Denny and Olive are two very busy streets that collide right at the gateway of the premier alternative space on Capitol Hill. Behind the wooden fence and through a strip of lawn is the front door of Crawl Space. Inside the barebones space the walls are painted white and the concrete floor is gray. Located in the basement, the space has few windows and plenty of walls for all types of media and all sorts of exhibitions. Six working artists founded the gallery in 2003. They frequently feature innovative artwork by emerging artists and hope to incite community interest in the visual arts. The cooperative gallery is entirely funded by two of the original founders and a circulating membership of contributing artists. Both members and guest artists plan, fund, and staff their own exhibitions. These types of venues offer an alternative to commercial art galleries by encouraging large-scale installation and daring interactive work. Opening last Saturday, the first in a two-part exhibit, entitled "Current Works: Session One." On view are the works of Brad Biancardi, Diana Falchuk, Anne Mathern, Ori Ornstein, Megan Szczecko, Chad Wentzel and Jason Wood. The purpose of the exhibition is to give the viewer a peak at the current directions and explorations of the current membership. As a group show there is no unifying theme except for the interest in dialog across individual practices. These artists have participated in a round of studio visits between themselves as a prelude to a period of intensive art making from now until the end of the current year. The works are all worthy of individual essays with a few must see pieces.
On September 22, the Seattle City Council said yes to the Mayor Greg Nickel's $5 billion plus tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. In the process, the council denied Seattle residents the right to vote on what easily will be the single largest, most expensive, most complex project ever built in this city. The mayor and most Councilmembers withdrew their support for a vote only when they learned tunnel costs had risen $1.5 billion above the earlier $3.6 billion estimate and when polling indicated overwhelming opposition to the tunnel. Now it's up to Governor Gregoire to decide whether to support or, in effect, veto the council's decision. She's promised a decision before the end of November. A tunnel is not the only option for our ailing Viaduct. There is: * The rebuild ($2.8 Billion) - replacing the current viaduct with a better-engineered structure in the same "footprint" along Alaskan Way.* The retrofit ($1 Billion) - fixing the existing structure without disrupting traffic and waterfront businesses. * The surface-only plan ($2 Billion) - not replacing the Viaduct at all but instead improving the street grid and expanding the bus system.The council also passed a measure stating opposition to any above-ground (elevated) option, i.e. the rebuild or retrofit, if money is not found to go forward with the tunnel. They also committed to further investigation of the surface only plan.
Volunteers at the Seattle Museum of the Mysteries say they play poker with Peter Alexander Dunnovitch every Friday and Saturday night. He's a tall, dark and handsome type who smokes Lucky Strike cigarettes and enjoys his liquor.And if you believe the museum's resident medium, he was an avid gambler during the Prohibition era, who was stabbed to death in 1939.Although she admitted that Peter "does have a certain advantage when it comes to bluffing," medium Maryanne Snyder doesn't want that to discourage the living from joining in the fun."The more you act as if he's there, we're all kind of sharing that energy, and strengthening his ability to interact with our material reality," Snyder explained before the poker game on October 14. Located in a modest basement space at 623 Broadway E., the Museum of the Mysteries is home to myriad paranormal artifacts, including casts of Sasquatch's footprints, photos of crop circles, Ouija boards, and of course, its resident ghost. Its mediums believe the space was once used as a speakeasy during Prohibition, and that Peter was a regular there. For the past four months, museum volunteers have hosted lock-ins from 10 p.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday evenings.
