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MONDAY
COMMUNITYOur History, Our Responsibility
Here to commemorate Japanese Americans who lived through racially motivated incarcerationâand to draw attention to discrimination against American Muslimsâis Khizr Khan, the "Gold Star father" who found himself the target of the Trump campaign. He'll help honor Japanese American survivors, service members, and others, alongside musician Kishi Bashi, who will show a part of his forthcoming documentary on the internment. Densho and CAIR-WA will co-present this event.
Protest Fest 2018
Do206 presents this multi-venue, live music-focused festival on Presidents' Day weekend. On Monday, there will be six different shows benefiting nonprofits like Planned Parenthood, Southern Poverty Law Center, ACLU, and the Sierra Club.
SDSA Film Screening: The Murder of Fred Hampton
The Murder of Fred Hampton was not supposed to be about the murder of Fred Hampton. It was supposed to be about the life of the young Black Panther activist. But Hampton was killed by the Chicago police while Mike Gray and Howard Alk, the producer and the director, were working on the documentary. They were in Hamptonâs apartment the day after the Chicago police shot the sleeping 21-year-old community organizer twice in the head and once on the shoulder. This doc was released in 1971, a little over a year after the assassination, and so it has about it (the interviews, reenactments, police footage, scenes of the Black Panther gatherings) a sense of urgency. CHARLES MUDEDE
12 Minutes Max
On the Boardsâ longest running program is back! Three years ago, they replaced the show, which features 12 (surprisingly quick or unfortunately long) minutes of brand-new work from Pacific Northwest performers, with another program called Open Studio. But artists were clamoring for a return of the format, and OtB clearly heard their cries, so they brought it back in December. The second iteration will be curated by Donald Byrd and Megan Murphy, with a lineup of Seth Sexton, Carl Lawrence, Poisonous Toy Theatre, Jocelyn Beausire, Mike Gebhart, Fenja Abrams and Sierra Hendrix, and Christopher Petersen. RICH SMITH
MONDAY-TUESDAY
FOOD & DRINKFourth Annual Black & Brew
Watershed has hoarded a wealth of "rich, strong, insanely complex" black brews over the year and is ready to unleash 15 of them at this event, with hearty food specials to propel you into "dark beer nirvana."
MONDAY-THURSDAY
FILMNoir City 2018
Noir City 2018, presented by Eddie Muller, the âCzar of Noir,â includes three films that are in my top 30 noirs: Howard Hawksâs The Big Sleep, which was written by William Faulkner and stars the image gods Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall; Alfred Hitchcockâs Shadow of a Doubt, which has one of the most humanist faces of Hollywoodâs golden age (Joseph Cotten) playing a baddie (Uncle Charlie); and Michael Curtizâs Mildred Pierce. This last film, which inspired a burning ball of pop-punk by Sonic Youth, is also one of the few great race films in the noir canon. At the heart of Mildred Pierce is a warm relationship between two hardworking American women played by Joan Crawford and Butterfly McQueenâone of black Americaâs most famous atheists. This relationship forms the workâs paradise, the America that could or ought to be. But this paradise is ultimately destroyed by the America that is obsessed with money. CHARLES MUDEDE
MONDAY-SUNDAY
Note: Monday is a holiday and may affect opening hours. We recommend calling ahead to confirm.
ARTDrew Michael: Shadows
Up-and-coming Yupâik/Inupiaq artist Drew Michael explores themes of queer identity, Christianity, and Native Alaskan culture in his elegant masks, icons, and other sculptures using wood and glass.
Closing Sunday
The Jim Henson Exhibition: Imagination Unlimited
There was no true show business precedent for Jim Hensonâs innovative combination of hip, humanist wit, and streamlined puppet design and operation, and there are no true descendants of his ability to hybridize the legacy of vaudeville with the modern possibilities of TV and cinema. Hensonâs ability to be utterly hilarious, genuinely warm, and actually educational made him a radical figure in the arts, and as Hamlet said about his late father, we shall not look upon his like againâwhich makes this exhibition of puppets, sketches, storyboards, scripts, photographs, video clips, and costumes from Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth (among other Henson projects) an indispensable opportunity to celebrate his genius. SEAN NELSON
Closing Sunday
Joseph Maruska
Joseph Maruskaâs paintings, with earthy and ethereal colors, evoke atmospheres and hazy, watery landscapes.
