ESC Kids' Art Contest winner Anne Wilhite with Burien City Councilmember Joan McGilton.

The Environmental Science Center (ESC) on Thursday (Feb. 9) announced the winners of the Earth Day Kids’ Art Contest:

Congratulations go out to Anne Wilhite of Mr. Matthews’ 4th grade class at Marvista Elementary for winning the Grand Prize:

Ngan Nguyen of Ms. Miller’s 6th grade class at Cedarhurst Elementary also won as a Finalist:

Payton May of Mrs. Barker’s class, also Marvista Elementary, was selected as a Finalist:

A total of 103 pieces of artwork were submitted from eight schools and programs in the areas served by ESC. Students were asked to submit work that inspired others to take care of the earth. The work was judged by three jury members, two from the Burien Arts Commission. Judging criteria included artistic merit, creativity, and originality. Ms. Wilhite’s art expressed what the world could look like if we all do our part to protect the environment. Ms. May’s more literal artwork reminds the viewers to THINK of important actions, such as commuting and composting, that will provide a greener place for us all. Ms. Nguyen’s art inspires people of all backgrounds and ethnicities to take part in protecting the world.

To give special recognition to the Grand Prize winner, the former Mayor of Burien, Joan McGilton presented the award to Anne in front of her class. After the ceremony, students eagerly waited to have a chance to talk with the former Mayor and to shake her hand. ESC sincerely thanks McGilton for her continued support of ESC and our local schools. ESC along with its supporters is proud to continue inspiring each of these three young artists with an artist’s tote containing:

• Artist & Craftsman Donation- heart-shaped craft box, craft tissue paper, craft glue, and set of paintbrushes
• Utrecht Art Supplies Donation- artist’s sketchbook, set of pencils, and eraser
• Beading kit
• Sculpting sticks

Anne Wilhite’s will be featured on the invitations to ESC’s Annual Earth Day Dinner & Auction as well as on ESC’s website. Additionally, the Grand Prize included a one-year membership for a family of five to the Seattle Aquarium. One Finalist received a Family Fun Pack to the Woodland Park Zoo and the other received admission for four to the Seattle Bug Safari and admission for two to the Pacific Science Center and IMAX theater. All participants were recognized for their submissions with a certificate of participation. Thank you to all the students and teachers who submitted these wonderful works of art. We look forward to seeing more next year!

For more information about the Environmental Science Center visit www.envsciencecenter.org.

“Let your imagination ROLL WILD!” reads an email. “Our first round this past summer was very successful, and there is some amazing art hung up at the rink. There’s plenty of room on the walls, and hundreds of skates just waiting for you and your ideas to be a permanent part of the Southgate Roller Rink in White Center.”

Sculpture Criteria and Instructions:

• Max out your design at 4′ wide x 2′ tall
• Utilize up to (5) pairs or (10) skates
• Make it wall mountable

Like the Native Americans with the Buffalo hunt, include as much of the roller skate as possible (ie; the boot, truck and wheels). A surplus of clay wheels are also available for use.

• Sculptures must be completed by May 9th
• Participation fee is $20 which covers skates, hanging and promotion of the May 3rd Saturday Art Walk.

The roller rink will play host to a fundraiser benefiting WCA on May 16th which will serve as an early unveiling of the art work before the Art Walk on May 19th.

Please email whitecenterartwalk@gmail.com by March 1st if you would like to participate and details about skate pick up.

The City of Burien and Burien Arts Commission want someone to paint the side of the Dollar Tree Store on 4th Ave SW – and they’re willing to pay $12,000 bucks for it.

But put that extra thick Sharpie away Mr. Tagger – this is not an open call for random graffiti – this is a legitimate call for an Artist(s) to paint a real mural.

The Dollar Tree is officially located at 250 SW 152nd Street, but the mural is on 4th Ave SW, just across from the city hall garage.

The deadline to apply is Friday, Feb. 24th.

Here’s more from a press release:

CALL TO ARTISTS City of Burien Arts Commission Mural Project

Eligibility: This project is open to all Northwest artists.

Deadline: Friday, February 24th. This is not a postmark deadline.

