Cameron August 27th, 2008
More fashion is coming to Ballard. Move over, make room. It’s a big deal. Monster Art and Clothing is moving into the old Cors and Wegener Building on Ballard Avenue and 20th, to officially open for business this Friday, August 29th. But this isn’t another polished Dolce Vita or previous commercial tenant, Merge. All of you Ballard-purists with your skeptical eyes and crossed arms can appreciate what local artist, Holly Gummelt (http://www.etsy.com) and her art posse are trying to do with Monster Art and Clothing– eco and econ friendly art and fashion.
With the exit of Merge and most recently Olivine (both have moved onto yuppified Fremont), a new movement is setting forth: clothing made by artists, to look like art, at an artist’s budget. Holly Gummelt, a Pike Market craft booth veteran, is picking up her tent, and setting up shop in Ballard to bring art to the common man. She coins her movement, “casual art”, for unpretentious, anti-boutique people– so basically, for Ballardians. “We don’t have a lot of money ’cause we’re artists, so we’re really 
trying to bring something to others who love handmade art, that’s sustainable and affordable. We’re not ‘hoity-toity’; we want to be accessible.”
And we want to access you, Monster Art and Clothing! With hoodie wraps made from 100% up-cycled wool (see photo with proprietor, Gummelt, modeling hat/scarve), screen-printed T-shirts, and quirky accessories created out of recycled scratch, Ballard welcomes you with open …
Cameron August 8th, 2008
If you’re walking down Market Street, and you pass a non-descript door with only the marking, “Live Girls!” posted to a sandwich board and a staircase leading to a dark basement, your better judgment might guide you to keep on walking. In most cases that’s usually a smart bet, but not this time.
Market Street (between Ballard Avenue and Leary Way) has been the home of the Live Girls! Theater since 2005, and has been dedicated to promoting local women playwrights, directors and artists ever since. Their goal is to “empower women artists to be leaders and provide the public with opportunities to see plays by women”, and that’s hot, because let’s face it, like in many other industries, women are severely underrepresented in theater. While there are many talented women playwrights out there, most produced plays are not by women. Live Girls! Theater helps bring the female perspective to the forefront.
As a small, fringe theater group, their company members commit to a year of supporting the Live Girls! mission by partaking in various aspects of administration and production. It’s entirely volunteer-operated, so let’s support our local Girls!– go to the next production or pony up some cash and be a sponsor.
Here’s what’s coming up next at the Live Girls! Theater:
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Cameron July 31st, 2008
Sitting unmarked on Ballard Avenue for the past nine years was at one point the largest distributor of handmade, original greeting cards in the United States. Souvenir, owned and curated by Curtis Steiner (www.curtissteiner.com) with a friendly sales associate named Liberte, is less of a boutique and more of a decorative art gallery, full of quirky and eccentric surprises from the all original handmade cards (only $6.50 each!) made from vintage photos, match boxes and gold leaf to early 20th century botanical lithographs. Steiner is a real artist and craftsman– his stuff, 1,000 Blocks, is a permanent feature in the Seattle Art Museum–as anyone could probably decipher from the glassine baby doll dresses dangling in the storefront of his shop. This store is more than just retail, it’s a museum of treasures, but here, you’re encourage to touch– and even wear the exhibits.
5325 Ballard Ave NW
Seattle, WA 98107
View on Google Maps
Tel 206-297-7116
Hours: Tue-Sat 11-5.30, Sunday 12-4
Annika July 12th, 2008
Looking for something fun to do in Ballard but don’t feel like fighting for parking spots along Market St? Then head a bit north of Ballard to the Ballard P-Patch Garden (8527 25th Ave NW) for their 8th annual “Art in the Garden” on Saturday July 19th from 9am-6pm. Stroll through the garden admiring the strawberries, sunflowers, and tomatoes all while listening to local artists, and enjoying refreshments. Ample parking is available in the lot just south of the garden, near Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church. Please check their website for more information and directions.
Cameron June 25th, 2008
Ballard has opulent resources and programs for the creative arts, even for little brats. That’s right, brats. B.R.A.T., Ballard Resource For Artistic Talent, is a local program specifically geared for art-curious kids, 8-18 years old. BRAT creator, Jason Arne Lien, MFA and long-time educator in the Seattle art community, provides coaching for kids for both drop in studio sessions and week long camps (9-4pm) this summer. Lien considers the best way to foster a young person’s blossoming creative mind is to challenge them by “letting them do their own thing but also working closely with each artist to help them decide what is really important.”
