He’s Finished: Charles Spitzack’s Celebratory Print Party!

November 14, 6-8pm

The Big Question Print Series by Charles Spitzack
Read more about this series here:

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Join us for a special presentation of the completed twelve-print series that Seattle artist Charles Spitzack has been working on at TPR since January 2012. Created in response to TPR’s themes and topics, Spitzack has made twelve different woodblock prints over the course of many Saturdays, and will share the entire series in person on November 14 from 6-8pm. 

See prints #1-#10 below!

About Charles: 
Charles Spitzack is a Midwest artist and entrepreneur based out of Seattle WA. Taking a multifaceted approach to survival, Spitzack is the founder of The New Number Two, a small business operating in the Capitol Hill neighborhood offering a wide range of hands-on services. Though he graduated from Cornish College of Art in 2010 with a focus in Print Arts & Drawing, Spitzack prefers to be known as a self-realized individual.

The majority of Spitzack’s work resolves itself in the form of a print. Dedicated to dissolving barriers in commitment to the communal whole, Spitzack has found printmaking to be an excellent way to express these ideas in both subject matter and process. Having pledged himself to a life of mystery at the age of 9, he wonders how long he will be able to hold on before becoming a Jehovah’s Witness.  Charles Spitzack is represented by Davidson Galleries.

All the works from this series are available for sale, with a portion of the proceeds benefitting The Project Room’s programs. Prices are as follows: $125 unframed; $300 framed; $1200 for the unframed set. Contact Charles directly with inquiries: charles.spitzack[at]gmail.com

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#1 564: “Introduction” (2011). Read more about how Charles approached making the first print in the series.

#2 565: “Disjointed” (2012) came from original feeling of overwhelmed when approaching the project and the questions this presented- Read more about that here.

3# 567: “Child’s Play” (2012). Working off TPR’s big question, “Why Do We Make Things?” I thought of how the child’s construction toy– in this case–a the backhoe that you often see at playgrounds– reminds us that in the future (when the child has grown), our landscape may be drastically different from today. It is also saying we make things to do just that, change our landscape, change & alter our environment so it meets with our ideals & perspective better.

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#4  568: “The Futurist’s Manifesto” (2012) came from a series of obstructions/challenges that a friend gave me to work around: read more about that here.

#5  569 “Extension Bridge” (2012) is another response to Tim’s assignment of “obstructions.”

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#6  570: “Leviathan” (2012) is the third print made from Tim’s assignment of “obstructions”, number 1.

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To hear more about the ideas behind each print, join us on November 14th! 

Charles Spitzack’s Final Saturday Open Studio!

Saturday October 12, 12-5pm

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Printmaker Charles Spitzack is completing his nearly two-year project of following TPR’s themes in a woodblock print series. Begun during our Beginning’s topic in 2012, Spitzack has been creating new prints in his studio and at TPR in front of an audience. Read about the first six prints here, and stop by on one of the following Saturdays to see what he’s up to!

To view the first six prints in this twelve-print series, go here.

And save the date for Charles’ Print Party on November 14 from 6-8pm, when he finished the final print on-site and shares the stores behind each one. More info coming soon!

 

 

THESE STREETS Oral History Interview #8: Carrie Akre

oin singer Carrie Akre (Hammerbox, Goodness) for a conversation in The Project Room Wednesday, February 20 from 6-7pm. And watch her oral history interview here:


About the Presenter:
In the early ’90s, Akre was the lead singer of Hammerbox, a potent alternative rock outfit with guitar hooks as sharp as Nirvana’s but without the record label push the group deserved. In August 1993, Hammerbox performed at Endfest in Washington State to an audience of more than 14,000 fans, sharing the stage with well-known college-radio favorites like X, Social Distortion, and They Might Be Giants. The group was dropped, marking the beginning of Akre’s difficulties with major labels, one that would motivate her to start her own label, Good-Ink Records. Akre formed the band Goodness in 1994 whose self-titled first album was first released on Y Records and then later re-released onLava, an imprint of Atlantic Records. Their second LP, Anthem, for Atlantic in 1998 was shelved after failing to produce a “single”. The label dropped the band soon there after. Goodness disbanded in 2000. In 1999, Akre joined the Rockfords with guitarist Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, Rick Friel (bass), and ex-Goodness members Danny Newcomb (guitar) and Chris Friel (drums). Akre released her solo debut, Home, in 2000 (on GoodInk Records), Invitation in 2002 (on self owned My Way Records) and Last the Evening in 2007 (on Loveless Records).

