Search Results

Washington State’s first Black-owned brewery, Métier Brewing, is taking another major leap with the opening of a new space near T-Mobile Park, home of the Seattle Mariners. Steelheads Alley, a boutique brewpub, is set to open next summer and will pay tribute to the Seattle Steelheads, a team that played a single season in the West Coast Baseball Association of the Negro League in 1946. Métier CEO and co-founder Rodney Hines established the brewery in 2018 with a mission rooted in a deep commitment to foster diversity. Hines is well known as a leader in community engagement from his days at both Microsoft and Starbucks, and he continues to bring his professional acumen and personal passion to his foray into brewing. In a press release from Seattle Mariners, Hines stated, “When the chance to partner with the Mariners arose, we were incredibly excited by the opportunity to be part of this history and reach even more people with our award-winning beers and mission to inspire bigger dreams for all. We feel really fortunate to be joining the organization at such an exciting and critical time and look forward to the many ways this space will provide access to fans and community members from all backgrounds.” Steelheads Alley, along with the new restaurant, event space, and indoor/outdoor garden, will offer up to ten rotating taps, exclusively featuring MBC beers, including some small-batch craft beers brewed onsite. 
The site is located in the old Pyramid Brewery building at 1201 1st Avenue South, Seattle. We’re rooting for the home team, Métier Brewing, and we’re shouting our congratulations and appreciation for keeping the history of Seattle’s Negro League history alive!

This November 11th would have been the 93rd birthday of Seattle’s beloved jazz vocalist Ernestine Anderson. In the time since her passing, streets have been renamed in her honor, housing complexes carry her name, and Earshot Jazz has honored her life’s work. As important as it is to celebrate up and coming artists, it is equally important to remember those upon whose shoulders we all stand. Ernestine Anderson was a giant and a beloved member of Seattle’s community. She honored us with her international acclaim and to keep her memory alive, we want to remind our readers of who she was. Born November 11, 1928, in Houston, Texas, international jazz great Ernestine Anderson passed away March 10, 2016, in Seattle, where she had resided since the age of 16. Anderson’s career began in the early 1940s, though she had begun to sing along with Bessie Smith records at age 3. Equally gifted at singing upbeat, spirited blues, big band/swing, and jazzy pop, her early career led her to sing alongside Russell Jacquet, Eddie Heywood, Shifty Henry, and Johnny Otis. By the ’50s, Anderson had become a prominent jazz stylist performing with Lionel Hampton on the New York Club scene. Ernestine performed at the first of many subsequent Monterey Jazz Festivals. Prior to recording her breakout hit album Hot Cargo in 1956, Anderson had also performed with a Seattle contemporary and fellow Garfield High School graduate, Quincy Jones. Anderson and Jones would eventually reunite when in 1994, his Quest Records label produced her timeless album, Now and Then, followed by Blues, Dues, & Love News, which featured songs penned by Anderson. Jones described Anderson’s voice as, “honey at dusk.” Anderson first recorded in 1955 with bandleader Gigi Gryce. Recording two albums by 1959, Ernestine Anderson won the New Star Award from Downbeat critics. In 1969, Anderson’s He Says He Loves Me, recorded for the soundtrack of the Sidney Poitier film “The Lost Man,” garnered great international attention making her a highly in-demand singer, and after signing to Concord Records she released Hello Like Before. By the mid-1980s Anderson was cutting sessions with her own quartet and her 1981 album Never Make Your Move Too Soon garnered her first Grammy Nomination. Anderson would be nominated for a total of 4 Grammys, in the categories of Best Jazz Vocalist and Best Jazz Female Vocalist. A significant contributor to jazz history, Anderson’s six-plus decades' career resulted in the release of more than 30 albums. In 1958, Time Magazine featured her stating, “The voice belongs to Negro Singer Ernestine Anderson, at 29 perhaps the best-kept jazz secret in the land.” But Anderson was no secret to jazz lovers and admirers of accomplished African Americans around the world. In 1999, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Brian Lanker selected Ernestine as one of only 75 women to be featured in his book, I Dream a World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America, alongside Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, Sarah Vaughn, Oprah Winfrey, and others. “Ernestine was the mother of Seattle’s soul music,” said (then) Congressman Jim McDermott. “Mississippi had BB King and Seattle had Ernestine Anderson. Ernestine’s legacy remains unmatched in Seattle’s music scene.” Ernestine Anderson created many memorable moments around the world, and at home in Seattle. She performed a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald at Carnegie Hall, performed with Billy Taylor at the Kennedy Center, and added her voice to The White House's first inauguration event for President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Anderson routinely accepted invitations to perform at benefits for local charities and causes. Her 1998 70th Birthday Bash at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre was a benefit for Children’s Hospital and the Rise n’ Shine Foundation. At this event, Ernestine showcased the music of her beloved high school alma mater, performing with the Garfield Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Seattle’s Marcus Tsutakawa. The contributions to our nation’s musical history from Seattle artists are well known and not far from memory. We lift up one of the greats, a Black woman, who always gave more than she was given. We remember Ernestine Anderson, with love.

