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DNDA HeartSpace
Strengthening connections during crisis
Welcome to the online hub for DNDA programs and content from the amazing educators, instructors, performers, and Anchor Tenants of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center.
While we may not be able to access our community spaces during this pandemic, we can certainly still access our heart space, and that's what really connects us after all. We hope this will be a welcoming space for the many youth, families, and artists that call Youngstown home and fill our programs with inspiration and empowerment.
What are you doing to strengthen connections during this crisis? Share your story with us.
In health and hope,
Erika Bell, Youngstown Manager
Live-streaming and payment instructions listed per offering where applicable. For the best experience, subscribe to the social media platforms listed in each section and download Zoom. Please direct any questions to the pertinent email address. This page is updated regularly.
SPOTLIGHT
Art Class for Adults
Happy Black History Month!
The theme for this year's Black History Month focuses on the extensive historical contributions of Black health and wellness practitioners, both in Western medicine and other ways of knowing throughout the African diaspora, such as midwives, herbalists, and healers.
This year’s theme is especially timely as our nation continues to struggle with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This month serves as an opportunity to reflect on not only physical, but also mental and emotional health, how many communities have remained resilient in the face of healthcare inequities, and how cultural and ancestral traditions have informed our understanding of wellness.
In honor of this year’s Black History Month theme, we’ve curated a variety of wellness resources to explore and to share:
- WA Therapy Fund Foundation: Grants free therapeutic services to those within the Black community who are in need, and suffering from racial trauma, anxiety, depression, and other ailments due to systemic oppression, economic sufferings, and intergenerational trauma that has not been addressed in the past.
- You Grow Girl: Empowers female youth in Seattle and King County through mentorship, counseling, and sisterhood.
- Mother Africa: Advances racial equity through supporting African refugee and immigrant women and their families to reach their highest potential.
- BEAM: Allows people to search by location for a virtual therapist, doula, or yoga teacher.
- Black Mental Wellness: Provides easy access to evidence-based information and resources about mental health and behavioral health topics from a Black perspective, as well as training opportunities for students and professionals.
Additionally, family and friends can celebrate Black History Month with these virtual events and socially distanced happenings in the Seattle-area and around the country. From workshops to a scavenger hunt exploring Tacoma's Black history, there are a number of ways to take part in Black History Month. Find out more here!
ART
Over the summer of 2021, youth from Rainier Vista, High Point, and NewHolly worked with teaching artist Amaranta Sandys to beautify their communities. Youth helped design and paint these murals as a part of DNDA's summer youth program. Seattle Housing Authority and CafeOver the summer of 2021 youth from Rainier Vista, High Point, and NewHolly worked with teaching artist Amaranta Sandy's to beautify their communities. Youth helped design and paint these murals as a part of DNDA's summer youth program. Seattle Housing Authority and Cafe Red made these murals possible.
NATURE
Nature Consortium Blog
DNDA Wetland Workshops
Volunteer in the Forest (Again!)
Updated October 22, 2020
We have re-opened our forest restoration volunteer program with additional COVID precautions. This includes limiting each event to a maximum of 5 volunteers. As a result, volunteer spots may not be available on all dates. After you submit a volunteer inquiry, our staff will contact you to confirm your spot. If you have any questions, please contact the DNDA Environmental Programs Director.
NEIGHBORHOOD
Community Resources
How are you managing this difficult time?
Share your story with us.
Neighborhood Blog
DNDA TV
Mulugeta's BBQ Chicken Nachos
How to Manage COVID-19 Symptoms at Home
Click to download
Sign up for a COVID-19 Vaccination Appointment
Covid-19 Vaccines are now available to everyone 16 and older. Click here to find vaccine appointments.
Transportation to your vaccination appointment:
- To request transportation, please visit (English only): bit.ly/vaxride
- For individual assistance by phone, call the Coordinated Vaccine Transportation Helpline at 425-943-6706 Monday-Friday between 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM. Dial 5 for interpretation. You can also leave a voicemail and get a call back.
- To learn about transportation options, including for seniors, people with disabilities, Medicaid recipients, and veterans visit: FindARide.org/COVID
To find more information about the Covid-19 Vaccines and translated resources, please visit King County's Community Vaccination Resources page.
VIRTUAL CLASSES & ACTIVITIES
Totem Star supports a diverse community of young recording artists learning music and life skills through mentorship and meaningful relationships. Our work in the studio and on the stage fosters growth in collaboration, leadership, and self-identity. Totem Star keeps kids off the street, in the studio, and on the stage since 2010.
**Totem Star Virtual Showcase @ Northwest Folklife Festival**
Totem Star's virtual showcase will be airing on demand starting on Sat, May 29th at 11am! Info will be launched this weekend at nwfolklife.org.
Join us this weekend to watch the full show featuring DiceVampira, Yung Fuego, Lily Indigo, and Grae Violett, hosted by Mirabai Kukathas.
Watch our showcase and many other local performers in Seattle/ Duwamish Land this weekend!
Totem Star on Soundcloud
Arts Corps is offering a variety of virtual art lessons for youth. Tune in to their YouTube channel here, and check out a couple of our faves below.
Visual Gratitude Poem with Arts Corps TA Meredith
Have you heard about R.E.A.C.T.?
R.E.A.C.T. is a call to join a creative forum open to all art mediums to respond to the injustices of police brutality against Black lives. Arts Corps will showcase these artworks in a digital history book and through social media to help raise voices of activism through art.
For more info or to join in this effort, click here.
Frog Hollow School is a language arts program for homeschoolers focused on helping young writers thrive.
A couple pieces from the Frog Hollow students' art & poetry exhibition at Youngstown
A resource for homeschooling parents:
A Few Crooked Words Newsletter offers writing prompts to help kids love writing.
