Jack Straw Programs and Events: October 2009

Hello, friends of Jack Straw - and happy fall!

This autumn is certainly getting off to a busy start. We've got a brand new gallery exhibit opening, and a heaping helping of terrific writer and artist events.

We're very lucky to partner with some great organizations that we house in our building: Raven Chronicles, with whom we are co-presenting a "flash workshop," which you can read about below; Floating Bridge Press, who will be hosting a poetry reading from the Subtext Collective here at Jack Straw on November 4th; and our most recent addition to the family, 911 Media Arts Center! After a five year run in its South Lake Union facility, 911 Media Arts has signed a lease with us for a suite of offices and classroom on the second floor of our building. We received an Emergency & Unforeseen Opportunity Grant from 4culture to upgrade the electricity in the space, insuring 911 Media can continue to retain its capacity for providing high quality instruction in the Media Arts. The 911 folks moved in just last month, and will reopen to the public on October 1st. We're thrilled to have them in our midst.

In other exciting developments, Jack Straw has finally joined the masses over on Facebook. Get updates on events and programs by becoming a fan today!

Thank you for your support of Jack Straw. We hope to see you at an event soon!

Jack Straw Artist News

Srivani Jade: Meera's Love out now!

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Jack Straw Artist Srivani Jadehas released the CD that came out of her 2008 residency. Recorded at Jack Straw by Doug Haire, Meera's Love is a gorgeous collection of 16th century love poetry from North India set to music inspired by Indian classical and folk music. Pick up a copy at cdbaby.com/srivanijade2.

Upcoming Events

Sunday, October 4, 7:00pm
Red Sky Poetry Theater Reunion w/Jack Straw Writers
Richard Hugo House

Saturday, October 10, 1 pm
Los Norte�os Flash Workshop
Raven Chronicles' Office

Friday, October 16, 7pm
Jack Straw New Media Gallery Opening:
BRENT WATANABE: So Long
Jack Straw Productions

Wednesday, October 14, 7:30pm
Composer Spotlight:
Susie Kozawa & Esther Sugai with Serge Gregory
Jack Straw Productions

Every Thursday and Friday:
Green ACRE Radio

Saturday nights:
Sonarchy Radio

Artist of the Week
Each week we highlight a different artist from our many artist programs via our Artist of the Week Podcast. This week's Artist is writer Ellie Belew. You can hear an excerpt from her CD Run Plant Fly by subscribing to the Podcast. Subscribe at jackstraw.org/ artistoftheweek, or via itunes.

The 2009 Jack Straw Writers Program

Red Sky Poetry Theater Reunion
Featuring readings from 2009 Jack Straw Writers
Anna Balint and Priscilla Long, followed by an open mic.
Sunday, October 4th, 7:00pm
Richard Hugo House
1634 11th Avenue, Seattle
FREE

Check out our 2009 Literary Podcast series at www.jackstraw.org/blog.
New episodes will be posted regularly through the fall.

Click here to learn more about the Jack Straw Writers Program.

Raven Chronicles Workshop

Raven Chronicles and Jack Straw Productions present:
Los Norte�os Flash Workshop #2:
The Prose Poem
Saturday, October 10th, 2009, 1-3 pm.
Raven Chronicles' Office
Jack Straw Warren Building
909 N.E. 43rd St., #205
(Corner of 43rd St. and Roosevelt, 3-storied Green Building),
Seattle, WA 98105

Author Oliver de la Paz, Assistant Professor and Creative Writing Advisor in the Department of English at Western Washington University, will offer a two hour workshop on the prose poem.

The workshop will essentially be an attempt to understand or wrestle-with the term "Prose Poem." Often, people suggest that writing in the prose poem form is liberating, but what exactly does that mean? Are the lack of line breaks arbitrary for some prose poems? What is gained or lost in the addition of line breaks? These are some of the aesthetic ideas we will grapple with during this course as we read practitioners of the form as well as write prose poems of our own.

The workshop will, further, be a series of assignments, exercises, and readings in an effort to redefine, reexamine, and reevaluate the nature of the prose poem. We'll look at what makes them tick by examining various essays and writings by writers of the prose poem.

