Headdress Workshops Continue, As Does Search For FAC Feast Space

Norma Baum, Headdress Mistress for the FAC Feast, shows off the first batches made in early December. Photo by K. Lindsay Laney

On Tuesday, December 8^th, at the monthly Fremont Arts Council (FAC) COW meeting, in was announced that the arts organization does not have a space in which to celebrate its annual Feast of the Winter Solstice. Organizers, and COW (Committee Of the Whole) attendees, still had ideas, and hopes, and agreed on a deadline of Thursday, December 10^th.

In the meantime, preparation for the Feast will continue. This past weekend, during Fremont Festivus, FAC volunteers led by Headdress Mistress Norma Baum created over 150 headdresses for distribution at the Feast – and they are asking your help to make at least 350 more.

Please attend one of the workshops this coming weekend, for 20 minutes or two hours, and help build these small, wearable works-of-art in a friendly, creative environment, with treats. Make four headdresses, and take one home for free.

A volunteer sorts through flora for a headdress for the FAC Feast. Photo by K. Lindsay Laney, Dec '15 — A volunteer sorts through flora for a headdress for the FAC Feast. Photo by K. Lindsay Laney, Dec ’15

The workshops remaining are:

Thursday, December 10^th, from 4p – 10p
Friday, December 11^th, from 4p – 10p
Saturday, December 12^th, from Noon – 10p
Sunday, December 13^th, from Noon – 10p

Workshops take place in the FAC Powerhouse workshop, at 3940 Fremont Ave N, and all materials are provided, although if you have any to share, please bring lightweight, ornamental goo-gahs (and snacks!)

The Feast of the Winter Solstice is about a communal, shared meal. Over decades the FAC has also built this into an art installation – transforming an empty, disused building into a magical evergreen wonderland – with a potluck meal, and live music. The FAC gather on the shortest day/longest night of the year to celebrate the community through ritual and art.

Volunteers, who dropped in for directions to the Troll, making headdresses for the upcoming FAC Feast. Photo by K. Lindsay Laney, Dec '15 — Volunteers, who dropped in for directions to the Troll, making headdresses for the upcoming FAC Feast. Photo by K. Lindsay Laney, Dec ’15

At the December COW, Board Member Peter Toms, who has been working on finding a space, acknowledged, “we can’t not do it. It’s what we do.” However, the FAC may have to scale down, or pay down, for a space this year – changing the event from what it has been but keeping its essentials. “The point is to get together,” according to Toms.

The Board of the FAC has agreed that if an empty building of adequate size cannot be found, perhaps an affordable venue space can be rented for one or two days. Search volunteers Toms and Feast Coordinator Kudra Migliaccio – will continue to work on options. There is a warehouse of adequate size in South Seattle that lacks heat, running water, and electricity (due to copper thieves,) along with potentially an empty grocery store in Shoreline, another large building in Mill Creek and warehouses recently purchased by Seattle Pacific University.

The 2015 FAC Feast needs a place to be, to transform, and to celebrate. Photo provided by the FAC

The space used last year has been rented, and use of a potential space on Nickerson has been denied – although volunteers may ask again, and give references. In any event, Migliaccio announced that the opening ritual for building the Feast is scheduled for Sunday, December 13^th. Volunteers are asked to start working on moveable art and garland greeneries for the location, so that whatever is found, it can be decorated.

Please stop by the Powerhouse and help at a Headdress Making Workshop this weekend, to sign up to volunteer for the Feast and get the latest details on a location – and any possible changes to this annual, communal meal! Find more details about the FAC on the website, and the Facebook page.