Our friends at White Center for the Arts recently sent out a letter seeking donations and volunteers, with a specific goal of raising around $28,000 to help procure a gallery space on the Dub-C’s main drag.

WCFTA is close to getting the space, but needs more money. They’re also looking for arts/business-minded people to sit on their Board of Directors.

Read the letter for full details, including how you can help:

Hello friends and supporters of having a community gallery in White Center,

White Center for the Arts must make a decision this weekend as to whether or not to continue pursuing the very fabulous space at 9640A 16th Ave SW for DREAM Community Gallery. We have the deposit money, and some grant money coming. However, it is not enough to responsibly continue with the project at this time without having $28,000.00 more. The landlord is understandably tired of waiting, and wants to move on. We have seen a vision of the future, and this space is what is needed, and desired, by many of the artists in the area.

DREAM: Community Gallery has a solid business plan. We have a great person, Lance McIntosh, who is managing the project, and who has crunched the numbers. We have a solid team of volunteers who will help with the build-out, and plenty of artists who are ready to exhibit, and performers ready to bring their art to you. We will be providing a resource library, a computer that is free to use, free wi-fi, and art materials for those who want to use them while they are at the gallery. In the gallery, as a way of avoiding having to apply for the endless parade of grants, we will have a small coffee bar. There will be plenty of comfy seating, and snacks. This space will be the central point from which White Center for the Arts conducts it’s arts programming.

We are a community organization. We are reaching out right now to the community for a show of support. Please support this beautiful project with a tax-deductible donation of any size.

We are also looking for arts/business-minded people to sit on the Board of Directors. We need a solid infrastructure directed by people from the community.

WCFTA is here with a vision of healthy community, and a goal of being a part of a healthy White Center. We are partnering with other organizations in the area to help realize this vision. Will you be a part of this?

If you have any questions, want to volunteer ( a list of opportunities is ready to be put up on the site), and/or want to donate, please contact me:

- Shelli Park
crimsonpark@whitecenterforthearts.org

Thank you so much for your support! ART TO THE PEOPLE!!!!

Our friend Shelli Park of White Center for the Arts tells us that their one-year anniversary is fast approaching, and they’ll be celebrating it at their Third Saturday Art walk on Saturday, Feb. 20th, from 6pm to 9pm in various businesses in White Center.

The photo at left was shot by Brian Barr, whose work will be on display at WCFTA’s new community gallery, DREAM.

Here are the details:

WHAT: WCFTA monthly Art Walk, celebrating their one-year anniversary.

WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 20th, from 6pm to 9pm.

WHERE/FEATURING:

• Salvadorean Bakery: Chuck Northcutt – photography on canvas
• Café Rozella: Carole Ellis – photography
• Triangle Tavern: Chase Evans – Spoken Word @ 6:15 DJ sets @ 7:00
• Full Tilt Ice Cream: Julie Luke – Acrylic on Canvas
• Proletariat Pizza: Baso – photography
• Dzul Tattoo: Urban and Tattoo Art
• Dream Community Gallery: Fusion Dance Crew @ 6:30; Brian Barr – Portraits of White Center; Amanda Helmick – Mixed Media; Amanda Pickerel-Winer – paintings
• Big Al Brewing: Raina Anderson – photography
• DubSea Café: Hye Young Kim – dyed yarn and acrylic, Micheal Olson – DJ –reggae/dub plus more!

INFORMATION: More info available at www.whitecenterforthearts.org.

And here’s a letter regarding accomplishments made during WCFTA’s first year:

“Dear Lovers of Art in White Center,

White Center for the Arts (WCFTA) believes that the White Center community’s rich tapestry of culture and local arts should be shared with everyone. Our work to establish a permanent home for the arts in the neighborhood is off to a great start! In the past six months we:

• Established an after-school art program in the local Highline District Middle and High School
• Established the Third Saturday Art Walk, exhibiting more than 25 local artists in 9 months time.
• Are hosting Community Artists Meetings to open the lines of communication
• Established a working relationship with local, county, and state arts organizations and continue to identify and foster new partnerships within the community to create a web of services and support for artists and youth.
• Partnered with the YWCA at Greenbridge to showcase local artists in the lobby on a quarterly basis, and are working with Youth Media Institute and the Highline School District to implement non-violent extracurricular creative youth activities in the schools and in the White Center Downtown Business District.

But we have more work to do, and we are in urgent need of your support so that we can create the anchor of our vision and visiability, DREAM Community Gallery. We are asking for a small donation of $10.00 from 100 people, a $15.00 donation from 55 people, and 10 $100.00 donations. You will be supporting the entire White Center Cultural Community, helping to give visibility to local artists in all media, ages, and neighborhoods. A gift right now will assure that WCFTA can continue on our mission to be a catalyst for the coming together of the arts and cultural community of White Center. The time has come for a permanent home for the arts in White Center. Our current projects are:

• DREAM, a Community Gallery sustained by an in-house Coffee House, providing un-juried exhibition space for local artists and performers, and providing a safe gathering place, and empowering activities, for youth
• Development of our arts education programming
• Collection of oral histories and artifacts for a permanent local history collection
• Facilitating cross medium and cross cultural collaborations, and continuing to bring positive business to White Center through the Art Walk

We appreciate gifts of any amount, and in return WCFTA is working hard to promote art and culture in the daily life of White Center residents. We are to receive a $5,000 grant. We need more to open our Community Gallery by February 20^th, the first anniversary of White Center for the Arts. We have scheduled two dance performances, a musician, and two artists for the evening of February 20^th, and they are counting on your gift to help make this happen. When combined with the work of our dedicated volunteers, established, emerging, and students artists, the community as a whole will benefit from seeing our mission to bring art, and the celebration of culture and heritage to all of White Center and its neighbors, succeed.

To give a tax deductible donation, visit our website: http://www.whitecenterforthearts.org/

Sincerely,
Shelli Park
Chair, White Center for the Arts

P.S. You may be fortunate enough to have an employer that will match your gift. This is a great opportunity to give maximum impact with your gift to White Center for the Arts.

Even if you don’t live in White Center, but know that this is a worthy cause, please donate and know that you are supporting strong work in a beautiful community.”

(Photo by Brian Barr)

Our good friends at White Center for the Arts‘ will be holding their next art event on Saturday, Sept. 19th, this time at a new venue – Big Al Brewery, located at 9832 14th Ave SW in White Center.

Here are the details:

WHAT: White Center for the Arts’ 3rd Saturday Art Event, featuring:

• Photography exhibit by Alexander Meas and Ken Champoux
• Live bands, Proletariat Pizza, Full Tilt Ice Cream, Big Al’s Beer and “fun surprises”

WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 19th , 7pm to 10pm

WHERE: Big Al Brewery, located at 9832 14th Ave SW, Seattle;‎ – (206) 453-4487‎

INFO: Lots of art, artists, live music, pizza and microbrew, with a portion of the night’s take going towards funding WCFTA’s Community Gallery/Coffeehouse and After-School Arts Education program.

Here’s more from their press release:

And now for something completely different…

At least the venue is different.

White Center for the Arts September Third Saturday Art Event is being hosted by Big Al Brewery!!

September 19th, 7PM until 10PM.

Come enjoy Art, Music, Food, Beverage, and Prizes; a rockin’ Saturday night, and help WCFTA reach it’s funding goal.

Please pass this along to all of your friends and make it a party!