The product of a Seattle U class on community art, artists and community members will install the completed mural near Bailey Gatzert Elementary’s  playground today (June 20) from 3:30 to 5 p.m.

As we reported in our previous story, the students in Art 293: “Community Art & Mural Painting Techniques,” taught by Danila Rumold, have been working with the parents and children of Bailey Gatzert to create a mural that reflects their neighborhood and the diversity of the school’s community. The mural was created by students in a Seattle U art studio. Painted on wood, the work is being transported to the site.

From the Seattle U release:

On a recent tour sponsored by the SU Youth Initiative, Rumold visited Bailey Gatzert, where Principal Greg Imel told her he hoped to replace an existing mural at the school. “I thought art would be another nice element to bring to Bailey Gatzert and continue to build that relationship,” said Rumold.      

The Youth Initiative unites SU and the wider community with the goal of helping youth in the Bailey Gatzert neighborhood to succeed in school and in life.  

Brother Mark Elder, a visiting muralist from Chicago’s DePaul University, spoke to the students about the role of the artist as peacemaker in community art. He talked about creating public art with socio-political, community and religious themes and the dialogue it can produce. 

Inspired by “The Corner,” an art installation at 23rd and Union that went up in 2009 for about a year, the Jackson Place Community Council and several other Jackson St. groups are creating an installation that will celebrate the street’s rich music history. The project will be housed in a vacant lot near the entrance of Blanche Lavizzo Park on Jackson that was recently purchased by the Low Income Housing Institute.

The project’s opening celebration will be part of the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center’s “Showcase at Lavizzo Park” concert June 25.

From the press release:

Families from Seattle’s historic Jackson Place neighborhood and the greater Central District area will gather in a day filled with art, live music and entertainment. The occasion; the opening celebration of the Jackson Street Music History Project, a public art installation that honors musicians from the Central District’s rich history of jazz, funk, soul, and hip hop; much of which took place in the music clubs that used to line Jackson Street. Many of these musicians are still alive and active in our community- this event is to pay homage to their contributions in a family-festive environment.

The Low Income Housing Institute recently purchased the vacant lot at 2010 S. Jackson Street and agreed to allow Jackson Place Community Council Co-chair Ryan Curren to use the east half of the lot for a temporary community art installation. Pratt Fine Arts Youth Art Works Coordinator Lily Hotchkiss has matched students from Washington Middle School and Nova High School with local community artists to design, create and install four installations celebrating four genres of music; jazz, funk, soul, and hip hop. Each installation uses a different artistic medium; photography, screen printing, aerosol, and mixed media.

The opening celebration takes place Saturday, June 25th in Blanche Lavizzo Park as part of the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center’s “Showcase at Lavizzo Park” music series. The opening ceremony will begin at 2pm with the art installation’s unveiling followed by special guest speaker including Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata. The afternoon will feature performances from funk/soul artists from the Wheedle’s Groove collective, a hip hop showcase from 206 Zulu Nation, DJ Seabefore and jazz groove band Gravity. Lavizzo Park is located half a block southwest from E. Yesler Way and 22nd Ave S. This event is free and open to all ages.

 

Performance Schedule:

2:30 Opening Ceremony

3:00 DJ Seabefore and Gravity

4:30 Wheedle’s Groove

6:30 Zulu Nation Hip Hop Showcase

With support by Pratt Fine Arts Center, 206 Zulu, Jackson Place, Jackson Street Corridor Association, Casa Latina, Low Income Housing Institute, Goodwill, Casa Latina, Field Roast, LC Jergens, NW Tofu Inc.

For more information go to www.jacksonplace.org/history or log onto: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jackson-Street-Music-History-

Breaking what seemed like a quiet spell in the neighborhood recently, shots were fired in two seemingly separate incidents the evening of June 16.

5:48 p.m. near 27th and Yesler

Two males, one wearing black and the other wearing red, started yelling loudly at each other, several witnesses told police. The men started running east-bound on Yesler, and the man in red started firing shots while running.

Shortly after, the man in black was on 27th Ave S and allegedly fired several shots from aimed north toward Yesler. Nobody was injured, and the only property damage in the area appears to have been a mailbox that was struck.

No victims or suspects were located, and it is not immediately clear who or what the shots were aimed at. Police did find shell casings on Yesler near 26th and on 27th south of Yesler.

