White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Not everything comes in through e-mail – sometimes, it’s helpful just to get out and wander the neighborhood. Doing so, we learn that Greenbridge‘s next Neighborhood Night is coming up at 6:30 pm May 14th in the Joe Thomas Room at the big complex on 8th SW just south of Roxbury. Info about neighborhood services, board-game playing, and other “free fun activities for all ages” are promised. And if you can’t make it May 14th, Greenbridge Neighborhood Nights are also planned for July 15th, September 17th and November 19th.

From Shelli Park at White Center for the Arts, here’s what’s on tap this Saturday night:

April White Center 3rd Saturday Art Walk!

Saturday, April 17th
6:00 PM until 9:00 PM

Salvadorean Bakery: Cullen Bryan: pen, pencil, and charcoal drawings. Cullen is a senior at TEC on the Evergreen High Campus. He is a prolific and very talented artist. The current selection is comprised of the best of his depictions of professional wrestling. A must see exhibition.

Café Rozella: Carlos Espinoza: Carlos is a favorite local artist who works in many medium, but mostly sculpts. Besides Rozella, Carlos also has works at Full Tilt. For more about Carlos visit www.carlosespinozaart.com

Full Tilt Ice Cream: Isaac Stewart and Richard Olmsted: More about these artists to come soon.

Proletariat Pizza: Mary Silva: acrylic on plywood. You must check out this beautiful and fanciful work. Eating a slice of pizza, drinking a beverage of choice, and staring at these sounds like a blissful evening to me. Or just pop in for a peep. http://marysportfolio.blogspot.com/

Dzul Tattoo: The Dzul brothers, keepin’ it real! As always, I encourage everyone to stop and check out this shop. These boys do beautiful work. Come out with a new item of clothing, or, oops, a tattoo!

Dubsea Coffee: Jameson Hubbard: Wood Block Prints.

Bird Eating Deer is the umbrella alias of the various artistic undertakings of Jameson Hubbard. Currently living in Seattle, WA, Jameson loosely attends the Gage Academy of Art. Primary interests regarding subject matter: The age-old question of man’s relationship with nature and the consequent friction; the role of animals in contemporary and past societies and the meanings applied to them; native cultures, primarily precolonial.

Join us Saturday evening from 7-9 pm to welcome Jameson Hubbard’s new work into Dubsea Coffee and meet the artist himself! His large scale wood block prints, along with drawings and paintings will grace the walls from mid-April through mid-May. Looking forward to Saturday!

To see more of his work online visit: www.birdeatingdeer.com

Quick reminder, the annual Cambodian New Year celebration is 10:30 am-5 pm today, on SW 98th, stretching for about a block east of 16th SW (map).

(April 2009 photo by Tim LaPlante)
The date is set for one of White Center’s liveliest street festival, the celebration of Cambodian New Year (here’s our coverage from last year). The White Center Community Development Association website has posted the announcement – 10:30 am-5 pm on Saturday, April 3, on SW 98th between 15th and 16th SW.

From the White Center Eagles:

The White Center Eagles present “Ron Stubbs OUTRAGEOUS Rock & Roll Hypnosis Show”, ONE NIGHT ONLY, this Saturday, March 13th at 7 pm, tickets available at the door, just $20. Come experience the most fun you’ll ever have in your sleep!

Ron Stubbs puts on a fast paced, laugh a minute, modern, hypnotic comedic romp through the inner mind where the audience becomes the stars. Take all your preconceived notions of what hypnotic entertainment is supposed to be and toss them out the window. Prepare to experience an exciting, unforgettable evening.

Ron has been called “one of the most progressive stage hypnotists available worldwide”. His level of skill in the field is obvious as he guides the volunteers on stage into a deep hypnotic state. Within just minutes he has the audience splitting their sides with laughter throughout the performance, while participants from the audience have a blast on stage!

Come early for dinner – our kitchen will be open starting at 5pm until showtime.

After the show, stick around for entertainment with Moonbeam Karaoke, “the best karaoke west of the Duwamish”!

That’s one of our personal favorite “Monty Python” TV clips. You got one? Or more? Mosey to Big Al Brewing noon-8 pm Sunday, where they’re promising to play as many classic “Monty Python and the Flying Circus” episodes as possible – and accepting donations for White Center for the Arts.

