Arts in Seattle

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Mural Amphitheater, Seattle Center (built 1962). The mosaic behind the stage is by Seattle artist Paul Horiuchi.[1]
Moore Theatre
(2007)

Seattle Symphony Orchestra is among the world's most recorded orchestras.[2] The Seattle Opera and Pacific Northwest Ballet, are comparably distinguished. On at least two occasions, Seattle's local popular music scene has burst into the national and even international consciousness, first with a major contribution to garage rock in the mid-1960s, and later as the home of grunge rock in the early 1990s. The city has about twenty live theater venues, and Pioneer Square
is one of the country's most prominent art gallery districts.

19th century

The entertainments in Seattle in its first decade were typical of similar frontier towns.

African American cast.[4] The first local theater company was the short-lived John Jack Theatrical Company, whose performances in the late 1870s received generally unfavorable reviews.[5]

By the 1880s, Seattle was receiving touring opera companies, as well as trained animal acts and the like.

W.C. Fields, Eddie Foy, and Sarah Bernhardt.[7] Less reputably, the "restricted district" below Yesler Way became home to many box houses: half antecedent of vaudeville, half bawdyhouse.[8]

The

Ladies Musical Club, founded 1891, quickly became an institution. Active members had to pass an audition. Well into the 20th century it would play a prominent part role in Seattle culture, and still exists as of 2023.[9][10]

The

Klaw & Erlanger (K&E), and neither getting any of K&E's choicer acts. Even the box house operators had left for greener pastures.[11] Once Seattle became the main supply center for Yukon prospectors, cash from the miners brought back the box houses.[12]

Early 20th century

Success in the Gold Rush era made several box house entrepreneurs think of grander things.

John Cort became a leading impresario of legitimate theater, at one time controlling more quality theaters around the country than anyone else in America.[12]
It would be many decades before Seattle ever again had a comparable impact on American arts and entertainment to what it had in these years.

Seattle theater around 1910 included

Moore and Grand Opera House.[14] In addition, the Dream Theater presented silent films with pipe organ accompaniment. The Metropolitan Theatre opened in the Metropolitan Tract in 1911. Owned by New York-based K&E, it was the grandest theater Seattle had seen up to that time. But the 1912 economic downturn led to a marked decrease in this activity.[13]

Butler's illustration on the cover of the Easter 1915 edition of Seattle magazine The Town Crier.

Although Seattle in the early 20th century was more of a center for

Fantasiestücke.[15]

The Cornish School—later the Cornish Institute and now Cornish College of the Arts, an accredited college with courses in the sciences and humanities as well—was founded in 1914 by Nellie Cornish,[16] a member of the Ladies Musical Club.[17] Initially a music school, but later equally known for dance, theater, and visual arts, it thrived for decades under her leadership; although its quality slackened after her death, it eventually recovered and remains an important arts education institution to this day.

With no art museums at this time, Seattle played a less prominent role in the visual arts, although Seattle-based Edward S. Curtis and his onetime assistant Imogen Cunningham (who spent about a decade in Seattle) were important in establishing photography as an art form.[18] Other Seattle visual artists in this era included Cunningham's husband Roi Partridge and painter and printmaker John Butler. Caroline Mytinger became known in Seattle for her paintings of natives from the Solomon Islands.

Emergence of Seattle as an arts center

Entrance and box office of Fifth Avenue Theater

Seattle first began to be a visual arts center in the 1920s.

Guy Irving Anderson, and Paul Horiuchi would establish themselves as nationally and internationally known artists (see the Northwest School
).

While few, if any, figures in the "high" performing arts were based in Seattle in this era, the city was definitely on the national and international arts touring circuit. According to Paul de Barros, in just the single year 1925 Seattle witnessed performances by Russian ballerina

Ernő Dohnányi; African American lyric tenor Roland Hayes; and Austrian violinist and composer Fritz Kreisler.[19]

Seattle had an active jazz scene dating largely from speakeasies during Prohibition, when Mildred Bailey launched her career singing in Seattle.[20] By mid-century the thriving jazz scene centering in some two dozen clubs along Jackson Street would produce musicians including Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, and Ernestine Anderson.[21] The Brothers Four, one of the collegiate folk groups of the late 1950s and early 1960s, were also from Seattle.

Century 21 Exposition

The Space Needle is the most famous architectural legacy of the Century 21 Exposition.