7:30 p.m. neat 23rd and Jackson

Multiple people called 911 to report shots fired. After the shots were heard, witnesses told police that a large group of black juvenile males were seen running in all directions. Again, no victims or injuries were reported.

There may have been two cars involved, but there were conflicting descriptions. South Precinct officers stopped a possible suspect car on MLK and S Merton Way in South Seattle, but the suspects were not identified as being involved and were released.

A parked car was damaged in the incident. The rear windshield was broken and there were bullet holes in the back of it. Police were able to locate shell casings.

There is no indication the two incidents were related, according to police.

Man stabbed near Garfield Community Center June 12

In other crime news, Seattle Crime reports that a man was stabbed in the face in the early morning of June 12 near 23rd and Cherry:

Around 3:45 am on June 12th, a man flagged down two patrol officers driving by 23rd Ave and E Cherry St.

The man told officers someone had cut him, but refused to provide any more information.

Police say the man sustained a half to three-quarter inch puncture wound on his face.

The man told officers his assailant had approached him from behind, and stabbed him.

MOVEABLE TYPE, a mobile print shop, is stopping by Miss Cline Press tonight (June 16) to demonstrate hand-printing and give tours of their print shop on wheels. The Type Truck will be parked from 5-8 p.m. Thursday night near Miss Cline Press (2370 E Cherry St).

The stop is part of the shop’s national tour. The tour is an attempt by Portland’s Kyle Durrie to combine two passions: printing and road trips. From the Moveable Type website:

Two of my favorite things in the world are printing and road trips. But these two things kept getting in the way of one another in my life; they seemed mutually exclusive. I wanted to figure out a way to do both things at the same time.

The truck is stopping at Miss Cline Press, home of Ana Karina Luna’s presses (see our 2009 profile of Miss Cline Press).

More details on the event, via Facebook:

Join us for an evening of printing to welcome MOVEABLE TYPE on its national tour. First stop in Seattle: Miss Cline Press!

MOVEABLE TYPE is a mobile print shop built into the back of an old delivery truck. The truck is owned by Kyle Durrie, the proprietor of Power and Light Press in Portland, Oregon. Kyle is starting a 9+ month tour across North America. The idea is to combine her two passions of travelling and printing. Now, the truck is ready and the adventure is just beginning. Her first stop in Seattle will be in the heart of Central District at Miss Cline Press shop.

During her trip, Kyle will be visiting schools, art spaces, city parks, music and arts festivals, craft shows, parties, and anywhere else that has an interest in learning about printing the old fashioned way.

Moveable Type will be setting up its mobile print shop outside Miss Cline Press on Thursday, June 16th for an evening of printing demos, studio/truck tours, and tall tales about life on the road. This event is free and open to the public, and participants can expect to get their hands dirty and make a few prints to take home with them.

A priceless opportunity! Hope to see you there.

Bobby Forch has been picking up endorsements left and right, but he needs cash if he wants to beat incumbent City Coouncilmember Jean Godden (View Ridge) and challengers Maurice Classen (Capitol Hill) and Michael Taylor-Judd (W Seattle) for Position 1 this year. He is holding a campaign “kickoff” event at 5:30 p.m. tonight (June 16) at Bailey Gatzert Elementary (1301 East Yesler Way).

Forch, who has lived in the Central District for 20 years, works as the Contracting Equity and Compliance Manager in SDOT’s Major Projects Division. That means he works on the big stuff like the Mercer Project and Seattle Streetcar.

So far, Forch is focusing on public safety, economic strength and transportation, according to his campaign website.

Forch ran for City Council unsuccessfully in 2009, getting knocked out in the primary. Mike O’Brien eventually won that seat.

From Forch’s website:

Bobby Forch for Seattle City Council Campaign Kickoff

Thursday, June 16, 2011 – 5:30pm to 7:00pm

Bailey Gatzert Elementary School

Suggested Donation: $35 per person

Please RSVP to Colby Underwood at (206) 779‐1494 or [email protected].

SPD got pwned on MLK and Jackson this week.

The SPD Blotter put it this way:

On 6/13/11, at 9:45 p.m., a community member reported anti police graffiti in the area of M.L.King Way S and S. Jackson St. Officers were dispatched to the location and located the graffiti on an empty building in the 2600 block of S. Jackson.

Suspects entered into this fenced area and spray painted “No more Cops” and “Fuck the Police” on the building. There were two anarchist symbols spray painted on the building.

