Ree Brown is another Seattle artist, a highly regarded “naive” or outsider artist without formal training whose works are often “charmingly awkward”. Like his friend Steesma, Brown has worked with a variety of media besides the traditional, creating art on such canvasses as scraps of paper, cardboard, bits of matting and brown paper bags.

Local art gallery and wine bar Vermillion is currently hanging a retrospective of the works of both these artists, opening tonight with a reception that includes music by the Toy Boats and including Ree Brown in attendance. If you’re unable to attend tonight, do make a point of stopping by at some point during the show which runs through April 25.

Construction doesn’t even start until 2011 for a project expected to be completed all the way in 2013 but I’m very excited about being able to take a single streetcar down to the International District; instead of the current take the route 60 to 12th & Jackson and then wait for another bus or walk down to Uwajimaya, I’ll be able to get there much faster and more conveniently which means I’ll be able to indulge my Beard Papa habit at a moment’s whim.

Anyway, the call for art and details on how to enter can be found here. This call is open to all professional artists living in the United States, but I’d like to put out a special plea for local artists to submit their work, particularly those who live in the area and most especially those who understand that First Hill ISN’T Capitol Hill and ISN’T the ID, but is its own unique neighborhood with its own special character.

The sky’s hardly the limit with a mere $18K budget, but that’s still enough to create something memorable and meaningful. (And, hey, artists: make it cool enough and I’ll take you out to dinner or something, okay?) Submission guidelines are available online and if you need more information on the trail itself, check out its Seattle Parks page.

What are you doing New Year’s Eve? Cramming yourself into some bar that’s just jacked the price on their drinks 300 percent? Staying at home watching next year’s has-beens shriek on TV as if the ball drop in Times Square is the most unique, original and exciting event EVER? Well, if you don’t have something actually fun to do, the Seattle School, The Adventure School, and Wexley School for Girls are getting together to give you something super fun: AS THE WORLD FALLS DOWN, a Labyrinth-themed New Year’s Eve Party that doubles as a fundraiser for the Lifelong AIDS Alliance.

On hand will be a fantabulous cornucopia of local art talent including:
TARL art collective featuring Eli Hansen
The Beta Society
Degenerate Art Ensemble
Miss Trannyshack Anna Conda as The Goblin King
Ben de la Creme as Sarah
Fuchia Foxxx as The Noble Fox
Iva Handfull as the Fire Bird
Gale Force as the White Owl
Stella Rose & Girl Jo as puppet go go girls.
The Bog of Eternal Sexiness
and Dance Magic by Lisa Dank, DJ Frankenheart, DJ Riff Raff, and DJ Darek Mazzone

The Seattle School performs an installation/performance piece. It could be “Peach Gluttony”. It could be “David Bowie Reassignment Machine (75% accuracy)”. It could be “Hall of Hands” or it could even be “Jennifer Connelly Chain Gang”. It could even be something else, but you won’t know until you go and see it. You will not be disappointed.

VERY IMPORTANT: Tickets will not be sold at the door and must be bought in advance, which you do by visiting Brown Paper Tickets. Tickets are $125 (or $99 if you know the secret code. Type Bowiespackage in the discount window when buying online.) Your ticket price gets you an open bar! installations! performances! puppets! art! a Bog of Eternal Sexiness Dance Floor! food by Skillet! AN ACTUAL LABYRINTH!

The party starts at 8 and runs til 2 at the Oddfellows Hall. Happy New Year.

Judges for the event are Paul Constant (of The Stranger), Maria Semple (This One Is Mine), and Jonathan Evison (All About Lulu), the host is Todd Zuniga of Opium Magazine.

The Literary Death March takes place Wednesday, November 11; doors at 8:00, show at 9:00. $10 at the door, but $8 in advance at Brown Paper Tickets.

Where: Re-bar, 1114 Howell St. (map)

Cost: $10 at the door; $8 pre-sale at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/87563.

Currently she’s engaged in a new project with the help of ACT Theater. Daily through December (except Monday) from 5 to 6 pm on weekdays and 1 to 2 pm on weekends, Mimi sits in a window at ACT and views the world as if it really were the stage and all of its people performers. After an hour of watching, Mimi will review the “show” she’s just seen and post it in the window so that people walking by the next day can read her review from yesterday.

Anyone who is interested is encouraged to come down and join the act: dance, pantomime, act out a scene, sing, shout (she can’t hear you in either case), or do whatever feels right to you. Your performance will be incorporated in the show as a whole.

