Starting tomorrow, the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), is offering free interactive activities for kids on the first Thursday of each month from 11am to 3pm. Activities will include artifact handling, games, stories, scavenger hunts, and crafts.

Like many other Seattle museums, admission to MOHAI is free on the first Thursday of each month. The interactive kids activity is over at 3, but the museum is open from 10am to 8pm tomorrow.

Photo of the MOHAI building from stevevoght on Flickr.

With the Labor Day weekend behind us, it’s back to work/school, goodbye to summer, and it seems we’re all feeling a little discombobulated. What better time to attend a calligraphy demonstration with Zen master, Shodo Harada Roshi at the Washington Park Arboretum?

From the Arboretum events calendar description:

Shodo Harada Roshi, esteemed Zen Master in the Rinsai tradition, has trained with Zen Master and Calligrapher Yamada Mumon Roshi. For the past 24 years he has served as the Abbot of Songenji, a Rinsai Zen Monastery in Okayama, Japan. Callligraphy has a long and rich history within Japan as an art form and a Zen teaching device. With its emphasis on immediate, unhesitating, and spontaneous expression, it is an art form well suited to Zen. During the demonstration, Harada Roshi will paint a number of scrolls and discuss their content. Afterwards, he will entertain questions from the audience. These scrolls will be available for sale.

This free class is from 4-7pm this Thursday, 9/4, at the Graham Visitors Center (directions.)

Harada Roshi photo via Philna on Flickr.

This sculptural installation was a rare piece of art that changed for the better once the sun went down. Whether a commentary on our throwaway society or a brave new post-icecap response to igloo construction (it was too dark to read the explanation by the time this picture was taken), we just hope trace Aspartame isn’t fatal in residential installations.

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Almost exactly a year later [mb], Susan Robb’s hypnotic art installation (”Warmth, Giant Black Toobs” [susanrobb]) is back in Volunteer Park from 8 am to 5 pm today. The weather is expected to be sweltering, giving the plastic tubes plenty of opportunities to heat up, rise, fall, and otherwise be captivating. Just find a place for yourself in the shade and don’t touch the fragile plastic.
(via capitolhillseattle)

Arts Corps, Rock School, and Youngstown Cultural Arts Center are teaming up for a fundraiser to raise money for their All Access After-school collaboration. Presented by Blank Canvas, Skiffle is a night of live music and an art auction that takes place at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center on Delridge Way in West Seattle on Thursday, August 21 at 6pm.

For a mere $25 donation at the door, Skiffle attendees will get to see performances by musical acts like Cham, Bison (featuring members of the Presidents of the United States of America, Guns N’ Roses, the Dusty 45s and Pearl Jam), and Scribes, as well as get a chance to bid on unique works of art created earlier in the day by teams of local artists, community members and bands. Each team gets a blank canvas to transform into art - some of the canvases includes guitars and basses.

Proceeds from SKIFFLE go to helping pay for space rental and costs of providing youth arts programs at Youngstown for the upcoming school year. Classes offered as part of this programming include Rock School’s Band 101, instrument instruction, songwriting, vocals and recording, as well as Arts Corps “All-City” program, mentoring youth in spoken word poetry, audio recording and break dance.

If you’re interested in networking with local design-minded folks or just in finding out what’s new in Seattle’s creative community, then mark your calendar on August 20 for The Lab, held at the fabulous Velocity Art and Design.

From The Lab’s Facebook page, The Lab is “a series of events at our South Lake Union showroom which will feature guests integral to shaping our landscape here in the Northwest and beyond, while helping to foster opportunities for creative thinking, networking, and inspiration.”

The theme of the August Lab is “Bring + Brag.” Ali from Velocity described it to me as a “a show and tell featuring locals artists and designers who will have a few minutes to talk about their creative endeavor or business.  It’s a way to see what’s going on in Seattle’s creative community, network, and be inspired.” Sounds fun, no?

The Lab is a relatively new event that was born from the Design*Sponge Biz Ladies meetup in Seattle earlier this year. A little history into how it came to be can be found here.

