There’s never a lack of things to do in Seattle on Thursday nights. In fact, they tend to be one of the busiest for art events and other happenings around town. On any given Thursday you’ll have your choice of theater openings, dance performances, gallery shows, the latest indie release at your favorite movie art house and enough live music options that will leave your head spinning. more ›

No, it's not "Too Be Announced," nor is it a mysterious illness in need of philanthropic donations. With more than 50 performances, installations and workshops spread out over 11 days, TBA brings artists of various disciplines from across the country and around the globe to set up shop and bring the best of contemporary and visual art to this region. more ›

As an individual with a degree in Art History, and semi-irregular volunteer for the Seattle Art Museum, I am embarrassed to admit that I had yet to visit the Olympic Sculpture Park until yesterday. more ›

Troy Gua by SHAUNIQUA™ from the Seattlest Flickr pool. more ›

This week's gathering, one of the last hurrahs for the artists' collective, was significantly more quiet than any art walk I had been to. Despite the collective's impressive unity in the wake of 619's continued clashes with the city, artists were divided on this last bash. Only every other floor -- 3 and 5 -- were open when Seattlest rolled in around 9 p.m., and only one half each of those floors were showing. more ›

In addition to Candidate Survivor, a lot of things happened last night. Among them: Charges in the shooting spree at Muckleshoot Casino and in last weekend's road rage killing, railroads, art theft, gang violence, aggressive bikini-wearing and more money to charity:water in the heartbreaking memory of a 9-year-old girl. more ›

The third installment of Sprout, a community-sourced dinner and fundraiser for local artists, is happening this weekend. Sprout saw its inaugural dinner in August of last year, and co-founders Kristen Hoskins and Sarah Steininger have been working tirelessly to make the event a frequent occurrence: more ›

If you're a local artist with a project in the works, listen up: Sprout is your chance to share your concept with the community and possibly score some funding to boot. The locally-sourced community dinner, which funds an emerging artist project by audience vote, is back for round three. more ›

THALIA MOZART MAHLER: Of the nine Muses in Greek mythology, only one was also a Grace, the embodiment of beauty: Thalia. As conducted by Stephen Rogers Radcliffe, Thalia Symphony does not take the Muse’s name in vain. For over 60 years, the Symphony has been a classical outlet for Seattle musicians, and Sunday’s show is no exception. The orchestra’s third concert of the season includes Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24, featuring George Fiore, former chorus-master for the Seattle Opera, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 1. If you arrive early, you’ll have a chance to catch a lecture by Mahler scholar Professor Eric Hanson, upliftingly entitled Mahler's First Symphony: The Victory of Life and Spring Over the Icy Death of Winter. If only our own seasons would be so inspired. Sunday 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. // Town Hall // $15 ($10 Town Hall members, students & seniors) more ›

Though this has been a short week for any folks who had President's Day off, it's still somehow felt long,and a bit unsettling. Perhaps it's winter's disgruntled return, roaring back to remind us that hey, it's not April yet‐February needs to give us one more cold wet kiss before slouching off for the next year. Regardless, this is a week where we needed a pick-me-up. more ›

Sometimes nothing's more eloquent than silence and nothing's more beautiful than negative space. This hand-cut map of Seattle from studiokmo takes advantage of that fact, turning the water and the places people live into empty space and making our roads into vast expanses of white. It's stark, it's elegant, and it shows the beautiful flow of our city. Less loud than the neighborhood maps, it still speaks volumes about Seattle. It's yours for a cool $1,000. more ›

Rarely does the intersection of art, music and literature result in such darkly romantic dreamscapes as in Seattleite Brad Klausen’s new book, From a Basement in Seattle: The Poster Art of Brad Klausen. The former in-house Pearl Jam artist behind iconic album covers, concert posters and band merch delves deep into his creative process in his latest book, where preliminary sketches and detailed annotations accompany each final poster. While most of the featured works are for Pearl Jam—Eddie Vedder and Jeff Ament wrote the introduction, after all—there are posters here for the likes of Soundgarden, Queens of the Stone Age, the Black Keys, Built to Spill and a plethora of other rock institutions. Klausen will be at Elliott Bay Book Company this evening to share even more of his artistic insights and celebrate the thriving local art-meets-music scene—he now is the founder and owner of local graphics house Artillery Design. more ›

Happening tonight and tomorrow at Town Hall, a group of writers, graphic designers filmmakers and musicians from both cities will present original and new works on the theme “community/home/location”. The all-star participants include songwriter and pianist Robin Holcomb (Seattle); Cajun music forerunner Zachary Richard (NOLA); Seattle writers Molly Wizenberg, Megan Kelso, Riz Rollins, and Jonathan Evison; NOLA writers James Nolan, Dedra Johnson, and Asia Rainey; Seattle artists Jeff Kleinsmith and Jeffry Mitchell; NOLA artists Ness Higson and Daniela Marx; Seattle filmmaker Ben Kasulke, and NOLA filmmaking ensemble Court 13. more ›

The #1 way to celebrate Bumbershoot is to do something free today. more ›

Since being founded in 2006, Ghost Gallery has worked to keep all forms of art accessible and attainable to various neighborhoods in Seattle, via galleries, venues, salons, and stores. Since its grand opening in Capitol Hill this past April, the gallery's ever-rotating list of art and events suggests the space is doing its job. more ›

Help celebrate Bumbershoot by getting involved in a massive, multi-player poetry project. Okay, it's a puzzle. But we like to think of it as an homage to the greatest novel ever written by the citizens of Seattle. Greatest, and only. more ›

