Vivian Phillips

for colored girls was never simply about one woman’s story. It was about the power of many voices occupying the same space and, together, creating something larger than any one of us could create alone. That is the beauty of the choreopoem. That is the beauty of Black creative expression. And that is the beauty of the work we are privileged to do at ARTE NOIR.

by Vivian Phillips Like many Black people who came to Seattle in search of opportunity and a different kind of life, Rhonda Lewis arrived without knowing exactly what she would find. She found a city that would eventually become home—and a creative community that would profoundly shape how she saw it. "Collecting art is a way of finding joy," Lewis had never been to Seattle when a group of women she met through a YWCA fundraising effort invited her to join them on a trip. Originally from...

An expansive understanding of creativity is evident in the work Takiyah Ward has created across Seattle—from dance and visual art to the monumental Central District mural that has become one of the neighborhood's most recognizable contemporary landmarks.