Project Budget: $12,000, to be inclusive of materials

The City of Burien and the Burien Arts Commission is seeking an artist or artist team to create a dynamic, innovative mural on the exterior surface on the side of a downtown Burien building. The building is on 4th SW between 150th and 152nd Street and is currently leased by The Dollar Store. The building wall is on a busy pedestrian friendly arterial and is across the street from the new Burien Town Square, which is the community’s central gathering point. The new Burien Library and City Hall are also located in this area.

The wall is painted concrete and is 18 feet high by 160 feet wide. It is required that the artist cover at least 50% of the wall with the mural. The artist will be required to include some type of community aspect in the design and/or creation process. This opportunity is intended as a community-building opportunity that can also create a sense of wonder and pride in the Burien downtown. The artwork will transform this large white wall into an interesting and exciting focal point and graffiti deterrent.

Artwork Opportunity:
The City of Burien is seeking an artist or artist team to develop, design and create a mural project that involves the Burien community in some way, to be determined by the artist. The project should reflect a thematic aspect of the community, such as growth, change, history, diversity, etc. The commissioned artwork should be created in media that is suitable for an exterior application directly on the concrete wall. The design will be presented to the Burien Arts Commission, Burien City Council and Dollar Store stakeholders prior to the final approval.

The $12,000 project budget includes the artist’s design fees, compensation and travel expenses, all materials and fabrication costs, shipping and transportation of materials to the site, preparation of mural site, installation of the artwork, application of protective coating if needed, and any applicable taxes and/or insurance.

About Burien:
Burien is a 100-year-old waterfront community with six miles of Puget Sound shoreline and mountain views. Burien is 16 miles south of Downtown Seattle. Burien is a diverse community with over 50 languages spoken in the homes of Burien area students. Over the last several years Burien has been busy rebuilding and reinventing itself. The downtown’s major arterial received a makeover and the new Burien Town Square opened its first buildings and park in 2009. Town Square has reshaped the downtown area into a central gathering point for the community. The city is also proud to be the home for many not-for profit arts organizations including an orchestra, live theatre, and choral and dance groups. The city has become an art pocket of the Northwest with unique arts projects such as B/ IAS (Burien Interim Art Space) and the yearly lantern festival “Arts A Glow”.

Application Materials:
Written application materials will be photocopied for the panelists. Please do not staple or bind application materials. Please submit written materials on plain white 8 1?2 x 11 paper.

• A letter of interest and broad project description which should explain how the artists work is appropriate for this particular place and project, what interests the artist about working on this project, past experience relevant to the project, experience working with community in some capacity, and a short description of the type of project you would like to create in the space.
• 10 digital images maximum submitted on a CD (jpg or tiff files). No bulky materials or original works of art should be submitted.
• Annotated image list. A printed sheet of information with artist’s name, contact information, artwork titles, mediums, date of artworks, sizes and the corresponding image numbers. Artists are encouraged to include a brief description (2-3 sentences) of each image, design team collaborative work or installations.
• A current professional resume (2 pages maximum). For artist team applications please include resumes for all team members.

Timeline:

• February 24, 2012: Application deadline
• March 2012: Interviews and Artist selection by late March
• April 2012: Planning meeting with Arts Commission and staff
• April-May 2012: Design and development of project
• Late May 2012: Presentation of design to stakeholders
• June-Sept 2012: Creation and completion of mural

Selection criteria:
Application Deadline Interviews and Artist selection by late March Planning meeting with Arts Commission and staff Design and development of project Presentation of design to stakeholders Creation and completion of mural.

The artists will be selected using the following criteria:

• Quality and strength of past work as demonstrated in the submitted materials
• Experience working with community in some capacity
• Adaptability to the collaborative process of design
• Demonstrated knowledge of the unique consideration of exterior murals
• Ability to work at elevated heights on ladders or scaffolding as needed
• Ability to create a unique and engaging artwork appropriate in concept, materials and scale for this project
• Availability to work April-September 2012 in Burien, Washington
• Availability to complete work by September 2012

Selection Process:

• A selection panel comprised of members of the City of Burien Arts Commission, City of Burien staff, building stakeholders, and community stakeholders will review all application materials received by the deadline. Interviews with top candidates will occur following the selection panel and final selection will be made by the end of March 2012.