Closing Sunday
Laura Tempest Zakroff: Embodied Sigils
Artist witch Laura Tempest Zakroff (author of Sigil Witchery: A Witch's Guide to Magick Symbols) will show adornments and other crafted pieces exploring sigils and "sympathetic magick."
Closing Sunday
Unexpected Alaska
Alongside Drew Michaelâs February exhibition, Native Alaskan artists Preston Singletary (Tlingit), Larry Ahvakana (Inupiaq), Kathleen Carlo (Koyukon Athabascan), and others will show masks and sculptures.
Closing Sunday
Vanishing Seattle X Eighth Generation Pop Up Shop
Shop merch from #VanishingSeattle, a social media project that documents the "displaced and disappearing institutions, small businesses, homes, and communities of Seattle" while also serving as a "love letter" to the city's history. There will be totes, t-shirts, and more.
Closing Sunday
Burger Month
This month-long collaboration between Li'l Woody's and the culinary luminaries of Seattle features weekly burger specials. Monday will be the last day to try the Oishi Pork Burger, with "kurobuta pork, maitake mushrooms, scallions, yuzu kosho aioli, sesame seeded bun" from Lark's John Sundstrom. The high-low Tuxedo Shirt Burger with "Painted Hills grass fed beef, red leaf lettuce, bacon relish, foie gras aioli, fried duck egg, Beecherâs Flagship Cheddar cheese, everything bun," from Shaun McCrain of Copine, will be on the menu for the rest of the week.
TUESDAY
READINGS & TALKSIvy Anderson and Devon Angus: Alice
Here's the original story: "In 1913 the San Francisco Bulletin published a serialized, ghostwritten memoir of a prostitute who went by the moniker Alice Smith. A Voice from the Underworld detailed Alice's humble Midwestern upbringing and her struggle to find aboveboard work, and candidly related the harrowing events she endured after entering 'the life.'" This new book edited by Anderson and Angus includes Alice's original narrative, as well as a critical introduction that ties her story in to the state of sex work today. This exploration of gender, labor, exploitation, and individualism promises to be fascinating.
Offbeat Ada's: How to Fall in Love with Anyone
Have you ever been on a date where the person coyly asked you 36 invasive questions under the guise of quickly building intimacy and trust with you, and this despite the fact that you both know you met each other while scrolling absentmindedly through a series of photos on an internet application while spending a hungover morning on your respective bathroom floors? Chances are that person read Mandy Len Catron's viral Modern Love article in the New York Times, "To Fall in Love with Anyone, Do This." Now she's out with a new memoir called How to Fall in Love with Anyone, which is all about the ways romantic narratives on film (aka rom-coms) limit our ability to create and sustain relationships. Falling in love, after all, is the easy part. Ariel Meadow Stallings will host this conversation with the author. RICH SMITH
Path of Persistence: A Gender Trailblazer and Platelet Pioneer
Dr. Sherrill Slichter's research of plateletsâthe clotting cells in bloodâbenefits patients who require bone marrow transplants to treat leukemia, lymphoma, and other diseases. Join her as she talks about her experience as a woman physician-scientist, the stereotypes she's had to combat, and what she's discovered about the role of blood in the human body.
TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY
PERFORMANCESafe Space
Where do you go when your safe space is shut down? Two girls, deprived of their group therapy due to Medicaid cuts, decide to continue their healing process at a slumber party that promptly goes wrong. They strive to deal with eating disorders, opioids, and misogyny aimed their way in this drama by Kyleigh Archer.
TUESDAY-THURSDAY
ARTMarilyn Montufar: Transcending Identity: impressions of people, community, and landscapes
This photo series by the Mexican American artist Marilyn Montufar highlights representation of Mexicans in a reaction to backwards American views of its southern neighbor. They're soulful and emphatically free of stereotype.