You've got one final week to see the free Bumbershoot poster and art exhibit. It's a fine way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Bumbershoot. Here's why. more ›

In honor of its 40th anniversary, Bumbershoot rolled out a list of 40 ways you can help celebrate. They've been going on all summer, which means you missed out. It's never too late to party, though, so we're here to suggest 5 last-minute ways to participate. more ›

Remixing SAM! Art, music, drinks, activities, tours, fashion show, variety performances and much more! more ›

This is less of a "wtf?!" and more of a "ooooh, how lovely!". Kickstarter is a service that allows artists to submit their proposals for creative projects, which can cover anything from "art, music, design (fashion, product, game, app, etc), film/video, food, journalism, and other projects that spring from the imagination." more ›

We stopped by the Urban Craft Uprising winter show this past weekend with a wallet full of cash and a hankering for hand-printed Christmas cards. The event got some pretty good press, and the Exhibition Hall at Seattle Center was pleasantly packed with a good crowd out to ogle the handmade wares of over 100 independent vendors. more ›

God bless you, Kurt Vonnegut, life has been so much more dull without you here. And thank you, Sidney Offit, for making this collection possible! As the second posthumous short story collection from Kurt Vonnegut, Look at the Birdie is a great pick for longtime fans, or a great entry into his work for those who are unfamiliar. We don't normally buy hardcover books, but this was one that we couldn't pass up, as Vonnegut is one of our all-time favorite American authors, and we own a great number of his books in hardcover. Unlike his first posthumous collection, Armageddon in Retrospect, which speaks more of times of war and peace, Look at the Birdie contains stories reminiscent of Vonnegut's best work--those of the broader ideas and mindsets of America after World War II. Expect this collection to have Vonnegut's usual excellent wit and humor along with underlying themes of humanism, as, like Mark Twain, Vonnegut was a devout follower. If you love this awesome new collection, you may also consider a couple of his older collections that are just as excellent: Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons, or Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction--our very personal favorite (includes characters from stories in Welcome to the Monkey House, an added bonus for those that are familiar). more ›

Long gone are the days of showing up to an empty SAM After Hours event and damning yourself for thinking it might have been cool this time. On the contrary, if you felt the bar scene was a little empty last Friday night, SAM might owe you an apology (and a reason to go ahead and mark your calendars for February 26th). more ›

It’s easy to miss the entrance for graypants, inc. design studio while walking past the crowded Pike/Pine Corridor storefronts on 11th Ave. But with the addition of local artist Mark VonRosenstiel's new painted mural on the wallways of the studio entrance stairway, the character and personality permeating throughout the space can be a little more accessible to those on the street. Or, in a reverse philosophy, the mural has “pulled the vitality and color of our Capitol Hill neighborhood right from the street and into our studio.” more ›

Handmade Nation - a documentary about the flourishing do-it-yourself art, craft and design community - has been a labor of love for first-time filmmaker and director Faythe Levine. The idea for the film was conceived in 2003 during Levine’s trip to Chicago's Renegade Craft Fair and production began in 2006 when Levine and her director of photography, Micaela O’Herlihy, spent a year and a half traveling around the country, interviewing over eighty independent DIY-ers. We first heard about the project last year when Levine and her team were screening clips of the film while trying to raise money to offset the remaining production costs. more ›

Local artist Soule has been peddling her dishware on Etsy for several years now - each one-of-a-kind design is hand painted, heat-sealed and dishwasher safe. For her line, Soule paints on plates, mugs, tumblers, tea and cream-and-sugar sets, and so forth; entirely with original and/or custom-ordered artwork. The seasonal Zombieware is new, and fun, and unique, and 20% off if you sign up for the monthly newsletter. more ›

IS THAT FUNK I SMELL?: George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, objectively speaking the best funk band in the world, play the Showbox SoDo tonight. We can’t think of anything to say about this that hasn’t been said, except that you owe it to yourself to see Clinton perform--after 50 years in the industry, he still brings it. more ›

The success of Travis Louie's work rests on his uncanny ability to juggle two completely contradictory tendencies at once. On the one hand, the aesthetic of his work is a brilliant pastiche; with photorealistic precision, he carefully crafts works that nail the particular qualities of Victorian photographs that makes them look incredibly "real." On the other, he's creating a dream world of monsters that never existed in reality. And beyond the simple derangement of the creatures he portrays with life-like faithfulness, he adds yet another layer of complexity by crafting them with these inscrutable facial expressions. It's verisimilitude meets fantasy meets something deeper, and the magic of how all those layers collapse is what gives his work its oddly compelling quality and charm. more ›

A new show of work by Nicoletta Ceccoli and Eric Fortune opens tonight at Roq la Rue. Ceccoli, an Italian artist, is showing works from her series "Beauties and Beasts," that twist childhood imagery borrowed from fairy tales, religion, and legends, into metamorphosing images of growing up and losing innocence. American Eric Fortune's mini-show, "Daughters of Our Nature," features sexy nymphets and whatnot. more ›

At last week's First Thursday in Pioneer Square, we happened upon Molly Norris' exhibit at the Marni Muir Gallery and were all the better for it. Culture Complex: Editoons is described in the promotional literature as "illustrated satire and thoughts in both 2- and 3-D by this local writer, artist, and filmmaker," but we'd call it "New Yorker cartoons if they were actually funny." more ›