Exploring traditional and contemporary visual and performing arts, literature, and film of Africa and its Diaspora
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Seeking Emerging Public Artists
Seeking artists to develop temporary artworks for 'Art Interruptions 2013'
The Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), is seeking emerging public artists to create temporary art installations along the Beacon Hill Neighborhood Greenway and the Central Waterfront for the project Art Interruptions 2013. The artworks will inhabit city sidewalks and parks and offer passers-by a brief interruption in their day, eliciting a moment of surprise, beauty, contemplation or humor.
Possible locations for artworks include street and park infrastructure, trees, tree pits and street furniture. Up to 12 artists will be selected to develop a series of artworks for a six-week period beginning in August 2013.
Eligibility:
Open to emerging public artists living in Washington state. The Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs defines emerging public artists as artists who have a documented track record of making art, are interested in creating art in public places, and may or may not have a formal art education. Applicants must be over 18 years old and interested in working collaboratively in public settings. Applicants are not eligible if they have received a permanently sited public or private art commission of more than $10,000.
Budget:
Each selected artist will receive a $1,500 stipend.
Seeking artists to develop temporary artworks for 'Art Interruptions 2013'
Deadline:
11 p.m. Friday, May 3, 2013 (Pacific Daylight Time).
Project
Overview
Workshops:
Monday, April 22, 2013, 7 - 8:30 p.m.
Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute (LHPAI)
104 17th Ave. S.
Seattle, WA 98144
(206) 684-4758
Friday, April 19, 2013
Festival Closing Night and Reception with Robert Townsend and the Langston Hughes Film Festival Family
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| Robert Townsend |
Mr. Townsend will ALSO introduce and discuss his documentary “Why We Laugh” (Sunday, 4:00pm) which includes interviews with Dave Chappelle, Whoopi Goldberg, Katt Williams, Chris Rock, Steve Harvey, Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, Dick Gregory, Robin Harris, Eddie Griffin, D.L. Hughley and Redd Foxx.
Mr. Townsend is also participating in the film maker’s panel at 11:00am, Saturday in the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute Theater.
Ticket prices are $10 for "Why We Laugh", $25 for "In The Hive" and the evening reception, and $10 for the Film Maker's Panel.
"Yelling To The Sky" Filmmaker Victoria Mahoney On Langston Hughes Panel
Join
Langston Hughes African American Film Festival Filmmakers this Saturday, April
20, 11:00 a.m. in the Langston Hughes Theater for an informative,
thought-provoking panel. Hear film professionals discuss the changing
world of independent filmmaking, online fundraising, Black independent film,
marketing, and new models of film distribution.
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| Gabourey Sidibe, Victoria Mahoney, Zoe Kravitz and Yolonda Ross |
Victoria
Mahoney, Director of Yelling to the Sky (staring Zoe Kravitz, Gabourey Sidibe and Yolonda Ross), Tiona McClodden (Bumming Cigarettes, Black Womyn Conversations) and other
filmmakers will be present for this discussion.
There
will be time for audience questions.
TICKETS
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Today, April 16 at 4:00pm - The Sunflower County Freedom Project
The Langston Hughes African American Film Festival proudly
presents the world premiere of Carmen Scott’s “The
Sunflower County Freedom Project”.
"The
Sunflower County Freedom Project" is a documentary film about the
afterschool program by the same name and its impact in Sunflower County,
Mississippi.
Modeled
after the freedom schools of the 1960s, the Freedom Project seeks to offset the
county's inferior public education system and help its residents gain the
freedom not yet gained: access to a quality education.
The
Freedom Project exposes kids to the Sunflower County's rich history of civil
rights activism in order to prove to them that overcoming adversity is not only
doable, it's in their DNA. The lingering legacy of racism and segregation is
very apparent in Sunflower County's still segregated school system.
When
Brown v. Board forced the merger of the two legally segregated public schools,
whites fled to makeshift private schools housed in warehouses and churches that
they called academies. The academies are still in full effect and educate
almost 100% of the white kids in Sunflower County leaving underfunded public
schools for the black kids.
Only
11% of high school seniors in Sunflower County's public school go on to
college. SCFP is trying to change those odds for the kids in their program and
they're having a lot of success doing it.
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| Carmen Scott |
Sunday, April 14, 2013
African American Film Festival’s “old school” opening night
The Langston Hughes African
American Film Festival’s “old school” opening night featured a 1984 throw back
Sci-Fi film “The Brother from Another Planet” staring Scandal’s Joe Morton. The movie which still has major relevance today
tells a story of a new arrival in a strange world and his journey, as he seeks
his place in this new land. Seattle’s
Mayor Mike McGinn, who spoke before the film, highlighted similarities to the
Great Migration of African Americans to the industrial north and the plight of
new immigrants where this country may seem like “Another Planet”.