Closing Thursday
TUESDAY-FRIDAY
ARTClay & Politics
The clay artists in this group show curated by Richard Notkin have tackled our hideous political era with sculptures that are, variously, on-the-nose (James Budde's self-explanatory Mr. Orange), pithy (Eric Nelson's the way of war, an earthenware bowl with a grenade nestled inside), and conceptual (Dennis Meiners's surveillance camera covered in vintage animal designs). For me, the most affecting works are a little harder to decipher. Katherine Skeels's The End Game is a black-and-white ceramic plate covered with the profile of a scowling man, whose lines surround sketches of hands, standing figures, mournful faces, and guns. While they don't seem allegorical, the images resemble harrowing portraits by Weimar-era artists like KĂ€the Kollwitz and Otto Dix. Ronna Neuenschwander's Hands Up is a sinister take on antique porcelain figurines: A baby-faced girl in a mosaic-decorated skirt delicately holds up her hands, while metal tubes like gun barrels jut out of her pedestal. Blatant satire has its value. But works like these link contemporary American unrest and authoritarianism with the self-inflicted cataclysms that have plagued the West in the past few centuries. JOULE ZELMAN
Closing Friday
TUESDAY-SATURDAY
ARTMichael Kempson: Child's Play/Ben Beres: They're Shootin' to Kill
Printer/painter Michael Kempson will show etchings inspired by children's stuffed toys at the Taronga Zoo gift shop, alongside Ben Beres, known for exploring the word in art. Beres's latest works are collagraphs, etchings, silkscreens, drypoints, and lithographs, plus vitreographs from a Pilchuck Glass School residency.
Closing Saturday
Roberto Matta: Selected Etchings
Roberto Matta's color etchings might remind you of a more perspective-ful Joan MirĂł, with shapes and lines in abstract interior spaces.
Closing Saturday
Sandow Birk: Monumental
Politically minded Los Angeles artist Sandow Birk (known for such exhibitions as American Qur'an and Trumpagruel) harks back to the allegorical traditions of European painting and printing. This exhibition includes a truly impressive 40-foot woodblock panel, American Procession, showing the opposing movements of progressivism and conservatism in America from colonization onward.
Closing Saturday
TUESDAY-SUNDAY
ARTJustin Ginsberg: Liquid Rope Coiling
Discover multimedia and glass art from Ginsberg's residencies at the Museum of Glass, Pilchuck, and several prestigious world institutions. His pieces are fragile and chilly-looking, exploring asymmetry and smooth/crackly textures.
Closing Sunday
Hamilton Menu at Carlile Room
Begin or finish your viewing of Lin Manuel Miranda's Founding Father musical sensation (playing at the Paramount from February 6-March 18) at the (Carlile) Room where it happens, with a themed menu that includes the Hamilton Hurricane cocktail, Lafayette-inspired Buns and Nips (pinch buns with mushrooms and pickled turnips), the Battle of Porktown, the Aaron Burr-ger, and Satisfries. Just don't throw away your (Jell-O) shot.
Hamilton Menu at TavolĂ ta
Pre-game for Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical sensation with a three-course prix-fixe dinner down the street before the show.
The Gin Game
One of the all-time chestnuts of the legitimate stage comes to Issaquah featuring two of Seattleâs all-time favorites, Kurt Beattie and Marianne Owen, as aging residents of a nursing home who sublimate the dread of death by playing cards and tearing each other apart with words. However familiar the play might be from drama classes and monologue books, The Gin Game has a seemingly infinite capacity for renewal in the hands of the right actors, which is to say that the only way this show can go wrong is if the building floods. SEAN NELSON
Hamilton
Lin-Manuel Miranda is responsible for Hamilton's book, music, and lyrics, and he has squashed a dizzying number of words and concepts into this stunning production. You don't like musicals? Fine. Try Hamiltonâits hiphop, jazz, and rap numbers have made people all over the country rethink their rigid anti-musical stance, and offered them juicy, controversial history about one of their Founding Fathers. The wildly popular show will be here for more than four glorious weeks. Joseph Morales and Nik Walker will star as Hamilton and Burr.
Mamma Mia!
This is a new version of the endlessly popular Abba musical about a bride-to-be and her desire to meet her unknown father.
WEDNESDAY
READINGS & TALKS'Monday' Launch Party
The Jacob Lawrence Gallery will throw a party for its new endeavor, Monday, a twice-yearly publication on contemporary art. The first issue will include essays, poetry, art, and more from writers and creators like Matt Browning and Leeni Joshi (both excellent visual artists), Stranger cultural critic Charles Mudede, and Stranger contributor Emily Pothast. Raise a glass, socialize with smart people, and pick up a copy.
WEDNESDAY-SUNDAY
PERFORMANCE12 Ophelias (a play with broken songs)
Caridad Svich's one-act re-imagining of Hamlet, set in Appalachia, has made some bold changes to the original setting. Hamlet is redubbed as a Rude Boy, Ophelia likes Pop-Tarts, and everybody rocks 'n' rolls.