When Seattle decided to try to put itself on the map with the futuristic

Asian art and Northwest Coast Indian art.[23] The exposition also commissioned a massive abstract mural by Horiuchi, which still forms the backdrop to the stage at Seattle Center's Mural Amphitheater.[1]

Outside of the fair itself, Seattle's bars were filled with the live music that would result just a few years later in the region's first great period as a

rock'n'roll
mecca.

After the World's Fair

To retire the US$35,000 debt from the Symphony's production of Aida, Seattle arts patrons founded PONCHO. The resulting gala auction was such a success that it also provided $50,000 to help establish the Seattle Opera, and $16,000 to other organizations. PONCHO would go on to raise over $33 million for the arts over the next several decades.[24][25]

Robert Nesbitt writes in the liner notes to the compilation album Wheedle's Groove that in 1972 the city had "a minimum of twenty live music clubs specializing in funk and soul," and that doesn't count other popular music genres. That collection of live music clubs would shrink drastically beginning in the mid-1970s, first with the rise of disco music and recorded dance music in general, and then with Seattle's slightly rundown center becoming a financial district of new skyscrapers.

Writing in 1972, Nard Jones remarked on the Seattle telephone directory having "three solid columns" of art galleries and dealers, representing "an astonishing variety". Of these he singled out the Richard White Gallery (which in 1973 became Foster/White[26]) and the avant-garde Manolides Gallery (now defunct) and the Woodside Gallery (later Gordon Woodside / John Braseth Gallery) in the Broadway district of Capitol Hill.[27]

The 1980s

It wasn't until the 1980s that Seattle began to be generally recognized as an important performing arts locale. One of the key events in this respect was the Seattle Opera's ambitious and successful staging, under its founding general director Glynn Ross, of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. Performed in its entirety every summer from 1975 through 1983 back-to-back cycles (first in German, then in English, by 1982, The New York Times reported that Seattle had become a serious rival to Bayreuth. Seattle's Wagner festival has continued to the present day, albeit no longer quite such an ambitious annual event.[28] In 1982 the Seattle Chamber Music Society was formed for the purposes of presenting a summer festival of chamber music. The organization has since expanded to include a winter festival and regularly includes internationally recognized artists such as Cynthia Phelps and James Ehnes on their artist roster.[29]

The popular music scene at the time included such teen-pop bands as the Allies (whose song "Emma Peel" received a good deal of local play, but never broke out nationally) and the Heaters (later "the Heats"). That same era saw the more sophisticated pop of the short-lived Visible Targets and the still-performing

The Fastbacks; and the outright punk of the Fartz
(later Ten Minute Warning).

By the late '80s a group of thirty artists had organized themselves into an organization called Northwest Crafts Alliance.[30] This group's purpose is to promote emerging and established artisans through their art show Best of the Northwest. Today this alliance includes over five hundred local, regional, and nationally acclaimed artisans.

Conceived in 1980, and incorporated in 1981, Red Sky Poetry Theatre (RSPT) influenced the literary and performance scene in Seattle and the entire West Coast for 25 years. RSPT help organize the Bumbershoot literary arts for many years. It would hold competitions to determine what local talent would perform at Bumbershoot. RSPT performed in many of the same venues as the pregrunge bands.

Grunge Era

Main article: Grunge

Seattle burst into the popular consciousness with the

Mudhoney
, all reached vast audiences.

Another punk-influenced but non-grunge Seattle band of the period,

Seven Year Bitch
, a Seattle band who had counted her as a mentor.

Arts in Seattle today

Summer Solstice Parade & Pageant in the Fremont district of Seattle
.

Annual cultural events, festivals and fairs

Among Seattle's best-known annual cultural events and fairs are Seattle Art Fair,

Hempfest and two separate Independence Day
celebrations.

Additionally, the city is also home to the

Polish cinema.[32][33]
The festival is produced by the Seattle-Gdynia Sister City Association and awards the Seattle Spirit of Polish Cinema awards as well as the Viewers Choice of Best Film.

Several dozen

Seattle neighborhoods have one or more annual street fairs, and many have an annual parade or foot race
. The largest of the street fairs feature hundreds of craft and food booths and multiple stages with live entertainment, and draw more than 100,000 people over the course of a weekend; the smallest are strictly neighborhood affairs with a few dozen craft and food booths, barely distinguishable from more prominent neighborhoods' weekly farmers' markets.

Other significant events include numerous

Festal at Seattle Center
.

