doubleXposure Podcast

Seattle arts veterans Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman plumb the deepest depths and the tiniest cracks of our world to understand how culture and creativity shape our lives, sometimes in ways we don't even see.

Shifting the Culture for the Common Good 11/09/2023

Shifting the Culture for the Common Good Theresa Ruth Howard fell in love with ballet as a little girl. And she was one of the aspiring ballerinas who got to live her dream. Howard went on to write about dance, and ultimately, to work with ballet companies that aspired to open the rarified art form to a more diverse pool of both dancers and audience members. Howard is also the founder of Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet, a project that seeks to make Black dancers' stories accessible to a wider audience. Vivian and Marcie spoke with Howard about her work, and about her vision for ballet in the 21st century and beyond. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/28510028

Dr. Quinton Morris: 11/02/2023

Dr. Quinton Morris: Dr. Quinton Morris is a violinist, a fully tenured professor music at Seattle University, a radio host, arts advocate and mentor to young people who might not get the opportunity to study classical music. Morris didn't set out the become a performing artist, but when he got to college, he reinvented his future. Now, Morris wears more hats than most people, and works tirelessly for both artists and the arts. Co-hosts Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman sat down with Quinton Morris to learn about his backstory, and about his vision for the future. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/28343159

Nia-Amina Minor: 10/26/2023

Nia-Amina Minor: Nia-Amina Minor was little more than a toddler when she started entertaining her family with little dances she'd create and perform in their living room. After training at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy in Los Angeles, Minor thought she's leave dance behind when she entered Stanford University. Instead, Minor pursued a graduate degree in dance, moved to Seattle to join Spectrum Dance Theatre, and has evolved into one of the city's most versatile teachers, dancemakers and visionary artists. She shares her story, and her dreams of building a thriving West Coast artistic community, with co-hosts Marcie Sillman and Vivian Phillips. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/28308632

Art Is Magic 10/19/2023

Art Is Magic When barry johnson was a kid in Kansas, he knew he wanted to be an artist, but he didn't see people that looked like him creating paintings or sculptures.. johnson moved to Seattle after college for a job in the regional tech industry. Every day on the bus to work, he'd pull out his sketch book, pull out his headphones and draw. Now this self-taught artist is one of the biggest names in Seattle's creative community. For johnson, making art is as much about telling the stories of his community as it is self-expression. And the artist plans to keep it that way as he tells co-hosts Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/28085696

Preston Singletary 10/12/2023

Preston Singletary When Preston Singletary was growing up in Seattle in the 1970's and '80's, he dreamed of being a professional musicians. But when he went over to hang out with his buddy after school. Singletary's life took a different path. His friend, Dante Marioni's dad Paul was part pf Seattle's thriving art glass movement, and young Preston found himself drawn to the art form. More than 40 years later, Singletary has become one of the world's most famous glass artists, pioneering techniques that allow him to replicate Northwest Indigenous designs, and to transmit the stories of his Tlingit ancestors. Co-hosts Marcie Sillman and Vivian Phillips paid a visit to Singletary's studio, located in the middle of the Seattle campus of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to talk about craft and legacy and the importance of cultural stories. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/28058190

The Future of American Theater 10/05/2023

The Future of American Theater When Nataki Garrett became the artistic director of Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the future looked bright. That was 2019. Garrett's tenure was marred by COVID 19, and wildfires that forced the shutdown of OSF's large outdoor theater. OSF, like most nonprofit arts organizations, suffered from revenue losses that challenged Garrett and her colleagues. Unfortunately, the pressures finally pushed Garrett to resign her post. Co-hosts Marcie Sillman and Vivian Phillips talked with Garrett about what happened to her in Ashland, and whether she has hope for the future of American theater. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/28026819

Justin Huertas: Creating Phantasmagorical Theater 09/28/2023

Justin Huertas: Creating Phantasmagorical Theater Justin Huertas has had quite a year: his first musical theater piece, Lizard Boy, had an off-Broadway run. His latest work, Lydia and the Troll, debuted to critical and audience acclaim at Seattle Repertory Theatre. And Huertas shepherded another musical onto the Kennedy Center stage: The Mortification of Fovea Munson. Huertas' shows are lively and fun, but they are steeped in his passion to showcase the stories of people who aren't typically featured onstage or on screen, stories he didn't get to see when he was growing up. He's creating fantasties and legends for the global majority. Despite his artistic success, and his dream of bringing more original shows to New York, Huertas is still devoted to the Seattle area, where he grew up. He spoke to co-hosts Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman about the joy--and pride--he takes in his work. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/27981660