Ibsen in Chicago
This is the world premiere of a new play by David Grimm. Through his 2000 production Kit Marlowe, Grimm created a dramatized version of theatrical history that focused on the man surrounded by myth and rumor: Marlowe might have been a spy, or a heretic, or even the person who wrote Shakespeare's best-known works. This new play, Ibsen in Chicago, also deals with history and theatricsâthis time, it's about Scandinavian immigrants putting on an Ibsen play in Chicago in 1882. Look forward to direction by Seattle Rep Artistic Director Braden Abraham.
The Maltese Falcon
Book-It Repertory Theatre and Cafe Nordo will collaborate on a stage version of the lush and gritty noir classic The Maltese Falcon, adapted by Jane Jones and Kevin McKeon. As private dick Sam Spade seeks the priceless jewel-encrusted falcon for some sketchy clients, you'll tuck into Nordo's special themed menu.
Romeo & Juliet
This cozy speakeasy, tucked under Pike Place Market, specializes in charismatic, cheese-cakey, nearly-nude entertainment (plus more covered-up brunch shows for the young and the prudish). Expect something a little sexier than your typical Shakespeare adaptation at this modernized cabaret show version of the tragic tale, paired with an original soundtrack. Make it a dinner date and order food and cocktails.
THURSDAY
ARTKijiji Night
Experience "the spirit of an African village" through live traditional musical performances, storytelling, poetry, and readings from One Vibe Photo Book, We Will Lead Africa, and Unbounded by Boniface Mwangi.
Winter Light: The Films of Ingmar Bergman
I know. Itâs Ingmar Bergman. I know, most of his films are very slow. I know, you want to see lots of action and explosions and all of that sort of thing. I know, I know, I know. But you must still watch Bergman's films. Look at it this way: A film like The Commuter, which must not be missed, is your fat-rich steak, and a movie like Bergmanâs Through the Glass Darkly or Silence or Persona is your broccoli. You just canât eat steak all of the time. You will die from just eating steak. You need your veggies. You can almost live forever on a diet of just films of the great Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. CHARLES MUDEDE
This week's screening is The Virgin Spring.
Autentico-Inspired Dinner Menu at Cafe Lago
In a food landscape increasingly riddled with trends and gimmicks, it can be hard to distinguish between whatâs essential and whatâs dispensable. But as Julia Child once said, âYou don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpiecesâjust good food from fresh ingredients.â In his new cookbook Autentico: Cooking Italian, the Authentic Way, Rolando Beramendi instructs home cooks on how to get back to the basics of Italian cooking by starting with a well-stocked pantry and shopping for the freshest seasonal ingredients. Montlakeâs artisanal Italian eatery Cafe Lago, which makes pasta by hand every morning and bakes pizzas over an applewood-fired oven each night, will produce a six-course menu in the spirit of Beramendiâs minimalist approach. JULIANNE BELL
The Moth Seattle GrandSLAM
This is the the megaslam edition of the Moth, in which 10 winners of previous storySLAMs will battle for the title of GrandSLAM Story Champion. Hear inspiring, embarrassing, enlightening, enraging stories.
Ross McMeekin: The Hummingbirds
In this literary noir, we meet Ezra Fog, a young man who was born into a bird-worshipping cult but has since found refuge as the steward of a humongous rental property in Los Angeles. The place is occupied by a sneaky movie producer and an aspiring actress, Sybil, who can't keep her eyes off Ezra. The two try to manage an affair under the nose of the husband, but that doesn't go over very well. The Hummingbirds is Seattle writer Ross McMeekin's debut novel, which is kind of hard to believe given his own generous stewardship of the literary arts in town. He's published stories in a bunch of top-tier literary mags, he teaches at Hugo House, and for years he's edited Spartan, a terrific local literary magazine that publishes minimalist prose.
Socialize This!
In this forum organized by Red May, discuss which private sector you'd like to socialize: "Nothing's off the table, and it's your call." The forum will include Stranger arts contributor Emily Pothast, City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, author Shaun Scott, Seattle DSA chair Andrej Markovcic, professor Eva Cherniavsky, and improviser Matt Smith. Hair and Space Museum will drone some atmospheric tunes.
