White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Story and photos by Torin Record-Sand
Reporting for White Center Now

Fall was in the air at the October Rat City Art and Food Walk, and Halloween was front and center. Almost every artist there paid Halloween homage in some way or other. Here were some of the spooky sights we managed to catch a glimpse of:

The highlight of the night was “Madame B’s Dark Bazaar” at Mr. B’s Mead Center – 13 separate vendors both inside and outside the meadery, all offering a unique selection of goods. DJ StarTropic also played a long set for Mr. B’s. Here were some highlights:

Trusty John of Trusty John’s Junk Shop made an appearance as a swashbuckling buccaneer, even offering to play liar’s dice with anyone stopping by. He is a local artist, working mostly in ceramics. Part of his display were these lovely ‘dragon eggs’ done in the style of Japanese Raku ceramics. He’ll be hosting an event where you can get one of these eggs custom-made at Mr. B’s next month.

Christy Badillois a local terrarium designer. She was offering a wide variety of her self-contained glass terrariums for sale.

Eli Wolff is a pop artist who had a whole host of pop culture and horror-adjacent work available. His process, he said, was mostly acrylic paint on wood, often then copying over to stickers – but he also had some full art on display as well. If you’d like another chance to get his work, he said he also regularly appears at the year-round Haunted Farmers Market in Tacoma.

Misfit Strength Studio offered aerial silk performances from students in their own studio, as well as hosting belly dancing. The bellydancers were from the Seattle group ‘Sirens of Serpentine‘ [], as one of the troupe members also teaches at the studio.

Outside the Lariat Bar, Joseph Hill had interesting offerings for anyone still looking for a costume. He had leather caps and medieval garb for sale, which he said were old costume stock from his days performing with the Seattle Knights, a local medieval-theater troupe. He also had a variety of chain-mail goods, ranging from purses to keychains, all hand-made.

Appropriately, the recently opened Trove of Treasure also had artists with a distinctively macabre theme.

Danni Maika’i was there with a selection of their more horror-themed sketches and prints. Danni primarily works as a tattoo artist. If you’d like to see more of their work, you can find them here.

Arpeggio Romiti offered a selection of dark bead-embroidery work, with a rendition of the elephant man from David Lynch‘s eponymous movie, and a series of skulls and flowers. They also had pieces from their series “Swimming with the Fishes,” featuring the faces of unidentified persons attached to various sea creatures. If you’d like to see more of their work, you can find their website here; they also mentioned that they have some of their embroidery on display currently at Doll Parts Collective in West Seattle.

Even though the weather is getting colder, many participating artists were on the street. Moony of Kitty’s Kandis had a display of impressive bead work for sale, inspired by rave culture.

Naomi Benson, sporting season-appropriate vampire fangs, was offering various pieces ranging from psychedelic collage to nature-inspired prints. She said she’ll be at the West Seattle Art Walk in December, featured at Canna.

Even with much of the art walk focusing on the holiday, there were still many artists there with a focus on social justice in between their more seasonal work.

Kristel Chua of Centipede Zines was in the lobby of Misfit Strength Studio with a selection of her zines available for sale. Much of her work focuses on contemporary political critique, tackling larger issues of decolonization and resistance against capitalism. She said also that there’s a visual component to it as well, hand-designing the artistic assets for her zines. If you’d like another chance to get some of her work, she’ll be at the Zine Fest at Woodland Theater on December 6th.

The Rat City Art Walk occurs on the third Thursday of every month. The next one will be on November 20th. If you’d like more information, visit their website here.

The Rat City Art and Food Walk happens every third Thursday. So here’s where to be this Thursday night (October 16)!

Story and photos by Torin Record-Sand
Reporting for White Center Now

Last night was the monthly Rat City Art and Food Walk, with plenty of vendors lining the streets of the main business district of White Center, and many exhibitions inside local businesses. The work spanned a large variety of themes, including art highlighting the Pacific Northwest environment, queer identity, political issues, local horror filmmaking, handmade crafts, and even an artist presenting reproductions of art that was stolen from the Alki Art Fair last year. Here’s some of what we saw last night:

With a focus of portraying the Pacific Northwest, artists Amelia Serafin, Arin Rae, Erin Harris, and Richard Jahn all offered their own distinctive takes on the subject.

Amelia Serafin is a local underwater photographer who had her photos on display at Búho. She often dives off Alki and takes photos there, as well as teaching at local dive shops. She says she wants her photography to highlight the life under the water that might not be ordinarily visible to us, and the fact that it coexists with us in what appears to be an otherwise urban environment. “A lot of people don’t know that we have these colorful animals next to us, it isn’t just something reserved for the tropics.” she said. You can find more of her photography here.