After the movie, acclaimed
Sci-Fi/Speculative Fiction/Fantasy writers David Walker and Nisi Shawl
participated in a talk back discussion on the role of African Americans as
writers and film makers in the Sci-Fi genre.
The movie was followed by a beautiful reception in the Langston Hughes Great Hall
complete with an “out of this world” repast.
This festival continues for
ANOTHER EIGHT DAYS with a closing evening dedicated to the work of Robert
Townsend who will be in attendance.
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| Karen Toering The 2013 Film Festival is dedicated to Ms Toering |
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| Mayor Michael McGinn |
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| Program Manager Karen Toering and Curator Zola Mumford |
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| Royal Alley-Barnes Executive Director |
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| Curator Zola Mumford and Artistic Director Jacqueline Moscou |
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| Karen Toering and Graphic Design & Media Team Leader Naomi Ishisaka |
Saturday, April 13, 2013
OPENING TONIGHT - April 13, 2013
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CELEBRATE A DECADE OF BLACK FILM
Opening Night at the 10th
annual Langston
Hughes
African
American Film Festival
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Seeing Stars: "The Brother From Another Planet"
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We're beyond excited for Opening
Night of our 10th annual film festival! On April 13th, we're
screening the classic sci-fi film about a refugee from a distant star:
"The Brother From Another Planet." Oh, but there's more: a
reception and post-film discussion
with star Joe Morton! Learn more.
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Friday, April 12, 2013
TONIGHT! The Legacy of Octavia E. Butler
In celebration of the legacy of Octavia E. Butler, Pacific
Northwest writers Vonda N. McIntyre, Nisi Shawl, Dennis Y. Ginoza, Erik
Owomoyela, Caren Gussoff, and Rashida Smith will read work inspired by their
relationships with Octavia Butler, or stories included in Blood¬children:
Stories by the Octavia E. Butler Scholars.
These readings will be at Seattle's world famous sci-fi/fantasy
coffeehouse, the Wayward Coffeehouse (6417 Roosevelt Way NE, #104, Seattle WA
98105) on Friday, April 12, at 7PM. Octavia E. Butler was one of the world’s
most respected speculative fiction writers. Butler, an African-American woman,
was recognized during her lifetime with numerous awards, such as the Hugo and
Nebula, and was the first science fiction writer to receive the MacArthur
Foundation Genius Grant. Butler made the Seattle area her home in 1999, and
lived in Lake Forest Park until her death in 2006.
Bloodchildren is an e-book anthology of science fiction and
fantasy stories by those who have received the Octavia E. Butler Scholarship.
The Octavia E. Butler Scholarship Fund is named for Butler and
managed by the Carl Brandon Society. The Carl Brandon Society is “…dedicated to
addressing the representation of people of color in the fantastical genres such
as science fiction, fantasy and horror…” and the scholarship pays tuition for 2
writers of color attending the Clarion and Clarion West writers’ workshops each
year. Both Clarion and Clarion West are recognized as the premiere workshops
for aspiring professional writers of speculative fiction.
All proceeds from the sales of Blood¬children benefit the
scholarship fund.The anthology is only available until June 22, 2013, which
would have been Octavia’s 66th birthday.
The anthology is available for purchase through the Book View
Café, an all-author run publishing cooperative: http://bookviewcafe.com/bookstore/book/bloodchildren/
More information about the
Octavia E. Butler scholarship and the Carl Brandon Society may be found here: http://carlbrandon.org/
To learn about Clarion and Clarion West, please
visit: http://www.clarionwest.org/, respectively.
Location: Wayward
Coffeehouse, 6417 Roosevelt Way NE, #104, Seattle WA 98105
In celebration of the legacy of Octavia E. Butler, Pacific
Northwest writers Vonda N. McIntyre, Nisi Shawl, Dennis Y. Ginoza, Erik
Owomoyela, Caren Gussoff, and Rashida Smith will read work inspired by their
relationships with Octavia Butler, or stories included in Blood¬children:
Stories by the Octavia E. Butler Scholars.
These readings will be at Seattle's world famous sci-fi/fantasy
coffeehouse, the Wayward Coffeehouse (6417 Roosevelt Way NE, #104, Seattle WA
98105) on Friday, April 12, at 7PM. Octavia E. Butler was one of the world’s
most respected speculative fiction writers. Butler, an African-American woman,
was recognized during her lifetime with numerous awards, such as the Hugo and
Nebula, and was the first science fiction writer to receive the MacArthur
Foundation Genius Grant. Butler made the Seattle area her home in 1999, and
lived in Lake Forest Park until her death in 2006.