Solace Room in the new City Hostel Seattle

If you don’t feel like driving or busing all the way up to Greenwood for art tonight, also consider the happenings in Belltown.
- City Hostel Seattle (2nd Ave and Battery St.) will once again have it’s doors open to to public to check out the uniquely painted rooms, all of which were done by local Seattle artists. They are all worth a peek into, and most will make you wish you could stay the night in them. Seriously something not to be missed. But hurry up, word has it this is the last month the rooms will be open. After this the art shows will be restricted to just the hallways.
- The Whisky Bar (2000 2nd Ave) will feature artist 179′s new show along with live painting and plenty of booze.
- Schmancy (1932 2nd Ave) has a show by Portland artist team APAK who has also created a line of plush dolls exclusively for Schmancy. (special thanks to PowFox for the heads-up on this show)
- Roc La Rue (2312 2nd Ave) has a show by Jim Blanchard that is opening and looks like something not to be missed.
- Halogen Gallery (2316 2nd Ave) has a show featuring the art of Justin Hilgrove, Ninjagrl, Soopajdelux. Always good stuff from these three artists!

Really, you should.

Tonight you can head up Capitol Hill for Blitz, an artwalk encompassing art of all types in galleries, coffee shops, private studios, street corners, and retail shops. There’s a ton of work to be seen, but you might especially want to keep your eye out for “Glitterporn” at Grey Gallery, a “tongue-in-cheek exploration of censorship, sex, and pornography” and “Whimsy Home Decor”, a mixed media work combining multi-level paintings and three-dimensional murals.

Friday night there’s the Art Up Greenwood Phinney Art Walk which features photography, painting, drawing, sculpture, books, spoken word, performance art, theater and food and drink specials from neighborhood merchants, not to mention the always-charming “living art” of the cats and kittens available for adoption at PAWS Cat City. While you’re there, you should definitely stop in to Taproot Theatre to view Sam Vance’s water lily series, studying the effects of light upon water. As a bonus for stopping in during the art walk, you’ll also get to observe Vance as he sketches a portrait of fellow artist Nikki Visel, a sketch which will then be used on-stage during Taproot’s upcoming presentation of Enchanted April.

With the biggest names on the Bumbershoot poster typically dedicated to music (often of the confusing mainstage variety), the most visible lines at the festival composed of dedicated comedy fans, and the most frequent accessory a buttery stick or corn or deep fried dough, it’s often easy to forget that stashed away in the northwest corner of the festival is an exceptional set of art exhibits. If you’re worried that you’ll become so overwhelmed by bands, shortbread, skateboarders on energy drink vert ramps, scrambles to performance spaces, and other forms of exhaustion, then why not add to your schedule and drop in on the art exhibits a day early?

In ancient times, Bumbershoot was an even more massive, four day festival. Now with the magical Friday evening having fallen out of favor, the day is left open to peruse the visual arts programming. Even better, you can see it all, without the massive crowds and with no admission charge from noon to 7pm in celebration of the Mayor’s Arts Awards (presented this year to Artist Trust, Jesse Higman, Speight Jenkins, Northwest Tap Connection, Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras).

This year’s featured exhibits include four major presentation by some of Seattle’s finest: the Seattle-Moscow Poster Show, curated by Daniel R. Smith; Dada Economics, Greg Lundgren and Vital 5 Productions; the return of the Gage Drawing Jam; and Kerfuffle (or the Uneasy Relationship Between Humanity and the Environment) curated by Chris Weber and Lele Barnett. In addition, spectacles abound around the Seattle Center grounds. Press release with tons of information about the program after the jump.