"A place to honor Black triumphs, build Black futures, and make a statement celebrating our present and our presence." This is the inspiration for the transformative infrastructure project happening in South Central LA's infamous Crenshaw Boulevard. Featuring Black Art heavy hitters, including Charles Dickson, Artis Lane, Alison Saar, and Kehinde Wiley, along with over 100 additional works by Black artists who have strong ties to the city, Destination Crenshaw looks to become “the largest commissioning initiative ever undertaken for Black artists in the United States, and quite possibly the world." according to the project's website. LA City Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson spearheaded the reparative development project in response to major concerns about the impact of a new Metro light rail line planned to run through the center of the community. Concerned citizens voiced fears over the possible detrimental effects of the line, both the physical disruption and the potential for disruptive gentrification as well. Harris-Dawson brought in a dynamic range of arts and community leaders to be advisors and stakeholders on the project, including the Vice President of Education and Public Programs at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) Naima Keith; the well-known gardener and activist Ron Finley; rapper Nipsey Hussle, prior to his death in 2019; and Dr. Jill Moniz, Public Art Director for the City of Los Angeles. Beyond the innovative artistic vision of the project, the initiative will redesign a large stretch of Crenshaw Boulevard, bringing in 30,000 feet of sustainable landscape design, planting more than 800 trees, and a pledge to hire 70% of the workers locally as a way to create hundreds of jobs and boost the economy of the community. According to the project's website, their mission "is nothing less than to place a cultural stamp of Blackness on Crenshaw Boulevard – a stamp akin to those in Chinatown, Mariachi Plaza, Koreatown, and other ethnic enclaves." Slated to be completed by the fall of 2022, we can't wait to witness this visionary project in person. Until then, you can learn more, donate, and follow along with Destination Crenshaw's progress on their website and social media.

The Preis der Nationalgalerie, a biennial award established in 2000, honors German contemporary artists under the age of 40 whose work reflects the international and lively nature of the German art scene. The 2021 recipient Sandra Mujinga was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is based in Berlin and Oslo. Mujinga creates within a broad spectrum of media and art, including music, sculpture, video, photography, and installations, many of which are inspired by dystopian futures, Afrofuturism, and Octavia E. Butler. Though the prize does not come with money (a point of contention amongst some past nominees), it is still held in high regard, and the winner receives a solo show at the Hamburger Bahnhof, a state-run contemporary art museum in Berlin. “The topics addressed by her works resonate greatly with the present moment, while also seeming to come from a future already passed,” the prize’s jury wrote in a statement. “They remind us to be considerate of other living beings for the sake of our own survival, and that we can observe and learn from their various strategies of adapting to an ever-changing world.” Congratulations to another rising Black artist! To learn more about Sandra visit her website or read more about her and the award here.