However, a careful reading of the vacant building literature reveals some more key suspect details:

It appears the suspects are not only anarchists, but are also well-versed in Internet lingo. Any SPD World of Warcraft players should watch their virtual backs or they might be ambushed by a level 80 rogue.

It has been two years since plans for a large, mixed-use redevelopment of the Goodwill site on Dearborn fell through for financial reasons, but the company is still looking for ways to house their training program and administrative staff. Leaving the door open for future redevelopment of the space, Seattle Goodwill plans to tear down three vacant buildings on the lot and build a new 48,000 square-foot building on the corner of Dearborn and Rainier.

The first early design meeting is 6:30 p.m. June 14 (tonight) at Wellspring Family Services (1900 Rainier Ave S). Architects from Mithun will present early design concepts and three options for the building’s height and footprint. Options range from a wider and longer two-story building to a skinnier four-story building. Each includes additional parking for both staff and customers.

In preparation for the project, demolition of the three existing, vacant buildings is under way, according to Betsy McFeely, PR Director for Seattle Goodwill. The demolition project should be completed by the end of September. If everything goes smoothly, the project could have its permits by 2012 and construction could be finished by December 2012, ready for a 2013 move-in.

The new building “will provide a nice learning environment for our students,” said McFeely. It will also consolodate staff, who are currently split between the Dearborn store and a space above the Goodwill Outlet at 6th and Holgate. Goodwill has intended for the administrative staff to be at the headquarters on Dearborn all along, but there was not space. “This was always a temporary move, but we’re still here,” she said.

The early design review documents from the DPD website:

DRProposal3012125AgendaID3229

As plans for a large-scale redevelopment of Yesler Terrace head to the City Council for approval this summer, neighborhood activist Kristen O’Donnell took CDN on a tour of the neighborhood to show us what some residents fear could go wrong and what unique aspects of the neighborhood could be lost. In part one, we looked at ways the plan could go wrong. In part two, we highlight some of the ways that the housing project works for its residents.

If you take a stroll through Yesler Terrace, the first thing you may notice are all the different languages you hear around you. Next, you may notice the walking paths that run in front of each home, snaking through the neighborhood and connecting the front porches and backyards of each row house in this unique housing project. Some yards are overgrown, while others have beautiful gardens. Others are filled with childrens’ toys.

Kristen O’Donnell looks at a particularly beautiful garden in the neighborhood

Though some of the buildings and playgrounds look a little dated and in need of love, Yesler Terrace is a neighborhood that can help individuals and families through hard times. The average stay in the neighborhood is only a few years.

“This is designed to be a good place for people to live,” said neighborhood advocate Kristen O’Donnell.

The waiting list to get into Yesler Terrace can be years long, especially for larger families. Once on site, though, the wait can be well worth it. Residents have access to services that are not always available when living in the private market with the aid of housing vouchers. There is also support for people who have limited English speaking abilities.

“Vouchers work better for people who have small families and speak English,” said O’Donnell. The monthly community council meetings in Yesler Terrace are conducted in five languages. If something is said in English, the speaker must give pauses every couple sentences so the interpreters can translate. If someone speaks in a language other than English, the question must be translated into English, then into the other four languages before a response can be given.

“It easily takes twice as long to go through the same amount of subject matter,” said O’Donnell, who is the facilitator of the leadership team of the council. “But it’s also very exciting.”

Under the Seattle Housing Authority’s plan for redevelopment, the number of low-income units available in Yesler Terrace should go up significantly. As the SHA sells land to private developers for the construction of high- and mid-rise residential, office and mixed use buildings, they will use that money to build mid-rise buildings to replace the current, aging housing stock in the neighborhood. Under the plan, the neighborhood would become a mixed-income neighborhood with more communal park space, neighborhood roads that connect to the street grid and a new retail core. The neighborhood could go from short buildings with individual lawns to a more urbanist vision with high density housing, a neighborhood retail core and strong transit access, including the First Hill Streetcar.

Some residents do not use their lawns, allowing them to become overgrown either out of lack of interest or because they are no longer able to take care of the space. But for others, the lawn space has become a business or a work of art.

One household we passed operates a day care service out of their home. The yard space here is heavily used by children, and is an important part of that business. The service also fills a clear need, as Yesler Terrace’s population is 39 percent children.

