Category Archives: Arts

Arts, Local Events

The Onlies and Elena DeLisle-Perry to perform 10/7

This Sunday, October 7, The Onlies will perform at Beacon Hill’s Garden House as part of ROCKiT Community Arts’ Folk Club music series. The Onlies (Samantha Braman, Leo Shannon and Riley Calcagno) are students at Garfield High School who perform Irish, Cape Breton, Old-Time, Scottish, and Quebecois fiddle music. On their website, they promise a good time for all:

“Oh, we’ll play some of that old traditional stuff, to keep the geezers happy. (Full disclosure: We’re probably the youngest geezers we know, and dang proud of it.) But we’ll probably debut a few of our shock-of-the-new tunes, so make sure to bring a solid pair of shoes.”

Elena DeLisle-Perry will open the show.

The Garden House is located at 2336 15th Ave. S. Admission is $7 general with kids under 12 getting in free. Doors open at 6 p.m., and the music starts at 7 p.m. Early arrivals will be able to order dinner from several local restaurants to enjoy at the show.

For more information about this and future ROCKiT shows, see the website.

Arts, Local Events

Spice Box art and variety show 10/5 at Skin Deep Dance

Skin Deep Dance will present Spice Box, a monthly art and variety show, on Friday, October 5, at the Skin Deep Dance Studio (in the El Centro de la Raza building).

This month’s Spice Box will include art by Kook Teflon, art and performance by Magi, and performances by Amazon Heart, Bollywood Bliss (Katrina’s Bollywood student troupe), Janelle Bel Isle, Lesley Rialto, Twilight, and Chloe Anderson.

Admission is $10/person, free for kids under 12. All ages are welcome, and the event is family friendly. Proceeds will benefit Skin Deep Dance’s SEEDS (Self -esteem, Empowerment and Education through Dance) program.

The Spice Box series will continue on the first Friday of every month. Performers and artists have already been booked for events on November 2, December 7, and January 4.

The studio’s address is 2514 16th Ave. S. #311. Enter El Centro through the North entrance.

Arts, Local Events

Family Free-For-All and Garden House Blues this week at Garden House

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Alice Stuart will perform at the first Garden House Blues series concert.

ROCKiT Community Arts has a couple of events this week at the Garden House on North Beacon Hill, including another Family Free-For-All and and the start of the new Garden House Blues music series.

Family Free-For-All is today, September 18, from 4-6:30 p.m. As you might guess, admission is free (for all). Suzanne Sumi will be there to host a family song time. The Free-For-All is a casual, drop-in event for kids and parents alike, with art, music, and toys available to play with and enjoy.

On Friday, September 21, at 8 p.m., the new Garden House Blues series of country blues concerts begins with Alice Stuart and Eric Freeman. Here’s an excerpt from Alice’s website bio:

“Way ahead of her time, Alice Stuart blazed the trail for women in rock and roll as one of the only females in the country to write her own music, front a male band, and play lead guitar on national and international circuits. Blues Hall of Fame inductee, Dick Waterman, once remarked, ‘There would be no Bonnie Raitt without Alice Stuart.'”

Virginian (and now West Seattleite) Eric Freeman plays country blues guitar that wouldn’t sound out of place on a scratchy record from the 1920s or 30s.

Tickets to Friday’s show are $20 cash/check at the door, or by advance sale from Brown Paper Tickets.

The series will continue in October and November with Lloyd Jones and Paul Green on Friday, October 19, and Bonnie McCoy (Memphis Minnie’s niece) with special guest Mary Flower on Friday, November 16.

Arts, Life on the Hill, Neighborhood Pride

Beacon Hill Library reader wins a Kindle

Photo by owenfinn16 via Creative Commons/Flickr.

The Seattle Public Library has announced the winners of 20 Kindle e-readers through the recently-completed 2012 Adult and Teen Summer Reading Program. Readers in the program entered to win a Kindle for every three books they read and reviewed.

Shirley Xu was the winner from the Beacon Hill Branch library. Congratulations to Shirley!

Arts, Local Events

A poetic evening at The Station Wednesday: Beacon Bards

Poetry comes to North Beacon on Wednesday, September 12 from 7-9 p.m. with the first Beacon Bards, a monthly poetry reading event sponsored by ROCKiT Community Arts. The Bards will be at The Station coffeehouse, 2533 16th Ave. S. There is no cover charge.

Reading this month will be Laura Shoemaker and Megan Snyder-Camp.

Mark your calendar for future Beacon Bards nights on October 10, November 14, and December 12.

Arts, Local Events

Barn Dance tonight with The Tallboys, Charmaine Slaven

Tonight ROCKiT kicks off their fall season of events at the Garden House with a Barn Dance. Charmaine Slaven will call the dances, and The Tallboys will provide the music.

Doors at the Garden House (336 15th Ave. S.) open at 6 p.m. for Beacon Bento and other food choices. The dance starts about 7 p.m.

People of all ages are welcome. Tickets are $7 at the door, free for kids under 12.