Jake Prendez and Judy Avitia-Gonzalez made a space that sits on the border of the West Seattle and White Center neighborhoods to host monthly exhibits focused on marginalized communities and communities of color. Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery expresses the meaning of the word from the Aztec language, which describes being in the middle, or the space in the middle. In November, they took that space and centered the work of Black artists from the Pacific Northwest. Curated by Jasmine Jamillah Mahmoud and Vivian Phillips, northwest Black features the work of seven artists – Adetola Abatan, Myron Curry, Rebecca Garcia, Erika Bell, Maya Milton, Stephanie Morales, Mirai Okamura-Culpepper, and runs through November 28. We hope you can plan a visit during the long holiday weekend! Nepantla is located at 9414 Delridge Avenue SW, Seattle, 98106. Gallery hours are Thurs – Sun, 12 - 6 pm. Here is a glimpse of the works on view and the curatorial statement accompanying the exhibit: FROM THE CURATORS What does it mean to be a Black artist? What does it mean to be a Black artist in a predominately white city like Seattle? Every once in a while, I am reminded of these questions. Perhaps it was 20 years ago when the CD Forum hosted a panel discussion on exactly this theme. Is one considered to be Black first and an artist next? And if so, what restrictions are automatically imposed as a result? Can one successfully claim their artistry without any necessity to attach the construct of race? Two decades ago the questions eclipsed the answers and what is evident today, in this exhibit, is that these artists, all of whom share a Black descendancy of some stripe, are cultural messengers signaling their humanity! Self-taught, community messengers and organizers, multi-ethnic, trained, literal, impressionistic, futuristic, spiritual, unapologetic, empowering, and all things in between and on both ends, these artists are part of what makes northwest Black, a very special kind of crayon. Being a Black artist anyplace in the world should never relegate one to a particular style, aesthetic, storyline, or depiction of the human experience. These 7 artists bring a diversity that shouts “Black is not a monolith” and it is our joy to share the Nepantla space to sing their praises. We honor and appreciate your vision and creativity, and thank you for elevating what it means to be a Black artist, a northwest Black artist! - Vivian Phillips, Curator What is the art in this room? How might we seriously and joyfully hold the form, themes, techniques, and aesthetics of these Black and Afro-Diasporic artists from the Pacific Northwest? Maya Milton’s My Brilliance is Beyond You centers a surreal black female figure. Her braids are purple, and as she holds her face, we view how her skin radiates with circles of green, yellow, and pink, from which rays extend to the frame’s edges. As our region often lacks the sun, celestial bodies animate much of this exhibition. (How many “suns” do you spot across these works?) Electric excitement in red, yellow, and blue defines the sparse, sketch-heavy Child of the Sun by Mirai Okamura-Culpepper. In Erika Bell’s 432 HERtz, a female figure in thought and sound is adorned by a moon-like half-sphere; “she’s in her element,” Bell tells me. A glistening hummingbird flies in front of the feminine figure in Rebecca N. García’s Afro Galaxy Green, which symbolizes, she told me, “wisdom” and links her Mexican and Black heritage. García’s Afro Galaxy Orange further articulates what she calls “inner duality.” Inspired by vessels, Stephanie Morales presents four new serial portraits that at times evoke religious iconography (Madonna) or growth (Pollinator); linking each are the half-moon face; brown, green, and blue colors; and her experimental technique using gold leaf and resin. Another series: Adetola Abatan’s “Covering” is inspired by this region -- the physical beauty and cool dampness, and socially, the Seattle Freeze; Abatan “use[s] pieces and scraps of paper to simulate the warmth and movement of nature woven into patchwork quilts” and adjoins each work with a short poem. Also regionally specific is Okamura-Culpepper’s “Price of Life,” where a tent housing the homeless neighbors high rise condos, shadowed by Seattle’s iconic Space Needle; this work asks what is the price of life in a city defined by so much wealth and poverty? Portraiture exists throughout. Myron Curry self-describes his style as “spontaneous realism”; his Melanin Love represents a black youth through regal purple which saturates her skin. In other portraits, we think of music and genius (Curry’s Ray Soul), bright hope (Erika Bell’s color-blocked silhouette Boy, wishing), pride (Bell’s Godfidenceis “an ode to the durag,” she told me), and calmness and the recurring sun (especially in Solar Energy which Maya Milton describes as a “celebration of Muslim women.”) Collectively, these artists identify as African American, Afro-Latina, African, Afro-Asian, Afro-Indigenous, and, simply, Black. As Vivian writes, “Black is not a monolith.” This is exemplified by these artists and their works which move through portraiture of so many styles; differently engage with materials including acrylic, gold leaf, and mixed-media; and articulate themes of other worlds, and of this one marked by location, religion, identity, and interiority. This is the vast art in this room. -- Jasmine Mahmoud, Curator Read more about the artists from their interviews with curators here: Northwestblack.wordpress.com