Application Deadline
All application materials must be received no later than 4:30 PM on Friday, February 24th, 2012. This is not a postmark deadline. Incomplete or late applications will not be reviewed.

Submit complete applications to:

Gina Kallman
Cultural Arts Supervisor Re: Mural Project
Burien Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services
14700 6th Ave SW
Burien, WA 98166

For more information please contact Gina Kallman at 206-391-6605, ginak@burienwa.gov.

For the past six years, Artist Beverly Cameron has been a student in the art program (Art Escape) for artists with disabilities at the Moshier Community Art Center in Burien. She will be missed by all who knew her, and her artwork will be treasured.

Instructor Shariana Mundi wrote:

Beverly Cameron, our dear friend and art cohort, left this world on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011. She lived in the South Seattle area all of her life with an incredibly loving and supportive family. Her developmental disabilities seemed just a silent aspect of her generous and gentle personality. She flourished most happily in her quiet world of giant flowers, colors and family. Beverly worked with textile paints for years painting dishtowels for friends and family and in the past few years discovered many more media possibilities to explore and dabble in. She excelled at collage and bright florals, adding texture and pattern to her bold, simple designs. Through art, Beverly added friendships and artist celebrations to her life.

From her ever generous nature, Beverly’s most common statement about her art was:“I made it for you!”

Beverly’s work will be on display at the Burien Community Center until January 30th, 2012. The City of Burien Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services department would also like to thank Beverly’s family for its very generous donation to help develop and implement more art programs for adults with disabilities.

Burien’s annual ‘Empty Bowls’ fundraiser event for local food banks will be held on Friday, Jan. 27th at the Community Center, and volunteers are needed to help out.

Volunteers are needed to help wash bowls beforehand, as well as set up and serve at the event itself.

Here are the details courtesy Gina Kallman, Cultural Arts Supervisor for the City of Burien:

Hello!

I am starting to fill slots for volunteers for Empty Bowls 2012! The event will be Friday, January 27th, 11-2 and 4-8pm. Please let me know if you can help!

I am looking for people to fill these slots:

Bowl washing at Moshier Art Center:

• Monday, January 16, 10-noon
• Wednesday, January 25, 6-8pm

Set up at Burien Community Center:

• Thursday, Jan 26, 3-6pm

Friday, Jan 27—Main Event! Please let me know if you would like to help for lunch or dinner…we have the following shifts:

• 10:30-12:30
• 12:30-2:30
• 3:30-6:00
• 6:00-8:30pm

Thank you and Happy New Year!!

Gina Kallman
Cultural Arts Supervisor
City of Burien
Tel: (206) 391-6605
ginak@burienwa.gov
www.BurienParks.net

To volunteer, email Gina at ginak@burienwa.gov or call (206) 391-6605.

To see our previous coverage of past Empty Bowls, including great photos, click here.

Julie (678) and Chris Stiles (578) during a recent 'Cove to Clover' run.

by Guy Harper 

Ever driven down 21st Avenue SW near Seahurst and have seen a slender nice looking lady wearing a head scarf, jogging while maybe pushing a baby carriage with a couple of Greyhound race dogs trailing behind? 

Sounds like she lost a bet…right?

Well, not really – it seems that Julie Stiles and her 43-year old son, Chris, who also may be holding on to a dog or two while jogging are actually seen running through many areas in Burien (I get out of breath just driving by and watching ‘em jog with all those dogs)!

Now I should also state that almost every morning, Julie also works out at the Highline Athletic Club lifting weights, stretching and other body building things.  If you discuss training techniques with Julie, she will readily admit that she has tapered off a bit – you see, she used to run 14 miles a day!  Yes, 14…but has now reduced that mileage to “just seven” as other commitments have entered her life (holy smoke….I don’t even drive my car seven miles a day!).

So, just what is so darn important that she can’t even run a measly 14 miles a day, you might wonder?  Well, you should know that Chris, her son, is autistic and was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in 1972. Chris had a lot of time to spend studying nature – trees, branches, leaves, rocks, water plus many other interesting subjects and has developed into a very fine artist – and he now communicates through his many drawings and paintings made over these last few years.