Drop-in sessions are moderately priced but the summer camps are the best bargain. So if you have a brat whose interested in advancing their artistic skill set or preparing a portfolio for college– or if you’re just interested in keeping them out of JUV Hall– BRAT is a positive and productive environment in which to creatively develop.
Unfortunately, BRAT is leaving Market Street in September in search of a bigger space, but you can still catch the camps all this summer. Check out www.BratPrograms.com.
(photo from BratPrograms.com)
BallardGuy June 24th, 2008
There will be a barbeque lunch this Saturday with local handmade arts and crafts available for sale. Vegetarian lunch options will be available. Free admission.
5429 32nd Ave NW (across from the Ballard Locks in Seattle)
Saturday, June 28, 2008 - 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
EtsyRain.com is an independent group of Seattle Metropolitan area craft artists who each run their own shops on Etsy.com. Their mission is to nurture a supportive community of artists that will inspire, educate and promote growth of independent businesses.
SeattleMeg June 10th, 2008
One of the best things about Ballard is the Sunday Farmer’s Market. Normally open from 10am to 3pm, it’s a smorgasbord of color, sound, and treats. From the delicious Kolache from the Little Prague Bakery to the mouth-watering samples of smoked salmon, I love spending an hour or two here each week.
It takes up a full block on old Ballard Avenue, sandwiched between the boutiques and music stores. Studies have shown of late that prices for decent organic food at farmer’s markets is now becoming cheaper than the store and the gas it takes to get there. Hop a bus (17, 18, 44, and 46) to get off on Market Street and wander around the corner for the best food and gifts in the area.
The irises are in right now, filling the cheap bouquets from local flower farms with all their blue and purple glory, as well as Icelandic poppies that love this cool weather for their crepe-paper petals. A few early strawflowers add some more searing orange highlights for your foyer or table.
A real treat the last several times I’ve been to the market is the musical stylings of “The Tallboys”. True down-home bluegrass is the preferred genre of this exceedingly talented duo. I know if I tried to play a …
Keith May 12th, 2008
I recently posted on Ballardite Blog about some of the exhibits I was drawn to at the second Saturday ArtWalk held last Saturday in Ballard, May 10th. One of my favorite installations of the evening, by Jim Wilkinson, an Edmonds photographer, was at KISS Cafe. The exhibition entitled “Normal Sometimes Naked People” featured large grids of bold, beautiful color photographic portraits on stretched canvas. The photos were striking, especially grouped as they were in the space, which features a high loft-ceiling and bold wall colors that really made the photos pop. Some of the pieces were erotic; there were nudes of women and of men with a couple photos of nude men posing together. In an interesting angle a couple of the photos featured strikingly tatooed KISS co-owner Amanda Whisler
After the show I decided to look for more information on the photographer, who was erroneously referred to in ArtWalk materials as John Wilkenson. I eventually tracked down his Flicker page. Under a picture of one of the pieces from the show he wrote:
The Artist’s Reception Sat May 10th was great. On Sunday, one of the owners of the cafe called me and told me that he had taken down one of my 2 photo pieces, and he wanted me to chop off the bottom third of this piece. All because of the nude guy (bottom right corner). [...] I of course immediately removed the entire show [...]
Wow. …
Cameron April 24th, 2008
Hailing from San Francisco, the Haute Trash art show is visiting Ballard from April 18 to May 10th, at the home of New York Fashion Academy (You know, the place that’s brought in all those well-dressed, aspiring fashionistas, wandering the historic area of Ballard?). The exhibit kicked off its three week residency at NYFA with a couture fashion show, presented by Re Store and twenty-five Washington-based artists and designers “upcycling” waste into art and culture. The sixth annual Recycled Art & Fashion Show returned to honor Seattle’s Zero Waste Resolution Number 30990, and what a party it was! Models rocked actual shower caddies as pretty believable board shorts, and my favorite, a conglomeration of aluminum cans, plastic wrappings and some metal shiny things to create a non-traditional Japanese kimono silhouette. But if you did not get a chance to see the show, well, there’s always next year, but you still have a good couple weeks to check out the gallery. The exhibit doesn’t have a fashion emphasis, rather a wide variety of mixed media art installations (photography, sculpture and other 3-D creations) all celebrating imagination, innovation and irony; art is everywhere, even in a trash can.
trying to bring something to others who love handmade art, that’s sustainable and affordable. We’re not ‘hoity-toity’; we want to be accessible.”
