White Center Now: The blog about White Center

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!

Just south of the Sarah Robbins murals we’ve shown, on the Beer Star etc. building, new ones by “Paz,” including this one:

The artist is on Instagram here.

We’ve been checking back at 16th/98th since Sarah Robbins‘ first panel of mural art outside the Beer Star (etc.) building – and today, we finally caught the second panel. Note the small message at right – “call your mom”!

While out checking on a few things, we stopped in downtown White Center, where West Seattle muralist Sarah Robbins was working on the boards covering the windows at Beer Star and its (also closed) co-housed businesses. She told us she’s working on the next panel (to the south) after this.

Learn while you shop the first-ever White Center Community Pop-Up Market (9630 16th SW until 5 pm). “Resisting Displacement” is the theme of the event organized by the WC Community Development Association. You can meet local makers like Dylan and Marigold:

You can also learn about longtime local businesses:

Among those participating – Ana Castro of Salvadorean Bakery:

The market features a variety of items – some edible, some wearable:

As the original announcement noted, “White Center has always been an innovative, creative, and culturally rich community and this pop up market intends to celebrate that richness in our community in order to resist the displacement that is happening.”

The White Center Art Walk is on! DJ Jenny C is spinning, and the Art Market is open:

You can check out work by local artists including Dawn Frasier:

And Jamie Nova:

Just go wander! More photos to come.

Tomorrow night, the White Center Chamber of Commerce is presenting the White Center Art Walk, 6-9 pm – concurrent with the first night of the first-ever White Center Pride, so it’s one big night. Multiple venues in downtown WC, and even across the line in South Delridge, where Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery is open for the occasion. Among the downtown WC plans, the Chamber’s Sheryl Clinton shares:

DJ’s will be set up on 98th and 16th (Jenny Chhim, Cambodian music) and in front of RJB Photography studio (DJ Top). Same location:

6:30 Miss Sheryl’s Ballet dancers

8:00 Brass Ring Belly Dance

Also:

6:00-7:00 Mama Pixie Face Painting in front of Miss Sheryl’s Ballet Petite location 9650 16th Ave SW

6:00-9:00 Art Market & Raffle at Miss Sheryl’s Ballet Grande Location 9613 16th Ave SW. Raffle benefits future art ventures in WC

See you there!

That’s the tribute to poet Richard Hugo, installed last year at Mac’s Triangle Pub (Delridge/Roxbury) during the first annual official celebration of his birthday. The second one is set for the same spot, this Friday at 7 pm, and you’re invited to come honor him by reading one of his poems .. or maybe one of your own. The announcement:

Poet Richard Hugo (1923-1982), has another birthday coming up. It’s December 21st. Born in White Center, Hugo was a poet and teacher whose books included White Center, The Triggering Town, Death of the Kapowsin Tavern, amongst other works. Seattle’s Hugo House is named for him. Celebrate his life and work and lift a pint on his birthday at Mac’s Triangle Pub in White Center.

Here’s our coverage of last year’s celebration.

Tomorrow – Saturday, October 6th – brings the first of two White Center Library programs focusing on the history of hip-hop. 2-3 pm, you are invited to hear about “Race, Class, Culture, and the History of Hip-Hop in the Northwest.” Then on October 27th, also 2-3 pm, King Khazm of 206 Zulu will speak about “Hip-Hop and It Don’t Stop.” Both presentations are free and open to all; the WC Library is at 1409 SW 107th.

Been to Dubsea Coffee (9910 8th SW) lately? We just received this announcement about the art you’ll see there this month, by Brooke Fotheringham:

Synthesis – A photographic daydream at the intersection of genetic engineering and materials science

A visual exploration of the potential of genetic engineering to create innovations both aesthetic and practical to deal with surviving on a rapidly changing planet; a collection of new life and materials imagined by manipulating and rearranging botanical and synthesized forms. What if we could grow windows, lamp shades, or fiber optic cables the way diatoms grow their ethereal glass houses instead of manufacturing them in a more traditional sense?

