225. Scratch Night 2023: Presentation from Our Scholar-in-Residence, Sally James
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Release Date: 05/04/2023
262. Geraldine DeRuiter with Scott Heimendinger: Feminism and Food
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Do you ever think of what you eat as being political? Back in 2017, celebrity chef Mario Batali sent out an for the sexual misconduct allegations made against him and infamously included a recipe—for pizza dough cinnamon rolls. Shortly after Batali’s recipe, went viral, Popular blogger Geraldine DeRuiter decided to make the recipe and then . Her subsequent essay, which documented each step of her cinnamon roll preparation but also tackled topics like misogyny in the food world, was read millions of times, lauded by industry luminaries such as Martha Stewart, and landed DeRuiter in...
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261. Becky Selengut with Bethany Jean Clement: Misunderstood Vegetables
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Go from “what the heck is this” to “how does it taste so good” in a celebration of misfit vegetables. Maybe you just discovered celery root (a lumpy, softball-sized bulb), at the grocery store. Or perhaps you received watermelon radishes in a CSA package. Did a parsnip catch your eye at the farmers’ market? Even vegetables you think you know, like cabbage or brussels sprouts, will reveal next-level flavor with the right recipe. Becky Selengut has made it her mission to take less popular — or even outright scorned vegetables like beets and okra — and cook them into irresistible...
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260. Scratch Night 2024 with Maia Brown and Brivele
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Town Hall's 2024 Scratch Night featuring the work-in-progress of our Artist-in-Residence Maia Brown In collaboration with bandmate, Stefanie Brendler, Maia crafts an intimate evening that dives deep into the Yiddish archives of anti-fascist poetry and song, offering a glimpse into their creative process. Maia Brown, a visual artist, Yiddish musician, and educator, brings a rich background in oral history and fine art to this exploration, alongside Stefanie Brendler, a multi-talented Seattle-based artist, composer, and member of the klezmer brass band Shpilkis. This evening comprises a...
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259. Lifecycle of Seattle Artists: A Panel Discussion with Local Artists
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Explore the life cycle of Seattle artists in a dynamic round table discussion hosted by Sarah Traver, director of Traver Gallery. Join the conversation on transforming artistic practice into a flourishing and creative career within the vibrant artistic landscape of Seattle. Esteemed artists Esther Ervin, Henry Jackson-Spieker, Steve Jensen, Pohlman Knowles, and Jeanne Marie Ferraro all connected with Pratt Fine Arts Center, will share their experiences in developing their practices across diverse disciplines, including glass, installation, jewelry, metal, printmaking, public art,...
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258. Shain Shapiro with Greg Scruggs: How Music Builds Cities
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Looking back through history, it is obvious that the presence of music has had a profound impact on the daily lives of humans, our cultural rituals, and the evolution of civilization as a whole. Yet in public discourse, we still tend to separate conversations about music from those about civics or politics. We frame music as a product for entertainment when in reality the practice of music is deeply tied to the way our communities are structured and function. Shain Shapiro is the director of the global nonprofit Center for Music Ecosystems, and author of This Must Be The Place: How...
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257. Benjamin Wurgaft and Merry White with Peter Miller: Epicurean Odyssey
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
What do we learn when an anthropologist and a historian talk about food? Across endless eras, landscapes, and civilizations, humanity’s relationship with food has played the part of one of the landmark features of culture and community. We feel this on both the micro and macro scale — from learning a recipe passed down through generations of one’s own family to the excitement of exploring an unfamiliar local market in a city far from home. Culinary curiosity invites us all to the table, and through their new book, Ways of Eating, authors and storytellers Benjamin Wurgaft and Merry...
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256. Tricia Romano with Dan Savage and Jane Levine: Voices of the Village
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
The Village Voice aimed to show readers something that mainstream publications wouldn’t: live theater productions climbing through the scaffolding of off-Broadway venues; moments in music from hip-hop to jazz to punk; New York City civil issues, like corrupt landlords; and global issues, like the AIDS crisis. Through decades of independent reporting and first-hand accounts within the myriad subcultures of New York, the Village Voice built a journalistic legacy of lived experience, bold critique, and political activism. One can’t help but wonder, what it must have...
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255. Sasha LaPointe with Dawn Barron: Poignant Reflections on Indigenous America
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
What does it mean to be a proudly queer Indigenous woman in the United States today? Sasha LaPointe, winner of the 2023 Pacific Northwest Book Award for her memoir, Red Paint, shares a new collection of essays that navigate the complexities of indigenous identity, challenge stereotypes, and address cultural displacement and environmental concerns. Thunder Song draws inspiration from her family’s rich archive and the work of her late great-grandmother and weaves together stories that demonstrate the profound intersections of community, commitment, and conscientious honesty....
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254. Tessa Hulls with Putsata Reang: Exploring Generational Echoes
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
If you’re a part of the Seattle arts scene, chances are you’ve come across Tessa Hulls. She has a hand in many local creative communities, including Seattle Arts & Lectures (where you might have spotted her illustrations on the 2021 Summer Book Bingo Card!), the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, and the Henry Art Museum. She’s also the lead artist in the Wing Luke Museum exhibit which explores the impacts of how the I-5 construction ran right through the Chinatown International District in the 1960s. It’s no surprise then that Hulls is passionate about mixing art and...
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253. Sloane Crosley with Ben Gibbard: Grief Is for People
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Have you ever lost something or someone dear to you? Though it ranges in severity and impact, loss is a shared human experience – an inevitable, inescapable part of life. Praised for her humor and sharp wit, essayist and novelist Sloane Crosley delivers her first memoir Grief is for People, exploring how loss can take many forms. After the pain and confusion of losing her closest friend Russell to suicide – which occurred only a month after also losing prized possessions and her sense of safety following a burglary – Crosley looks for answers, even where they may be elusive....
info_outlineEvery year, Town Hall selects exceptional local artists and scholars for paid residencies where they engage with Town Hall programs and collaborate with our programming team to develop original events for the community. For our Spring 2023 residency, we’re lucky enough to have both a Scholar- and an Artist-in-Residence. This Scratch Night will showcase their work in progress.
Scholar in Residence: Sally James
Sally James is a writer whose curiosity about people has taken her from jails to hospitals to schools to research labs. Once a staff member of daily newspapers, she has been an independent writer on medicine and science for many years. Most recently, she’s reported stories for the South Seattle Emerald, Parentmap, Seattle and Seattle Business magazines, and other outlets. She is the mother of three adult children and lives in Seattle with her husband and a noisy cat. She is a former president of the Northwest Science Writer’s Association, a nonprofit supporting science communication.
Focus while in Residence: In the words of Sally, “The Year 12 project is asking about a pivotal time in a young person’s growth when what’s swirling around us in news, music, or culture may leave a permanent imprint on our identities.
You can participate in Sally’s Year 12 project here: Share your Year 12 Stories!