As in most large cities, there are numerous other annual events of more limited interest, ranging from

book fairs and specialized film festivals to a two-day, 8,000-rider Seattle-to-Portland bicycle
ride.

Performing arts

Benaroya Hall

Seattle is a significant center for the

Tuba man
who was heard by hundreds of thousands in front of sports and arts venues for decades until his death in 2008.

The historic

Town Hall on First Hill
.

Popular music today

Chris Ballew of The Presidents of the United States of America, 2005

In popular music, Seattle is often thought of as the home of grunge rock, but it is also home to such varied musicians as

Nancy Wilson of the band Heart, often attributed to Seattle, were actually from the neighboring suburb of Bellevue, as was progressive metal band Queensrÿche
.

Seattle hosts a diverse and influential alternative music scene. The Seattle-based record label

Supersuckers, Sweet 75, Trial, Turn to Fall, United State of Electronica, Utterance, Vendetta Red, Vexed, Vindaloo, Visqueen, Zeke
and The Zero Points.

The

Experience Music Project (EMP) in Seattle Center is one of the few major institutions anywhere specifically devoted to popular music. Although EMP has scaled back its live music programming from the level of its first few years, every April since 2002 it has hosted the three-day Pop Conference,[36]
which brings together a few hundred people for a unique conference that presents the perspectives of academics, writers, artists, and fans.

Visual arts

Gallery show opening, Davidson Contemporary, December 2006
Artist Kate Protage in her Pioneer Square studio, September 2006

Being so much younger than the cities of Europe and the Eastern United States, Seattle has a lower profile in terms of art museums than it does in the performing arts. It is nonetheless home to four major art museums and galleries: the Frye Art Museum, the Henry Art Gallery, the Seattle Art Museum, and the Seattle Asian Art Museum. Several Seattle museums and cultural institutions that are not specifically art museums also have excellent art collections, most notably the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, which has an excellent collection of Native American artwork.

Seattle has well over 100 non-profit art spaces and numerous commercial art galleries, and likely over a thousand artists'

Museums and galleries of Seattle
.

In recent decades, Washington State, King County, and Seattle have all allocated a certain percentage of all capital budgets to the arts. Several neighborhoods have also raised funds for art installations, usually sculptures. Among the results are massive murals by

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport[40] A magnificent glass tile mosaic mural by Paul Horiuchi forms a backdrop to the stage of the Mural Amphitheater at Seattle Center.[1][41]

Seattle was home of Jacob Lawrence from 1970 until his death in 2000. He is well represented in local corporate collections; several of his pieces are prominently displayed at the Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington,[42] as is a piece by one of his colleagues from the U.W. art faculty, Alden Mason,[43] and works by other artists associated with the Pacific Northwest.[44]

Probably the most visible public sculpture in Seattle is

statue of Lenin formerly in Slovakia,[46] and Richard Beyer's "Waiting for the Interurban
."

Alternative, Urban and Pop Surrealism (Low Brow) art scene

In the last several years, Seattle has become a central hub for the burgeoning Alternative,

murals, and aerosol
—-which at times puts members of the scene at odds with both established (and often safer) Seattle artists and city officials. This is also what distinguishes them from much of the art that can be found in the city's traditional art venues. However, it is arguably this willingness to find alternative methods of expression that has given the movement its vibrancy and an increasing significance in the art world as a whole.

Poetry

Seattle's Poet Populist

Seattle is unique in that since 1999 it has been electing a Poet

Poet Laureate programs, for which dignitaries or government officials select a poet, Seattle conducts a citywide popular vote to determine the Poet Populist.[47] In Seattle, local poets are nominated by Seattle literary organizations for election to the post of Seattle Poet Populist.[48]

After the formal nomination process voting opens to Seattle residents who generally have a few months to vote for their Poet Populist choice. Thousands of citizens cast their vote for Poet Populist every year. Write-In candidates are also permitted.[49] In the 2007-2008 election George Quibuyen (also known as Geologic) of the Blue Scholars received 96 write-in votes which was the largest total for any write-in candidate in the decade long history of the citywide competition[50] until Ananda Osel earned 391 write-in votes, breaking the record and placing 2nd in the 2008-2009 election.[51]

In the past the four candidates with the highest votes totals have hosted readings at Seattle's

inaugurated in January.[49] During the Poet Populist's term he/she has the responsibility of writing one commissioned poem, and promoting the art of poetry through various performances and teaching opportunities.[52]