The workshop will be $35 per person, with priority to members of Los Norte�os. (Bring check or cash on the day of the workshop: Make checks out to RAVEN CHRONICLES.) We need a minimum of ten people for this to work, with a maximum of twelve.

To sign up, or if you have questions, please contact Kathleen at kjalcala@gmail.com or 206-780-0756.

New Media Gallery

The Jack Straw New Media Gallery presents

So Long So Long

A multimedia installation
by Brent Watanabe

October 16 - December 30, 2009

Gallery Opening:
October 16, 2009, 7pm

Artist Talk:
November 20, 2009, 7pm

Jack Straw New Media Gallery
4261 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle 98105
Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday, 9 - 5

In So Long, Brent Watanabe continues his exploration of computer controlled installations, incorporating computer generated animations, robotics, and sound.

In the center of the room, a cartoon bird walks through endless, empty computer generated rooms projected on a collapsing paper house. A dead tree projected in the corner communicates through bells and windblown car lot streamers. On the floor, a paper bird flaps out messages using its single intact wing. Each of the characters communicate in Morse Code, trapped and unaware of the other.

The installation is controlled by several computer applications running across networked computers. The applications communicate with each other like a networked video game, but the system is self contained and controls itself with no user interaction.

Brent Watanabe programs computer applications to connect the gap between his interests in drawing, audio and video, mixing high-tech tools with low-tech techniques. He works primarily in video, animation, and computer controlled installations. His short films have been screened at film festivals internationally, and his drawings, videos, and installations have been exhibited in galleries and museums across the US.

Composer Spotlight

Jack Straw Productions and Washington Composers Forum present

Composer Spotlight

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SUSIE KOZAWA and ESTHER SUGAI
with SERGE GREGORY
When Herons Dream
Wed, October 14, 7:30pm
Jack Straw Productions
4261 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, 98105

Filmmaker Serge Gregory will join sound artists Susie Kozawa esther

and Esther Sugai to discuss the collaborative process involved in creating the sound design for the short film When Herons Dream, which premieres at the Northwest Film Forum's Local Sightings festival on October 6th. Kozawa, Sugai, and Gregory collaborated in the Jack Straw studios with Jack Straw engineer Tom Stiles to create the sound design, using both traditional instruments and ready-made acoustical objects to create an unusual aural ambiance for the film's images. The film will be shown before serge

the discussion.

Susie Kozawa, a sound artist, composer and performer, works mostly with soundscapes, sound collages and site specific installations, in which the gathering of sounds is a primary activity. She explores different acoustic spaces using musical instruments she has made out of found objects, kelp, modified toys and human voice. She has received awards from the Seattle Arts Commission, Artist Trust, Washington State Arts Commission, and the Ford Foundation.

Esther Sugai is a composer and flutist. She performs with Aono Jikken Ensemble, an experimental group specializing in live performances to silent films; Eye Music, a graphic and text score group; and the Fisher Ensemble.

Serge Gregory has made short films since 1997. His films have been exhibited at the Seattle International Film Festival, One Reel Film Festival, Northwest Film & Video Festival, Seattle Art Museum, Library of Congress, and a variety of museum, gallery and alternative venues in the North America and Europe.

Jack Straw Productions and Washington Composers Forum present Composer Spotlight, a series of talks and performances by composers, musicians, and scholars of new and innovative music every second Wednesday of each month. For more information about Composer Spotlight artists and the series, click here.

Green ACRE Radio

Green A.C.R.E. - Agriculture, conservation, restoration & environmental talk radio in Seattle and King County Washington - is produced at Jack Straw Productions and can be heard every Thursday and Friday on KBCS Radio, or streaming on the Green ACRE Blog.

Producer Martha Baskin is currently in the middle of a 3-part series on on green building. The series will look at both residential and commercial buildings.

Episode 2, airing this week, focuses on energy efficient, sustainably built micro-communities. Listen in now!

Green ACRE is sponsored by the HumanLinks Foundation and the Russell Family Foundation, in partnership with Jack Straw Productions and KBCS Public Radio.

Applications for 2010 Jack Straw Artist Residencies available now!