I don’t know about you but I am so happy to be entering the holiday season! Seems like everyone I talk with and everywhere I turn, people are tired and feeling burned out. Another thing that is very evident is how much people are taking stock of things to be grateful for. We’ve all been through the absolute wringer lately, but coming out on the other side is great cause for numerous shouts of hallelujah! My gratitude is great for being ensconced in and surrounded by great art and great people. This past year has given me the opportunity to experience so many incredible humans sharing their love and crafts, and they have inspired me to start a "Favorite Things" list. Please enjoy this short list of things to do and places to go that will inspire you and fill you with gratitude this holiday season. And, if you are reading from outside Seattle, make a note to visit some of these places when you are in town: Marjorie Restaurant I have a friend that keeps a standing weekly reservation at Marjorie so I always know where to find him and where to find a good time. Owner Donna Moodie is perhaps one of the best hosts in the entire world. She is warm, always welcoming, and always makes space for her community. Indoor or outdoor dining, the food, and drinks are always on point. Donna fills me with gratitude whenever I am in her presence and Marjorie is the place I love where everybody knows my name. Food for the soul and company for the spirit. Wa Na Wari Literally, our home is the meaning of Wa Na Wari and home is what this always feels like. Whether it’s a drop by or a special event, this is the familiar home for art and culture, in the heart of the Central District. You just never know who you might run into there but you can always be assured that you will be warmly welcomed and made to feel at home. They consider themselves “a container for Black joy,” which is what I always feel whenever I am there. Stop by and also sign up for their newsletter to be in the know about happenings. Communion Restaurant Another place to be at home is Communion – that is if you can snag a reservation. Lauded as one of the best restaurants in the world, this is the place to relax and let all of the worries of the world be washed away in, oh let’s say an August Wilson Eggplant Salad, some Neck Bone Stew, or Betta Than Yo Grandma’s Mac & Cheese. Them’s fighting words, but we bet your fight will wane after the first bite. You can walk off some of those hard-earned calories by visiting these exhibits: northwest Black - through November 28th at Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery Packaged Black – Barbara Earl Thomas and Derrick Adams, through May 2022 at The Henry Gallery Unspoken Truths exhibit – through January 15, 2022 at King Street Station And wrap yourself in some ultimate personal care by indulging with QueenCare products. I highly recommend The Spa Experience Set and The Indulge Set Deluxe. Luxurious oils, soaps, candles, and creams to get your mind and body right for the holidays. I’m grateful for you, our readers, and wish you a holiday season filled with rest, relaxation, self-care, and new experiences.

Black women are now leading the boards of two major US museums. In Minneapolis, Seena Hodges became the first African American and the first person of color to lead the board of the Walker Art Museum. Hodges, who runs the DEI consulting firm Woke Coach, has served on the Walker board in various capacities prior to this appointment. She will guide the organization as it embraces its new 5-year strategic plan and noted in a statement recently, “I have always been fascinated by how art connects us to others through its ability to simultaneously shift and broaden our understanding and perspectives.” Seena is also working on a book titled, From Ally to Accomplice: How to Lead as a Fierce Antiracist. In Seattle, well-known leader and community activist, Dr. Constance W. Rice, became chair of the Seattle Art Museum Board after having served in various capacities including on the Education and Community Engagement Committee and the Equity Task Force during her tenure on the board beginning in 1995. Rice is a highly regarded leader whose professional career includes posts with Seattle Colleges, the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation, and Casey Family Foundation and she is the president of Very Strategic Group, a consulting firm for executive coaching and educational policies. As the wife of Seattle’s only Black Mayor to date, Constance is also highly regarded for the Health and Nutrition Programs she established for seven elementary schools in the Seattle area.