Past Poet Populist Winners include Barnard Harris, Jr. who won the title in 1999-2000, Bart Baxter (2001–2002), Tara Hardy (2002–2003), Pesha Joyce Gertler (2005–2006), Jourdan Imani Keith (2006–2007), Cody Walker (2007–2008) and Mike Hickey (2008–2009).[53]

The program was founded by City Council President Nick Licata, and is supported by resolution of the Seattle City Council.[54] The Seattle Poet Populist is support by the Seattle Weekly, The Seattle Public Library, and the city of Seattle.[55][56]

Spoken Word Poetry

Performance poet Rogue Pinay, 2007

Seattle has been either the birthplace or longtime home to a number of highly respected poets. Probably the earliest was physician

Steven "Jesse" Bernstein, the last a pioneer of performance poetry. Berstein read frequently at Red Sky Poetry Theatre
which ran a performance series for 25 years.

Fiction

In addition to poetry, there have been several notable novels set in Seattle. Among them is Kirby Olson's novel Temping (Seattle: Black Heron Press, 2006) that features a young man working as a temporary secretary who is looking for a little more from life.[58]

The long-running television medical drama series Grey's Anatomy is set in Seattle, at the fictional Seattle Grace-Mercy West Hospital (later, Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital), though it is actually filmed primarily in Los Angeles.

Other museums, aquariums, zoos, and cultural centers

A 2006 exhibit at the Henry honoring Stranger Genius Award winners pays tribute to Seattle-based writer Jonathan Raban.
Daybreak Star Cultural Center

There are a number of other

Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame
.

The Seattle Aquarium is located on the Elliott Bay waterfront, and the Woodland Park Zoo is on Phinney Ridge in north Seattle.

A fire erupted in January 2024 in a Seattle gallery, works by Picasso, M.C Escher, Goya, Rembrandt and others were said to have been damaged according to CNN.[59]

