Enjoy Art and Revitalize the Central District
Walk The Block Art Festival, Wa Na Wari’s Annual Fundraiser, Returns For Year Three on September 30, 2023. This fall, Wa Na Wari will host its third annual Walk the Block, the biggest Black arts festival in the Northwest featuring local, national and international Black and Indigenous artists. The celebration will feature music, art, dancing, community and food in the Central District.
I strongly recommend this to all my readers, I regularly visit their exhibitions and review them, their art is superb!
Walk the Block is Wa Na Wari’s annual outdoor visual and performing arts festival that transforms Central District homes, businesses, parks, porches, and other common spaces into art installations and performance sites. Participants will enjoy visual 2d and sculptural art, video installations, live music, dance parties, community stories, and more as they stroll the neighborhood with family and friends. Walk the Block is a chance to experience a slice of African American culture that defined the Central District as the hub for Black life in Washington State for over 70 years. Walk the Block brings visibility to a community that continues to adapt and grow in place, while creating a bridge to new residents who have recently arrived.
Walk the Block is also an important player in the revitalization of Seattle’s cultural community and economy at large. Development led to the displacement of working class people across the city, artists in particular. For a city whose international renown is partly anchored in the contributions of its artists, this continues to be a local challenge. Re-seeding the cultural landscape with opportunities for artists to live, work, and present is increasingly a public policy priority. Walk the Block is a draw for art lovers at large, and for public officials looking to support this vital sector and keep Seattle accessible and diverse all while helping to raise funds and build community with Wa Na Wari.
Participating artists at the 2023 Walk The Block include:
Ephraim Asili (filmmaker), Rashida Bumbray (performance), Ayana Evans (performance), Kevin Jerome Everson (filmmaker), Ka’ila Farrell Smith Klamath Medoc (painting), Ryan Feddersen (performance/sculpture) Femme Noire (a collaboration between Black Puffin, Seattle Art Museum and Wa Na Wari with artists: Sheila Pree Bright, Jordan Casteel, M. Florine Démosthène, Eva Diallo, Adji Dieye, Marita Dingus, Esiri Erheriene-Essi Angèle Etoundi Essamba, Aramis O. Hamer, Bonnie Hopper, C. Davida Ingram, Rugiyatou Jallow, Lisa Jarret, Rachel Marsil, Thandiwe Muriu, Chidinma Nnoli, Chelsea Odufu, zakkiyyah najeebah dumas – o’neal, Ebony G. Patterson, Zandile Tshabalala, Kiki Turner), Erin Genia (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Dakota; sculpture), Christopher Harris (filmmaker), Aisha Harrison (sculpture), Charlene Komunale (artist), Kent Monkman (Fisher River Cree Nation in Treaty 5 Territory/Manitoba; multi-media artist), Melanie Stevens (multi-media artist), Yirim Seck and Architects without Borders (multi-media artwork), Ric’kisha Taylor (multi-media artist), Thaddeus Turner (music), The Last of the Red Hot Mamas (music), Ya Tseen Tlingit and Unangax̂ (music). 
Curated Stages: Arte Noire, Fat’s Chicken & Waffles, and more.
Featuring food by: Chef Lakea Osias (Lakea Cooks), Chef Andrew Hype (Jamaican Food), Chef Jeremy Thunderbird (Native Soul Cuisine)
Sponsors:
4Culture, BECU, Central Area Collaborative, Chihuly Garden & Glass, Converge Media, Gates Foundation, Inatai Foundation, Lululemon, Nesholm Foundation, One Reel, PCC Markets, Salal Credit Union, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Space Needle, ScandiuzziKrebs, Social Justice Fund, Sup Pop, Team Diva Real Estate, Tito’s Vodka, Uplift Investment Group and Visit Seattle.
With Funding provided by the Seattle Office of Economic Development
ABOUT WA NA WARI:
Sited in a fifth-generation, Black-owned home, Wa Na Wari is an immersive community art project that reclaims Black cultural space and makes a statement about the importance of Black land ownership in gentrified communities. Our mission is to create space for Black ownership, possibility, and belonging through art, historic preservation, and connection. Referred to as a “container for Black joy,” Wa Na Wari incubates and amplifies Black art and belonging while providing a safe space for organizing and movement building. By renting a house from a vulnerable Black homeowner, and giving that space back to the Black community, Wa Na Wari is an active model for how Black art and culture can combat gentrification and displacement.
Walk the Block Art Festivalat Wa Na Wari, 911 24th Ave,* Seattle, WA 98122.Saturday, September 30, 2023 from 2-6PM info: www.wanawari.org/wtbhone: (206) 485-7563
Website: wanawari.org
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/wanawariseattle
On Instagram: @wanawariseattle
* Festival takes place at the Wa Na Wari house and around the Central District