While Black women take the helm of leadership on museum boards in the United States, in Barcelona last month, Elvira Dyangani Ose began her new role as Director of the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA). Ose comes with a long list of accomplishments and experiences gained in Europe, Africa, and the US. Elvira served as Director and Chief Curator of The Showroom in London, as well as Lecturer in Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London, and a member of the Thought Council, Fondazione Prada before heading to MACBA. Born in Cordova, Spain, Ose is the first woman and the first Black person to lead the organization, which was founded in 1987. Elvira Dyangani Ose has stated that, for her, being appointed Director of MACBA means "that institutions such as museums – and, in this case, MACBA – are or should be permeable to the world around them. That they recognize hyperlocality, in this case, the Raval and its communities, as a starting point. That they span a more local scale to a transnational one, in a journey that emphasizes the de-hierarchization of history, in favor of the plurality of stories, narrators and protagonists." It’s clear that museums and cultural institutions around the world are beginning to embrace a new way of doing business with communities, particularly those communities whose contributions to international thought and culture have been previously diminished. And we are here for all of it!

Okay, it needs to be said out loud - Black women are taking arts and cultural institutions to new levels in a wave of leadership that ripples across the entire world! There, I said it! This does not in any way diminish or exclude anyone else's contributions. But we have known for decades that Black women bring the ideas, lead the community engagement and programming in major institutions, volunteer until they are worn and unhealthy, and who are overlooked, denied leadership appointments, and are obviously undervalued. Of course, this is not just in the arts — it is pervasive across all industries — but in the arts and culture realm, apparently, change is coming! Hallelujah! Over the past year or so, there has been announcement after announcement of Black women who are leading institutions into a new era. In directorships, board leadership, artistic and curatorial positions, these women are inexhaustible wells of fresh takes on old institutional ideas. Across all art expressions, we are now seeing more Black women in positions of decision-making power. It makes me a bit giddy, but also cautious. As more Black women take on these roles, they take on more responsibility and are faced daily with expectations about how they will conduct their business. There will be those in Black communities who expect more, and there will be others who expect them to fail, and there will be sabotage to cripple their success. I know from which I speak. But just as they are taking on the challenges before them, we should be ever vigilant about standing behind them. Have you ever seen an episode of Iyanla Fix My Life where she positions people to get the back of someone in distress? She literally stands people back-to-back to bolster them through their challenges. Knowing that you are being supported at a critical time can make a world of difference. Having someone's back is a real thing. As we celebrate and 'like' and spotlight the women who are highlighted on these pages today, and all the others who are out in the world making our culture more complete and representative, we must also support them. Stand in front to shield them from the arrows. Stand behind them when they are tired, withered, and ready to fall. And stand beside them so they are not alone in lonely spaces where all eyes are always on them. When I think about how I want to stand in the community of women as a supporter, I think about The Dora Milaje warriors of Wakanda. While fictional in the film Black Panther, this all-female African military corps is fashioned after the Dahomey West African women military from the Republic of Benin. I want to be a warrior with my sisters, to encourage and reassure them in their newfound positions to be unafraid to lead, and most importantly, unafraid to win!

