Phinney Center Gallery artist selected as finalist

Tina Koyama, an artist showing work in the Phinney Center Gallery this month, has been selected as a finalist in the CityArts Summer Art Walk Awards. CityArts will host an event to select the winners on June 30th at Fred Wildlife Refuge. Come out and vote for Tina Koyama! For more information, see: http://www.cityartsonline.com/artwalk

Family Fun at the Farmers Market

Hello to fans of the Phinney Farmers Market! It's raining today, but tomorrow the sun may shine again - keep your fingers crossed! Even if it's damp, chances are good there will be sweet berries and cherries and we know there will be plenty of other good food and treats to choose among.

Kids of all ages are invited to join neighborhood favorite, Gary Paine, for a sing-a-long set under the canopy from about 4-6 tomorrow afternoon. Make a request for "You are my Sunshine" and chase the rain clouds away!

When it's too wet out to enjoy bike riding and sidewalk chalk, click this link for a great coloring and activity book about farm fresh food from Washington State.

Hope to see you at the market tomorrow and every Friday!

Help Flip Flapjacks at the Greenwood Senior Center

Are you dreaming of syrup? We can make your dreams come true when you volunteer at the Greenwood Senior Center’s annual pancake breakfast on Saturday, June 25. We are looking for volunteers to help set up, serve and clean up, and feast on pancakes too!

Greenwood Senior Center Pancake Breakfast
525 N 85th St, Seattle 98103

Saturday, June 25
Shift 1: 6a – 9a (3 needed)
Shift 2: 8a – noon (3 needed)

Contact LeAnne at her email or 206.297.0875 to sign up or learn more!

Learn to Draw at the Phinney Farmers Market

Join us for this exciting, summer Greenwood Senior Center without Walls Class!

Fridays through July 29, 4-5pm. Sign up for one or all of the classes!
Phinney Farmers Market, Upper Parking Lot of the PNA, 6532 N. Phinney Ave., $10/$12 per class for member/public.

Meet at the Phinney Farmers Market entrance and draw whatever catches your eye! The class is led by Susan Schneider. Susan will work with each student individually as well as do some demonstration. This class is for absolute beginners and those who love drawing outdoors. Bring a sketchpad, pencils, pens, and erasers. A minimum of 3 students must be signed up for each class for the class to run. The center will notify you the Thursday before if the class is canceled.

Register for each class by calling the Greenwood Senior: (206) 297-0875 or emailing Emily at emilyb@phinneycenter.org

Summer Art Classes at the PNA

The Phinney Neighborhood Association is co-sponsoring classes with Museo Art Academy this summer! Together, we are offering:

Drawing Camp
Kristine Helgager, Museo Art Academy
Mon-Thur, Jun 27-30, 9 am-12 pm
Ages 6-8

Painting Camp
Kristine Helgager, Museo Art Academy
Mon-Thur, Jun 27-30, 1-4 pm
Ages 9-12

Clay Camp
Kristine Helgager, Museo Art Academy
Mon-Thur, Jul 18-21 , 9 am-12 pm
Ages 6-8

Mixed Media Camp
Kristine Helgager, Museo Art Academy
Mon-Thur, Jul 18-21, 1-4 pm
Ages 9-12

For more information, see: www.phinneycenter.org/arts/ or call 206.783.2244 to register

Community Dialog through Theater: "Brownie Points" at Greenwood’s Taproot Theater

“In this play five moms of varied racial backgrounds courageously tackle a discussion about their differences, their common bonds and their need for greater understanding. The resulting conversation is authentic, meaningful and surprisingly hilarious! It’s a conversation about overcoming our fear when speaking about race, about speaking honestly and listening actively. In fact; it’s a conversation about the need to have a conversation.”
from the Taproot Theater blog

The PNA wanted to take an opportunity to highlight an event in our community that we feel is very important: the Taproot Theater’s current show Brownie Points and its corresponding community conversations. The play Brownie Points is about five mothers with different racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds who are on a camping trip together and spend a night talking about these differences, as well as the shared experience of motherhood. The play’s director Karen Lund has explained, “This story provides a safe place to ask ourselves some of our hardest social questions.”

The PNA has similarly aimed to create a comfortable space for community conversation about racial and social justice issues through our Cultural Engagement Film Series.

The Taproot Theater, in addition to its show, has concurrent opportunities for community members to participate in guided, collaborative discussions exploring themes in Brownie Points. Following the Thursday evening shows, there is an opportunity for audience members to stay and engage with each other in conversation.

Furthermore, there is a free event at the Taproot Theater in conjunction with the show on Monday June 13 from 7-9pm, at the Taproot Theater. It is titled “Neighbors and Strangers: Discussing Diversity and the Experience of Race in Seattle.” Admission is free, RSVP required to Sonja Lowe at 206-529-3666, sonjal@taproottheatre.org

According to the 2010 Census data, Seattle is both the fifth whitest city in the United States and also the city with the most racially diverse zip code. Ours is a city living a historical legacy and current experience of racism, including once legally sanctioned racial segregation, as well as Sunset Laws on the north side of town. There is special work being done to combat today’s racism, for example through the City of Seattle’s Race and Social Justice Initiative, the People’s Institute Northwest, YWCA, Solid Ground, and the Coalition of Anti-Racist Whites. We feel that the opportunity for community conversation is an integral part of working for equitable communities, an equitable city, and a just society. To that end, it is important that these conversations happen throughout our city, and we are grateful to Taproot Theater for creating an additional opportunity for this discussion to take place in our neighborhood – as they so eloquently put it, amongst both neighbors and strangers – some of which may be both to us at the same time.