The pews lie empty. There are no books in the Reading Room. The First Church of Christ Scientist has left the building. The elegant structure on the corner of 16th Avenue East and East Denny Way, which had served as a church since 1906, held its final service last week. Sold to a private developer in late September, the church is slated to be converted into condominiums. But an 11th-hour effort may alter that use into a community performance space.The sale came about from a variety of factors. The building needs numerous repairs, from plumbing and electrical updating to replacing the roof; the latter project would cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $250,000. Additionally, the building wasn't really serving the church's needs. According to Debbie Gotchef, the church's office manager, it was too large and formal for the contemporary congregation."Our decision to move had a lot to do with our congregation not fitting this space anymore. It's a formal space, and our congregation is quite informal. We aren't as large as we used to be. Perhaps 100 people attend a Sunday service," she said. The chapel has a capacity of roughly 1,300 people. "We just didn't need all this space."Gotchef said that the vast majority of the congregation was in favor of the sale. The church is now renting space at 402 Cedar Street. It will remain there for two or three years until a suitable permanent space can be found.
Seattle is a relatively young city in comparison to places on the east coast and certainly Europe. Yet despite that youth it has a treasure trove of architectural styles, most notably the bungalow. Hugely popular in the early 1900s, they still charm homebuyers. The recent Bungalow Fair at Town Hall, Sept. 30-Oct. 1, sponsored by Historic Seattle, is one such example of the burgeoning industry associated with these homes. At the Fair more than 50 craftspeople in metal, tile, glass, textiles, ceramics, and lighting along with antique dealers, architects, and interior designers exhibited their work. For the proud owners of these bungalows, the fair gave participants an opportunity to think about ways to incorporate the many offerings presented there into their homes. A bit about bungalows"To the land of the fruit and honey, where it does not take much money, to own a little bungalow." - from In the Land of the Bungalow by George F. DevereauxBungalows had their heyday in the Arts and Crafts period of 1899-1929. According to the Illustrated Styles of Architecture website, the Arts and Crafts movement was an outraged public response to the Industrial Revolution, which was threatening time-honored manual crafts with extinction. The bungalow was a popular low-cost alternative to the mega Victorian homes of that era and had modern conveniences like built-in bookshelves and cupboards. Even better, people of modest means could buy one of these homes.Larry Kreisman, Program Director of Historic Seattle, noted that bungalows are found across Seattle's neighborhoods.
On September 22, the Seattle City Council said yes to Mayor Greg Nickel's $5 billion-plus tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. In the process, the council denied Seattle residents the right to vote on what easily will be the single largest, most expensive, most complex project ever built in this city. The mayor and most council members withdrew their support for a vote only when they learned tunnel costs had risen $1.5 billion above the earlier $3.6 billion estimate and when polling indicated overwhelming opposition to the tunnel. Now it's up to Governor Gregoire to decide whether to support or, in effect, veto the council's decision. While holding her cards close to the vest, she's promised a decision before the end of November. A tunnel is not the only option for our ailing Viaduct. There is: The rebuild ($2.8 Billion) - replacing the current viaduct with a better-engineered structure in the same "footprint" along Alaskan Way.The retrofit ($1 Billion) - fixing the existing structure without disrupting traffic and waterfront businesses. The surface-only plan ($2 Billion) - not replacing the Viaduct at all but instead improving the street grid and expanding the bus system.To underscore their support for the tunnel, the council also passed a measure stating opposition to any above ground (elevated) option, i.e. the rebuild or retrofit, if money is not found to go forward with the tunnel. They also committed to an investigation of the surface only plan. Apparently representatives of the Sierra Club had a hand in crafting this fall back position and were among those urging support for the tunnel while opposing the public's right to vote.
There was a strange echo in the sound of vociferous hecklers at the Community Renewal Area (CRA) meeting held at the Rainier Valley Cultural Center on the evening of Thursday, Oct. 19. Many are the same voices formerly heard at Sound Transit meetings trying to shout down our chances for a regional light rail system. There was a new zealous glee in their ranting about this purely local initiative wherein victory will be lot more achievable for them. Do I detect a note of revenge?Over a lifetime of community activism, I have never experienced an idea so sadly misunderstood as the CRA initiative proposed for Rainier Valley. The foundation for such a notion was laid several years ago when the City of Seattle appointed a consultant to work with business people and commercial property owners on "design frameworks" for development around the future light rail stations at Othello and McClellan Streets. Later the city provided another consultant to work with the Othello neighbors and property owners to create neighborhood specific design guidelines.If future development follows those specifications, my neighborhood, Othello, will have a safe pedestrian and transit-oriented town center, an urban paradise for rich and poor alike. That, of course, is a big if. A lot of shoddy ugliness and car-traffic configurations unsafe for pedestrians manage to slip by the Design Review Board, but Othello is well situated because property owners and non-profit developers were part of the planning process from the beginning.