THURSDAY-SATURDAY
ARTARTifACTs: We Almost Didn't Make It
Jump forward 150 years: What do you see? Environmental chaos? Or a civilization celebrating the last-minute choices that let it escape doom? We Almost Didnât Make It by the ARTifACTs collective, led by UW Tacoma's Beverly Naidus, invites visitors to transform their dread and pessimism into inspired action. Follow their "recipes" and combine "ingredients" to make artifacts emblematic of today's world, for the benefit of a future society that may be radically different. If having an environmental conscience means living in a constant state of terror these days, here's a chance to transport yourself to a more utopian futureâand act on behalf of your children's children. JOULE ZELMAN
Closing Saturday
Brian Kirhagis: EARTH
Brian Kirhagis pays mystic tribute to the planet with personifying, surreal portraits.
Closing Saturday
Eighth Annual Juried Exhibition
Guest curator Sara Krajewski (of Portland Art Museum) has chosen pieces from a national art call for this gallery's eighth annual juried exhibition. The selection is highly varied, from the beguiling Lichen Party Frock by California artist George-Ann Bowers to tintype portraits by Utah's Paul Linden that recall the work of Edward S. Curtis. One artist makes the exhibition international: Photographer Kristina Aas of Norway, whose abstract photo (or "digital jacquard weave," as she calls it) Pelt II investigates the furred curve of an armpit. But you'll also find a lot of local pieces here: Seattle's David Bellard has contributed prints of radial collages using transparent film; Christopher Hartshorne of Bellingham shows a multiple-block woodprint of chaotic, gridlike abstractions; and Lauren Greathouse of Lake Forest Park offers silver gelatin print snapshots of an abandoned middle school. This exhibition is an admirably eclectic mix of different media, themes, and moods. JOULE ZELMAN
Closing Saturday
Joey Veltkamp: Blue Skies Forever
After 20 years in Seattle, beloved Northwest artist Joey Veltkamp has recently relocated to the city of Bremerton on the Kitsap Peninsula, an hour west by ferry. For his first solo show at Greg Kucera, Veltkamp uses quilting techniques to stitch together the disparate aspirations, economic conditions, and histories of these neighboring cities. The centerpiece is an enormous quilt made of denim from Bremerton thrift stores that says "BLUE SKIES FOREVER." The title is a Lana Del Rey lyric that alludes to buoyant optimism in the face of adversity, but it could also reference his view of the region from the Salish Sea, where Veltkamp has already spotted seals and orcas along his commute. EMILY POTHAST
Opening Thursday
La Voix des Airs
Plancklengthâan artist/composer collective made up of Blake DeGraw, Jeff Anderson (both former collaborators of FHTAGN), and Chloe Wicksâplays with sound as a physical phenomena by experimenting with randomized artistic processes, invented instruments, and spatial arrangement. This installation is a set of 12 pipesâhalf hanging from the ceiling, the other half sticking up from the groundâthat create feedback loops with hidden speakers and microphones inside. We can't tell you what it will sound like, but we do know that Plancklength's previous works have focused on using noise to delineate and transform space. La Voix des Airs promises to beguile and perhaps confuse your auditory receptors, stranding your brain far from any conventional musical vocabulary. JOULE ZELMAN
Closing Saturday
Neddy Artist Awards Exhibition
One of the largest and most prestigious art awards in the state of Washington, the Neddy Awards provide cash prizes to outstanding artists living in the Puget Sound region. This year's top prizes were awarded to Tacoma-based artist and educator Christopher Paul Jordan and musician, filmmaker, and photographer Che Sehyun. Runners-up include Barbara Sternberger, Gillian Theobald, Tuan Nguyen, Gretchen Bennett, Marita Dingus, and Dakota Gearhart. The Neddy Artist Awards Exhibition at studio e is a great way to familiarize yourself with the work of all eight of these distinguished locals. EMILY POTHAST
Closing Saturday
Seattle Wine and Food Experience
This annual extravaganza of all things edible and drinkable is an ode to gluttony in three parts. First up is Comfort, a festival of âfeel-good foods and crafty brews,â complete with bars for french fries, Bloody Marys, hot toddies, and milk and cookies. Next, POP! Bubbles and Seafood capitalizes on the felicitous pairing of bubbles and bivalves with a celebrity shucking contest and more than 30 sparkling wines from around the world. Finally, the Grand Tasting will showcase local and regional wines, beer, cider, spirits, and tastes from big-name Seattle chefs, with plenty of opportunities to watch demonstrations and meet artisan food producers. JULIANNE BELL