Reminder of two events we mentioned here earlier: Saturday night, it’s the artist reception at Dubsea Coffee (full story here), 7-9 pm, and then you can move over to Full Tilt Ice Cream for the Steel Tigers of Death performance.

Full Tilt Ice Cream proprietor Justin just sent this out via Twitter – next Saturday’s live music slate at the White Center flagship of his growing chain (location #3 in the University District just opened last week).

Greenbridge’s new Dubsea Coffee has announced its second art show, with a reception for artist Kelda Martensen coming up January 16th.

Chris Stevens Surf Monkeys

Rock Cafe Rozella

Saturday October 10th

7pm-10pm

Admission is FREE

That’s a photo from “Psycho Beach Party,” in its first weekend at Burien Little Theatre. The folks at BLT e-mailed WCN to say that since part of North Highline is becoming part of Burien, they thought it a good idea to start expanding their horizons. So here’s their invitation to you to come see what their website calls “‘Gidget’ meets ‘The Three Faces of Eve’ …” Find out more here; there are shows tonight and tomorrow afternoon ($7 matinee!), and the run continues weekends through November 1st.

Head on over to Cafe Rozella for some beautiful music.  Correo Aereo rarely plays and this is an opportunity to hear some excellent Latin American music. 

Music! Bicycles! Facepainting! And White Center’s own Full Tilt Ice Cream. “Crank It Up” is happening at Cesar Chavez Park (7th and Cloverdale) till 6 pm – here’s an update from our partner site West Seattle Blog.

We dropped by within the past hour – didn’t take into account the fact that things would be slow because of 5 pm Mass! Booths, food, bouncy toys, scheduled to be in action till 10 pm tonight, resuming 10 am tomorrow, along 20th SW south of Roxbury. Music too – Paulina Alvarado was singing during our visit:

Café Rozella

“Alma Villegas”

“We always enjoy playing at

this lovely cozy Café Rozella

in the heart of White Center. “

August 28th

7pm-10pm

Cafe Rozella
9434 Delridge Way SW
Seattle, WA  98106
(206) 763-5805

When we walked toward Mount View Presbyterian Church and Mount View Elementary on Friday afternoon, the line for backpacks stretched across the (closed) street – and then some – all the way around the front of the school, which sported this welcoming sign:

The YES Foundation of White Center‘s annual block party wasn’t just for getting ready for school – it really was a party – free food, plus games and of course bouncers:

Entertainment too:

And another kind of goodie bag – these were provided by World Vision – with personal-care items and “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies inside:

Along with YES Foundation of White Center and World Vision, other agencies and organizations at the event included Southwest Youth and Family Services, White Center Community Development Association and South Seattle Community College.

We brought you first word of the date four weeks ago – and now, the day is here: 3-6 pm today, between Mount View Elementary School and Mount View Presbyterian Church – local kids welcome to come get their free backpacks for the new school year, and to bring their families for food, music and more. (You can read here about what else the YES Foundation has been up to.)

From White Center for the Arts:

Join us for our August Third Saturday Art Event!!!
Prepare to be surprised and amazed at the wealth of art to be had in White Center.

We will host music, sculpture, drawing, painting, film, and an interesting installation.

Saturday, August 15, 2009
5:00 PM until 10:00 PM
9639 16th Ave SW.
(Don’t try the 17th St. entrance. It will be locked.)

Support your local artists, and the community of White Center!

From Frank Cantwell, principal of Holy Family Parish School in White Center:

I would like to invite you to “El Carnaval” that we are holding on August 29 (10 a.m. to 10 p.m.) and August 30 (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) 2009. We are planning to close 20th Street from Roxbury for one block between the Parish and the School, and open this area to the entire community for an opportunity to meet our neighbors. We plan to have bands, a variety of food, and a beer garden. We will have our school open to everyone. We are also planning to have lots of fun and games for the children.

Holy Family Parish School has a rich history having served the White Center community for over 80 years. We are a very diverse community and we are welcoming everyone to come together to have a lot of fun.

We’ve mentioned it here a couple times before — it’s one of the coolest events this weekend – so you don’t want to miss it. Be at 17th/Roxbury at 10:30 Saturday morning to join Ron Richardson and others from the Southwest Seattle Historical Society for a walking tour of White Center history. $5 members, $7 nonmembers.