Big news, Sloggers! Today, I'm very fucking excited to announce that Jasmyne Keimig will be joining The Stranger as a staff writer starting in January 2019. We've been huge fans of Jasmyne and her writing since adding her to the staff as an arts intern earlier this fall, and we're happy she accepted our offer to join this madhouse full-time. (ICYMI: Read her recent feature on artist Anthony White.)

Jasmyne will be the paper’s primary visual arts writer and also share music coverage, along with standard Stranger duties like blogging about celebrity diarrhea and talking shit about the 2.5 other media companies in town. As Seattle continues to change, there's an immediate need for sharp, engaging art criticism that records and celebrates Seattle’s art scenes. The Stranger has always been committed to the arts, and our addition of Jasmyne is a reflection of that commitment.

To get you acquainted, Jasmyne sent us some notes:

I’m originally from the Eastside, specifically Redmond, which was pretty much the uncoolest place to be from in the greater Seattle area until all these transplants made being in Seattle pre-2009 look like some sort of accomplishment. I’d always swipe up a copy of The Stranger as I waited for the 545 at the Redmond Transit Center to take me out of that suburban hellhole and into the city. Now look where I am. Never stop dreaming, kids.

Even though I’m from here, I still really hate the rain. Having an afro in the Pacific Northwest is a stressful experience—the shrinkage is real!

I went to Wellesley College, where I was deeply involved in the college radio station. I graduated with a degree in history. And I've spent the last few years puttering around rural Spain, teaching English, drinking, and learning obscenities to yell in Spanish.

I remember the first time I really “got” art was on a high school field trip to see a Mark Rothko show at the Portland Art Museum. The docent instructed us snotty teens to get as close as possible to the works on the wall, to let the colors engulf our field of vision, to be consumed by the painting. All I remember was orange and bright pink. Something about that was transformative—that understanding and appreciating art wasn’t only some intellectual exercise, but sensory as well. Now whenever I see art I really love, I think of this iconic photo series of Tracey Emin. Yes, Seattle artists, I want your work inside me.

To me, the best Seattle day is when it’s clear enough to see the Olympics in the west, Mount Rainier to the south, the Cascades to the east, and Mount Baker to the north. I like thinking of Seattle as being cradled between rock and water.

I’m really excited to be part of The Stranger staff. I’ve got a lot of love for this city. I want to be on the streets, I want to be the street, I want to wrap my whole brain around this city to understand the souls, desires, wishes, fears of everyone here. You’ll see me around.