Long-time friends Arin Rae and Erin Harris shared a booth outside Tim’s Tavern. They said that their art was uniquely intertwined, as they have known each other since they were around 7 or 8 years old, and had grown up in and shared a passion for the local Pacific Northwest environment. Arin has a background in science and continues to teach that, which she said is one of the main goals in her art – to show environmental themes in both an instructive and aesthetic way. Both said they were interested in their art showing “how we can respect nature, see the beauty of it, and how a depiction of the same subject in nature came come out in different ways.” You can find more of Arin’s art here and here, and more of Erin’s art here.

Richard Jahn made an appearance with an exhibit inside recently opened Wolfpack Cellars. As a life-long local resident, he creates art that also centers on themes of the Northwest environment among others, with an expressionist flair that he says was inspired by artists such as Gustav Klimpt, Pieter Bruegel, Thomas Hart Benton, and Vincent van Gogh. As mentioned above, he was a victim of theft at the Alki Art Fair last year, and was presenting reproductions of the art that was stolen.

He noted it was “heartbreaking, the way something so personal from you was stolen” and that he was glad to once again present something near and dear to him to the public again. You can find more of his art here [/] and here.

Artists Mónica Mendoza-Cawthon and Tate Eric offered art with an eye toward queer identity.

Mónica Mendoza-Cawthon (artist name Móni la Artivista, a portmanteau of both artist and activist) presented her work at Salvadorean Bakery. Mónica has a long background in both law and local political organization and activism. She is pictured here with portraits of two figures she says highlight her interest in both Hispanic and Queer identity: Frida Kahlo, the well-known 20th-century queer and feminist painter from Mexico, and Walter Mercado, an astrologer and television personality from Puerto Rico whose appearance often defied gender norms. Her other work also focuses on contemporary political issues, spanning from domestic to international. She says her art always aims to represent the theme of “A cry from the unseen and the unheard – wanting to be seen, and wanting to be heard.” You can find more of her artwork here and here.

Tate Eric (artist name tot) was outside the Crawfish House restaurant. They work predominantly on linoleum prints, with an interest in queer iconography and giving voice to transgender issues in art. For the art walk, they offered a chance to make a beaded rat lanyard in honor of “Rat City” for anyone stopping by.

You can find more of Tate’s art here.

Representing local film-making, Ean Tallent and Sam Mostovoy appeared outside the recently opened Tomb of Treasure [/] to promote their show “The Hallow Ian Horror Hour.” They said the main goal of their show is to present a variety of independent horror and horror comedy short films; they said more than 75 percent of the filmmakers they present are local to the Pacific Northwest. Their show appears on channel 28 SSCTV (Seattle Colleges Cable Television) every Friday at 8 PM. If you want to find out more about their show, you can look here and here.

Local artists Alma, Georgia Lynn, and Nora Davis were also part of this month’s Art and Food Walk, with other local arts and crafts.

Alma (artist name almanzobean) presented her work outside the Puffy Pandy pastry shop. Her work is focused on a variety of pop-art subjects, heavily influenced by anime aesthetics and fashion. You can find more of her art here.

Nora Davis offered a wide variety of sewn plush animals and other handmade goods inside Big Mario’s Pizza. Her eccentric mixture of plush animals ranged from bats, to moths, to slugs. She said, “The bats sell better than you expect. At the start of this year, I set a goal to sell 100 bats – last year I sold only 90. By July this year, I already sold 150.” She showed us that she even got a bat tattoo to celebrate meeting this goal. You can find more about her future appearances as a vendor on her Instagram page here.

Georgia Lynn Bean offered her work outside Wolfpack Cellars. Her work is predominantly acrylic on canvas, with a focus on animals and fantasy imagery. Recently, she has been working on a series of “dapper monsters.”

Pictured above is her take on the mythical Greek figure of Medusa, re-imagined here as a 1920s flapper with a fitting Art Deco inspired background. If you’d like to see more of her art, you can find her here or here.

The Rat City Art Walk takes place on the third Thursday of every month, between 5 to 8 PM in White Center. If you’d like to know more, please visit them at their website or check their Instagram @ratcityartwalk. The next one will be on October 16th.

Here’s where to go Thursday night (September 18), 5-8 pm, from South Delridge southward, for the September 2025 Rat City Art and Food Walk!