End of Bike Month, Beginning of Bike Summer!

PNA staff just enjoyed a month-long Commute Challenge to make as many commute trips by alternative modes as possible. Between 22 staff who participated, we recorded 206 round trips by walking, biking, riding transit, or carpooling during the month of May. We also learned the adults love stickers too. Way to go PNA staff!

Our challenge coincided with the popular Group Health Commute Challenge to encourage biking during bike month, and for the first time, the PNA fielded a team of 6 people, who biked half of their commute trips, for a total of 60 trips and 227.5 miles. We competed against Team Bard Seattle from 74th Street Productions, who kicked our butts in every category. On Bike-to-Work Day, on May 20th, we counted over 200 cyclists who came by our station in Heart of Phinney Park. Way to go Phinney-Greenwood!

The PNA Staff Commute Challenge and Bike Month activities were part of our larger campaign, the Green Planet Travel Agency, which encourages alternative transportation in our neighborhood and especially to PNA events. Besides the purely practical (the PNA has a large parking lot that sometimes overflows to the neighborhood street), we promote alternatives because we have a commitment to sustainability, and we think it betters the neighborhood and builds community.

This summer, the Green Planet Travel Agency recommends these events to try alternatives:

Farmer’s Markets
What’s better than a nice relaxing walk or bike ride on a Friday afternoon? One that stops at the Phinney Farmer’s Market along the way! Make sure to have a strategy for carrying your purchases home—walkers can bring sturdy, reusable bags or baskets, and bikers can try baskets, panniers, backpacks, or even a milk crate or produce box bungeed to a rear rack.

PNA Home & Garden Tour
The homes are close, and parking can be a challenge, so why not walk or bike the tour? You can carpool or bus to the Phinney Center to get started, and take off from there on foot.

Summer Beer Taste
As you may know, 10 “tastes” is a lot of beer, so make sure you have a plan for getting home safely after this event. Get together with some friends to carpool, because designated drivers get a reduced ticket price. Walking and transit are both great choices. Biking under the influence is not a safe alternative, so if you bike, make sure you are doing so safely. Plus, If you walk, bike, ride, or carpool, you’ll get a chance to show off (hint: what’s colorful and sticky?).

PNA Village Film Screening: Harold and Maude

Friday, June 10, Greenwood Senior Center. Free. Join us at 7pm for refreshments and social time with the film beginning at 7:30pm.

PNA Village is challenging us to create a new vision of being an elder in this society. For a positive and joyful image of aging, join us for the 1971 film classic, Harold and Maude.

Starring Ruth Gordon as the audacious 80 year old Maude, and Bud Cort, her young admirer, this film has developed a huge cult following.

Hal Ashby directs and Cat Stevens provides the film's music.

For further information, call (206) 297-0875.

Art Journals for Busy People, June 25th at the PNA

A journal can be many things: a record of daily events, a history of one’s life, even a place to work through complex thoughts and feelings. While many people like the concept of keeping a journal, staring down at a blank page can be intimidating. What should I write? Where do I start? Tina Koyama is leading a workshop at the PNA (Art Journals for Busy People) that will help answer these questions and provide a variety of creative methods and approaches to journaling.

Koyama’s workshop offers ideas for individuals who want to keep a journal but may not feel that they have the time. She teaches techniques that will enable participants to begin, and maintain, a journal in just 20-30 minutes a day. Koyama says an art journal can be, “anything you want it to be – a daily record of your life; a travel journal; a sketchbook that also contains your writing; your creative writing illustrated with drawings, collage or paintings; a modern-day scrapbook of mementoes and memories.”

Art Journals for Busy People will introduce several journaling techniques. Participants will have a chance to engage in some fast and fun writing exercises and experiment with different art media and collage. Participants can expect to leave this innovative workshop with:

• Several pages started in their journals
• Instructions for making a personalize journal cover (see photos below)
• A handout of ideas for both art and writing
• Inspiration from samples of Koyama’s personal journals
• A bibliography of books for further research
• Ideas for future journal work

Tina Koyama has been teaching a variety of arts classes in the Seattle area for approximately seven years. She has a Master’s Degree in creative writing and a certificate in fiber arts from the University of Washington Extension Program. For more information, please see her website at www.tinakoyama.com.

This course will be held Saturday, June 25, 10 am - 4:30 pm. It will cost $55 for PNA members and $65 for the general public. Call 206.783.2244 to register, and come be inspired!

Sample journal cover

Sample journal cover

Sunshine and great buys at the Phinney Farmers Market this Friday!

Looking for some sunshine?

Word has it that sunny skies are scheduled to grace opening day of the Phinney Farmers Market. Come by the PNA booth this Friday and pick up a sturdy canvas shopping bag (3 great design choices for only $15 each) or take home a sunny farmers market t-shirt featuring art by PNA member, Sandy Nelson. Shirts come in women's and men's cuts and are on sale for only $10 each. Check out the summery style!