Ian Bell's Brown Derby Series: Valley of the Dolls
You know how the nature and velocity of time have radically changed in the past few years? Okay, great! It shouldnât surprise you, then, to learn that Ian Bellâs Brown Derby is now in its 20th year of serving up excellent local actors doing live staged readings of beloved (for good and ill) screenplays. I have attended many of these shows, and even minimally participated in one (Heathers, NBD) at least 15 years (or was it a thousand centuries?) ago, and never failed to be impressed and delighted by how much hilarious business the company manages to squeeze out of the washcloth. Bell and friends, including Scott Shoemaker, Erin Stewart, Shane Wahlund, Freddy Molitch, and Josh Hartvigson, kick off the seriesâs third decade by returning to the show that started it all, Valley of the Dolls. If youâve never been, go. If youâve been before, why not go again? After all, in 20 years, everyone now living will almost certainly be dead. SEAN NELSON
Prehistoric Body Theater Workshop/Performance
In collaboration with paleontologists Dr. Greg Wilson and Dr. Dave Evans, Ari Rudenko directs a prehistoric animal dance that combines Japanese butoh theater and Indonesian traditional/contemporary dance influences with "a science-based comparative examination of the anatomy, locomotion, and theoretical behavior of key extinct species featured in the performances." From February 3 to March 8 on Saturdays and Thursdays, take part in free workshops, leading up to the performance audition on March 10. In May, watch Ghosts of Hell Creek, a dance depicting one of the last birdlike dinosaurs in the days before the cataclysm that ended the reign of the "terrible lizards," and one of the first mammals to emerge from the wreckage.
THURSDAY-SUNDAY
FILMSeattle Asian American Film Festival
The SAAFF will screen fictional and documentary stories of Asian American journeys, families, artistic innovations, and moreâplus music videos and shorts, some of which are free to see.
American Hwangap
In East Asia, hwangap marks the completion of the Eastern Zodiac around one's 60th birthday, signifying a "rebirth." In Lloyd Suh's American Hwangap, Min Suk Chun leaves his family in a West Texas suburb to return to his native Korea. On his 60th birthday, he returns to his ex-wife and now-adult children as they struggle to reconcile their broken past with the "mercurial, verbose and often exasperating patriarch now back at the head of the table."
The Journal of Ben Uchida: Citizen 13559
This kid-friendly play deals with some timely and tragic themes. When Japanese planes attack Pearl Harbor, 12-year-old Ben Uchida and his family are rounded up in internment camps. How does a young innocent process the reality of systemic oppression and hate?
FRIDAY
ARTDapper AF: Queers in Conversation about Style and Identity
Musician Sassyblack, queer undergarment company co-founder Fran Dunaway, Seattle HER App manager Jolene Manibusan, and creative director Timothy Bardlavens will talk about fashion in this new age of queer inclusiveness and diversity. Afterwards, you can see queer models sport genderfluid-friendly underpants. Your ticket includes free admission to the HER Seattle party afterwards.
Winter in the Park: Art Encounters
Artists will reveal their processesâand involve onlookersâas they respond to inspirations from the Olympic Sculpture Park and the wider Seattle region.
Carmine Chickadel, Frances McCue, and Jan Wallace
Hear recent work from poets Carmine Chickadel, Frances McCue, and Jan Wallace.
Word Works: Ruth Ozeki
Ruth Ozeki established herself as a master writer with the publication of A Tale for the Time Being, which was short-listed for the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The book is a genre-crossing, world-hopping metafictional novel about a bullied Japanese teen that blends the past, present, and future together without being tedious about the whole thing. To pull off that kind of book, you need serious focus and a deep understanding of narrative forms, skills Ozeki will try to pass along to the audience of this Hugo House Word Works lecture. In addition to being an internationally renowned writer, Ozeki is also a Zen Buddhist priest. Since this event runs in conjunction with Seattle University's Search for Meaning Festival, I'd wager you'll get some serious, professional information about the relationship between writing and meditation as well. RICH SMITH
FRIDAY-SATURDAY
ARTLangston Hughes Family Traveling Museum
Join Langston Marjol Rush-Collet (Langston Hughes' cousin) for a tour of the Langston Hughes Family Museum, of which he is the director and curator.
