A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures
By Karen Finneyfrock, WITS Writer-in-Residence Colors are evocative and emotional. Elementary age students love to talk about their favorite colors, their least favorite colors, the best colors and the most wretched ones. Discussions about colors can become heated! So when I bring in color samples from the hardware store and assign a color for each […]
On Thursday, October 25, SAL crossed a top line off its Literary Arts bucket list—we were so lucky to have the singular Barbara Kingsolver on stage and in conversation. She spoke with Executive Director Ruth Dickey about everything that’s been on her mind lately, from the letters of Mary Treat, the female scientist and colleague […]
You may have seen her staffing the Poetry Northwest table at SAL’s Poetry Series events, or managing SAL volunteers at Benaroya Hall. Or, maybe you’ve even met her through our Writers in the Schools program, where she works as a WITS Writer-in-Residence at Catherine Blaine K-8 School. However you might know Letitia, we hope you’re […]
Bill Bernat is a TED speaker, storyteller, comedian, and mental health awareness advocate. In this guest post, he speaks about the power of crafting and telling stories to help people live well, in light of our community partner NAMI Washington’s upcoming event, The Brainpower Chronicles: Mental Health Stories. Learn more information about The Brainpower Chronicles here. […]
Did you know American folk rock singer Brandi Carlile and former Obama White House photographer Pete Souza are good pals? Well, they are, and we’re delighted to announce that Brandi Carlile will be making a special guest appearance at our upcoming event with Pete Souza on Sunday, November 11, at Benaroya Hall—she’ll even perform a couple songs! Tickets are […]
Harvard historian Jill Lepore is concerned about the brittleness of our politics—in her sold-out talk, which opened our Women You Need to Know Series on October 12, she argued that without historical context, our vision of the present has become impoverished and compressed into social media snapshots and bumper sticker slogans. What, she asked, can we gain by […]
Stand Up America, America a place that is unknown like history there are secrets that have never been told Many have stood up for years, why don’t we celebrate them, why don’t we give them cheers When we started Black Lives Matter and people said they care, then tell us why police brutality is still […]
I’m Planting Waterfalls: A Letter To America America, where have your white stars flown? Why do the stripes on your flag look like crossbones? Gravestone pathways you say… America, why do I see my own blood river bathing In war badges run between my fingers. America, I’ve grown with my hand on my heart, north […]
Imperfect A dark purple bruise on perfect skin Hidden, painful, an accident But I know, I am the eye opened, watchful, while the other is closed I see it all The perfect world that everyone sees now Merely a curtain To hide the ruined chaos behind Hide the bruise Don’t let them know That you […]
By Danielle Palmer-Friedman, SAL Volunteer Who else is extremely excited to hear the eloquent, fiercely loving, and courageous Alice Walker read tonight at Benaroya Hall? This author and social activist is friends with Gloria Steinem, Yoko Ono, and Oprah (hello, dream book club!). Tickets will be available at the Benaroya Box Office tonight, which opens […]