Arts

Seattle Art Fair is Back: Here’s What to See
Four not-to-miss happenings during the city’s most creative weekend
Last year, I wrote about Seattle Art Fair’s buzzy uptick in energy and doubled-down commitment to the local creative community. With the 9th edition opening this Thursday, everyone is eager to uncover what awaits at the Lumen Field Event Center — and beyond. “We’re expecting that energy to grow even stronger this year,” says Seattle…

Fave Five: Bright and Breezy
Shakespeare, sunset cruising, and fizzy rice wine
Seattle summer doesn’t need selling. We wait all year for this.The long light, the beaches, the breeze that sneaks in just when you need it. Here are five ways to make the most of it. 1. Watch Shakespeare under the trees GreenStage has been performing free Shakespeare in Seattle parks since 1989. This year’s lineup…

Why I Said Yes to Leading Theatre Off Jackson
The stage can be an epicenter for social change
There’s no other place in Seattle that has shaped me more as an artist than Theatre Off Jackson (TOJ). It’s a small theatre in the Chinatown International District where I cut my teeth in the craft of performance, selling out shows, and building community. It has fundamentally changed my life, catapulting my arts career as…

Cloudy With a Chance of Joy
A new sky of smiling clouds floats in the Seattle Art Museum’s main lobby
The latest installation at SAM is hard to miss: 40 big, grinning clouds now hover above the Brotman Forum, the museum’s main entrance space. Each one is four feet wide and made of white plastic, designed to look like it’s drifting gently overhead. The piece is called Little Cloud Sky, created by FriendsWithYou, a Los…

Finding Her Way Back
Washington native Mary Lambert channels heartbreak, healing, and hope in her first major single in nearly a decade
It’s taken more than three years, 42 revisions, and nearly 60 mixes for Mary Lambert to finish and release her powerful new single, “The Tempest.” “I just became such a perfectionist,” the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and Washington state native tells Seattle magazine from her current home in western Massachusetts. “(‘The Tempest’) feels like one of my…

Has Sad Boy Summer Arrived?
Seattle’s Johnny Huynh drops a cinematic new music video that’s moody, heartfelt, and rooted close to home
We had Boyz II Men when I was a kid. Then Usher and Justin Timberlake. Now it’s Seattle’s own, Johnny Huynh. The 22-year-old singer-songwriter and recent UW grad has built his music career over the past two years, one viral video at a time. His latest single, “SAY,” was released at the end of June,…

From War Machine to Icon of Peace
Artist Ralph Ziman’s new exhibit at The Museum of Flight turns symbols of violence into a call for change
Ralph Ziman has always been a pacifist — so much so that he became a conscientious objector and left his home country of South Africa to avoid being conscripted into the military. So, the idea of the artist dedicating more than a decade to a project centered around weapons and vehicles associated with violence, might…

Get To Know Friday Harbor’s First Friday
Arts Walk emphasizes community, showcases creativity
The Washington state Ferry Kaleetan hums as it glides through the Salish Sea, and with each passing minute San Juan Island grows on the horizon. Then Friday Harbor comes into view, nestled into the coastline like a watercolor. The First Friday Art Walk has become Friday Harbor’s newest tradition, as locals and mainlanders buzz about,…

Pushing for Social Change
Seattle’s Fox Whitney seeks fellowship to amplify his work
A Seattle artist is among 50 finalists in a prestigious national Dance/USA Fellowships to Artists program. Fox Whitney, a multidisciplinary artist working in dance, music, film, video, theater, writing, and visual art, is seeking to be among 25 artists who receive an award of $31,000 to use at their discretion. Sixty-one artists have received the…

Celebrate Octavia E. Butler Day
Lake Forest Park honors the sci-fi pioneer who once called the city home
Before The Parable of the Sower became a staple on syllabi across the country, Octavia E. Butler was quietly living and writing in Lake Forest Park. From 1999 until her death in 2006, she made her home there — so quietly, in fact, that some longtime locals are still surprised to learn she once lived…

Kevin Kwan Isn’t Making This Up
The 'Crazy Rich Asians' author talks about his new novel and how the world of extreme wealth has evolved since his debut
When Kevin Kwan made his literary debut with Crazy Rich Asians in 2013, he introduced readers to the world of — as the title implies — crazy rich Asians. While it may not have been the first book to tell a story about the Asian diaspora that wasn’t rooted in trauma, it was the first…

A Mix Of Fantasy And Reality
Kirsten Anderson found success selling outsider art. Now, nearly 30 years after founding Roq La Rue Gallery, she’s staying the course in a brand new location.
Gallerist Kirsten Anderson is having a full-circle moment. In March, she opened the doors of the newest location of Roq La Rue, the arts space she launched 27 years ago in Belltown. Now, after hop-scotching through the city — 13 years and several locations downtown, three years in Pioneer Square, a stint on Capitol Hill,…
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