Twisted Cabaret: My Twisted Valentine
One-man vaudeville/varietĂ© circus Frank Olivier performs a cabaret based on the premise that he's the only performer who'd shown up and has to do everything himself: juggling, acrobatics, unicycling, fire acts, tongue contortionism, and stuff you've never heard of. Olivier has been performing for decades, from The Johnny Carson Show to Broadway to the BBC, and he's like a clown car of talentsâjust when you think you've seen him do it all, another bizarro delight comes tumbling out. His specialty is making it look like he's completely losing control when in fact he is a fine-tuned genius.
FRIDAY-SUNDAY
ARTRenee Adams: Reclaim
Renee Adams' mixed media sculptures represent an "artificial reality" in which natural selection has taken a shift, and plants require little more than the debris of humankind to thrive.
Opening Friday
Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin
Not very many songwriters have legitimate claim to being the actual greatest songwriter who ever lived, but Irving Berlin is oneâand not just because he successfully stripped Jesus clean out of the songs most closely associated with the two most Christian holidays (âWhite Christmasâ and âEaster Paradeâ). This solo performance chronicles the life and career of a man who escaped the pogroms of czarist Russia only to perfect the musical and verbal idiom that helped define the American century. (Bonus: This show promises to provide a welcome palate cleanser after Holiday Inn, the indescribably poor Berlin pastiche that recently befouled the Seattle stage, so thatâs good, too.) SEAN NELSON
SATURDAY
ARTArtist Trust 2018 Benefit Auction
Join Artist Trust for dinner, a silent auction, live performances, and a Curator Tour.
Brandon Aleson, Reilly Donovan, Benjamin Van Citters: Mind at Large
Taking its name from Aldous Huxley's visionary essay The Doors of Perception, Mind at Large is a site-specific virtual-reality installation that examines the ever-tightening gap between the digital world and analog experience. The gallery is painted with opposing red and green walls that reference the Cornell Box, a standardized 3-D environment for testing software's rendering ability. By engaging with digitally encoded sounds and objects in this hybrid space, visitors are invited to probe the slippery line between the real and the virtual, appearance and understanding. EMILY POTHAST
Closing Saturday
Matt Browning
Before Neddy Award winner Matt Browning moved to Vancouver to earn his MFA from the University of British Columbia, he was a Seattle artist represented by Lawrimore Project (RIP) and a member of the artist-run gallery Crawl Space (also RIP). Known for works that examine athleticism, masculine socialization, and hierarchical value systems, Browning's sculptures also exhibit a tender handmade sensibilityâa potent combination that earned him a place in the 2017 Whitney Biennial. His most recent work involves zinc spheres made out of the cores of pennies (since 1982, pennies are copper-plated zinc), exploring the constantly shifting relationship between perceived value and materiality. EMILY POTHAST
Closing Saturday
Soap for the Dogs & She Who Has No Master(s)
Vi Khi Nao, Dao Strom, and Stacey Tran of She Who Has No Master(s) (a project that "promotes interaction and collaboration between women writers of the Vietnamese diaspora") will celebrate the release of Stacey Tran's Soap for the Dogs. Drink tea, listen to readings, and see presentations that explore "hunger and food memories through poetry."
Visual Arts Career Day
Young people aged 14-21 are invited to meet artist professionals and engage in networking, workshops, and more at this open day sponsored by Seattle Art Museum, Office of Arts & Culture Seattle, and One Reel. Lunch will be provided.
Wikipedia Art + Feminism Edit-a-thon
The organizers say, "Wikipedia is one of the most wide-reaching repositories of shared knowledge, yet a 2011 survey found that less than 10% of its contributors identify as female, suggesting an alarming absence of voices." Put this situation to rights and edit/expand upon Wikipedia articles about queer and women artists and artists of color. Bring your own laptop; snacks, reference materials, childcare, and technical assistance will be provided.
My Dad Wrote a Porno
When Jamie Morton's dad "Rocky Flintstone" (not his real name) wrote (rather inept) erotic fiction, Jamie decided to turn it into a comedy podcast. If you love vicarious embarrassment, this is the show for you.
Corridor
Welcome to Corridor, the third annual festival of music, light, and sound presented by Elevator, with artists responsible for visual installation, performance, and movement to cover all bases of creative tangibility. Sound artists include MHYSA, Yu Su, ASDFS, C Spencer Yeh, Chloe Alexandra, Ellen Phan, 'nohup,' and Lushloss. Visual artists presenting light works include Cameron Shafii & Alex Boschenstein, and Anisa Jackson & Mel Carter. Visual artists presenting movement works so far include Matt Drews and Dead Thoroughbred.