Another common use of the yard space in the neighborhood is row farming. Residents will use their back yards, the neighborhood p-patch or other neighborhood space to grow vegetables. Some will then load up a grocery cart or other vehicle and take the food down to the International District to sell at the market. Urban agriculture becomes a side business for residents, and it’s hard to imagine finding food for sale that is more local than Yesler Terrace vegetables.

Urban agriculture in the neighborhood also got a boost last year with the start of GroundUP Yesler, a project that is working to reclaim some space on the hill overlooking I-5 as gardening space for residents, particularly youth. The program was profiled on Green Acres Radio in late March:

A stone’s throw from the interstate, this grassy hillside with views of Puget Sound and Safeco Field, is being “reclaimed”. The two and half acres of land are on the south slope of Yesler Terrace Housing. The Seattle Housing Authority plans to redevelop the project with high rises and town homes. “So we won’t be able to keep it forever.” Still Floyd says he and others growing food here want to show the capacity of urban ag, a capacity driven by community need. “Yeah, we’re going to have a good case to present to the SHA to say we should do this again in the next development.”

The city council will have the chance to weigh-in on on the SHA’s plans for the neighborhood this summer. O’Donnell would prefer the SHA look into renovating the existing housing, but the SHA is not considering that option. Others, such as GroundUP Yesler are working to try to have their interests included in the new plans. O’Donnell said the plan is like “selling half the farm to keep the rest of it going,” but others point to the social, environmental and economic benefits of dense, mixed-income neighborhoods, especially in locations so close to all the jobs in the central business district.

In the meantime, the residents of Yesler Terrace continue to reinvent the spaces available to them, many of them creating businesses and utilizing the help available to work their way into a private housing market they previously could not afford. As plans for redevelopment move forward, there are lessons in the neighborhood today that need to be understood and preserved before they are buried under 26 stories of urban highrise.

Another busy weekend in the neighborhood. By the way, did you know you can add your events to the CDN events calendar? It’s a free and easy way to get the word out.

Hiawatha Flea, June 10-11 on Hiawatha Place south of Dearborn — A community sidewalk sale presented by the Jackson Place Business Association. The market will be open June 10 from 9 to 4 p.m. and June 11 from 8 to 3 p.m. From the JPBA: “THE Hiawatha Lofts businesses, artists & JP neighbors will be hosting their first NEIGHBORHOOD FLEA in the N. RAINIER VALLEY/ Jackson Place Community. Two days only….come both days as different groups will be participating on different days. Make it a date as we will be participants of 2nd SATURDAY CD ARTWALK & partnering with our neighbors at jcccw.org ALL THINGS JAPANESE SALE FRIDAY & SATURDAY!!!”

Madrona Farmer’s Market, 3-7 p.m. June 10 at MLK and Union — Every Friday through September in the Grocery Outlet parking lot. See the market’s website for more.

Juneteenth Celebration youth parade, 10 a.m. June 11 starting at Washington Middle School — The whole weekend will feature the Central Area Chamber of Commerce’s Juneteenth celebration at Pratt Park (see our story from earlier this week). One highlight is the youth parade, which will leave from Washington Middle School and end up at Pratt Park.

Second Saturday Central District Art Walk, June 11 near 23rd and Cherry — In its second year, the Central District Art Walk highlights the creativity of local artists. With Coyote Central opening Sunday and Alt Space just getting going, the 23rd and Cherry area is becoming quite an arts center in the neighborhood.

Coyote Central Grand Opening, 3-5 p.m. June 12 at 23rd and Cherry — Coyote Central is celebrating the grand opening of their new digs at 23rd and Cherry. After months of intensive renovation work, but the space is ready for summer classes.

Powell Barnett fundraiser at All-Purpose June 13-14 — Be sure to save some room this weekend so you can fill up on All-Purpose Pizza (a CDN sponsor) Monday and Tuesday. They will be donating a portion of their sales to help pay off the remaining amount needed to keep the wading pool at Powell Barnett open Saturdays this summer starting in July.

Just across Madison, the Capitol Hill Garage Sale starts at 10 a.m. June 11 all over the neighborhood. Just in case you can’t find what you need at Hiawatha Flea.

Did we miss anything? Be sure to let us know in the comments.

Though the Central District’s community centers (but not the wading pools) got out of the last round of budget cuts without too much of a hit, several other centers around the city did not. By dramatically reducing use at several centers, the city was able to save $1.3 million, and now they are looking at ways to restructure community center operations and revenue streams in order to reduce the department’s reliance on the city’s general fund.

