Can you believe that its almost been a year since CHOP?
Will we ever see this Black Power fist again? JK

SIFF 2021 is OVER: I hope you all had fun watching along with us. While the fest is mostly good-natured fun, we can't forget that it's also a competition! This year, There Is No Evil and Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America took home the Golden Space Needle Audience Awards for Best Film and Best Documentary, respectively. My Neighbor, Miguel took home the Golden Space Needle Audience Award for Best Short Film while Miwa Nishikawa's Under the Open Sky won the Lena Share Award for Persistence of Vision (in my opinion, the coolest sounding award). Check out the rest of the winners, including the official competition winners, here.

CHOP is revisiting Cal Anderson Park this June. Sorta: CHOP Art, a non-profit organization formed to steward the art created during last year's Cal Anderson-centric protest zone, has submitted June 11 to June 13 to the Seattle Parks & Recreation Department for a weekend event. As of now, organizers tell me it will consist of socially distant art-making and art activities on Bobby Morris Playfield in Cal Anderson to commemorate the year anniversary of CHOP.

The event is still in the works: But in an interview, CHOP Art president Mark Anthony told me that the org plans to pay local artists to perform, speak, paint, and install art in the park. They also intend to provide booths to BIPOC and LGBT-owned businesses so they can connect with community members, as well as set up a place for food and "the culinary arts," in addition to hosting live music performances from local bands. Word is still out on who exactly plans to pay for the event.

Anthony hopes he can have some of the original artwork from CHOP on display at the event: But that depends on the outcome of a dispute between the CHOP Art board and their ousted treasurer, Sakura Schlegel. Back in February, the Seattle Police Department were called to resolve a dispute between Schlegel and CHOP Art board members when board members tried to remove art and drawings from a storage locker in West Seattle. The cops ultimately sided with Schlegel as the storage unit was in her name. Now CHOP murals made by Schlegel and Stephanie Morales, a.k.a. AxSM Art, recently went on display over at Bellevue Arts Museum.

This blurb has been updated to correct who initially removed the art from the storage locker.

🚨🚨🚨Mural opportunity alert 🚨🚨🚨 The City of Seattle is looking for a muralist to create a project for the Spruce Street Mini Park Playground Restoration. The artist or artist team needs to "develop and install an artwork that reflects the history and diversity of the Central Area community." The selected artist/team will get $30,000 to execute their vision. The application deadline is June 3 and BIPOC artists are encouraged to apply. Go forth!

Dr. Cornel West is coming to town on April 29: For the Northwest African American Museum's It Takes a Village virtual talk series. Tune in for the esteemed philosopher and author's discussion "Critical Thinking and the Cultivation of Your True Self" with University of Washington professor and NAAM's scholar-in-residence Dr. Ralina Joseph. Tickets are free, but the museum asks that you "donate the amount that you feel is appropriate for your ticket."

There's a hot new Cold Cube release on the streets: The first part of Ian Mackay and Gavin Owen's graphic novel Wont 2 Cant is being released by our local risograph printer and publisher. Printed in stunning orange, black, and mint ink, the 96-page novel follows Harold a "wide-eyed young monk, as he navigates the workplace politics of the Abbey before venturing into the strange world beyond its walls." You can order the book right now and Cold Cube will ship it to you starting early May.

OK one last virtual talk that you might be interested via the Jacob Lawrence Gallery, Black Embodiments Studio, and Cranbrook Art Museum: adrienne maree brown (organizer and author of Emergent Strategy, Pleasure Activism) and multidisciplinary creator Prem Krishnamurthy will be ~in conversation~ discussing "potential futures for art, community building, and mutual care, as well as essential tools for today’s artists and organizers." It's free, open to the public, and kicks off this Friday at 10 am PST—you can register here.

And don't forget! The Oscars are this Sunday. Who do you think will win?

Let me leave you: With a sweet recommendation.