Beacon Hill Blog

Celebrate the arts at the Franklin High School Arts Festival

Elizabeth Lowry, co-chair of the Franklin High School Arts Festival, sends this announcement:

Imagination. Swagger. Creativity. Culture. Intensity. Irony. Empathy. Everything comes together in the visual art and performances that Franklin High School students will present this week during the school’s yearly arts festival and talent show.

“The Mt. Baker Quakermaker Shaker” is the theme of this year’s festival, which begins with an art opening at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, May 16, at Mioposto, 3601 S. McClellan St. The FHS talent show is the main attraction Friday, May 17, starting at 7 p.m. in the school’s auditorium, 3013 S. Mount Baker Blvd. The arts festival will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 18, on the plaza in front of FHS.

The events, which are open to the public, bring together students, their families, teachers and staff and Mount Baker neighbors. The festival raises money to benefit Franklin’s art, drama and music programs and student clubs, while the talent show raises money for the senior class of 2015. Tickets to the talent show are $3 for FHS students and $5 for others. The art opening and the arts festival are free.

The festival will feature student performances, including the steel drum band, fashion club, jazz band, Quaker band and lion dancers, along with displays of visual art, ceramics and wood arts. Student clubs will sell heirloom tomato and vegetable plants, treats and handmade crafts. Also for sale are woodcrafts, such as cutting boards, created by students and notecards featuring student art. Vietnamese sandwiches, chips and soft drinks also will be for sale. 

The arts festival is sponsored by the Franklin High School PTSA and the Franklin High student body.



For details and updates, find us on Facebook, check franklinhs.seattleschools.org, or email elizabethlowry@comcast.net.

Tags: franklin hs

Elnah Jordan, Eric Verlinde, and Tom McElroy perform at Garden House Blues

The Garden House Blues series returns this Friday, April 19, when Elnah Jordan, Eric Verlinde, and Tom McElroy perform at the Garden House, 2336 15th Ave. S. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the concert starts at 8 p.m.

Vocalist Elnah Jordan performed the role of the legendary Bessie Smith in San Francisco for 2-1/2 years in The Evolution of the Blues, and later starred in Street Dreams, an Off-Broadway musical drama. She has since built a reputation as a powerful singer in jazz, R&B, gospel and blues. Pianist Eric Verlinde‘s fifth CD, Firewalker, collects some of his more than 150 compositions ranging “from Latin jazz to swinging hard-bop.” Jazz guitarist Tom McElroy will open the show.

Before the show begins, Beacon Bento will be available with meals delivered to your table from Inay’s Kitchen and Travelers Thali House for $10 or less per meal.

For more info, see the website.

Tags: garden house, music

Beacon Hill kids to perform in Swan Lake

The Pacific Northwest Ballet production of Swan Lake starts tonight and runs through April 21 at McCaw Hall. It features 24 students from the Pacific Northwest Ballet School, including three young performers from the Beacon Hill area.

Beacon Hill kids performing in the production include:

Amanda Allen, a fifth-grader from Maple Elementary School, will play the role of Waltz Girl.
Alexis Calonge, a fifth-grader at Dearborn Park, will play a Persian Attendant.
Lucas Galvan, a fourth-grader at Dearborn Park, will play a Page.

Congratulations and best wishes to these talented Beacon Hill dancers!

Tags: children, dance

See, hear, walk and create at Kimball Art Walk 4/11

This Thursday afternoon, April 11, is a great time to take a walk on Beacon Avenue for the Second Annual Kimball Elementary School Art Walk. From 3:30 to 5 p.m., businesses on Beacon Avenue between Tippe and Drague (3315 Beacon Avenue South) and Beacon Hill Dental Associates (3051 Beacon Avenue South) will display art by Kimball students. Businesses participating will be marked with bright, colorful flags.

The street will also be lined with booths featuring art activities, and the school choir and ukulele band will perform. All neighbors are invited to see, hear and make some art with the Kimball community and friends.

View Kimball Art Walk 2013 in a larger map

Tags: art walk, children, kimball

Beacon Hill teens: Street Stories application deadline is today!

Beacon Hill 6th – 12th graders, this is your chance to participate in a free 5-week after-school digital video storytelling program, but you’ll need to work fast — the deadline to apply is today!