Click to learn more and subscribe.
Becca is a brilliant teacher that has a beautiful way of playfully weaving a rich language arts program…. Her craft of teaching truly keeps the joy of writing alive for children that are just learning to write or are developing as writers.
~ Jaime, parent
Join weekly LIVE STREAMED Classes!
1. Download ZOOM APP on your device
*preferably a device with a larger screen for better visibility
2. Pay between $6 and $18 per class via Venmo to @JenniferCepeda_Productions - sliding scale until further notice
*Sliding Scale Notice: This pricing to reflect the craziness of the world right now. You might want to mix & match these. I am including tax within the pricing:
$6-$9 Per Class - Unemployed. Plan to take multiple classes per week.
$10-$13 - Plan to take 1-2 Classes a week
$13-$18 - Plan to take 1 class a week/month or are feeling generous in this time.
3. Submit your Email to JencnDesign@Gmail.com
Once you have submitted both your payment and your email, I will add you to the scheduled meeting.
4. Registration ends 15 minutes prior to the event.
Class Description
Dance Powered covers many genres of dance, and is rooted in Hip Hop Movement. Engage your brain, body and get social in this welcoming and challenging dance class! All levels of dance enthusiasts are a part of this community, and love the music, the creative choreography, and the dance workout!
*Side effects may include:
Sudden boldness on the dance floor, irresistible urge to dance at work, entertaining your friends while likely horrifying your children with your dance demonstrations.
Virtual Class Schedule
Monday // Bellydance Street Team - BRAND NEW SESSION starts Nov 16
6:30pm - 7:25pm Level 1 - Basic posture, slow and fast moves from the general skills vocab (FCBD), Intro to Arabic rhythms and zills (finger cymbals) playing
7:30pm - 8:00pm Level 2 - Level 2 students work on all the material from level 1 and play zills while dancing and lead the group in improv - Instructor permission is required to join this group
*In person dance class with video conferencing and live stream options https://www.leslierosen.com/monday-night-bellydance-georgetown
Tuesday // School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts (SANCA) Adult Circus Strength Flex 4pm- 5pm ~ Join at 3:55pm (5 min before class) to see puppy or kitty circus tricks!
Wednesday // Bellydance Roots Workout Class ~ 7pm Bellydance Roots Workout featuring Kalbeliya, (popularily known as Indian Gypsy dance - Hailing from Northern India the origin point of the Romany Trail - *Online only until 2021 Holiday Series starts 11/18
Private lessons are available for personal training and dance on zoom by request. Get in touch to schedule.
DNDA recognizes Black history as American history. We realize that at the heart of our racial and social equity work is the call to lift up the voices of the marginalized, and we will endeavor to do that through sharing the stories of African American leaders and peoples. We invite you to celebrate with us through our social channels, and here, all month long. #BHM21
July 1963: 35 youth stage a sit-in to protest racial discrimination in housing in Seattle
Read more at Seattle Star
Do you know Dr. Maxine Mimms?
A Brief History of African American Theatre
Video clip of Twelfth Night Production's Once on This Island, performed at Youngstown's Thelma DeWitty Theatre, 2019. This special performance, featuring an all Black and POC cast of phenomenal artists, packed the house with joy and tears and laughter, night after night.
Audio clip of Deep End Friends Podcast's interview of Dr. Maxine Mimms, December 2018. Shared with permission from Deep End Friends Podcast. Full interview
Read more at UW Tacoma Library
Have you heard?
There's a new street mural in the West Seattle Junction, and DNDA had the honor of partnering on the project. The artist collective West Seattle Art for Social Justice, in their first community project, brought together nine gifted and intergenerational local artists of color to create a beautiful new Black Lives Matter mural in West Seattle's California Ave. / Alaska St. Junction. Check out 107.7 The End Radio Station's write-up of the July 26th event, and please follow WS Art for Social Justice for more on this and future community projects.
Excerpt from 107.7 The End excerpt:
"Our organization has art and giving amplification of artists at the heart of what we do. At the center of the West Seattle Black Lives Matter mural is the collective of nine amazing artists that brought the mural to life and was supported by our community. WS Art for Social Justice is the organization that supported their work, and is a team of educators and artists that are active in our community."
- Founders of WS Art for Social Justice
A word from DNDA Teaching Artist Jolyn GC
Painting the Black Lives Mural in West Seattle and representing DNDA was an honor! It was the highlight of my July. I did not anticipate the extremely hot weather. West Seattle Social Justice had plenty of water, supplies, and snacks to keep myself and the other artists energized and refreshed. Traffic paint dries extremely fast, so we all did our very best to paint quickly and with as much precision as possible on the bumpy pavement. Plenty of people stopped by to see what was going on and looked pretty excited about what we were up to. Check out the pictures below. Again, thank you DNDA for the opportunity to contribute my artistic creativity to this moment in our history.
Photos by Erik Bell
Artfully,
Jolyn GC
West Seattle Black Lives Matter Mural:
A Movement in Photos
The junction is more vibrant than ever thanks to incredibly talented local artists!
These days you can't turn a corner without seeing a Black Lives Matter banner, yard or homemade sign. It's pretty incredible to see neighborhoods and communities come together for equal justice. We have a long way to go, but the conversation is currently booming between friends, family members and all over social media. It's our job to keep the conversation and momentum alive!
In June, Capitol Hill was the first major canvas of the Black Lives Matter movement in Seattle when the neighborhood received their beautiful BLM street mural. The dedication to the cause carried over the bridge into the heart of West Seattle. Local artists and devoted neighbors came together one morning in July to create a vivid masterpiece for all to enjoy while visiting the Junction.