Arts
At Two Dot Schoolhouse, Ruth Marie Tomlinson Builds an Artistic Community
For nearly 20 years, the Seattle artist and her husband have welcomed artists, writers, and musicians to a historic Montana schoolhouse. Now they’re searching for its next stewards.
At her solo exhibition last year at The Vestibule, Seattle artist Ruth Marie Tomlinson presented a new series of work inspired by her close readings of British nature writer J.A. Baker’s The Peregrine and Icelandic author Sjón’s The Blue Fox. As if on sheets torn from a sketchbook, her pages included excerpts and outtakes of…
Seattle’s Brudi Brothers Go From Busking to Big Time
The local band is bringing its analogue Americana to Climate Pledge Arena with Kacey Musgraves.
In discussions of film and T V, there’s a phrase that sometimes comes up: “They have a face that looks like it’s seen an iPhone.” The same can be said of music, especially as vintage inspirations and pastiche have become more standard. Some bands sound like contemporary interpreters, some sound like tourists, and a few…
Studio Sessions: Colleen Louise Barry
Multi-hyphenate artist Colleen Louise Barry on discipline, the arts ecosystem in Seattle, and saving abandoned trampoline from the side of the road.
It’s hard not to smile around artist and writer Colleen Louise Barry. Bubbly and bright, she radiates optimism and cheer that would put most stereotypical Seattleites on edge. I think she is an absolute delight. Originally from Albany, Barry received her MFA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, before moving to Seattle in 2016. Once here,…
Steins Up: 8 Washington Oktoberfests to Celebrate Fall
From Fremont’s three-day bash to Leavenworth’s Bavarian blowout, here’s where to join the festivities across the state.
Every year, as September rolls around, there’s a hint of nostalgia in the air as summer fades. The sun gradually sets earlier each night, and temperatures cool as summer’s frenetic energy begins to ease. Seattle and communities across the Evergreen State still have plenty in store for the rest of the year, though, starting with…
Seattle Rock Band Stereo Embers Rekindles for One Night
After four years apart, the quartet reunites for a hometown show.
Bands break up, dissolve, or otherwise drift apart all the time, for all sorts of reasons. No matter what the impetus for the split, though, fans will naturally conjure images of scorched-earth implosions like Fleetwood Mac or Oasis—and optimists will note that even those two bands eventually reunited. In the case of Stereo Embers, their…
2026 Fall Arts Hit List—Visual Arts
The must-see gallery shows of the season.
September The 2026 Recology King County AIR Program Exhibition Through September 12 Recology King County To wrap up its latest artist residencies, Recology King County presents the 2026 Recology King County AIR Program Exhibition, featuring fashion designer Janelle Abbott and photographer Eirik Johnson. Held at Mutuus Studio, the show is the culmination of a residency…
2026 Fall Arts Hit List—Dance and Theater
The must-see dance debuts and theatrical performances of the season.
September Dance Whim W’Him: FALL ’26 September 12–20, Erickson Theatre Off-Broadway and Vashon Center for the Arts One of contemporary dance company Whim W’Him’s most popular programs, the Choreographic Shindig puts the power of curation into the dancers’ hands. For the FALL ’26 show, they chose three female choreographers—Kayla Farrish, Annie Rigney, and Jessi Stegall—to…
Studio Sessions: Ling Chun
The Seattle-based artist brings playful color to ceramics and neon while exploring memory, transformation, and life between cultures.
For Ling Chun, creating begins with something sensed before it can be named. Working with clay, glass, light, and sometimes synthetic hair, the Hong Kong-born artist gives physical form to things that words cannot always hold. “For me, the magnitude of making goes far beyond the object that is eventually produced,” Chun says. “The object…
The Magic of PAX Is Stronger Than Ever
PAX West draws more than 100,000 people to Seattle each year. Co-founder Jerry Holkins reflects on what the gaming convention set out to change, how its community has grown and why gathering face to face still matters.
Access to game news as it was happening was difficult back in the day. Even with the advent of the internet, communication between game publishers and journalists was still a very elite affair. I used to fake credentials—via fax machine!—to attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo, mostly just known as E3. It was simultaneously as loud…
Your Guide to Bumbershoot 2026
Navigate Seattle’s wildest end-of-summer weekend with 20 picks spanning Death Cab for Cutie, Blood Orange, wrestling, skateboarding and—obviously—movies made in 48 hours.
Four years after Bumbershoot returned with its quirkiness revivified, Seattleites broadly acknowledge the two-day multimedia extravaganza as a welcome finale to the summer festival season. Fests like Bumbershoot are designed around a choose-your-own-adventure model, but if you’re the kind of person who looked at this year’s sprawling lineup—featuring multiple bands, artists, and exhibits happening at…
Studio Sessions: Gabi Nirino
Working with textiles to explore ideas connected to nature, community, and womanhood, Buenos Aires-born Gabi Nirino never stops experimenting with her medium.
Gabi Nirino carries bag of materials with her almost everywhere she goes. Cloth, thread, yarn, textile scraps, collected fibers—the pieces inside are a network of inspiration waiting for her hands. “You can work with textiles anywhere—on the floor, on a plane—which is why I always carry a project in my bag,” Nirino says. “It’s like…
The 2026 Washington State Book Award Finalists Are Here
Your fall reading list just got 41 books longer.
The 2026 Washington State Book Award finalists are in, and readers may want to clear some space on the nightstand. Judges selected 41 titles from 308 books written by Washington authors and published in 2025. The finalists span fiction, memoir, nonfiction, poetry, picture books, books for young readers, and young adult literature. Seattle is well…
Giving Black Artists Their Flowers
Now in its fifth year, Black & Loud Fest is building community, expanding the region’s sound, and making sure recognition doesn’t come too late.
Categorically, throughout the entire history of music and American culture, Black artists have not received the love and credit they deserve. When recognition does come, it is not until decades after their passing. From Sister Rosetta Tharpe to Seattle’s Tina Bell to contemporary pioneers like Fishbone, Black-fronted bands in the Pacific Northwest and beyond have…
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