Megan Griffiths Makes Movies in the Pacific Northwest 09/21/2023

Megan Griffiths Makes Movies in the Pacific Northwest When Megan Griffiths finished film school she didn't head to New York or Los Angeles. Griffiths decided to make movies in Seattle after falling in love with the city's music scene in the early 1990's. Griffiths has built a career making both independent feature films in Washington State and directing bigger budget television shows in Hollywood but her heart belongs to Seattle. The filmmaker, sidelined by the Writer's Guild of America strike, took some time to talk about her movies and Seattle's film community, with co-hosts Marcie Sillman and Vivian Phillips. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/27972339

Keith Beauchamp's Unwavering Vision 09/05/2023

Keith Beauchamp's Unwavering Vision Ever since he was a young boy, Keith Beauchamp has been driven to make a feature film based on the story of Emmett Till. In 2022, Beauchamp finally realized his vision, creating one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year. But Emmett Till's life is only one story this filmmaker was to bring to the big screen, Co-hosts Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman dive into what motivates Keith Beauchamp, and why he believes this work is also his life's calling. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/27950208

The Business of an Artist is Hope 09/03/2023

The Business of an Artist is Hope Marc Bamuthi Joseph has been involved in the creative sphere ever since he was a boy in Queens. The son of Haitian immigrants, Joseph knew he had an ancestral debt to pay, and he didn't intend to squander his opportunity. A dancer, a spoken-word poet, a playwright and leader of social impact for the Kennedy Center, as well as a Global TED Fellow, Joseph recognizes arts potential to touch and change lives. "I just don't trust art that doesn't bleed, or sweat or cry," he says. In this episode, Marc Bamuthi Joseph talks to co-hosts Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman about how his family helped pave the way for his current path, and what he hopes his audiences will take away from his work. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/27929274

Rethinking Museums 03/29/2023

Rethinking Museums In late 2022, Seattle Art Museum welcomed audiences into its newly-reimagined American Art galleries. SAM, like many cultural institutions, has been revamping not only how it selects and presents art to the public; it is reassessing who the "public" really is, and how to create a curatorial process that welcomes in community members who haven't had access to big museums like it. On March 1, 2023, co-hosts Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman moderated a panel that included Seattle Art Museum American art curator Theresa Papanikolas; writer and advocate Mayumi Tsutakawa; and Inye Wokoma, artist, writer, curator and co-founder of Wa Na Wari. We recorded this wide-ranging conversation in front of a live audience. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/26339523

liveXposure at Wa Na Wari 01/12/2023

liveXposure at Wa Na Wari We wrap our second season with this live recording from WaNaWari, a cultural space in the heart of Seattle's Central District. Once upon a time, artist and WaNaWari co-founder Inye Wokoma's family lived in this house. In 2019, Wokoma and three collaborators transformed the building into art galleries. But WaNaWari is more than a destination; it houses a free food program, a community oral history project, and an on-going effort to document how Seattle's land use policies have affected the neighborhood's historically Black population. Co-hosts Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman wrapped a season-long exploration of the ties between culture and community with these interviews, taped in front of a live audience on December 14, 2022. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/25483290

Thriving With Grace, Beauty and Joy 12/29/2022

Thriving With Grace, Beauty and Joy Kristina Clark spent years dreaming about making a space for Black literature, community and healing. This year she finally took the leap and opened the Loving Room in Seattle's Central District. The Loving Room is a business, but Clark says beyond that, it's a place for the Black community to gather together, to feel at home. She's proud that her new business is part of a wider movement by Black entrepreneurs to reclaim and re-establish a strong community-led business and cultural district. Co-hosts Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman talked to Clark about how she transformed her dream into reality, and what it will take to keep it alive. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/25385103

Building Community Takes More Than A Plaque 12/15/2022

Building Community Takes More Than A Plaque Most Seattleites know Donna Moodie as the owner of the beloved restaurant Marjorie, named for her mother. But during the pandemic, Moodie decided her restaurant could operate without her full-time presence. Now she's heading up Community Roots Housing, advocating for affordable--and dignified--housing for everyone. Moodie believes deeply in building community, whether that means in bricks and mortar developments, or over a dinner table. Join co-hosts Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman for a conversation with Donna Moodie that's sure to light up your day. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/25301604

How Architecture Builds A Community 12/01/2022

How Architecture Builds A Community Seattle's Central Area (or as some people know it, the Central District) is the historic home of the city's African American community. Although skyrocketing real estate prices have forced many to leave the neighborhood, city planners are working hard to try to restore the Central Area to its roots. As head of Seattle's Office of Planning and Community Development architect Rico Quirindongo plays a key role in this work. Quirindongo is a Central Area native who returned to his hometown to help recreate a city that everyone, especially BIPOC residents, can call home. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/25136004

