by Kirby Lindsay Laney, posted 2 November 2015
This month, ten years ago, the first music event took place in the Fremont Abbey Arts Center. Inside the now 101-year-old church building the fifth installment of The Round took place – a evening of live music, live painting and live spoken word – in November of 2005, and began the building of Fremont’s very own community center, where art in all forms is made, shared and celebrated.
The unparalleled Fremont Abbey has created a legacy of activities and involvement unusual in Seattle – it is an events venue, without fancy trappings. It is a community center, but run entirely as a non-profit, not by the city or county. It is a place for children, for families, for young people, for older people, for partiers and for those looking for a quiet place to contemplate, depending on the event. It is a resource for everyone, and about as ‘Fremont’ as the ‘People Waiting For the Interurban’ sculpture.
Over the next two weeks the small staff and large family of volunteers that power Abbey Arts will host a swift series of ten events at venues around here, to celebrate 10 years of open, welcoming, community-based, and often community-initiated, arts and culture.
A Party To Suit Everyone
Celebrations will start on Tuesday, November 3rd, and culminate Saturday, November 14th, with every kind of gathering, at every price point (including FREE) to give anyone, regardless of age or income, a party to attend and a chance to mark this incredible milestone.
The ten events scheduled are:
- 1. Nov 3rd, 8p to 10p – The 10th Anniversary Launch Party at evo – This all-ages, live concert will feature music from The Fabulous Party Boys, and Katie Kuffel, along with live painting, interactive art making and adult beverages. Stop by anytime to listen, to meet and to make art. Entry is a suggested donation of $5 – 25.
- 2. Nov 4th, 7p to 9:30p – Art Making For A Cause at the Fremont Abbey – Artist Bethany Foelber will facilitate this community art making workshop, with the finished items going to brighten the lives of residents and staff at Patrick Place – the new low-income apartment building housing the previously, chronically homeless, located near the Abbey on Aurora Avenue. This FREE evening will give everyone a chance to come together to create and express, for the good of our community. Find more information on the Facebook page.
- 3. Nov 5th, 8p– A Special Celebratory The Moth Storyslam – This world-renowned storytelling event usually sells out, with about 20 tickets available at the door for $10 (cash only.)
- 4. Nov 6th 6p to 8:30p – Family Concert & Square Dance at Ballard Homestead – Abbey Arts recently started curating creative events in this newly renovated ‘Mission Hall’. On Friday, Homestead will host a puppet-making workshop potluck (with Veraci Pizza,) art making, foosball, corn toss, and live music – with an all-ages square dance starting at 7p. Suggested donation of $5 – 25.
- 5. Nov 6th, 8p– Folk Concert at Fremont Abbey – Year ‘round Abbey Arts offers up concerts of great musicians, many of them still building audiences while creatively working their craft and exercising their burgeoning talents. Enjoy this signature evening of music, featuring St. Paul de Vence, Anna Tivel, and David Berkeley. Cost $10 (advance – purchase through Brown Paper Tickets,) or $13 (at the door.) Find more information on the Facebook page.
- 6. Nov 7th, 8p to 10p – OneBeat Music Event at St. Mark’s Cathedral – The Abbey and Found Sound Nation will present this evening of cross-cultural collaboration among artists from around the world. This culmination of a week of over 20 artists from more than 15 nations will prove how music can transcend boundaries of race, region, religion, and politics. Cost $10, and available in advance through Brown Paper Tickets.
- 7. Nov 8th, 8:30p – OpenSpace Edition #1 at The Abbey – This first ever, and free, evening of contemplative music will feature Abby Gundersen on piano. Bring pillows and blankets to sprawl, and soak in the sounds.
- 8. Nov 10th, 8p – The Round (126) at The Fremont Abbey – Come enjoy another of the unusual, unique and well-rounded nights of art that got the Abbey started. With music by John Richards of KEXP, Bryan John Appleby, and Song Sparrow Research, the evening also includes live painting, poetry, and many culturally rich moments. Find more details on the Facebook page.
- 9. Nov 12th – An Evening For Abbey Arts – This private event for Abbey sponsors and financial supporters (cost $40 – $100) will feature exclusive live music and painting performances, along with great food and drink. Find out about attending by contacting rsvp@fremontabbey.org
- 10. Nov 14th, 6p to 10p – The Tenth Anniversary Party – The culminating event of the anniversary celebrations will start with a family fun hour (6p – 7p,) to be followed (7p – 10p) with food, drinks, art making, games, live music, a photo booth, raffle, and plenty of ways to mix & mingle with other Abbey supporters. Attendance is $10 – 50, as a suggested donation to another 10 years of Abbey Arts. Purchase tickets through Brown Paper Tickets, or visit the Facebook page.
A History, And Future, To Build On
The Abbey is unique, in its mission and its role in Fremont. According to Founding Director Nathan Marion, who remains, ten years later, at the helm of this largely volunteer venue, the idea started during discussions in ‘The Living Room.’ The rough coffee shop/hang out stood where Caffe Vita now operates, and it was there that Marion met people, from the Church Of The Apostles (including their founding reverend Karen Ward,) who wanted to create an open, community space out of the former St. Paul’s Lutheran Church building.
“It’s about people knowing they can walk into a welcoming space, and encounter art,” Marion recently explained. The mission of the Fremont Abbey has evolved some over the past ten years, he reported. “We didn’t realize what the needs were,” he observed. They started off offering a lot more classes, which didn’t draw in attendance, or interest, on the scale of the concerts and fundraisers.
Today they deliberately keep the space multi-use – available for anything from art making to weddings. They’ve hosted day-long writer’s workshops with Seattle7Writers, public informational meetings, annual fundraisers for B.F. Day School, concerts too numerous to mention (by performers from around the globe,) a new ‘Bite of Fremont’ fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and monthly events like The Round, and The Moth.
“There is so much going on,” Marion acknowledged, “Support from the community has been great.” They depend upon the community to help get the word out – about shows and activities at the Abbey, as well as about venue rentals. They also depend upon the community for donations, rental fees, and grant funds to keep the doors open and the building operational.
As a venue, the Abbey allows performers and audiences to remain in close contact. For people who want to sit back and observe, the internet and television offer plenty of entertainment opportunities. By contrast, the Abbey offers an up-close and personal experience where people connect in real life, and everyone can feel the connection with the art, with the community, and with a building that has sheltered and shared for over a century.
Please consider joining one, or many, of the ten celebrations this month – and supporting art and community at the Fremont Abbey Arts Center! Register to attend any of the events at rsvp@fremontabbey.org or visit the Abbey website or Facebook page for more information.
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