I went to last month’s Lab where the topic was a Q&A with Emira Mears and Lauren Bacon, authors of The Boss of You. As far as networking events go, this one was nice and informal, with some time at the beginning to mingle and browse. And a perk of having it in the Velocity showroom is that you get to sit on their beautiful modern furniture for the talk.

Event Details:

Wednesday, August 20, 6-8pm

Velocity Art and Design

251 Yale Ave N. (across from REI)

A while back I told you about the new statue being built in honor of local entertainment legend/Mayor of Seattle Dump J.P. Patches. Perhaps you’ve been eagerly awaiting the unveiling of this statue ever since then. If you have, I have good news for you: you won’t have to wait much longer.

This coming Sunday, August 17, is J.P. Patches day in Fremont. Head down to the Solstice Plaza at N 34th, just east of the Fremont Bridge, between 1 and 3 pm for the unveiling of Late for the Interurban, depicting J.P. and his galpal Gertrude. Pat Cashman serves as MC and several local luminaries will be on hand to pay tribute to the beloved clown, including Governor Chris Gregoire (who might want to make sure she’s got some ID on hand before checking out any of Fremont’s liquor serving establishments).

The statue was built with funds raised by many generous contributors; if you didn’t get a chance to donate, it’s not too late–the statue will include a donation box with all funds benefiting Children’s Hospital, a place special in the heart of Patches.

* The Westwood Neighborhood Council meeting will be held at the SW Police Precinct Community Room, 2300 SW Webster, tonight at 7:00 PM, due to the Community Center remodel. Tim Gallagher, Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent, will be there to discuss the Westwood Neighborhood concept plan for the Denny site and community center.

* White Center now has two neighborhood blogs, an embarrassment of riches. White Center Now is affiliated with West Seattle Blog; White Center Blog is affiliated with The B-Town (Burien) Blog. Amusingly, the blogs’ affiliations (and respective food drives) reflect the ongoing debate about incorporating White Center—Seattle or Burien? City mouse or country mouse? How about any mouse that will provide adequate streetlights, crosswalks, and sidewalks?

* Speaking of pedestrian facilities, White Center’s award-winning Hope VI Greenbridge community has some very nice public art and, unlike the Olympic Sculpture Park, it is both accessible and interactive. While the weather is nice, take the Greenbridge Artwalk to get some exercise, enjoy the sunshine, and discover this innovative public housing project.

* Less pedestrian, but still foot-related, Dancing for Joy continues every Tuesday at Westlake Park (downtown Seattle), until August 28th. Tonight is Triple-time Swing! Lessons are available from 6:00 – 7:00 PM; the dancing is in full, er, swing from 7:00 – 9:00 PM.

Visitors to Seattle are often struck by the number of public parks sprinkled throughout the city. Long before the Olympic Sculpture Park came to downtown, residents and office workers enjoyed plazas and green spaces decorated with fountains and whimsical sculptures, from the permanent Hammering Man outside of the Seattle Art Museum to the Pigs On Parade fundraisers for the Market Foundation.

This is not one of those places.

Once or twice a week, I and many other Seattle residents idle away our lunch hours at the Northwest corner of 4th & Lenora. The space, which shares the intersection with the Cinerama, the Warwick Hotel, and Ralph’s Grocery, features the requisite green lawns, benches, and flowerbeds that usually indicate public space, but is, in fact, reserved solely for the use and enjoyment of the residents of the Fourth & Blanchard Building.

I had this fact pointed out to me by an employee of building management at about 7:00 AM this morning, as I prepared to plunk myself on a bench to read a bit of my book and finish my tea before work. Instead, I was told that I was trespassing on private property, and instructed to remove myself immediately. See the sign?

It’s a shame, because the two bronzes in the plaza are great examples of unobtrusive, yet relevant, urban art and deserve to be enjoyed. If you get a chance, I recommend checking them out. Just avoid men in blue blazers.

Photos by Stan