Bloodchildren is an e-book anthology of science fiction and
fantasy stories by those who have received the Octavia E. Butler Scholarship.
The Octavia E. Butler Scholarship Fund is named for Butler and
managed by the Carl Brandon Society. The Carl Brandon Society is “…dedicated to
addressing the representation of people of color in the fantastical genres such
as science fiction, fantasy and horror…” and the scholarship pays tuition for 2
writers of color attending the Clarion and Clarion West writers’ workshops each
year. Both Clarion and Clarion West are recognized as the premiere workshops
for aspiring professional writers of speculative fiction.
All proceeds from the sales of Blood¬children benefit the
scholarship fund.The anthology is only available until June 22, 2013, which
would have been Octavia’s 66th birthday.
The anthology is available for purchase through the Book View
Café, an all-author run publishing cooperative: http://bookviewcafe.com/bookstore/book/bloodchildren/
More information about the
Octavia E. Butler scholarship and the Carl Brandon Society may be found here: http://carlbrandon.org/
To learn about Clarion and Clarion West, please
visit: http://www.clarionwest.org/, respectively.
Location: Wayward
Coffeehouse, 6417 Roosevelt Way NE, #104, Seattle WA 98105
In celebration of the legacy of Octavia E. Butler, Pacific
Northwest writers Vonda N. McIntyre, Nisi Shawl, Dennis Y. Ginoza, Erik
Owomoyela, Caren Gussoff, and Rashida Smith will read work inspired by their
relationships with Octavia Butler, or stories included in Blood¬children:
Stories by the Octavia E. Butler Scholars.
These readings will be at Seattle's world famous sci-fi/fantasy
coffeehouse, the Wayward Coffeehouse (6417 Roosevelt Way NE, #104, Seattle WA
98105) on Friday, April 12, at 7PM. Octavia E. Butler was one of the world’s
most respected speculative fiction writers. Butler, an African-American woman,
was recognized during her lifetime with numerous awards, such as the Hugo and
Nebula, and was the first science fiction writer to receive the MacArthur
Foundation Genius Grant. Butler made the Seattle area her home in 1999, and
lived in Lake Forest Park until her death in 2006.
Bloodchildren is an e-book anthology of science fiction and
fantasy stories by those who have received the Octavia E. Butler Scholarship.
The Octavia E. Butler Scholarship Fund is named for Butler and
managed by the Carl Brandon Society. The Carl Brandon Society is “…dedicated to
addressing the representation of people of color in the fantastical genres such
as science fiction, fantasy and horror…” and the scholarship pays tuition for 2
writers of color attending the Clarion and Clarion West writers’ workshops each
year. Both Clarion and Clarion West are recognized as the premiere workshops
for aspiring professional writers of speculative fiction.
All proceeds from the sales of Blood¬children benefit the
scholarship fund.The anthology is only available until June 22, 2013, which
would have been Octavia’s 66th birthday.
The anthology is available for purchase through the Book View
Café, an all-author run publishing cooperative: http://bookviewcafe.com/bookstore/book/bloodchildren/
More information about the
Octavia E. Butler scholarship and the Carl Brandon Society may be found here: http://carlbrandon.org/
To learn about Clarion and Clarion West, please
visit: http://www.clarionwest.org/, respectively.
Location: Wayward
Coffeehouse, 6417 Roosevelt Way NE, #104, Seattle WA 98105
Thursday, April 11, 2013
"Brother from Another Planet" opens Seattle's Langston Hughes African American Film Festival this Saturday!
LANGSTON HUGHES AFRICAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL
The Langston Hughes African American Film Festival (LHAAFF) celebrates its 10th anniversary this year at the newly renovated Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute. LHAAFF takes a look back with a 30th anniversary screening of the sci-fi classic Brother from Another Planet, and a look forward with a presentation of actor/director Robert Townsend’s newest independent film In the Hive. Both films spotlight powerful personal transformation stories. Transformations also appear thematically in many in many of the more than 40 films and shorts expected to run during the nine-day festival, April 13 to 21. Beginning as a weekend series, LHAAFF has expanded over the past decade to include nine days of film, workshops, filmmaker events and community celebrations renowned for presenting positive, provocative and penetrating independent films created by emerging and established filmmakers. Films are selected by panel and will feature contemporary and vintage offerings, as well as local and international filmmakers.
2013 DAILY PROGRAM SCHEDULE
Please note: this schedule is subject to change.
