The most innovative aspect to Haag’s reclamation of the land had to be the bioremediation strategies he incorporated into its design. The process of bioremediation is the use of biological systems (typically bacteria, microalgae, and various forms of fungi) to remove environmental pollutants. Instead of simply cleaning out the industrial waste and moving it to another location (i.e. not really doing anything about it), Haag and his engineers decided to leave the waste onsite and have nature do its thing by degrading the pollutants organically over time.

We all want a safer, happier, more livable, equitable, and resilient city. And simply put, that won’t be possible if we don’t meet our climate goals. We all need to care about climate. And we should expect our leaders to do more than just talk about it. We should expect them to act on it—decisively and urgently—so that in just 6 years, when our 2030 targets come due, Seattle is ready.

Politics isn’t showing any signs of becoming less polarizing and divisive. We need system reforms that change the conditions we vote in so that we can change the conditions we live in. The 2028 presidential primary will be here before we know it, and we deserve to be in a position to vote our respective truths knowing our voice will be heard in a meaningful way.

Fruit Bowl is a recently developed art production series bringing local artists’ designs to life with a set of runway shows—and yes, you’re right: it’s fruit-themed. Fruit Bowl is very queer and closed the show on Pride weekend; this last show’s theme was “Chimera Fruit: The Mutant Fruit.”

The Japanese Film Festival Online streams a diverse catalog of cinema from Japan. As an entirely free festival, viewers from around the world can instantly gain access to many movies and TV shows, including some archival films. The Japan Foundation started this festival, known as JFF, in 2016 to highlight and share Japanese culture through film, and has since expanded its access to 27 countries with subtitle options in over a dozen languages. These facets of JFF make it a fantastic chance to experience all kinds of Japanese cinema from almost anywhere around the world.

The City of Auburn’s Juneteenth event at Les Gove Park in Auburn, WA, promised to be a vibrant celebration of freedom and culture. Located right in downtown Auburn, adjacent to the King County Library Auburn Branch, the event was set against a backdrop that should have been inviting and accessible. My experience, however, revealed several areas that needed improvement.

The story transports the audience to the year 2065, where Planet Earth is a post-apocalyptic, dystopian hell, and the rulers are odd, sponge-like aliens who oversee a Big Brother-style world, and the humans who have somehow survived live in constant fear of being disappeared in the night if they don’t openly demonstrate their fealty to their authoritarian rulers.

Congratulations to the Gage graduates for completing their programs and their final showcase as students at Gage Academy of Art! This Best Of showcase was Gage’s last show in their Capitol Hill location, as they’ll be moving to a new spot soon. Gage’s gallery hallway will expand with more space for art, students, and learning. Many of these recent graduates have had their pieces shown across Seattle, including a contemporary showcase held at AXIS a few months ago. The showcase grouped the different art pieces by categories: still life, nature, figures, sculpture, portrait, narrative, and abstract.

If passed in November, I-2109 would slash over $5 billion from our schools, early learning, and childcare to give a tax cut to the very wealthiest.

The Ethnic Heritage Gallery hosts several paintings across the third floor of SMT. One of the paintings, Wat’sa with a Pearl Earring (2014), by Allison Marks, puts a mask on a version of the famous Girl with a Pearl Earring piece. While the alluded painting gently remains unchanged, the mask brings a dark and violent feeling to the scene with red eyes and fire across the face.

How does film production help a city’s economy? Production for a single movie can include a team of hundreds of people (cast, crew, and staff). During a several months-long film shoot, this large team of personnel would infuse money directly into the local economy for food, transportation, lodging, entertainment, services, equipment purchases and rentals, and patronizing the many tourist attractions or outdoor activities that the Pacific Northwest boasts.

ACT Theatre and the Seattle Shakespeare Company recently announced that its respective boards are exploring a merger between the two Seattle theater companies. The prospective forging of the two would produce a new entity in the Seattle theater community as well as create an arts center that focuses on both classic and contemporary works housed in the historic Eagles Auditorium Building at 700 Union Street.

SIFF took a close and considerate involvement with Indigenous film creators with a designated category and showcase. Three films that caught attention ranged from Indigenous Mexican, Aboriginal, and Native Hawaiian stories.

A lot of folks assume that their health insurance, or Medicare, will cover long-term care if we need it. They do not. The vast majority are unprepared financially to cover expenses of support should we need help with daily living tasks like dressing, bathing, getting around, managing meals, and medication.

The history of Blacks and other people of color playing service or menial roles in theater is deeply rooted in systemic racism and discriminatory practices. Throughout history, marginalized groups, including Blacks, Asians, Native Americans, and Latines, were often relegated to roles that reinforced negative stereotypes and limited their opportunities for meaningful representation.

One artistic choice that seems to occur more often in foreign films is an extended use of metaphor. I especially appreciate the filmmakers who move beyond using visual symbology to enhance their storytelling and deeply embed metaphor into their film’s narrative structure itself.

The fascinating thing about seeing this play now in 2024 is that it feels even more relevant post-pandemic as the world comes out of a period of forced isolation. How have we been transformed and how do we reconnect with ourselves and others as we face the real world again? This play explores the hope and transformation that human connection offers, but that connection comes with the potential risk of great pain. Is the reward of joy in finding others who accept you for who you are worth the possible pain of opening up your heart to someone else?

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist when we grow up.”~Picasso

Anyone in the US who lost their entire life savings, their home, their business, or their job starting in September 2008 will remember with horror the most devastating financial meltdown of the 21st Century. September 15th marked the day when Lehman Brothers collapsed and declared bankruptcy. Dubbed “The Great Recession,” this crisis led to a severe economic recession, with millions of people losing their jobs and countless businesses going bankrupt through no fault of their own.

In the world of Brown Bodies, we’re taken to the not-so-distant future wherein Helios (our sun) is inching its way closer to Earth. The ice caps have melted, the sea levels have risen, the animals are all but gone, the air is burning hot, and those with enough affluence and influence have boarded a space lifeboat for the colonized Moon. Of course, who is left on Earth but the rest of us, the broke and the BIPOC.