Chris actually began drawing picture maps while attending a special program at the University of Washington for children with developmental delays. Then in 2008, Julie decided to enter one of Chris’s colorful drawings in the local Normandy Park Art Show. The subject was a picture of the Matterhorn with a Village Castle that Chris noticed on the cover of a magazine. Well, his very first entry into art competition was a tremendous success – a Blue Ribbon for Best of Show – now it just doesn’t get much better than that!  The award winning picture is shown below:

That triggered a thought in Julie’s mind….how about a website that may be a potential outlet for these paintings?  And so it came to be – here’s their web site: http://www.artautistic.com. Visiting this website will take you through Chris’s bio, autism facts and his Art Gallery that shows over 60 of his drawings and associated gift cards that are available for purchase. After visiting the Art Gallery on the website and viewing these many colorful drawings, you will suddenly realize that each painting seems to have a message of its’ own, that being the release of a picture in the mind of one held captive by autism…

Also, on the site is their very active 2011 Calendar of Events, including the various shows that Chris and Julie attended this year. Chris may be seen at a desk drawing while the show is in process, and it is inspiring to look over his shoulder and see a painting he is developing. The 2012 schedule will be updated as the events are announced and will be posted on the website.

Each painting is mounted and framed and is ready for sale. Purchases may be made by calling Julie at (206) 242-8915 or by emailing her at juliehighline@aol.com.

So, now you know about these two joggers and a little bit of their background – give ‘em a toot on the horn as you drive by to get your morning latte and coffee cake! Mush you Greyhounds!

Here’s what Maureen said on her blog about them:

The alarm went off at 4:15 a.m. so I could get up on a cold night and watch the moon and its light on the water change with the lunar eclipse. The sky started out pretty crystal clear, but advanced into thin clouds.

I was just shooting with my little Canon G10, so I have to accept the equipment limitations, but the image sequence is still dramatic and beautiful.

This image was shot at 5:24 while sitting at my desk, looking out through the window to Puget Sound. Note that the eclipse was well underway. The three red light towers are on Vashon Island. (A street light illuminated the cherry tree down in my yard, and cast just enough light into my office to cause a slight reflection on the window.)

Click image to see larger version.

Here’s a series taken during the two hours that I watched out my window, shot at these times:

• 4:44
• 5:05
• 5:15
• 5:18
• 5:48
• 5:59
• 6:01

No, the moon did not “flare” and cause a brighter image in the third shot. At times I changed the camera settings to pick up details either in the moon’s shadow or highlight.

They had predicted a very orange moon, which my eye did not see at all. The camera did, however, in the 5th and 6th shots, when I adjusted to capture the shadowed part of the moon.

A couple of notes jotted:

• 5:58 Just a shimmer of light.
• 6:00 A wisp at the bottom edge.
• 6:04 Not enough left in the sky to shoot.
• 6:15 NO moon. NO light! Time to go back to bed.

Scroll down to view each phase, or CLICK HERE to see a separate, horizontal version.

Click image to see larger version.

Be sure to follow Maureen’s most excellent blog here.

Moshier Art Center’s annual Holiday Pottery Sale will be held Saturday, Dec. 3rd from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

“Twice a year the potters at the Moshier Community Art Center gather to sell their handmade wares,” reads a flier. “Come to this amazing sale to find hundreds of items such as mugs, bowls, serving dishes, casseroles, garden art, jewelry, planters, and more!”

Organizers recommend that visitors come early for the best selection.

Cash or checks accepted.

Moshier Art Center is located at 430 South 156th in Burien.

More information here: www.MoshierArtCenter.org.

Artists United’s 14th Annual Autumn Art Fest will be held this Saturday, Nov. 12th, from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. at The Cove, located at 1500 SW Shorebrook Drive in Normandy Park.

There will be Art demonstrations, raffles and original art from more than 30 local artists working in oil, watercolor, photography, mixed media, jewelry, ceramics.

Admission is FREE, refreshments will be available.

Burien’s annual 20-20 Vision Silent Art Auction fundraiser is coming to the Community Center on Nov. 19th, where there will be 400 pieces of art available for $40 each.

The fun begins at 7 p.m. and continues until 10 p.m. at the center, which is located at 14700 6th Ave SW.

This serves as a fundraiser for Burien Arts, and a $10 donation is suggested.