgrowth of plants, roots, leaves, and debris.

Over the weekend, the group made its mark on Capitol Hill but there are projects it could help with across the city where the Seattle Department of Transportation and other departments either can’t keep up or have other priorities.

Conrad Cipoletti, walks, takes transit, and bikes in Seattle. “Whether it’s leaves in a bike lane or not being able to walk across the sidewalk, it’s nice to be proactive and do something about it,” Cipoletti said. “I enjoy volunteering and seeing an immediate difference.” Continue reading →

‘The LAST TACO TUESDAY as you know it’ — Wildrose upgrades its food game to match its nearly 40 years of drink and community on Capitol Hill

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Even the longest running lesbian bar in the United States needs to try new things. Thanks to the strong community that’s grown with the hangout, The Wildrose has survived the pandemic that challenged Capitol Hill businesses old and new. It was only one year ago that the Rose had to postpone its New Year’s Eve party as COVID surged again. Now, with lines at the door, the Wildrose team of Shelley Brothers and Martha Manning have decided the old E Pike bar could use something new in a part of the nearly 40-year-old venue you might not expect — the kitchen.

With a few updates, including a new freezer, the Wildrose has brought on “The Pickled Chef”, Mahogany Williams, who got her start on Capitol Hill, and competed on the Food Network’s “Chopped” series. Williams was a bartender at Wildrose for years before working with Tamara Murphy at Capitol Hill’s Terra Plata. Having traveled around the world, learning from artisans in Spain, France, Italy, and New Orleans, she brings her love of all things pickled back to the PNW.

The Wildrose marked the changes as this year was coming to an end with “the LAST TACO TUESDAY as you know it.”

“We used to have really good homemade food in the kitchen, so we wanted to get back to that,” Manning tells CHS. “We wanted to have more reasons for people to stay, offer more things for people, and be more well rounded.” A few months ago, Manning asked Williams to help get the kitchen going again, and Williams agreed. “I felt really lucky,” Manning said. Continue reading →

What does Seattle need for coming smoky summers? Clean air shelters, new rules to protect workers, and patience

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Seattle at its smokiest Wednesday

What should we do about coming smoky summers? Ask a firefighter (Image: Amanda Monthei)

“Should Washington fight the Bolt Creek Fire to protect Seattle’s air?,” CHS asked seven days ago as we reported on the factors being considered by the Washington Department of Natural Resources in its command of the state’s firefighting resources. Those factors include communities, homes, and highways — but not air quality.

Now, after more smoke from newly surging incidents like the Loch Katrine fire poured into the region and pushed Seattle to some of the most dangerous air on earth this week, raindrops are finally starting to fall on Capitol Hill.

It is the right time to start getting ready for next summer — and the smoky summers that will follow.

A wildland firefighter who just came off the Bolt Creek Fire working as a Public Information Officer, Amanda Monthei has seven years experience with wildfires and says cities like Seattle need to prepare with new resources and clean air shelters in a new smokier future — fires on some of the nearest mountains and in wildlands only minutes away need the flames. Continue reading →

Peloton ‘Cafe Bike Shop’ expands on E Jefferson

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After seven years as E Jefferson’s only combination cafe, bar, and bike shop, Peloton Cafe has expanded.

“I love this neighborhood,” owner Dustin Riggs tells CHS.

Riggs’s success showed him what he knew, that growth was needed, but space was limited. “The kitchen was tiny,” Riggs said, but he had a hard time imagining moving away. “We were looking for a new spot, talking to some real estate people, but we did not want to leave.”

So, they waited, and in 2021 they decided to expand. With Nate’s Wings and Waffles closing next door in August of 2020 due to the pandemic and increased costs, Peloton approached the landlord while they were showing off the space and asked to see it. They signed a lease and according to Riggs, “we just sort of threw ourselves into it and got in over our heads and forced ourselves to actually do it.” Continue reading →