16th Annual Hops and Props
Hops & Props celebrates craft brews from across the Northwest (and a few from other places). Enjoy three-ounce pours from over 100 breweries and cider houses, a spread of bites from McCormick & Schmickâs, and live music.
Addo and Vita Uva Collaboration Dinner
Suzi An was the former creative director of operations at Edouardo Jordan's Junebaby and Salare before embarking on her much-anticipated solo venture Vita Uva, a bottle shop housed inside the International Districtâs new Pho Bac SĂșp Shop featuring funky natural wines fermented with minimal intervention. Anâs wine philosophy is refreshingly approachable and unpretentious: As she told Seattle Met, âI think weâre moving away from drinking only the well-known labels or producers and exploring more of the unknown.â For this dinner, sheâll team up with the innovative Addo pop-up founder Eric Rivera to curate pairings for a 12-course tasting menu. JULIANNE BELL
Washington Beer Open House
This month, more than 130 Washington breweries will open their doors for a simultaneous open house, which gives beer lovers a unique opportunity to create their own adventure. Plot an itinerary for a personalized brewery crawl, travel to a few destination breweries youâve always wanted to try, or simply drop into the nearest participating craft brewer in your neighborhood. Each featured brewer will have their own lineup of surprises in store, including samples, tours, souvenirs, rare barrel tastings, savory food pairings, and more. JULIANNE BELL
African American Writer's Alliance Annual Group Reading
This group reading is presented by the NW African American Alliance, a local group of writers.
Shaun Scott with Minh Nguyen: Millennials and the Moments That Made Us
Filmmaker, writer, columnist, dandy, and emerging politician Shaun Scott will read from his new and second book, Millennials and the Moments That Made Us: A Cultural History of the U.S. from 1982âPresent. Is it bad or good? Hard to say at this point. But I do know Millennials is published by Zero Books, which is based in the UK and has published books by great cultural theorists like Mark Fisher and Steven Shaviro. Black Lives Matter activist Marissa Johnson, who is famous for disrupting a Bernie Sanders event in 2015 at Westlake Center and having a tiff with Sanders supporter and rapper Killer Mike in 2016, wrote the bookâs introduction. CHARLES MUDEDE
SATURDAY-SUNDAY
FOOD & DRINK16th Annual HardLiver Barleywine Festival
Push the limits of your liver with a selection of at least 50 barleywines at the 16th edition of this annual festival.
Beatrice & Benedict
Let it be lost on no one that "Benedict"âwhose name in the source material for this opera is Benedickâis definitely a pun on "good dick." This is important because the title gets right to the heart of this warm and witty (and slightly anachronistic) collaboration between composer Hector Berlioz and the words of William Shakespeare, which are lifted from the B-storyline in Much Ado About Nothing. Ultimately, Benedict must chose between being a good soldier and being a good partner to Beatrice, a woman he's been tricked into loving. The Good Dick's name points you to the choice he makes, but it's fun as hell to watch him and Beatrice reluctantly come around to each other. Seattle Symphony's music director, Ludovic Morlot, is a great interpreter of his fellow countryman, Berlioz, and ACT Theatre artistic director John Langs has plenty of Shakespeare under his belt. Watching the visions of these two artists collide onstage will be a treat as well. RICH SMITH
SUNDAY
COMMUNITYUrban Poverty Forum
Diverse organizationsâfaith-based and nonprofitâwill join in a discussion on problems faced by poor citizens. This time, the topic will be police de-escalation. Participants will include Reverend Harriett Warden (Mothers for Police Accountability), the Mahogany Project, educator Erin Jones, SPD Crime Prevention Coordinator Felicia Cross, and Chester Earl from Justice For Jackie. Lisa Edge (Real Change staff) will facilitate the conversation.
Revel Rice Bowl and Hot Pot Class
At the first class held in Revel's sister restaurant Trove while Revel undergoes renovations, James Beard-nominated chef Rachel Yang will teach students how to make rice bowls and hot spots with the same techniques used at her restaurants.
Poetry in Conversation: Solmaz Sharifâs 'Look' Moderated by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha
In her debut collection, Look, poet Solmaz Sharif uses the U.S. Department of Defenseâs Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms to explore the "intimacy, perception, and memory" of a language influenced by war.