United Indians of All Tribes operates the Daybreak Star Cultural Center in Discovery Park.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Historical Sites:Summary for 305 Harrison ST / Parcel ID 1985200130 / Inv # CTR006, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. Accessed online December 26, 2006.
  2. ^ a b Recordings & Broadcasts Archived February 7, 2005, at the Wayback Machine, Seattle Symphony. Accessed January 27, 2008.
  3. ^ Morgan 1960, pp. 113–115
  4. ^ Morgan 1960, p. 115
  5. ^ Morgan 1960, p. 116
  6. ^ Morgan 1960, pp. 116–117
  7. ^ Morgan 1960, p. 118
  8. ^ Morgan 1960, p. 119
  9. ^ Berner 1991, pp. 90–91
  10. ^ "Partner Spotlight: Ladies Musical Club". Meany Center for the Performing Arts. University of Washington. June 28, 2017. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  11. ^ Berner 1991, p. 86
  12. ^ a b Eric L. Flom, Cort, John (1861-1929), HistoryLink.org, August 9, 2001. Accessed December 22, 2007.
  13. ^ a b Berner 1991, p. 89
  14. ^ Eric L. Flom, Fire burns Seattle's Grand Opera House on November 24, 1906, HistoryLink.org, September 7, 2000. Accessed online January 20, 2008.
  15. ^ Berner 1991, pp. 91–92
  16. ^ Cornish, Nellie C. Miss Aunt Nellie: The Autobiography of Nellie C. Cornish, Ellen Van Volkenburg Browne and Edward Nordhoff Beck, eds. Seattle, University of Washington, 1964; pp. 89–91.
  17. ^ "A Brief History of the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle". Ladies Musical Club. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  18. ^ Berner 1991, p. 95
  19. ISBN 0-912365-92-7
    , p. 17.
  20. ISBN 0-912365-92-7
    , especially p. 26–27.
  21. ^ "Music Map Brochure - filmandmusic". Seattle.gov. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  22. ^ Alan J. Stein, Point 14: Some Things don't Change, HistoryLink Cybertour: Century 21 Exposition. Accessed online January 26, 2008.
  23. ^ Alan J. Stein, Point 17: Culture for the Masses, HistoryLink Cybertour: Century 21 Exposition. Accessed online January 26, 2008.
  24. ^ "Welcome to PONCHO". Archived from the original on September 14, 2008. Retrieved August 17, 2008.
  25. ^ Peter Blecha, PONCHO holds inaugural fundraising auction, to benefit Seattle Symphony, on April 27, 1963, HistoryLink.org, July 16, 2002. Accessed online August 17, 2008.
  26. ^ Regina Hackett, Visionary, art dealer Richard White dies, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 26, 2002. Accessed online August 17, 2008
  27. ^ Jones 1972, p. 252
  28. ^ "Our Mission and History". Seattle Opera. May 11, 2015. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  29. ^ "The Arts | Seattle Chamber Music Society's summer festivals: For newbies and longtime fans | Seattle Times Newspaper". Archived from the original on October 11, 2008. Retrieved March 13, 2009.
  30. ^ Northwest Crafts Alliance Archived August 8, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, official site. Accessed online January 26, 2008.
  31. ^ "August 4 - 7, 2016 - CenturyLink Field Event Center, Seattle".
  32. ^ Arnold, William (November 1, 2007). "Film buff sinks teeth into second Polish film festival". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  33. ^ Arnold, William (November 1, 2007). "Polish film festival honors a living legend, in person and on-screen". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  34. ^ Dina McDermott, Pacific Northwest Ballet: An Insider's Personal View on the Company's Background and History, Criticaldance.com, June 1962. Accessed online January 26, 2008.
  35. ^ About the School / PNB School - School Philosophy, Pacific Northwest Ballet official site. Accessed online January 26, 2008.
  36. ^ "Emplive.org - Visit - Education - Pop Conference". Archived from the original on November 29, 2005. Retrieved November 26, 2005.
  37. ^ Untitled (fj) Archived November 2, 2005, at the Wayback Machine, Seattleoutdoorart.com. Accessed online January 26, 2008.
  38. ^ Untitled Mural (gm) Archived November 2, 2005, at the Wayback Machine, Seattleoutdoorart.com. Accessed online January 26, 2008.
  39. ^ Art in the Park, Washington State Major League Baseball Stadium Public Facilities District. Accessed online December 26, 2006.
  40. ^ Sea-Tac Airport: Art: Ongoing Exhibits Archived February 1, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Accessed online January 26, 2008. (Doesn't specifically mention the men's room location.)
  41. ^ "Seattle Outdoor Art - March, 26th 2004". Archived from the original on March 26, 2004. Retrieved March 3, 2005.
  42. ^ "Jacob Lawrence | Computer Science & Engineering". Cs.washington.edu. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  43. ^ "Alden Mason | Computer Science & Engineering". Cs.washington.edu. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  44. ^ "Art in the Allen Center | Computer Science & Engineering". Cs.washington.edu. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  45. ^ "Seattle Outdoor Art - November, 1st 2005". Archived from the original on November 2, 2005. Retrieved March 3, 2005.
  46. ^ "Lenin Statue, Seattle, Washington". Roadsideamerica.com\Accessdate=2016-12-03.
  47. ^ "Poet Populist Seattle | Background". Poetpopulist.org. February 13, 1999. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  48. ^ Seattle City Council News Release: Poet Election Winner to be Announced at Bumbershoot Archived October 2, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  49. ^ a b "Poet Populist Seattle | How It Works". Poetpopulist.org. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  50. ^ "Poet Populist Seattle". Archived from the original on January 30, 2009. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
  51. ^ "Poet Populist Seattle". Poetpopulist.org. November 4, 2008. Archived from the original on September 26, 2008. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  52. ^ "12 contestants vie to become poet populist of Seattle". Seattlepi.com. July 31, 2005. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  53. ^ "Poet Populist Seattle - Past Poet Populists".
  54. ^ Information from the Seattle city Council: "Seattle City Council News Release: Poet Election Winner to be Announced at Bumbershoot". Archived from the original on October 2, 2006. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
  55. ^ "Poet Populist Seattle | Who We Are". Poetpopulist.org. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  56. ^ Becker, Katie (October 9, 2006). "Seattle News and Events | Poets in Motion". Seattleweekly.com. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  57. ^ Jerry L. Clark, Thus Spoke Chief Seattle: The Story of An Undocumented Speech, Prologue, spring 1985, Vol. 18, No. 1 (The National Archives).
  58. OCLC 12636926
    . Retrieved February 25, 2011.
  59. ^ Balarajan, Cheri Mossburg, Brammhi (January 16, 2024). "Picasso, Rembrandt and Goya works feared lost following fire at Seattle art gallery". CNN. Retrieved January 16, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

References

External links
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