More events around The Making of THESE STREETS can be found here:

TPR’s Featured Topics: Through the Eyes of a Printmaker

The Project Room is happy to welcome Seattle printmaker Charles Spitzack back to TPR for another open studio on Saturday February 9 from 1-6pm. As part of our current topic, Failure, Charles will work with “failed” wood blocks from previous prints to see what he can make of them- anyone is welcome to stop by and see how it’s going!

Charles began the series of twelve prints during our Beginnings topic in response to TPR’s different topics. Below are the first six completed prints, which are available for sale individually or in a set of twelve. For more information about purchasing a piece, email jess@projectroomseattle.org

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#1 564: “Introduction” (2011). Read more about how Charles approached making the first print in the series.

#2 565: “Disjointed” (2012) came from original feeling of overwhelmed when approaching the project and the questions this presented- Read more about that here.

3# 567: “Child’s Play” (2012). Working off TPR’s big question, “Why Do We Make Things?” I thought of how the child’s construction toy– in this case–a the backhoe that you often see at playgrounds– reminds us that in the future (when the child has grown), our landscape may be drastically different from today. It is also saying we make things to do just that, change our landscape, change & alter our environment so it meets with our ideals & perspective better.

#4  568: “The Futurist’s Manifesto” (2012) came from a series of obstructions/challenges that a friend gave me to work around: read more about that here.

#5  569 “Extension Bridge” (2012) is another response to Tim’s assignment of “obstructions.”

#6  570: “Leviathan” (2012) is the third print made from Tim’s assignment of “obstructions”, number 1.

THESE STREETS Oral History Video #3: Bonnie Hammond and Laura Vanderpool of Capping Day

In our next online installment of the Oral History Interview series, we present the funny and articulate women of Capping Day, Bonnie Hammond and Laura Vanderpool. This is a segment of the full-length interview that was filmed at TPR in 2012 and will be archived at the University of Washington after the completion of the project in 2013. To read more about THESE STREETS and buy tickets to the show that opens at ACT in February, 2013- go here:

THESE STREETS Oral History Interview #2: Sally Johnson and Mike Katell from Faster Tiger

Leading up to the premier of the play THESE STREETS at ACT Theatre in February 2013, TPR is releasing weekly online interview segments from the oral history portion of this project. The full length versions of these interviews will be archived at the University of Washington. This second interview, filmed at TPR, featuresSally Johnson and Mike Katell of the former band, Faster Tiger.

See interview #1 here:

To learn more about THESE STREETS, follow this link:

Filming by Wes Hurley
Interview conducted at The Project Room.

These Streets: Get Your Tickets Before it Sells Out!

Tickets on sale now! 

These Streets is an unconventional theatrical play and history project, inspired by women rock musicians in Seattle during the infamous “grunge” years. Spearheaded by rock guitarist, Gretta Harley (faculty member at Cornish College of the Arts, and guitarist who played in several bands during the era) and Sarah Rudinoff (Actress, Writer and The Stranger Genius Award Winner), These Streets is inspired by over 35 interviews conducted with and about the many women rockers who were integral to the Seattle music scene but have been overshadowed by the familiar bands and retrospectives.

This original piece of theatre is not a documentary, but a gritty, funny and powerful fictional story with characters that represent an amalgam of the real women rockers upon which it is based. The show is filled with music from that era, as well as a few new original songs (by Harley and Rudinoff’s We Are Golden), all played and sung by the characters and a live band.