The 2009 Visual Arts Program explores the human impact on the earth, builds connections between Seattle and Moscow, invites thousands of Festival fans to try their hand at sculpture and drawing, and encourages art fans locally, as well as globally, to participate in art throughout the summer through a series of creative art grants.
BUMBERSHOOT 2009 VISUAL ARTS EXHIBITS
The Seattle-Moscow Poster ShowCurated by Daniel R. SmithShaw Room
Focusing on posters as cultural expression, The Seattle-Moscow Poster Show marks the culmination of a three-year exploration of graphic art as bridge between cultures. The show is a selection of more than 70 posters, half from each city, sharing cultural themes such as music, film, theatre, and contemporary art. Seattle-based designer Daniel R. Smith is curator of the show featuring Moscow designers Ostengruppe, Sicksystems and Mainstreamers as well as Seattle artists Jeff Kleinsmith, Coby Schultz and Barry Ament of Ames Bros and more.
Gage Academy Drawing JamCurated by Gage Academy of ArtRainier Room
The surprise hit of Bumbershoot’s 2008 Visual Arts lineup (with approximately 10,000 festival-goers attending in ‘08!), the Gage Academy Drawing Jam, is back—and it’s bigger and better (now with sculpture!). The 2009 edition will allow art curiosos the opportunity to attend art school in the midst of Bumbershoot, complete with art supplies, figure models and professional artist demonstrations. Gage Academy of Art is a non-profit art academy offering classical instruction in drawing, painting and sculpting; their achievements include the 2007 Governor’s Arts Award for excellence in art education.
Kerfuffle (or The Uneasy Relationship Between Humanity and the Environment)Curated by Chris Weber and Lele BarnettLopez and Fidalgo Rooms
A multi-faceted multimedia show with works that explore waste, regrowth, and sustainability. The show will include Chris Jordan’s photographic portraits of global mass culture; Allison Kudla’s capacity for (urban eden, human error), which utilizes state-of-the-art technology to “print” intricate bio-architectural constructions out of plant matter; and work from Vaughn Bell, Joseph Gray, Karen Rudd, Christina Seely, Brent Watanabe, Kuros Zahedi, and select works from Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica by Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky.
Dada EconomicsCurated by Greg Lundgren and Vital 5 ProductionsOrcas and Olympic Rooms
Dada Economics is the remarkable celebration and culmination of a unique artistic experiment. Created for Bumbershoot by Greg Lundgren’s Vital 5 Productions, the goal of Dada Economics is to engage and inspire creativity and art making on a world stage. All summer long, Arbitrary Art Grants are being distributed in a wide variety of artistic fields. Dada Economics will not only showcase the hilarious and often brilliant submissions collected throughout the summer, but Bumbershoot patrons will have the chance to participate in the exhibition, creating works in fashion, architecture and photography. Professional artists will be on hand to help inspire and develop ideas. Each day a new Arbitrary Art Grant will be awarded to a Festival patron who has dared to share their originality.
ON THE FESTIVAL GROUNDSThe Bumbershoot grounds offer arts beyond the boundaries of the Northwest Room gallery spaces. The expanded presence of the arts throughout the Seattle Center campus is evident with unique spectacles and random acts of artistic performance. In 2009, these site-specific attractions will feature Wise Fool New Mexico’s “Flexion,” a show that will stretch your perception of the human body, set on Seattle Center’s Fountain Lawn. In addition, fans may encounter a parade led by Jason Webley, sculptural installations specifically created for Bumbershoot by Julie Lindell, captivating fountain performances from DASSdance, appearances by mobile hedge All-Terrain, performance from Portland’s Woolly Mammoth Comes To Dinner dance company, Amy Steel’s Snack Bar, hand-made midway games by artists Chris McMullen and Steve Withycombe, a flea circus, and many more artistic actions to abound around the grounds.
OFFICIAL BUMBERSHOOT 2009 ARTBumbershoot is proud to work directly with two Seattle artists on this year’s official Festival artwork and annual Fine Arts Poster.
Sasha BarrOfficial Bumbershoot 2009 artworkBumbershoot’s 2009 campaign artwork was created by Sasha Barr, a Seattle-based illustrator/designer. Born and raised in Tennessee, Barr relocated to Washington in 2007 to embrace a different pace of life and a cooler climate. His portfolio includes work for Sub Pop and Suicide Squeeze Records, Intiman Theatre and a number of artists (including rock posters for Ray LaMontagne, Death Cab for Cutie, Cat Power, The All-American Rejects, among others).
Warren DykemanBumbershoot 2009 Fine Arts PosterThe Official Bumbershoot 2009 Fine Arts Poster features “Fullness,” a work from local artist Warren Dykeman, an Eastern Washington native and graduate of Western Washington University. Dykeman grew up in Kennewick, Washington, just outside the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Having lived under the shadow of America’s atomic ambitions, Warren’s work is informed by the Cold War era Americana that surrounded him in his formative years. The selected piece featured for this year’s poster displays his graphic design roots, incorporating handmade sign lettering, digital art and a variety of materials to create rhythm between contour and color, ultimately developing a unique take on primitive folk art. The 2009 Fine Arts Poster is made possible with support from the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs.
2009 MAYOR’S ARTS AWARDSMayor Greg Nickels will honor the recipients of the 2009 Mayor’s Arts Awards in an outdoor ceremony at noon on Friday, September 4 at Seattle Center’s Northwest Court. The ceremony, which is free and open to the public, will feature award presentations followed by the official opening of Bumbershoot’s visual arts exhibits. This year’s free public preview will remain open until 7pm. In addition to the exhibits, Bumbershoot will kick off the 1 Reel Film Festival early with a free special screening of award-winning shorts from around the world beginning at 8pm. Bumbershoot’s visual arts exhibits and Fine Arts Poster are presented with the support of the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs.
The recipients of the 2009 Mayor’s Arts Awards are:Artist Trust, Jesse Higman (artist), Speight Jenkins (Seattle Opera General Director), Northwest Tap Connection, Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras

seattle art museum by faeryboots. from our flickr pool.

The Jon and Mary Shirley Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Seattle Art Museum will discuss this summer’s big show. EBB will have copies of the catalog available.
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