Thursday with LHPAC: "Out There," making a difference
Don't you love it when someone actually decides to be the change they want to see in the world? Tonight, one young woman will be honored for changing life for a group of gay teens and young people.
Gray Newlin (the one at the mic) created the Out There Poetry Camp, a Seattle Parks & Recreation program geared specifically for 14-20-year olds who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning their sexuality. In July, the kids spent a week at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center with (grown-up) poets, artists and performers who helped them strengthen their voices as artists and queer youth.
The camp culminated in a Friday night Camper Showcase event. And Newlin spent less than a thousand dollars putting together an enterprise that could've cost $8,000 (in cash, in-kind sponsorhips and volunteer time). Pretty awesome for a then-first-year college student who'd never organized an event of this scope before.
Tonight, Newlin will accept the "Making a Difference" Award, one of seven Denny Awards that Seattle gives to outstanding volunteers in Parks and Recreation programs. Check the LHPAC's Twitter feed for photos of the ceremony this evening!
FTC disclosure: I'm partnering with the LHPAC on a series I call "Thursdays with LHPAC", generally published on Thursdays. I am being paid an honorarium for my work. However, all opinions and views expressed in this series are my own.
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| Photos courtesy Seattle Parks & Recreation Dept. |
FTC disclosure: I'm partnering with the LHPAC on a series I call "Thursdays with LHPAC", generally published on Thursdays. I am being paid an honorarium for my work. However, all opinions and views expressed in this series are my own.
Thursdays with LHPAC: Black Strings -- Uncensored
Here's something to wake you up from your Thanksgiving feast-induced food coma. Remember Evan Flory-Barnes?
He's a Seattle jazz phenom and winner of a prestigious grant to support living composers. Early this month the Seattle cellist performed at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center with his band FOLKS during the Earshot Jazz Festival.
Tomorrow he's bringing a few friends back with him for "Black Strings -- Uncensored." For one night only, Flory-Barnes will jam with vocalist Cristina Orbé and cellist/bassist Paul Rucker. The three will be backed by the band Big World Breaks. Their performance is part of a series by the Central District Forum for Arts and Ideas, taking a look at African American string artists and composers. Details:
WHEN: Friday, November 23, 8pm-11pm
WHERE: Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center
TICKETS: $15 at Brown Paper Tickets
MORE INFO: LHPAC and Central District Forum for Arts & Ideas
Think you can make it off the couch? It's worth the trip!
FTC disclosure: I'm partnering with the LHPAC on a series I call "Thursdays with LHPAC," generally published on Thursdays. I am being paid an honorarium for my work. However, all opinions and views expressed in this series are my own.
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| Photo credit: Daniel Sheehan/Earshot Jazz Festival |
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| Photo credit: Talking Arts |
WHEN: Friday, November 23, 8pm-11pm
WHERE: Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center
TICKETS: $15 at Brown Paper Tickets
MORE INFO: LHPAC and Central District Forum for Arts & Ideas
Think you can make it off the couch? It's worth the trip!
FTC disclosure: I'm partnering with the LHPAC on a series I call "Thursdays with LHPAC," generally published on Thursdays. I am being paid an honorarium for my work. However, all opinions and views expressed in this series are my own.
The best cuts: Nikki McClure at the Bellevue Arts Museum
Nikki McClure goes from the Riot Grrrl scene to the domestic scene in the Bellevue Arts Museum exhibit of her work. But it's funny: even if you take the girl out of the revolution, you can't take the revolution out of the girl.
McClure once created posters and album covers for Sleater-Kinney and other indie rock bands in the late 1990s. She's since moved into popular self-published calendars and children's book illustrations.
Illustrating family-themed books seems like a perfect fit: clean, definite lines, created with simple tools even a kid could use, if the kid was massively patient and painstaking.
But then I thought about the artist's stylistic choices. McClure cuts away all but the most necessary lines and connectors. Her work is literally black-and-white.
And suddenly I drew a connection between McClure's paper cuts and the bold black lines of old Soviet propaganda posters: deliberate strokes to deliver a message. Kind of like the propaganda most mothers deliver to their kids: "Always tell the truth." "Cheaters never prosper."
It seems motherhood doesn't soften an artist like Nikki McClure. It makes her cut away everything but what's most important.
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| "Tonight", Nikki McClure. Photo credit: Dan Kvitka. Courtesy Bellevue Arts Museum. |
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| "Rely," Nikki McClure. Photo credit: Dan Kvitka. |