Lavender waves of native asters and radiant goldenrod in autumn, fawn lilies and showy trillium blossoms in spring, and you don't have to drive to the Cascade foothills to walk among such native treasures. A few blocks from the noise and traffic of Rainier Avenue South and just south of Pritchard Beach Park sits the Pritchard/Loon Wetland, a unique haven for plants, birds and animals. Humans have a place here, too, walking on the gravel path through wildflowers and trees, watching herons and eagles fly overhead, and stewarding this habitat. On November 4 volunteers will once again have an opportunity to shape the future of this extraordinary park.In the 1990s, Rainier Beach neighbors wrote grant proposals and dug out blackberry roots, both the funding and the physical labor helped create a park harboring both wildlife habitat and environmental education. The Starflower Foundation provided funding and expertise, transforming the 4.3 acre site from gravel and weeds to a flourishing oasis of native plants. Naturalists and landscape architects created meadows and groves, and granite benches were installed overlooking a pond. When the Foundation ends its work next year, who will care for this small, fragile park?A sporadic group of volunteers have worked alongside the Starflower staff, and tanks to the Bush/Cheney cabal, I joined them. What do warmongers have to do with wildlife? The federal government's insane obsession with torture and conquest often left me despairing and overwhelmed. Working with my neighbors to nurture this unique habitat became a tangible antidote to alienation and fear.
Rainier Beach has seen its share of violence in the past month, and Thursday Oct. 12 was no exception. Shortly after four shots were heard piercing the night around 10:31 p.m., residents living in the 4800 block area of South Henderson Avenue began calling 911 dispatchers about the firearm explosions. When officers arrived at the intersection of 50th Avenue South and South Henderson Street, they found a 56-year-old man lying on the sidewalk next to the driveway of a nearby Bank of America branch with a bullet wound to his lower right leg. Another man, age 22, was found lying in a nearby doorway with several gunshot wounds to his buttocks and legs. Both victims were treated on the scene by Seattle Fire Department emergency medical personnel and transported to Harborview Medical Center in stable condition.The responding officers determined the shootings to be gang related and turned over the crime scene when the police department's gang unit when they arrived.
The morning of Saturday, Oct. 22, felt sunny but very chilly to those who attended the Fall Clean Up event at Rainier Beach's Mapes Creek Walkway. Approximately 35 to 40 community members bundled up against the cold weather to help clean and beautify the path that connects Rainier Avenue South with South Henderson Street.Assisting with this vital neighborhood cleanup were Lt. Koutsky and Sgt. Damon of Seattle Police Department's South Precinct. One of the many volunteers was John Leers of the King County Superior Court Work Program Committee. Leers brought along four young men who were a part of a program designed to help youths on probation. The program allows teens that have been jailed on minor crimes to complete their community service requirements while simultaneously giving them some experience to mention on job applications for future employment. Another program represented at the annual autumn clean up was the Rainier Beach Teen Council headed by Glenn Hubbard.
This is part two of my take on the upcoming election (for part one see the Oct. 18 issue at www.MagnoliaNews.net).There is one contested seat on the city council, and while I'm not overwhelmed with our council's visionary prowess, I have no reason to vote against Sally Clark.Picking representatives in the other Washington is easy. Jim McDermott is one of the few people in Congress with the cojones to oppose Bush's invasion of Iraq from day one, reason enough to keep him in office. But there's also McDermott's adherence to fighting for health care for every American, aid for the sick and starving around the world, as well as a cleaner environment.I disagree with Maria Cantwell on Iraq, but she has fought hard for the environment, education, budget, health care and small business. She had the cojo... make that the fortitude... to take on Sen. Stevens from Alaska regarding the allowance of oil tankers in Puget Sound, and won. McGavick is an insurance executive-enough said.
