There are numerous reasons to take your family to Walk the Block, the September 17 Central District art festival featuring the work of local, national and international Black artists.
These three stand out:
It’s a walking festival
Walk the Block offers a unique approach to showcasing Black artists. Visual art, dance, community stories and other works will be installed or performed in yards, on porches, in parks and gardens and in small businesses throughout the district. Participants will use maps to guide themselves from one work to another while walking through the area.
It’s a fundraiser
Walk the Block is a fundraiser for Wa Na Wari, a center for Black art, historic preservation and community building established in 2019 by artists Inye Wokoma, Elisheba Johnson, Rachel Kessler, and Jill Freidberg.
Wa Na Wari has partnered with ARTE NOIR, an organization dedicated to supporting black artists, in the curation of Walk the Block event. Event organizers hope to raise upwards of $100,000 at this year’s Walk the Block event. Funds collected will go directly toward programs that support black art makers and programs including the Love Offering Community Meal program, the Seattle Black Spatial Histories Institute (a two-year oral history and community story training program) and the Wa Na Wari’s artist in residence program.
It’s a grand opening
This year’s Walk the Block also marks the grand opening of ARTE NOIR (artenoir.org) at Midtown Square. A release about the grand opening says the location is in sync with ARTE NOIR’s mission is “to create space, stability, opportunity, and training to serve the needs of the displaced Black creative community.” Founded by Vivian Phillips, ARTE NOIR originated as an online publication dedicated to showcasing and uplifting Black art, artists, and culture.
Midtown Square is also the new home of Gallery Onyx at Midtown — the city’s second gallery exclusively showcasing artists of African descent and from the Pacific Northwest. The first Gallery Onyx is located in downtown Seattle’s Pacific Place mall. Gallery Onyx at Midtown was developed by the Onyx Fine Arts Collective in collaboration with ARTE NOIR.
Grand opening celebrations will include hands-on art activities, giveaways and door prizes, a 360 photo booth, and guided tours of Gallery Onyx at Midtown’s inaugural exhibit, Truth B Told II. The exhibit is the next iteration of the largest exhibit of Black artists ever held in Seattle, which took place in 2017. The works of 74 Black artists from the Pacific Northwest will be represented in the exhibit.
Walk the Block and the Midtown Square celebrations will take place Saturday, September 17 from noon to 6 p.m.
Know before you go:
- Cost is $25 per ticket for ages 13 and up; free for kids 12 and under. Food tickets cost an additional $15 per person.
- Register early for Walk the Block. Consider forming a family fundraising team with friends. Wa Na Wari will be giving several prizes to teams and individuals who reach fundraising milestones first; including a private concert with Paul Rucker, dinner with Charles Johnson, catering by Jeremy Thunderbird of Native Soul Cuisine, an Inye Wokoma art print, and more.
- Food and drink tickets are only available with advance registration. Walk the Block food will be provided by the Black and Indigenous chefs who prepare meals for the organization’s Love Offering program.
- Wear comfortable clothes and shoes for walking.
- Artists participating in this year’s Walk the Block include: Blumeadows, Alison Bremner, Jasmine Iona Brown, Bryce Detroit, Esther Ervin, Marita Dingus, Rachael F., Fysah, Gary Hammon and Carter Yasutake, JusMoni, Lehuauakea, Darrell McKinney, Meron Menghistab, Yeggy Michael, Larry Mizell Jr., Movimiento Afrolatino Seattle, NW Tap Connection, Tracy Rector, Perri Rhoden, Rashaun Rucker, Kenya Shakoor, Moses Sun, Gabrielle Tesfaye, Zachary James Watkins, Tiffany Wilson, Ezra Wube, Yirim Seck, films curated by Berette Macaulay, dance curated by Nia-Amina Minor.
More at Seattle’s Child:
“Inside each of us, the seed of an artist is waiting”
