Discover Burien’s Annual Silent Auction and the City of Burien Citizen Awards Recognition Dinner will be Friday, March 5th, from 6 to 10 pm at Karuna Yoga Studio in Olde Burien.

At this event, awards will be given out to the recipients of the city’s four awards for Outstanding Citizens and/or Businesspeople for 2009, which include (read our previous coverage here):

• John Nelson
• Luke Cruise
• Jean Spohn
• Jerry Robinson

And if you’re a local businessperson who’d like to donate an item to the auction, please click here for a Procurement Form (PDF file). This is Discover Burien’s big annual fundraiser event, and each item donated will be seen by a captive, interested, local and relevant audience (in other words, it’s a great way to market your stuff!). Contact Debra George if you have a donation: debrageorgemi@aol.com or via phone at (206) 941-7199.

Here are the event details:

WHAT: Discover Burien Annual Silent Auction and the City of Burien Citizen Awards Recognition Dinner

WHEN: Friday, March 5th from 6pm to 10pm

WHERE: Karuna Yoga Studio, located at 819 SW 152nd Street (at the corner of SW 152nd and Ambaum Blvd. in Olde Burien).

INFO: This will be a fun social event, with Dinner, Awards, Silent Auction and a No Host Bar. More information available at the Discover Burien website.

COST: Tickets are $25 each, or a Table with 8 tickets is $200.

Call (206) 433-2882 or e-mail debrageorgemi@aol.com or pick up tickets at the Discover Burien office or City Hall.

The City of Burien has put out its annual call for people to nominate Outstanding Citizens and/or Businesspeople for 2009′s “Outstanding Citizens Awards” program.

The deadline for nominations is Feb. 1, 2010.

Winners will be honored at the city’s annual awards ceremony, which will be held Friday, March 5th.

The four categories are:

• Outstanding Citizen
• Business Person
• Educator
• Environmental Activist

This program is sponsored by the city, along with Discover Burien.

To nominate a person, the city asks you to:

“Please describe what this person or organization has done, when the contribution was made, who benefited, how the contribution was accomplished and where the impact was made.”

(hmmm…perhaps this could be the year that a certain, fast-growing Burien-based community news website gets nominated…?)

There are two ways to make a nomination, and the deadline is Feb. 1, 2010:

1. Via an online form here
2. Via snail mail to:

Adriene Buckley
Burien City Hall
400 S.W. 152nd Street, Suite 3
Burien, WA 98166

For more information, contact Adriene at (206) 248-5512.

Tuesday night (Feb. 24) at the monthly Arts Commission meeting, Mayor Joan McGilton (right) presented the Burien Community Leader Award to Dane Johnson and Kathy Justin. The presentation was given early because Dane and Kathy will be on vacation when the Awards Dinner takes place Friday March 6th.

by Gina Bourdage

Founders of the year-long Burien/ Interim Art Space (B/ IAS) experiment, combining and transforming the concepts of art, temporary green spaces, and community gatherings, Kathy Justin and Dane Johnson have thrown open the doors of Burien, welcoming in the arts community.

“The goal is to get everyone more involved. All groups from different walks of life are invited to be creative and take advantage of the space.” Said Johnson.

Kathy and Dane hope that community members, groups and artists will bring their “out of the box” interpretations for use of the space. The Interim Art Space is just the kick off as they hope to continue to bring more art for display on the streets and parks of Burien.

“We want artists to know Burien is very accessible to the artist.” Said Dane.

“The allure of a city is that your voices are more readily heard in a community this size.” Said Kathy.

Their persistence while working on Burien’s’ 15th anniversary celebration provided building blocks for a great relationship with the city, while opening dialogue that has helped grow the local arts community.

Both Dane and Kathy said that they are grateful to receive the 2009 Community Leader award, and while they will not be able to attend the awards presentation, they will be speaking as representatives of the National Burning Man Association in San Francisco on the night of the event.

Kathy and Dane are looking for volunteers and participants in the arts planning committee as event planners and coordinators, artists and more. If you are interested or to learn more visit www.interim-art-space.com.

Here’s what the award committee had to say about Dane and Kathy:

“With their amazing energy, collaborative effort and never ending persistence, they brought together artists, business owners, community members and city staff to create a temporary art space, the first of its kind in the US.

Their vision and countless hours of work have given the Burien community an incredible space that will continue to develop over the next year; planned an opening celebration that made locals and outsiders rethink Burien, and a stream of publicity that is putting Burien on the map as an arts city.”

Here’s a video (shot by Steven Bradford) of the results of their hard work from the opening night of B/ IAS on Jan. 24th:

Click here to view the embedded video.

We’ve had the pleasure of seeing these two talented residents in action working like dogs, and we’d like to extend a hearty-yet-arty “Way to Go!” to them from The B-Town Blog!