Jack Straw Productions

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ARTIST PROGRAMS

Jack Straw Productions gratefully acknowledges The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, City of Seattle’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, 4Culture King County Lodging Tax Fund, Washington State Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, PONCHO, ArtsFund, University Rotary, Wells Fargo, and individual contributors for their support of Jack Straw's programs.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Jack Straw New Media Gallery

The Network Is a Blind Space
Stelios Manousakis

December 9, 2011 - February 3, 2012

Jack Straw New Media Gallery
4261 Roosevelt Way NE
Seattle 98105

The Network Is a Blind Space is a distributed, micro-telematic, site-specific sound installation that explores the physical yet invisible electromagnetic spaces created by Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). Two computers installed in opposite parts of Jack Straw, one in the gallery and another in the main studio, create an electromagnetic line-space that can be transversed and examined – perhaps broken. The piece spreads out from the gallery space, extending as far as the installation’s WLAN can reach. Sound is generated and modified in real time by visitors logging into the network with ordinary, wifi-enabled, mobile electronic devices (smartphones, iPods, tablets, laptops, etc).

See our New Media Gallery page for more information.

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Wayne Horvitz: Smokestack Arias

February 2 - 5 and 9 - 12, 8pm
(Sundays at 2pm)

ACT Theatre Central Heating Lab, 700 Union St.
Tickets: $22 advance, $15 students/seniors

Jack Straw Productions is pleased to present the premiere of Smokestack Arias, by award-winning Seattle producer, musician and composer Wayne Horvitz, at ACT - A Contemporary Theatre's Central Heating Lab. Commissioned by Jack Straw Productions through Meet The Composer's Commissioning Music/USA program, and inspired by the 1916 labor uprising and resultant deaths, now known as the Everett Massacre, Smokestack Arias is a song cycle for soprano voice, piano, and electronics. Each song assumes the perspective of a different woman affected by the uprising and the deaths of the slain protesters, giving a personal account of a seminal event in the history of the labor movement in the Pacific Northwest.

Composed by Horvitz with text by Robin Holcomb, the performances will take place in collaboration with Cristina Valdes (piano) and Maria Mannisto (soprano). Choreographer and theatre artist Dayna Hanson will be directing the production and assist in creating the overall structure of the piece.

Wayne will also speak about the piece and its historical significance at Jack Straw's Composer Spotlight Series in February:

Composer Spotlight:
WAYNE HORVITZ
A Lumberjack Prayer

Wed, February 8, 7:30pm

Jack Straw Productions
4261 Roosevelt Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105
FREE

Jack Straw Productions and Washington Composers Forum present Composer Spotlight, a series of talks and performances by composers, musicians, and scholars of new and innovative music every second Wednesday of each month.

See our Composer Spotlight page for more information.

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Jack Straw New Media Gallery

Blue.Hour
Yann Novak

February 10 - March 30, 2012

Gallery Opening: Friday, February 10, 7pm
Artist Talk: Friday, March 9, 7pm

Jack Straw New Media Gallery
4261 Roosevelt Way NE
Seattle 98105

Blue.Hour explores the high contrast colors created in the landscape during "l'heure bleue," the period of twilight each evening when there is neither full daylight nor complete darkness. Directly preceding the 'Golden Hour,' known for its diffused yet powerful light, the Blue Hour retains the diffusion but lacks the strong light source, giving this period of the day an especially melancholic and meditative atmosphere. Blue.Hour is presented here in a darkened room with 4 channels of sound paired with a large scale video projection. The piece is formed from photographs and sounds collected in Joshua Tree National Park in June 2010.

2011 Mayor's Arts Award

Jack Straw Productions received a 2011 Mayor's Arts Award. Thank you to the Mayor and the community members who nominated us!

Artist of the Week Podcast

Each week we will make a new audio piece created through the Jack Straw Artist Program available for free download.

Subscribe at jackstraw.org/artistoftheweek, via itunes, or listen right here:

Foster High School:
Stories of Arrival 2011

Listen to the poems recorded by our 2011 Foster High School group for the Stories of Arrival project.

Green ACRE Radio

Jack Straw and Martha Baskin have partnered on this weekly radio series on KBCS FM, focusing on Agriculture, conservation, restoration & environmental issues. Read about the series and listen to past episodes on the Green ACRE Blog.

Blind Youth Program

The Seattle Channel features the Jack Straw Blind Youth Audio Program on its "Community Stories" Program. Watch the program online.

These podcasts feature interviews and readings by Jack Straw Writers such as Michael Spence, Merna Ann Hecht, and Wendy Call. Click here to listen.

Special Projects

Jack Straw Productions works with various organizations and communities to create oral histories, museum audio guides, and neighborhood audio tours. Click here to learn more.