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Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold” ... and the Boys
Thank You To The Seattle Weekly for the Info and Review!
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Opening Nights: Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold” ... and the Boys
“Master Harold” . . . and the Boys
West of Lenin, 203 N. 36th St., 352-1777, westoflenin.com. $12–$20. 8 p.m. Thurs.–Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends April 21.
Athol Fugard’s autobiographical drama about two middle-aged black men in 1950 South Africa and their relationship with the white child of their employer is a delicate powder keg that needs to go off. In its best airings, including this excellent revival, it does just that. Three decades after its 1982 premiere (which I happened to see and be seared by), it is capable of just as much impact, as though apartheid were still with us. AJ Epstein’s West of Lenin production, directed by M. Burke Walker (a founder of Empty Space Theater), detonates even more shatteringly than I recall the original doing, laying waste to the hopes of the audience.
Sam (G. Valmont Thomas) and Willie (Kevin Warren) have worked for Harold’s mother in Port Elizabeth since Harold (or “Hally”) was a tot—lately in the family’s tea room. As graceful Sam and clumsy Willie prepare to compete in a ballroom-dance competition, late-adolescent Hally (James Lindsay) badgers them with pretentious banter between bouts of family crisis about his father coming home from the hospital. Clearly the two “boys” have been his real father figures, particularly Sam. But now that Hally’s on the verge of adulthood himself, his own repressed shame, anger, and self-loathing transform into vicious racism before our eyes on Catherine Cornell’s period diner set, sandwiched between two stands of audience seating. (Sit on the near side if you can; at key junctures, only half the audience can see the cast, creating a visceral sense of separate-but-not-equal.)
Lindsay is perfect as baby-like Hally; his small eyes seem needy and peevish even as his lanky body affects the languor of privilege. As Thomas’ Sam subtly wrests control of the story, his earlier jovial subjugation hardens into a weapon; his resonant moral authority assumes a dangerous edge. Meanwhile, Warren’s simpler Willie looks on in terror. By this point, several audience members were sobbing. The final recovery of equilibrium comes at a high cost to everybody, like the necessary cleanup after a bombing, and it feels more emotionally informative than a hundred books on apartheid. Off goes Epstein’s galaxy of globe lights, on comes the jukebox’s pink glow—as dreamy as a future that can’t come soon enough.
stage@seattleweekly.com
JAMAICA KINCAID at Seattle Public Central Library
JAMAICA
KINCAID at Seattle Public Central Library
Wednesday, 04/03/2013 7:00 pm
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| Jamaica Kincaid |
Co-presented
with the WASHINGTON CENTER FOR THE BOOK AT THE SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
One
of the most accomplished prose writers in the English language at work today,
the author of numerous works of fiction and essay, Jamaica Kincaid makes this
welcome Seattle return for her first novel in ten years, See Now Then (Farrar,
Straus & Giroux).
"Writers make uncomfortable kin ...
There's a reflex in every writer that trumps even the maternal instinct, a part
of her that, even while her newborn suckles at her breast, is cold-eyed,
choosing words to describe the pit-bull clamp of its gums, the crusted globe of
its skull, with the same dispassion which she might describe fellow passengers
on a bus ... The intimate treachery, the permanent duality that this entails
... are lucidly examined in Jamaica Kincaid's latest novel ... Kincaid has the
gift of endowing common experience with a mythic ferocity ... [She] is one of
our most scouringly vivid writers." – Fernanda Eberstadt, New York Times
Book Review.
Free
admission is on a first-come, first-serve basis. The Seattle Public Library is
at 1000 Fourth Avenue (between Madison & Spring).
For
more information, please see www.spl.org or call (206) 386-4636.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Selected Events in April
April is a busy month for the Arts in Seattle. As many of you know, this
is the month for the Langston Hughes African American Film Festival. It features over 40 films as well as
appearances from SCANDAL’s Joe Morton and Robert Townsend of Hollywood Shuffle
fame.
There is a major art
exhibition from the Onyx Art Collective at Seattle’s City hall that will run
through May 1st. There will
be a reception at City Hall for this exhibition from 4pm – 6pm on Thursday,
April 4th.
This first week of April
includes some key performances includind a show from the beautiful and talented
Jacqueline Tabor who will be at Tula’s Thursday (evening), April 4th.
On Saturday, April 6th,
the Devine Ms Debbie Cavitt performs at The Scarlet Tree. The Scarlet Tree is located at 801 NE 65th
St, Seattle, WA.
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| Debbie Cavitt |
The Seattle Jazz Offering,
fresh off of their 14th anniversary celebration will be back at Tula’s from 3pm
to 7pm this Sunday, April 7th.
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