THE JACK STRAW ARTIST RESIDENCY PROGRAMS offer established and emerging artists in diverse disciplines an opportunity to explore the creative use of sound in a professional atmosphere through residencies
in our recording studios and participation in our various presentation programs. Artists may apply to only one program per year.

Deadline:
Friday, October 30, 2009
Applications must be postmarked or delivered by 5:00 pm on the due date.

Applications and more information online at: www.jackstraw.org/programs/asp/2010/2010_apps.shtml.

FAQs online at:
www.jackstraw.org/programs/asp/2010/2010_Programs_FAQs.shtml.

Sonarchy Radio
Saturdays, midnight-1am, on KEXP 90.3FM or kexp.org Sonarchy Radio is a program of Jack Straw Productions. Doug Haire is the producer and mixes these shows live in the studios at Jack Straw. This hour-long broadcast features new music and sound art made by Pacific Northwest artists, and is now in its 14th year (!) of airing on KEXP Seattle (90.3 FM). The show can be heard live at KEXP.org and is available in its entirety for two weeks following the broadcast in several streaming audio formats. All shows are now also available as podcasts. Click here to find the Sonarchy Podcast. Contact Doug for more information at (206) 634-0919 or doug@jackstraw.org. SHOW SCHEDULE September 26th: Todd Bishop's Pop Art 4 Jazz interpretations of the music of French pop icon Serge Gainsbourg. Rich Cole - sax, Dan Duval - guitar, Chris Mosely - guitar, Jason Goessl- bass and Todd Bishop - drums. October 3rd: Anjuman Rumba meets raga with this unique indian/afro-cuban ensemble. Brandon McIntosh - sarod, Phil Georgas - electric bass, Seth Littlefield - drums and Chaz Hastings - percussion. October 10th: Steinwagon Dawn Clement and Ryan Burns play a lovely set of duets for piano, fender rhodes and organ. October 17th: Vusac Audio media gets shredded, put into a collage context then submerged into the world of drum n' bass. October 24th: Toy Box Trio Retro-future circus music, transforming baroque sounds into a strange music box. Harlan Glotzer - english concertina, Dana Wen - toy piano and Nate Lee - tuba. October 31st: Rob Angus Ambient industrial orchestrations for samplers and acoustic instruments.

Support Jack Straw

Jack Straw Productions relies on the support of individual contributors to make our programs possible. Please help us continue to support the work of Pacific Northwest artists working with sound and all our art and technology education programs.

Become a Jack Straw Member!
For a $35 annual membership donation, you can receive discounted recording time in our studios, as well as discounted rates on Jack Straw audio workshops. A Jack Straw membership pays for itself in no time! Donate any amount by clicking the button below, or sending a check directly to us 4261 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98195.

Match your donation
If your company participates in an employee matching gifts program, you could double or even triple your gift to Jack Straw! Just ask your HR or personnel department. Questions? Please contact us at (206)634-0919 or jsp@jackstraw.org.

Thank you for your support!
Jack Straw Productions is a nonprofit organization, exempt from taxes under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to Jack Straw Productions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Pursuant to RCW 19.09, Jack Straw Productions is registered as a charitable organization with the Secretary of State of Washington. For more information, call the office of the Secretary of State, 1-800-332-4483.

Jack Straw Productions gratefully acknowledges The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, City of Seattle's Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, 4Culture King County Lodging Tax Fund, Washington State Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, PONCHO, ArtsFund, Humanities Washington, Wells Fargo, University Rotary Club, HumanLinks Foundation, The Russell Family Foundation, and individual contributors for their support of our Programs.

If you have questions about any of our events, please call us at (206) 634-0919.

Jack Straw Productions(JSP) is the Northwest's only non-profit multidisciplinary audio arts center. A community-based resource since 1962, we provide a production facility that is unlike any other in the region for local artists who work creatively with sound. Jack Straw focuses on annual artist residencies through our Artist Support Program, our Writers Program, and our Gallery Residency Program; art and technology education for all ages; arts & heritage partnerships; and radio production. Our full-service recording studio is also available to the community for a broad range of projects.