Rachel Gallaher
Turn up the Music
Totem Star's new home expands its footprint by tenfold
“The studio was usually full,” says Totem cofounder, star singer, songwriter, and producer Daniel Pak. “And then we’d have a duo playing guitar out on the stairs, folks rapping in the hallway or practicing in the dance studios. It was a beautiful thing, but we needed more room.”
Most Influential, Fashion: Dan McLean
Fashion designer
“I have such a connection to this city,” McLean says. “There’s so much happening and so many people doing cool things. I feel like once people get famous here, they move away to New York or LA, and they say, ‘Oh, there’s not enough here.’ I disagree. I don’t need to take my shows to New York. I want Seattle to be a stop during Fashion Week.”
When Bad Meat is a Good Thing
Choreographer Alice Gosti’s work dives deep
For those watching, it quickly became clear that the group wasn’t a sports team but rather some kind of performance troupe dancing along the footpaths, under the white arches of the Pacific Science Center, and in Memorial Stadium’s concrete breezeways. The bright red jerseys were all emblazoned, front and back, with the same word: MALACARNE.
The Sights of Sayulita
Where to shop, eat, and drink
The best dinner in town is making rounds to the street vendors for tamales and tacos (Gaby’s has the top fish tacos around), but if a sit-down situation is more your speed, then Barracuda or Mary’s offer excellent options from ceviche to shrimp tacos. For a morning boost, Anchor Café offers coffee (the vanilla coconut cold brew is delicious), toasts, smoothie bowls, and more.
The Shores of Sayulita
Using Mexican design sensibilities, Seattle architect Robert Humble built a contemporary home and vacation rental
When architect Robert Humble and his wife, Nicole Johnson, first visited Sayulita, Mexico, in 2009, it was the kind of sleepy little town that adventurous travelers hope to stumble upon. Surfers, artists, and yoginis mingled with the local community, and everything moved at a slower pace so often prevalent in tropical climates.
Arts: Picture Perfect
Robin Layton is nothing short of a Seattle treasure
Much like capturing the perfect moment on film, photographer Robin Layton’s life is a series of moments that are almost hard to believe. Some would call them coincidences, and others, instances of fate. Remember that iconic photo of a grinning Ken Griffey sliding across home plate (“The Smile at the Bottom of the Pile”) to…
Datebook: Fall Arts Finds
A look at some of the upcoming season’s hottest works
As the long, hot days of summer melt away into cooler temps and earlier evenings, Seattleites are about to make the seasonal shift toward indoor activities. While monthly art walks and occasional museum visits are popular year-round, for those in the know, back-to-school sales also signal the start of Fall Arts: the time of year…
Designing for Dignity
After witnessing the last few weeks of her grandmother's life, one Seattle woman tackled a redesign of the ubiquitously disliked hospital gown
Tammera Mason remembers her grandmother, Eleanor, as a glamorous woman. Born and raised in an immigrant family in the Midwest, Eleanor used fashion as a way to fit in, and her granddaughter talks with fondness of her perfectly coiffed hair, printed scarves, and movie star sunglasses — all visual indicators of her outgoing personality. “Eleanor…
Blender Bender
Seattle's experience research lab tells stories through artwork, installations and architecture
Back in March 2021 — just as the drab Seattle winter started to give way to lighter days and slightly higher temperatures — a storefront niche on the always-thronged corner of Capitol Hill’s Pike and Broadway intersection underwent a transformation. Formerly an easy-to-miss entryway sandwiched between a coffee shop and Neighbours Nightclub, the small, windowed…
Book: Jane Wong’s got the write stuff
Poet Jane Wong finds emotional release in her debut memoir, ‘Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City’
Like all poets, Jane Wong likes to play with language. Collecting words, ordering them, weaving ideas and stories together, then depositing them on paper with the hurried, scrawling motion of a pen or ubiquitous, punctuating taps on a keyboard. The results are magnetic — both for their narrative and lyrical quality. For anyone who has…
Arts: Seattle’s Architect of Light
Italian-born artist Iole Alessandrini explores the beauty and emotional impact of working with light
How many colors do you see?” Artist and architect Iole Alessandrini asks me this on a cold, windy evening in late February. We’re sitting in an attic-like nook in her apartment at West Seattle’s Cooper Artist Housing, a 36-unit former school that has been transformed into an affordable live/work space specifically for artists. I’m looking…
Pride in Place: Why Seattle Architecture Shines
Seattle's Past Influences its Modern-Day and Future Architecture
George Suyama has had an outsized influence on much of what we know as modern-day Seattle, but he never planned on a career in architecture. Suyama, a Seattle native who has been practicing architecture in the region for more than six decades, founded his award-winning firm, George Suyama Architects (now Suyama Peterson Deguchi), in 1971….
Arts: From Screen to Stage at Pacific Northwest Ballet
As part of its 50th anniversary, Pacific Northwest Ballet presents work from its pandemic choreographers, including two world premieres
Three years ago — like much of the world — Pacific Northwest Ballet was forced to shut its doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Company members, choreographers, and musicians hunkered down in their homes, hoping for a short quarantine that would allow them to get back into the studio quickly. As we now know, that…
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