You had to be there.Last Friday at Discovery Park, as dusk fell, folks gathered in the warm light of the Voorhees Room, with fall leaves and pumpkins scattered about. A thin white ghost was the greeter, and a scarecrow guarded the podium. A large spider walking over the cake and apple cider added to the autumnal feel of The Magnolia Historical Society's (MHS) Oct. 20 Oktoberfest gathering.Announcements were made: work has begun in earnest on saving the historic Officer's Row from upcoming federally mandated privatization at Fort Lawton. Private ownership of historic buildings inside the park seems like a very bad precedent to MHS-we will work to fight against it. Especially since this is property that was donated in the late 1980s to the Army by the citizens of Seattle. Should it not be returned?The surplussing of the Army reserve property is a huge issue for Magnolia. I will serve on the mayor's task force overseeing this process. There is the possibility that nonprofit organizations representing Magnolia can request that the surplused buildings be used for meeting, work and office space. My role here is as a Magnolia community member advocating for the community's concerns, yet with an eye to the big-picture issues.
Afraid of things that go bump in the night? Don't worry-not once in this column will you be exposed to the "Thriller" cat eyes of Michael Jackson, nor the hockey mask of a marauding Jason from the Friday the 13th slasher film franchise.I've even managed to keep ol' blemish-free Freddie Kruger safely buried away on Elm Street for the time being.My problem this week is in choosing the proper Halloween costume. It seemed to be such a simple task only a few years ago-just strap on your gun belt, load up your cap pistol with a new roll of caps (do kids today even remember rolls of caps), and then pull on the Roy Rogers boots and hat, hitch your bandanna up over your face and you were ready.Oh-you had to remember to take along a BIG bag for candy, too.But then one year I got tired of being a cowboy, and Mom knew that she might be recruited to put in a lot of time sitting at her sewing machine if she didn't do something quick. We made a run down to the local five-and-dime."Here's a bunch of nice costumes, Gary," she said as she steered me toward the under-$5 display. "Here's a pirate. And a king. And how about a policeman? You could wear your cap-gun with that one."
A few years ago I was interviewing a member of this community for a seniors profile in this paper. During the interview, he told me a story that I did not include in the profile, because I felt that it was too personal to make public. But it has stuck with me, and I have changed my mind.As Veteran's Day approaches, I feel it is appropriate to tell that story now. I often ask senior citizens whether they have any regrets. Interestingly, those who do always regret something they have not done, not something they did. Many people say that they wish they had attended college, or had traveled more.I asked George (a pseudonym) if he had any regrets. He fell silent and his chin began to quiver (up to this point he had shown great poise during the interview). I put my pen and pad of paper aside.George served in the United States Army in World War II. He was a bit older than many, in his twenties. He served as a platoon leader in Europe.He became friends with a boy in his platoon, a teenager who had been raised by a single mother. Tragically, as happens in wars, the boy was mortally wounded. His guts spilled out of his abdomen, and he died in George's arms.
Three crows that died of the West Nile virus were found in King County in early October, and one of them was spotted near Discovery Park, according to Hilary Karasz, a spokeswoman for Public Health-Seattle & King County.The other birds were found near Carkeek Park near the Broadview/Blue Ridge neighborhoods and in the East Hill neighborhood of Kent, she said. "This was the first year we've had evidence of West Nile in King County." But evidence of the virus had previously been found in Snohomish, Pierce, Kitsap, Island and Whatcom counties, Karasz said. Crows and ravens are especially susceptible to the disease, but so are horses, she said. "Horses are actually very vulnerable and many do die." However, there is a vaccine that can be used to protect horses from West Nile infections, Karasz added.