“Synthesis” is on display through the end of the month, 6 am-7 pm daily.

It’s long been lamented that White Center was without a fixed tribute to perhaps its most legendary son, poet Richard Hugo (1923-1982). Now there’s one on the walls of Mac’s Triangle Pub, where 16th, Delridge, and Roxbury meet, placed there Thursday night during a literary event, “Homage to Richard Hugo Night.” Readers included the organizers Nicholas O’Connell, founder of thewritersworkshop.net, read a Hugo poem in the early going:

White Center resident Jeff Smoot read from his essay, “Finding Richard Hugo in White Center,” which will be published in an upcoming online literary magazine.

Triangle Pub proprietor “Mac” McElroy read a Hugo poem particularly apropos to running a bar:

Smoot is hoping this “might become an annual event that preserves Hugo’s White Center legacy in some way.” That legacy includes a 1980 poetry collection titled “White Center.”

White Center’s legendary poet Richard Hugo will be honored at a special reading/open-microphone night next week at Mac’s Triangle Pub. Here’s the announcement we received:

Few writers have influenced Northwest literature as profoundly as poet Richard Hugo, who brought the region to life in his poetry and prose, including the White Center area where he was born and raised as well as rural Montana where he moved to become head of the University of Montana’s creative writing program. Other than Seattle’s Richard Hugo House, there hasn’t been much local celebration of his work, until now.

The Writer’s Workshop will celebrate his career with a “Homage to Richard Hugo Night” on Thursday, Dec. 21 at 8 p.m. at Mac’s Triangle Pub (9454 Delridge Way SW), where Hugo used to hang out. In addition to writing poetry and teaching, Hugo spent a lot of time in bars. The Triangle was one of them.

The reading will include an unveiling of a framed Richard Hugo photo to be placed on the wall of the tavern, followed by readings at 8 p.m. by Nicholas O’Connell, founder of www.thewritersworkshop.net, from On Sacred Ground: The Spirit of Place in Pacific Northwest Literature; White Center resident Jeff Smoot reading from his essay, “Finding Richard Hugo in White Center,” forthcoming from the online literary magazine www.thewritersworkshopreview.net; and other poems/ stories about White Center and/or Richard Hugo. After 9 p.m., the event will continue in an open-mic format where people can read their poems/ stories (hopefully on Hugo-esque themes) on into the night.

“I’d like to gather some people together to share Richard Hugo’s story, talk about his White Center roots, and read from some literary works about Hugo and his poems,” says Smoot. “Then open up the mic to anyone who wants to share a Hugo story, read a Hugo poem, or read any White Center-themed writing. I’m hoping this might become an annual event that preserves Hugo’s White Center legacy in some way.”

Hugo and other poets of the Northwest School sought to discover a place that resonated with them and allowed them to discover their own voice. Hugo referred to such a place as a “triggering subject,” a locale that fired a writer’s imagination.

“Hugo discovered his triggering subject in White Center,” says O’Connell. “Writing about it resulted in some of his first published poems and some of his best writing.”

If you’d like to read at the event, please contact Nicholas O’Connell (nick@thewritersworkshop.net). The Writer’s Workshop is an online and on-campus The Writer’s Workshop is an online and on-campus Seattle writing workshop, specializing in fiction, nonfiction and travel writing classes.

Percussionists and string players are being sought by The Orchestra of Flight. Here’s the announcement:

The Orchestra of Flight, a community orchestra based in White Center, invites string players and percussionists to join us for our new season, beginning September 12, 2016. We rehearse Monday nights from 7:30 to 9:30 PM at Mt. View Presbyterian Church in White Center. No auditions are required. We are a noncompetitive, friendly organization. Our mission is to bring live orchestral music to communities whose members may have difficulty attending concerts in traditional venues. Come and have fun while improving your musical skills and sharing the gift of music with others. For more information, please visit our website, www.orchestraofflight.org, or contact us at info@orchestraofflight.org.