The section of this website entitled 'Savoir Faire' creates space to highlight "Black Art Shaping Community" and it feels imperative to include Christopher Paul Jordan and his sculptural artwork andimgonnamisseverybody within these (web)pages. Located in the main plaza of the AIDS Memorial Pathway on Capitol Hill in Seattle, just a short walk from Cal Anderson Park—which was named after Washington's first openly gay state legislator who died in 1995 of AIDS-related complications—andimgonnamisseverybody succeeds in its mission to create, as Chris says on his website, "a portal into places of radical gathering, hospitality, celebration, and care that Black/Indigenous, trans/queer, displaced/invisibilized communities at the front lines of the HIV AIDS crisis have forged to take care of our own." Christopher's 20 x 20 aluminum, bronze, and steel speakers — created to represent historic speakers found in historic LGBTQ spaces and at protests and rallies in Seattle and beyond — act as witnesses for the gathering of generations and connections made across history. By tilting what could be seen as an HIV positive + sign on its side to create an "X," Jordan wanted to shift the conversation about HIV from "individual status and disclosure to collective health: What if we looked at the crisis with a holistic lens, understanding how intersecting identities and overlapping crises of displacement and HIV criminalization affect the most marginalized?" (Crosscut, June 2021). As well as being recognized as a symbol of love and the unknown, the "X" layout was also chosen as a representation of the Dikenga, a West African spiritual mark used by African descendants across America to act as a compass, mapping pathways through the afterlife. After the Black+Queer joy-affirming dance celebration held for the opening of the AIDS Memorial's centerpiece in August, and the additional dance parties that have followed, Jordan has indeed created a space that is shaping the Black community in a beautiful way. As we honor those we have lost and those we continue to fight for amidst the ongoing health emergencies that face our community, public art like andimgonnamisseverybody (in case you didn't catch the reference, the title comes from a refrain in the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony song “Tha Crossroads,” a tribute to rap artist Eazy-E who died from AIDS-related complications) is transformative and necessary. Thank you to Chris, and all artists out there creating work that provides cultural space for communities to be heard, seen, and express themselves. For more on Christopher Paul Jordan and his art visit: https://chrispauljordan.com/

Last month, the renowned Metropolitan Opera performed Fire Shut Up In My Bones, composed by Terrence Blanchard with libretto by Kasi Lemmons. This marked the first time The Met has performed an opera by a Black composer in their 141-year history! This event made headlines. Meanwhile, in Portland, Oregon, another Black composer was making their own headlines. Critically acclaimed jazz pianist and composer Darrell Grant premiered his site-specific jazz chamber opera, Sanctuaries, featuring libretto by Anis Mojgani, a two-time National Poetry Slam Individual Champion and Oregon Poet Laureate. Performed in an outdoor venue, Sanctuaries is the story of the Albina district of Portland, which has become unrecognizable thanks to gentrification. This is a story that is familiar in so many communities across the United States, as Black residents living in already redlined areas become victims to density development, an inflated real estate market, and rising property taxes. In these communities where change seems sudden, although born out of years of urban planning, the voices of Black residents are often inaudible and ignored. Grant and Mojgani gave breath and life to these stories through a European art form but purely rooted with Black culture’s gift of jazz and spoken word. Produced by Third Angle New Music, we hope that Sanctuaries will find its way into numerous cities where the voices of displaced Black communities might find their stories also being told. We give a standing ovation to Darrell Grant for his innovation and commitment to using the art form of opera to explore critical issues of our time. Both Blanchard and Grant have introduced new communities to established art forms and established audiences to new voices. Bravo! If you’d like to read the libretto, you can find it here, and to learn more about the composer Darrell Grant, visit his website, www.darrellgrant.com.

If you're a Seattle-ite, then you surely knew Chef Kristi Brown for her black-eyed pea hummus and internationally inspired soul food bites from her past company, That Brown Girl Cooks! catering (formerly That Brown Girl Caters) over the years. Now, we are so proud to be getting to know her in an even larger capacity—her highly successful new restaurant, Communion Restaurant & Bar—a place that states "I Am Home" on the floor entryway and welcomes guests into what surely does feel like a community home with her outstanding Seattle soul food. We are so excited to see Kristi and her team receiving so many well-deserved accolades this past year, including their latest, The New York Times 2021 Restaurant List! The list includes 50 restaurants around the country that food critics are most excited about right now. To add to the excitement, Communion just announced they will be hosting "Late Night' hours from 10 PM to 1 AM on Fridays with snacks, happy hour drinks, and R&B tunes. So, if you can't score one of those coveted reservations, pop in late-night for a chance to experience a paired-down version of the restaurant. CONGRATULATIONS KRISTI AND COMMUNION TEAM! We're shouting out to you and this wonderful restaurant! Now go get your reservations asap!!