These cost-cutting measures range from restructuring centers into geographic groups that coordinate programming to closing centers entirely with hopes of finding third parties to take over operations and costs for their own uses. While a Microsoft datacenter wouldn’t fit with potential third-party programs, foundations and community organizations such as the Pratt Fine Arts Center that could utilize the space would.

Two public meetings on the plan are currently scheduled, though neither are on the Hill. The first is June 15, 7–8:30 p.m. at the Bitter Lake Community Center, 13035 Linden Ave. N. The second is on Beacon Hill June 16, 7–8:30 p.m., at Jefferson Community Center, 3801 Beacon Ave. S.

You can also weigh-in by completing an online survey expressing your level of support for the nine options prepared by the study. The survey also has a brief description of each option and the anticipated affects of each on the budget. If you want to read more about each option, you can download PDF documents of each from the Parks website.

Among the highlights of the studies, Parks determines they could save $126,000 by raising participant fees by 10 percent, then offering Seattle residents a 10 percent discount. Several nearby municipalities already do this, including Renton, Mercer Island and Des Moines.

The options that save the most would close some of the smaller centers and attempt to find organizations that would take out long-term leases on the buildings. Examples of such an arrangement include the Cascade People’s Center, the Madrona Dance Studio run by Spectrum Dance Theater, and the Pratt Fine Arts Center. This extreme option would, of course, make it difficult to change the buildings back to community centers if budget conditions improve.

Brief descriptions of the options, from the Parks survey:

Option 1: Geographic Management of Community Centers

Organize community centers into 7 geographic groups of 3 or 4 centers that are managed and programmed in a coordinated fashion, and partially or fully restore the current limited use sites (Alki, Ballard, Green Lake, Laurelhurst and Queen Anne).

Potential savings: $665,000 if hours are partially restored at limited use sites

Option 2: Tiered Community Centers

Each community center is classified as belonging to a tier, based on criteria including physical facilities, current use, and demographics. Public hours and staffing depend on the tier. As in Option 1, the centers are managed in geographic groups with programming done on a coordinated basis.  

Potential savings: $1,230,000.

Option 3: Tiered Community Centers with 2-3 Centers Closed or Run by Others

Tiered community centers as in Option 2 but with 2-3 lower tier centers closed. Closed centers are made available for partnerships to operate all or part of a center.

Potential savings: $1,779,000.

Option 4: Close Community Centers

Stop City operation of between 7-10 community centers (no City staff, no public hours). Closed centers are made available for partnerships to operate all or part of a center. Community centers that remain open operate as they did in 2010.

Potential savings: $1,458,000 – $2,714,000.

Option 5: Increase PAR Fee

The City currently retains 3.25% of gross revenue from associated Recreation Council (ARC) classes, sports fees, and childcare services  (10% for Lifelong Recreation courses) to support community center  operations. This percent retained is known as a Participation Fee or PAR fee. Change the PAR fee to 4% or 5%.

Estimated savings: $126,000 for increase to 5% or $47,000 for increase to 4%

Option 6: Resident Discount

Pilot raising basic fees for programs and services about 10% but offering Seattle residents a 10% discount. Pilot could be at Amy Yee Tennis Center or at all swimming pools.

Potential savings: $7,000 for tennis center pilot; $47,000 for pool pilot; and $126,000 for all facilities

Option 7: Volunteers

Expand use of volunteers in order to forge stronger connections with the community, free professional staff for duties requiring their expertise, make community centers more welcoming to all users, and make programming and rentals more affordable during times when a community center is not open or is underused.

Potential savings: Unlikely to be major source of budget savings.

Option 8: Reprogramming of Underused Spaces

Times when a community center is not open to the public or when it is   underused are called dark hours. This option would recruit outside organizations (partners) to provide programs or services using community center facilities during dark hours. Partners could include other governmental organizations and private or community-based organizations. The goal is to maximize use of community centers and provide a range of services to the public.

Potential savings: Unlikely to be a major source of additional revenue.

Option 9: Long-term Lease of Entire Community Center

An outside organization assumes total responsibility for operation of a community center that would otherwise be closed (see options 3 and 4). Parks retains ownership of the facility and responsibility for major maintenance costs.

Potential savings: Avoids General Fund net expense of $400,000 per standard center, or $100,000 per current limited use center. Rent payments by lessee would provide additional savings.