In the Street Stories program, Beacon Hill youths will create video stories of their experiences living and walking in the neighborhood, using provided iPod Touch devices to create and edit the videos. Students will also receive training including video technology and storytelling techniques. The finished videos will be shown at community events, displayed on local websites, and used to build a new kind of walking map for the Beacon Hill neighborhood.

Eligible students are:

• 6th-12th graders living or going to school on Beacon Hill
• Able to participate at Jefferson Community Center on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4-6 p.m. from April 2 though May 9.
• Able to do a minimum of four hours of independent research

The program is limited to 20 students, and the deadline to apply is today, March 29. To apply, fill out this application form along with this E-13 Participant Information and Authorization Form and drop both forms off today at the front desk of Jefferson Community Center, marked “attention: Jean Lee.”

Selected students will be notified on Monday, April 1 (no fooling) before the first workshop on Tuesday.

Tags: children, jefferson community center, teens

Stories for Boys at Beacon Hill Library 4/28

The Beacon Hill branch of the Seattle Public Library is hosting a free dramatic reading from Gregory Martin’s Stories for Boys: A Memoir from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 28. The reading, adapted and directed by Laura Ferri, will be performed by Book-It Repertory Theatre.

Admission is free and all are welcome; no ticket or reservation is necessary. The library is located at 2821 Beacon Ave. S. in North Beacon Hill.

Stories for Boys was chosen as this year’s Seattle Reads book. The book details author Gregory Martin’s struggle in coming to terms with revelations of his father’s homosexuality following an attempted suicide, and tells stories about his own parenting of two young sons.

For more information on the reading or Seattle Reads, call 206-386-4636.

Tags: books, performances

Nova Nervosa, Jo Miller perform at Sunday Folk Club 3/3

March’s installment of ROCKiT Community Arts‘ First Sunday Night Folk Club on Sunday, March 3, will feature the Nova Nervosa Trio, a trio consisting of accordion, bass, and guitar, described as “quivery Tunes from a musical mind.”

Also performing that night will be Jo Miller, who will read from her memoirs with musical accompaniment from Orville Johnson.

The show starts at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6 p.m. for the Beacon Bento dinner. Location, as always, is the Garden House, 2336 15th Ave. S. Admission is $8 at the door, and free for kids under 12. Advance tickets are available online through Brown Paper Tickets.

See more about Sunday Folk Club here.

Tags: music

Sunday: Old-time square dancing at Garden House

Put those dancing shoes on this Sunday, January 6, when ROCKiT Community Arts presents an Old-time and Quebecois Square Dance with music by Peckin’ Out Dough and La Famille Leger.

Doors open at 6 p.m. and dancing starts at 7 p.m. at the Garden House, 2336 15th Ave S. Dinner will be available through Beacon Bento. The event is open to all ages ; admission is $7, and kids get in free.

Tags: dance, music, rockit space

String returns to the Garden House

String, a dance and object theatre show for children ages 2-6, returns to Beacon Hill on December 27 and 30, with daytime performances at the Garden House (2336 15th Ave. S.).

Showtimes will be 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Thursday, December 27, and 2 p.m. on Sunday, December 30. The 35-minute show will be followed by a Q&A session with performer Mary Margaret Moore. All ages are welcome to attend.

The show’s website describes String thusly:

“Every time that we witness 40 children focusing on the noise of a paper bag, we are deeply touched. Their deep concentration is truly magical.

“To create for children is to challenge them. In String, we stretch their capacity to decipher emotions. Small details, a raised eyebrow, a pinky movement, is enough to convey an emotion.”

Seats are limited; tickets are available through Brown Paper Tickets.

Tags: children

Tonight: Spice Box celebrates 5 years of Skin Deep Dance

Tonight’s monthly Spice Box show put on by Skin Deep Dance is a special one to celebrate Skin Deep’s 5 year anniversary. The event runs from 7 to 9 p.m. at Skin Deep Dance Studio in the El Centro de la Raza building, 2524 16th Ave. S. #311.

Among the attractions in tonight’s show are art by Melissa Metesh and performances by ModRom Dance Collective, Maureen, Skin Deep Dance, Carly Aniluk, and Sirens of Serpentine (students of Leslie Rosen). The show will be emceed by Sarah O’Brien.

All ages are welcome, and the show is family-friendly. Admission is $10 per person, free for teens and under. Proceeds will benefit Skin Deep’s SEEDs (Self-esteem, Empowerment, and Education through Dance) program. Guests should enter El Centro through the north entrance; elevator access to the top floor is available. Parking is free.

Tags: dance