An Afternoon on Seattle's Waterfront 11/17/2022

An Afternoon on Seattle's Waterfront When the Viaduct--Seattle's aging elevated waterfront highway--came down three years ago, it ushered in a intense, five-year redevelopment project on the shores of Elliott Bay, the ancestral home of the Coast Salish people and the historic launching pad for present-day Seattle. In addition to a new passenger ferry terminal, a tree-lined boulevard with bicycle lanes, and pedestrian walkways from downtown Seattle to the waterfront, the redevelopment includes a 20-acre park and more than a dozen public artworks. Co-hosts Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman invited an audience to join them at Pier 62, the heart of the new park, for a series of conversations about the waterfront's history, its cultural future, and how the new project could reshape Seattle's identity. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/24971403

The Art and Soul of Dance Theatre of Harlem 11/04/2022

The Art and Soul of Dance Theatre of Harlem More than 50 years ago, in the aftermath of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, New York City Ballet dancer Arthur Mitchell found himself wondering how he, an artist, could help foster social and racial equity. His answer, with Karel Shook, was to found Dance Theatre of Harlem, originally a school program based in Mitchell's home neighborhood. Not long after, Mitchell and Shook expanded their vision to create a touring ballet company that could show the world that the classical art form wasn't just for white Europeans. Virginia Johnson was part of the original company; now Johnson is in her final season as DTH's artistic director. She talks with co-hosts Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman about DTH and the power of art to change the world. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/24895119

How Art Defines a Place 11/03/2022

How Art Defines a Place For years Seattle residents and visitors have had a hard time getting from the downtown streets to the city's waterfront. In November, 2019, one of the biggest impediments to access, the double decker elevated Viaduct highway, came down, making way for a new surface street, pedestrian and bicycle trails, a 20-acre park, and a slew of new public artworks. Seattle was one of the first cities in the country to implement a law that requires one percent of public works projects to fund art to be locate at the project. In the case of the waterfront redevelopment, that money will pay for everything from art installations focused on the sea itself, to works that highlight the history and culture of the Indigenous people who have called the area home for many centuries. Ruri Yampolsky is in charge of stewarding the creation and installation of these public artworks. She talks with Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman about what we'll see when the dust finally settles at one of the biggest redevelopment sites in Seattle history. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/24821547

Seattle's Olympic Sculpture Park: An Urban Oasis 10/20/2022

Seattle's Olympic Sculpture Park: An Urban Oasis The City of Seattle is in the middle of a major waterfront redevelopment project, including creation of a 20-acre park. But it won't be the first urban park built on Seattle's downtown shoreline. 15 years ago, Seattle Art Museum inaugurated its Olympic Sculpture Park, an art-filled haven on Elliott Bay, just north of Seattle's downtown core. The 9-acre urban oasis includes not only a notable sculpture collection but also beach access and an all-seasons pavilion. Best of all, its open free-of-charge seven days a week. Seattle Art Museum Director Amada Cruz talked to Vivian and Marcie about the Sculpture Park's mission, its connection to community, and what will change when the adjacent waterfront park opens in 2025. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/24680142

A New Future For Seattle's Waterfront 10/06/2022

A New Future For Seattle's Waterfront Co-hosts Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman start their exploration of how culture fits into the massive redevelopment of Seattle's downtown waterfront at Pier 62. It's the first finished section of what will be a 20-acre park where a double decker highway once stood. Overseeing the park's development is the nonprofit group Friends of Waterfront Seattle. Chief Operating Officer Eldon Tam explains the vision for this new park and how the community is helping to shape it. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/24553722

LiveXposure in South Park 09/22/2022

LiveXposure in South Park Artists create work to express themselves, to communicate with an audience, and in the case of Jake Prendez and Angelina Villalobos, to sustain their culture. This season co-hosts Vivian and Phillips and Marcie Sillman are exploring the ways that art can build community. Today, in the fourth episode in Seattle's South Park neighborhood, they talk with Prendez and Villalobos in front of a live audience at community-owned South Park Hall. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/24399057

Dancing Into Seattle's South Park Neighborhood 09/08/2022

Dancing Into Seattle's South Park Neighborhood When Josh Grant and his husband Chris Montoya were looking for places to open a new Seattle dance academy, they didn't necessarily target South Park. The neighborhood is far off the beaten track when it comes to the city's traditional cultural institutions. But that's exactly what attracted the couple. For Montoya, finding South Park was like re-entering his native Phoenix--with everything from Mexican restaurants to his beloved swap meets. Co-hosts Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman talk with Montoya and Grant about their new school, the neighborhood, and what it means to find "home." /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/24241545