An inspiring and emotional art show is on the way to White Center, per this announcement:

Art Gallery: Stories of Refugees and Immigrants

Dubsea Coffee
9910 8th Ave SW

Reception: February 11th 6-9PM, Gallery: February

The “visual stories” in this exhibit bear witness to the memories, struggles and dreams of refugees, asylees and immigrants of diverse ethnicities who now call White Center home. Their paintings illustrate that emotions conveyed and evoked by a single image can tell a story of a thousand words, build bridges of understanding and promote peaceful coexistence.

Thanks to a generous grant from 4Culture; the leadership of White Center Community Development Association, King County Library System and Network for Integrating New Americans; and the support of our visual storytelling workshop hosts at South Seattle College, New Futures Arbor Heights, King County Housing Authority Seola Gardens, Cascade Middle School and Highline College, we were able to offer a series of eight workshops to representatives of White Center’s foreign-born communities.

Initially, workshop participants questioned why anyone would care about their stories. Yet the more they reflected on the often daunting challenges they had overcome, the more their self-confidence grew. Soon, they began to believe in the power of their (visual) voices. Their stories did matter. In fact, they could help those who would follow in their footsteps as well as those who continue to face human rights abuses and/or extreme poverty in their native lands.

This exhibit offers never-before-seen glimpses into the life-stories of White Center’s refugees and immigrants. Drawn into their inner worlds, we receive clues to what it’s like to leave—or be forced to flee—one’s native land and rebuild one’s life in a foreign country. After reflecting on the paintings and accompanying captions, you too will be moved to honor the courage, resilience and irrepressible hope of those who contributed, often bravely.

At the end of the exhibit you will find a brief feedback form. We would be grateful if you could share your reactions and offer any words of encouragement for the workshop participants.

Finally, we would like to thank Dubsea Coffee for hosting this exhibit through the end of February. Please join us 6:00-9:00 pm, Friday, February 11, for the reception, an opportunity to learn more about the workshops and hear from some of the participants.

Erika Berg
Workshop Facilitator and Guest Curator

Earlier this week, we featured the documentary that was shown during last Sunday night’s Richard Hugo tribute at the White Center Fieldhouse. Tonight, courtesy of executive director Clay Eals from the Southwest Seattle Historical Society – which presented the tribute – we have the performance itself, music composed by Wayne Horvitz as well as Hugo’s poetry. The backstory’s on this page of the SWSHS website.

If you didn’t get to the tribute to poet Richard Hugo last night at the White Center Fieldhouse and haven’t otherwise had the chance to see the biographical documentary shown during it, “Kicking the Loose Gravel Home,” you might want to watch at least part of it online. The folks at Caffé Delia shared the link this morning and pointed out that starting around 12 minutes in – and continuing off and on for at least 10 minutes after that – you’ll see ample footage of White Center in the mid-’70s (and South Delridge, too). The film is from 1976. Just grab and pull the “play” bar in the window above. The film, by the way, is by author/filmmaker Annick Smith, from Montana, where Hugo wound up, miles and years from his beginnings here.

Happening tonight – and it’s free! The Southwest Seattle Historical Society is presenting a concert and film, “Some Places Are Forever Afternoon: A Tribute in Music, Words, and Film to White Center’s Richard Hugo,” starting at 6 pm inside the historic White Center Fieldhouse at Steve Cox Memorial Park (1321 SW 102nd). Everyone gets in at no charge thanks to funding by 4Culture; the concert features pianist/composer Wayne Horvitz (who’s in the video invitation above), who released a Hugo-tribute CD in July. The event also will show “Kicking the Loose Gravel Home,” an hour-long 1976 film about Hugo, who was just 58 when he died in 1982. Everyone’s welcome!