Photo courtesy of the Tallboys.
Arts, Local Events

NEPO 5k Don’t Run returns on Saturday

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Hop, waddle, crawl, roll, or walk, just don’t run — the NEPO 5K Don’t Run returns to the Hill again on Saturday, September 8 at 2:30 p.m. The Don’t Run is a free 3-mile art walk through the city, with site-specific performances, art installations, and more to be seen as you go along. The 70 artists and their projects are listed here.

This year’s event is in the reverse direction from last year’s; instead of ending up on Beacon Hill, the Don’t Run will begin here on Beacon Hill at NEPO House (1723 S. Lander St.), and finish by Kobe Terrace Park in the International District, where, if you like, you can hop the Link train or the 36 bus to return back to where you started. The route will go along 18th Avenue South to the I-90 Trail, over the Jose Rizal Bridge, then to South King Street, and on to Maynard Avenue South. See the map and event schedule here. The finish line will feature performances from 5-10 p.m. including the Bavarian Village Band, Daipan Butoh and Roz Band, Airport, and DJ Never Leaves. All ages are welcome to participate, and though the event is free, a $5 donation is suggested.

The NEPO 5k Don’t Run website is here. And here’s a video about last year’s event:

NEPO 5k DON’T RUN 2011 from klara Glosova on Vimeo.

Arts, Local Events

Free outdoor movie at Jefferson Park Friday: Star Wars

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Maybe these guys will show up. Photo by amaianos via Creative Commons/Flickr.
Have you watched with jealousy while all the other neighborhoods have summer outdoor movies? Now it’s our turn! At dusk (around 8:30) on Friday, August 24, Jefferson Community Center will present Star Wars outdoors at Jefferson Park amphitheater. The show is free, but concessions will be available, with proceeds to benefit Jefferson Community Center Teen Programs.

Arts, Education, Life on the Hill

Little Free Library comes to 16th Avenue South

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The side of the Little Free Library says, “Take a Book / Share a Book.” Photo by Wendi Dunlap,.

A new library — a very tiny one — sprouted this weekend on 16th Avenue South, near Jefferson Park. It is, as far as we know, Beacon Hill’s first Little Free Library, part of a movement to build small library structures in communities around the nation. Little Free Libraries are usually small boxes or cupboards mounted at streetside like mailboxes, and typically built and maintained by neighbors to promote literacy, community, and the enjoyment of reading.

Neighbor Levecke Mas told us, “I saw one of these Little Free Libraries last summer while walking around with my sister in Victoria. I have been wishing to do this ever since. My husband and I put this together this weekend using all materials found in our basement treasure trove!”

The Mas family library is charmingly built from what looks like a former kitchen cabinet, roofed with plexiglass, covered with a collection of foreign stamps, and opened with a vintage doorknob. Inside are two shelves of books, some bookmarks to borrow, a request list, and a guestbook for visitors to sign. Books are free to borrow.

The library is located on 16th, just north of South Spokane Street. Just west of Beacon Hill, there is also a Little Free Library on South Orcas Street in Georgetown, operated by a family with the wonderful name of “Bookwalter.”

The inside of the Little Free Library has a request sheet, bookmarks to borrow, a guestbook, and — oh yes — books! Photo by Levecke Mas.
Arts, Food and Drink, Local Business, Neighborhood Pride

August changes include new/returning art, opening of Tippe and Drague

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The Tippe and Drague is almost open! Photo by Wendi Dunlap.
Change is in the air in North Beacon Hill these days, with the long-awaited opening of the Tippe and Drague Alehouse just around the corner, alongside some new (and returning) art on view around Beacon Hill Station.

We’ve been hearing that Tippe and Drague (in the old ROCKiT space at 3315 Beacon Ave. S.) would probably open this week or next, but Seattle Beer News provides more details on the new establishment, and says that owners Melissa Cabal and Robert McConaughy plan to open next week if all goes well. SBN reports the opening tap list is heavily local, and the menu will include “simple but good food with fresh ingredients; don’t look for any fried food here.” Hours will be 4 p.m. until late, 7 days a week, with weekend brunches.

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Photo by Wendi Dunlap.
In other neighborhood change: the metal banner art designed by Carl Smool has finally returned to Beacon Hill Station. One of the flagpoles fell in a windstorm in March 2011, so the poles were removed to improve them for safety. Earlier this year, Sound Transit tried to reinstall them but discovered a problem, so the poles were removed again. Now, the banners are back to decorate the station plaza once again.

You can see in these photos some indications of how the poles have been retrofitted:

The original pole bases looked like this. Photo from March 2011 by Wendi Dunlap.
Where one of the pole bases broke and fell. Photo from March 2011 by Wendi Dunlap.
The retrofitted pole bases look like this. Photo by Wendi Dunlap.
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Photo by Wendi Dunlap.
Just across Roberto Maestas Festival Street from the station, the El Sabroso taco truck is also looking more artistic these days. The truck was closed for a while this week while it was painted with decorative murals.