How Arts Education Can Change the World 08/25/2022

How Arts Education Can Change the World Jessica Pena-Manalo is an elementary school music teacher in Seattle's South Park neighborhood. They're also a change agent. Pena-Manalo's students are learning everything from cultural identity to how to collaborate successfully, through the lens of making art. Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman talk with Pena-Manalo about the teacher's dedication to students, to social justice, and above all, to art. NOTE: Jessica Pena Manalo uses they/them pronouns. In Vivian and Marcie's discussion, Pena Manalo is erroneously referred to as "she." /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/24106545

Making a Home in Seattle's South Park 08/11/2022

Making a Home in Seattle's South Park When Coté Soerens arrived in Seattle's South Park neighborhood with her family, she was drawn immediately to the community spirit. Nine years later, Soerens has been instrumental in the move to not only preserve that spirit, but to carve out spaces that will honor and celebrity the neighborhood in all its diversity. Co-hosts Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman talk with Soerens about what first attracted her to South Park, and the work she's doing to preserve and strengthen the area's unique cultural identity. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/23978133

LiveXposure at Seattle Center 07/28/2022

LiveXposure at Seattle Center 60 years ago Seattle hosted a World's Fair. When the last guests departed, the fair's buildings were turned over to a myriad of local arts and cultural nonprofits. What was a fairgrounds is now the Seattle Center, the city's largest and most vibrant cultural hub. This season hosts Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman are exploring four neighborhoods that depend on creative activities to help define and strengthen their communities. After several visits to Seattle Center, they culminate the exploration with LiveXposure, a panel conversation recorded in front of a live, in-person audience on July 22, 2022. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/23854599

The Power of Community Festivals 07/14/2022

The Power of Community Festivals For 25 years, the City of Seattle has sponsored a series of community festivals collectively know as Festal. The 24 festivals celebrate different ethnic and cultural groups from all corners of the globe. A little over two years ago, just as the pandemic was gaining force, Heidi Jackson took Festal's helm, navigating the program through online and Zoom activities to the return of live, in-person celebrations Co-hosts Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman talk with Jackson about the Festal program, and the essential role creativity plays in building and reinforcing community. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/23670065

Healing the World With Art 06/30/2022

Healing the World With Art "The arts can heal," says Holly Jacobson, Executive Director of Path with Art, a Seattle nonprofit that works with people who are moving through trauma. From its Veterans' Choir to fiber arts, Path with Art offers a range of arts classes. Jacobson says she's personally seen how participation has helped people dealing with mental illnesses, homelessness, or other challenging life crises. PwA offers an outlet for personal expression, but it also creates community. Jacobson talks with co-hosts Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman about the power of both her organization and the arts in general. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/23538491

What Do We Mean When We Talk About Folk Music and Culture? 06/16/2022

What Do We Mean When We Talk About Folk Music and Culture? The Northwest Folklife Festival has been a Seattle institution for more than 50 years. The annual free event brings together folk artists, musicians and audiences from a wide array of ethnic and cultural communities--from Northwest Indigenous groups to the descendants of the Scandinavian immigrants who call the area home. Folklife Managing Director Reese Tanimura and Artistic Director Ben Hunter talk with co-hosts Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman about what it means to be a folk artist, how that definition has evolved, and about the role these artists play in sustaining their communities. This episode is the first of four that will focus on Seattle Center, a cultural campus that houses everything from opera, ballet and theater to an under-appreciated public art collection. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/23416700

Building a new Black Arts Hub in Seattle 06/09/2022

Building a new Black Arts Hub in Seattle doubleXposure's Vivian Phillips is more than a great podcast co-host. She's spent decades helping to nurture Seattle's cultural community. Now Vivian turns her considerable passions and energy to ARTE NOIR, a new gallery/shop that will feature work by artists from the African diaspora. ARTE NOIR is part of Seattle's Midtown Square, a residential/retail complex in the heart of the Central District, one of four neighborhoods we're featuring this season on doubleXposure. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/23326625

On the Seattle Waterfront with David Rue 06/02/2022

On the Seattle Waterfront with David Rue In doubleXposure's second season, co-hosts Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman will explore the connection between arts, community and civic vitality. In this short preview, they visit the historic Seattle waterfront to talk with public programmer David Rue about how culture creates and fosters community identity. /episode/index/show/doublexposure/id/23261621

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