The story centers on five musicians who share a house in Seattle from 1989-1994. The audience meets these characters when they are young and full of excitement and optimism. We see the challenges they face as their tight-knit community unexpectedly explodes and their city becomes an international rock Mecca. We also meet the characters in the present; their stories evolving as much as the city around them. These Streets will have its world premiere on February 21, 2013 at ACT Theatre in downtown Seattle for 12 public performances.

While the performance is the core of the project, These Streets also aims to illuminate the stories and music of the real life women rockers who were involved in the scene that changed a generation by creating an addendum to history with: an oral history project that will be archived at the Library of the University of Washington; a gallery exhibit at The Project Room (a non-profit interdisciplinary art space in Seattle) of collected memorabilia; and online resources such as Wikipedia and YouTube pages, musician biographies, recordings and discographies.

For more information, please contact Amy Poisson at amypoissonrocks@gmail.com.

 

 

These Streets Band at Seattle Art Museum

Friday, November 9 7:30pm-12:30am – 18+

Seattle Art Museum Downtown 
1300 First Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101-2003

As part of SAM’s monthly REMIX event, THESE STREETS co-creators Sarah Rudinoff and Gretta Harley present live music from the upcoming show featuring the show’s on-stage band and other musicians who have been key to telling Seattle’s rock n’ roll story from the 1990s. This is a great opportunity to preview the fantastic music from this show before its premier at ACT Theatre in 2013! More about the evening’s event is here. 

These Streets: Oral History Interviews #1

Leading up to the premier of THESE STREETS at ACT Theatre in February 2013, TPR is releasing weekly online interview segments from the oral history portion of this project. The full length versions of these interviews will be archived at the University of Washington. This first interview, filmed at TPR, features Vanessa Veselka of the former band, BELL.

About Vanessa: Besides being a guitar player, singer and songwriter, Vanessa has been at various times a teenage runaway, an expatriate, a union organizer, and a student of paleontology. Her debut novel, Zazen, won the 2012 PEN/Bingham prize for fiction. Vanessa’s music is featured in THESE STREETS along with songs from other women in forthcoming interviews. As a single mom to a nine year-old daughter, Vanessa talks here about the social stigma that exists for young girls who retreat into solitude to learn how to play an instrument, and how necessary that isolation is for a budding artist. It’s a fascinating interview!

Filming by Wes Hurley
Interview conducted at The Project Room by TPR Founder Jess Van Nostrand- October 19, 2012

These Streets: Thank You Donors

We want to THANK the following people for their DONATIONS to the THESE STREETS USA Projects Fundraising campaign! First day and a half are looking good THANK YOU to:

Terri Weagant
Kate Wisniewski
Jen Taylor
Rudy Yuly
Barbara Pritchard
Blair Payson
Patience Cryst
Leah Michaels
Jeanne Bulla
Amy Allsopp
Tracy Thompson
Niki Avataria Flanly
Cynthia Payne
Stefanie Brendler
Jordan Kowalke
Stacey Wescott
Robert Scheu
Karen Jaroneski
David Coffey
Alyssa Byer
Frances Dunaway
Jennifer Forland
Peter Alba
Julia Collins
George Marsh
Erin Sullivan
Margaret Savas
Eve Boranian
Josh and Holly Rudinoff
Peggy Gannon
Robert Peaslee
Imogen Love
Jackie and Glenn Kramer
David Pascal
Rosamond Helms
James Osmer
Andy and Nancy Jensen
Jenny Hill Pollick
Susan Pritzker
Marlow Harris
Anonymous

YOU ARE PART OF OUR FAMILY NOW!

 

These Streets: Third Workshop!

From left to right: Evan Crockett, Eden Schwartz, Mitch Ebert, Hollis Wongwear, Gretta Harley, Fiia McGann, Rachel Glass, Gina Malvestutuo, Sami Detzer, John Q. Smith

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Here’s a photo of all of our lovely actors working hard on making Act 1 a reality. This was our second workshop with the actors and our very first workshop with the band. Everything is looking AND sounding great. We’re really excited for the next round of workshops coming up on Monday!