RECAP: Arts in Nature Festival
When Art, Nature and Neighborhood converge, beautiful moments happen. The 19th annual Arts in Nature Festival has come and gone, but not without offering a treasured memory of a weekend-long community celebration in such a unique space in our city. Following the theme of convergence— the act of meeting at a common point– artists and attendees were encouraged to interact with each other, with other art disciplines, and with the natural 68-acre landscape of Camp Long. With one of our most dynamic lineups yet, we are so honored to have been able to showcase the talent of local artists such as Angelina Villalobos, Degenerate Art Ensemble, Seattle Civic Poet Anastacia Renée, Indigenouz PlaceMakerz, Corrie Befort, our headlining act Reverend Pat Wright and the Total Experience Gospel Choir and so many more.
Haruko Crow Nishimura of Degenerate Art Ensemble during their “Skeleton Flower Seed Ceremony” performance at Cabin 1. Photo by Catherine Anstett.
All weekend long, over 1,200 festival goers had the opportunity to engage with seven unique cabin installations around the park’s main field. From dance performances by Markeith Wiley and Laura Aschoff to Celeste Cooning’s mixed-media portal, Camp Long’s rustic cabins were completely and artfully transformed. Paul Kikuchi’s installation in Cabin 7, “Robotic Ensemble,” even featured low-fi robotic hands with which visitors could play traditional Japanese instruments.
Cabin visitors play instruments remotely using Kikuchi’s robotic hands based off Microsoft’s STEM education program. Photo by Miguel Edwards.
For the first time in Arts in Nature Festival history, several merchants were featured on-site providing hand-crafted goods, including jewelry by The Foraged Collection, textile art by Sumac El Sol and upcycled accessories by Semilla Designs. To keep the festival fun going all weekend long, vendors like Main Street Gyros, Aeggy’s and Patty Pan Cooperative supplied a variety of dishes to satisfy all appetites.
Want to see more pictures from this year’s Arts in Nature Festival? Check out the full album on our Facebook page! For more coverage on this year’s event, we encourage you to read this wonderful blog by Trekkah Benjamin, a Community Arts Practitioner, who visited our festival as stop #1 of a 6-week American tour on the Nottingham Roosevelt Memorial Travelling Scholarship!
From all of us at DNDA, thank you! We couldn’t have hosted such a successful festival without you. To every artist, performer, attendee, volunteer, sponsor– we so appreciate your contributions and your presence!
Special thanks goes out to our event sponsors for contributing to this annual celebration and giving back to our community: Presenting Sponsor NUCOR, Media Sponsor KUOW Public Radio, The Seattle Public Library, Seattle Parks and Recreation, Verity Credit Union, Northwest Film Forum, Northwest Folklife, The Stranger, Carlson Audio Systems, Jubilee Event Engineers, Sound Physical Therapy, Tom’s Automotive Service, ParentMap, West Seattle Electric & Solar and West Seattle Garden Tour. Thank you, sponsors!