UNESCO (Finally) Names Seattle a "City of Literature:" An organization called Seattle City of Literature has been applying for the designation since 2013. This week they finally got it. Board member Stesha Brandon says the partnership will help provide âequity training for members of the literary communityâ and also maybe facilitate writersâ exchanges with other countries. Seattle joins Iowa City as the only other municipality in the U.S. to be recognized by UNESCO for its literary contributions to the world.
Short Run Starts Today: The giant book expo (and bake sale!) isnât until Saturday, but thereâs a sweet book arts exhibit on view at Soil Gallery tonight. What should you pick up on Saturday? Rich Smith painstakingly assembled a very thorough shopping list.
The Historic Georgetown Steam Plant Will Be ImmortalizedâŚIn A Comic: The National Historic Landmark and Steampunk photographerâs dream has been making a lot of inroads into the art community recently by hosting theater events and art exhibits. Back in August, they sponsored a contest to find an artist and a writer to âcreate a story grounded in the experiences of the people and significance of the steam plantâs history.â This week they choose cartoonist David Lansky and author Mairead Case for the project; the final product is a book that will be distributed free of charge in regional libraries, museums, and schools in 2019.
The City Seems to Have Made Up Their Mind About Who Gets To Redevelop KeyArena: Despite a letter signed by influential Seattle musicians that was sent to city council the other day, favoring investor Chris Hansenâs proposal to turn KeyArena into a mid-size arts and music venue.
You Can Now Stream Classic and Indie Films with Your Library Card: Our cityâs ever forward-thinking library has partnered with streaming service Kanopy to offer five free streams a month for SPL cardholders. Kanopy has over 30,000 films, including many from the esteemed Criterion collection. Itâs a great (free) way to ween yourself off Netflix.
Women in The Art World Are Not Surprised: About the amount of sexual abuse and harassment that happens in the industry: âwe have been groped, undermined, harassed, infantilized, scorned, threatened, and intimidated by those in positions of power who control access to resources and opportunities,â an open letter posted on the website Not Surprised said. The letter was signed by hundreds of women and gender nonconforming artists, curators and educators, including some folks from Seattle.
Lo-Fi hosts a tribute to Spacemen 3 tonight: Stranger music scribe Dave Segal has a hot tip for some psych-out fun tonight at Lo-Fi. âLocal luminaries Black Nite Crash, Shitty Person, and Liiight will resurrect English psychedelic rockersâ stratospheric song structures and effects-laden guitar wizardry, with DJ sets by the fabulous Mamma Casserole between performances. Spacemen 3 creative core Sonic Boom and Jason Pierce will likely never reconcile their differences, so this might be your best chance of experiencing their magical chemistry in a live setting.â
The Star-Studded Lion King Will Be the Best Thing To Happen To 2019: With celebs like Beyonce, Donald Glover, James Earl Jones, and John Oliver, you canât go wrong, says Stranger music intern Anna Kaplan.