For the next few hours, there’s no better place to be than White Center/South Delridge for this month’s Rat City Art and Food Walk. Between now and 8 pm, you have 30+ places to visit, 100+ artists’ work to enjoy. The list is here (scroll through all the pages).

The place to be for the next three hours … is many places in the heart of White Center (and south West Seattle too). The July 2025 Rat City Art and Food Walk is on until 8 pm; check here to see the list of participants, on both sides of Roxbury.

Tonight (Thursday, June 19) is the big night – the monthly Rat City Art and Food Walk! Dozens of venues this time around – here’s the list published by organizers:

Plenty to enjoy on this gorgeous night, all around White Center and South Delridge, 5-8 pm. See the venue and artist list here!

Tonight’s the night – the Rat City Art and Food Walk is back, 5-8 pm. Here’s where to go:

Music, food, good company. That’s all happening until 8 pm at the White Center Food Bank‘s open house and early Lunar New Year celebration. It’s a chance to look around the WCFB’s spacious semi-new HQ if you haven’t been there yet.

Also a chance to have delicious food courtesy of White Center’s own Patrick’s Café and Bakery – including Spam musubi, veggie stir-fry, Asian chicken salad, and teriyaki beef.

Donna Chan from White Center’s own Puffy Pandy was creating a wishing snake chain with New Year’s wishes:

This continues until 8 pm at 10016 16th SW.

Grab your rain hat and get ready to go to White Center for tonight’s fabulously festive Rat City Art and Food Walk, starting up at 5 pm. Here are the locations participating in the Holiday Market; here’s the list of vendors and where to find them.

By Tracy Record
White Center Now editor

Think the term “participatory budgeting” sounds boringly bureaucratic? Hundreds of people involved in King County arts and culture organizations and service providers would vigorously disagree, in the wake of a celebratory gathering tonight in White Center, for the organizations around urban unincorporated King County who won a share of $11 million. Here are two of them:

(WCN video)

Young poetry performers Chellsea Vales (a 6th grader from Dimmitt Middle School) and Amiracle Hayes (a 5th grader from Campbell Hill Elementary School) were there for Speak with Purpose, “the only public-speaking program directly offered in classrooms throughout King County.” Speak with Purpose is receiving $96,000 from this year’s participatory-budgeting allocations.

Though the announcement of the celebration said County Executive Dow Constantine was expected to join Local Services Director Leon Richardson, Constantine’s deputy executive Shannon Braddock was there with Richardson instead. They and PB program manager Gloria Briggs had warm words for the program, as did others who were involved in the process that started with community nominations and continued into community voting:

Many of the recipients were there to officially accept their awards, which came from two pots of money, including cannabis-related dollars that went specifically to North Highline and Skyline. Briggs announced some of the NH winners:

And there were more performances – including Evergreen High School’s own Mariachi Ocote, led by Gabriela Olivarez.

They’re part of a Highline Public Schools program that stands to get a $120,000 PB grant if the school board approves acceptance. And White Center-based Acts on Stage presented a youth performer, too, Kaia Houston, who wrote the song she sang:

Acts on Stage won two grants for two programs, $82,000 and $180,000. One of the largest contingents there to accept their grant was the Khmer Community Center group:

They’re receiving $600,000 to “finish the transformation” of their under-construction building. Other major grants for unincorporated North Highline include $750,000 for Evergreen Aquatic Center, $700,000 for the White Center Heights Elementary (where this event was held) playground, $700,000 to more brightly illuminate downtown WC, and $200,000 for the White Center Food Bank. Community voting for potential grants was held this past October.

Tonight’s the night – third Thursday! Art (and food) walk in White Center, 5-8 pm (with some South Delridge venues participating too). Find the list of 17 participating businesses/venues here.

2:58 PM: It’s Thursday, October 17 – go celebrate Hallo-month at tonight’s Rat City Art Walk, 5-8 pm. Participating locations are listed here.

6:43 PM: Thanks to Susan for sending this photo. We believe it’s from Nepantla in South Delridge:

Thanks to Meghan for the last-minute tip on this! Tonight is the debut of the Rat City Art and Food Walk, planned for 5-9+ pm on third Thursdays. Here’s the info she forwarded:

ADDED: Here’s the text list of participants, as presented by the White Center Business Alliance here:

1. 2 Fingers Social Club – Live Painting, DJ, Tattoos!
2. Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery -Vecinos Art Show
3. Nacho Mama – $5 Mini Native Tacos
4. Misfits Strength Studio – Circus Art
5. Boombox – Karaoke 9 pm-close
6. Lumberyard – Live Art, GameNite 8 pm, Happy Hour 4-7 pm
7. Mynt – Gift with Mural Selfie and Social Media Post
8. Alebrijes Oaxacan Kitchen – Kids/Youth Painting & Food Specials
9. Big Mario’s Pizza and Alpine Diner – Live Music & Food Specials
10. Southgate Roller Rink Bar – Karaoke w/ Baby Ketten
11. Tim’s Tavern – Live Music W/ Dusty 45s & Tropical Itch Art By Henry Ward
12. Sap Sap Lao Deli – Meatball Skewer Special & Tofu & Gluten Free Sauce Special
13. Que Chevere – Latin Music & Food Specials
14. Crawfish House – Live Painting by Mia
15. Puffy Pandy – DJ, Live Painting, Interactive Panda Mural, Artist Marketplace, $5 Ice Cream Puffys
16. Lariat Bar – Live Art by Nolan Harris & Market by John X Garaizar & Sing in the Ring Karaoke with Christopher Mychael.
17. Blu Grouse – Gears N Beers

(WCN/WSB photo, August 2023)

Since its inception, the Low Rider Block Party presented every summer since 2021 by Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery has been near the gallery in South Delridge, and it’s been in August. This year, it’s moving to White Center proper, and moving up to July. A reader just tipped us that the block party is this Saturday, July 20, 11 am-8 pm, on 17th SW between SW Roxbury and SW 100th. The cars are just part of it! Art, music, food, more.

You can admire creative cups at White Center’s own Dubsea Coffee (9910 8th SW) when Rat City Studios presents its Community Cup Showcase starting one week from today:

We’re so excited to share that our 6th Annual Community Cup Exhibition at Dubsea Coffee is opening just around the corner!

The show will be up from October 4th – October 30th.

We’ll be having an opening reception on October 7th from 10 am-12 pm. This reception will be a fun time to connect with the community members in the show, meet the local artists, take in all the cups, and enjoy a delicious beverage.

The Community Cup Showcase coincides with National Clay Week and this annual event celebrates the wide variety of talent, techniques, shapes, glazes, and styles of pottery making within our vibrant clay family!

From Darlene Sellers at King County Parks, a two-part invitation – and part one happens tomorrow (Saturday, March 19th):

The White Center Teen Program (aka the Log Cabin) is gearing up for the 5th annual Log Cabin’s Got Talent Show set to premiere on zoom on Friday, March 25th from 5-6:30 pm. Visual and performing artists ages 12 – 19 are encouraged to submit original artwork and videos before 8 pm on Saturday, March 19th. Please reach out to Jonathan at ngoc.nguyen@kingcounty.gov or 206-482-1138 for details on how to submit. Art supplies and talent coaches currently available every Tue – Sat from 3-8pm at the WCTP. Categories for the 2022 LCGT Visual competition include drawing/painting, photography/digital design, and ceramics. All submissions will be eligible for viewing on the WCTP facebook page and youtube channel and top scoring artwork and performances will be featured in the LCGT zoom program on Friday, March 25th.

In addition to Log Cabin’s Got Talent on March 25th, family friendly craft projects and art supplies will be available on Saturday, March 19th in the following four King County Park locations:

1 PM – Steve Cox Memorial Park (1321 SW 102nd St 98146)
2 PM – Thurnau Memorial Park (11050 10th Ave SW 98146)
3 PM – North Shorewood Park (SW 102nd St & 24th Ave SW 98146)
4 PM – White Center Heights Park (SW 102nd St & 7th Ave SW 98146)

Log Cabin’s Got Talent is once again sponsored by the teens and staff of the White Center Teen Program. The WCTP offers free recreational, educational, and social enrichment programming to youth ages 12-19 between Tuesday – Saturday from 3-8pm. The WCTP is currently offering remote programs as well as small group in-person assistance with homework help and job readiness; outdoor programs such as tennis, bicycle club, lacrosse, and garden club; and the ongoing Recreation Aide Employment Program.

The county has announced grants are on the way to nearly 200 events, and at least one of them is in White Center: The list includes $5,000 for White Center Promise. The grants went to “local event and festival producers who faced significant revenue losses due to Covid,” according to the announcement. Grantees are in two groups, event budgets over $250,000 and under $250,000; the former were eligible for up to $50,000, while recipients in the latter group (including WC Promise) got up to $10,000.

Nature and art together made for quite a show at New Start High School over the weekend. Gill Loring shares the photos from the celebration of art at the school’s renowned community garden:

The garden has an amazing backstory – including the fresh-grown produce it donates to the White Center Food Bank, more than a ton last year alone!