August 10-14, 2024
8 AM – 11 AM
Mapes creek radiance: A residency for Puget Sound creatives.
Artists and writers will gather together for 5 consecutive summer mornings along Mapes Creek in the Rainier Beach neighborhood of S.E. Seattle. Participants will be able to use this time together in whatever way best suits their creative practice while in community with fellow creatives and this urban waterway. No specific outcome or project is expected or required, only a willingness to gather together and be open to what may arise from our shared creek-side experiences.
Our primary gathering place will be the recently restored creek bed on the south side of Be’er Sheva Park. Parking, restrooms, tables and benches are available at this site.
Please bring any art/writing materials you will want to use while creek-side as well as water and snacks. Those who wish to stay on for lunch are welcome to do so. There are a number of cafes and coffee shops nearby and of course, brown bag lunches will always be appropriate.
For more information, reach out to Lou Cabeen via loucabeenart.com
Specifics:
Mapes Creek, or dxʷwuqʷəb in Lushootseed, has its source in the natural area beyond Kubota Gardens, where it flows through the necklace of ponds created by Fujitaro Kubota. The daylit creek continues through the yəhaw center, (Indigenous Creatives Collaborative) and Sturtevant Ravine before entering a pipe beneath central Rainier Beach. It again opens to the sky in a newly restored riparian zone on the south side of Be’er Sheva Park where it enters Lake Washington.
This project is funded in part by a Neighborhood Matching Fund award from Seattle Department of Neighborhoods.
Photos of Mapes Creek by Paul E Nelson in honor of dxʷwuqʷəb and the ancestral people of this land.