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National Nordic Museum, 2655 NW Market St 98107, ph: 206.789.5707 Hours: Tues-Sun 10am-5pm; Admission: varies by age, see website; FREE on first Thursdays Finally, museums are offering us exhibitions that directly address climate change. “Arctic Highways” at the National Nordic Museum, until November 26, features twelve Indigenous artists from the circumpolar North (Sápmi, Canada, and Alaska) who address “the silent and the silenced knowledge” of their Sámi culture. The Museum of History and Industry ( MOHAI), until March 3, 2024 , features an interactive exhibition “Roots of Wisdom: Native Knowledge, Shared Science” developed by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Entirely interactive, it reaches out specifically to ages 12 – 14, but anyone can enjoy it. “Arctic Highways” emphasizes common themes and shared concerns among Nordic cultures, beyond the artificial borders of nations. It began as an artist residency in Granö, Sweden and has now grown into a traveling exhibition and a book. The artists boldly experiment with a wide range of media, from traditional crafts to video art. The idea of “arctic highways” creates connections between cultures: “Highways that are cultural and spiritual, real and thriving – but as invisible as the system of national borders that have imposed their rigidness and weight upon us, pitilessly trying to nullify the free flow of ideas and identity connecting our souls.” (museum label) Several of the artists are from traditional reindeer herding families. They are acutely aware of the changes caused by warming weather, as well as alternative sources of energy filling open space. Wind turbines severely disrupt the grazing land of reindeer and melting snow alters migration and herding rhythms. Maureen Gruber’s striking photograph of three polar bear skins hanging on an abandoned survey tripod, looks like polar bears are climbing the tripods, then it becomes frighteningly clear that they are only skins. Perhaps the most dramatic photograph in the exhibition is Meryl McMaster’s What Will I Say to the Sky and the Earth II , 2019 (in the series “As Immense as the Sky”): the artist stands against an Arctic landscape, wearing a protective coat with insects embedded. She states “Among the coastal ice flows of Lake Erie, I am covered by various insect species—members of a poorly understood and very important class of lifeforms. There are millions of insect species that are unknown to us but play an important role in maintaining ecological equilibrium. To me they represent the fragile, harmonious balance that we are a part of and that we must take care to protect. Their silence is a warning that we are falling into a disharmonious condition.” Works by Sonya Kelliher-Combs and Tomas Colbengston address the subject of Church boarding schools in Alaska and Sweden that stripped children of their Indigenous Sámi culture. Kelliher-Combs’s Credible, Small Secrets , consists of 35 finger sized sculptures referencing abuse with human hair, nylon thread, glass beads, and steel pins. Each one refers to a village with credible reports of abuse. Colbengston’s painting is based on a photograph of a boarding school with the children lined up in front. These artists of the polar North witness change every day, as ice melts, temperatures rise, and animals and humans must change centuries old habits. The show is poignant, but also triumphant because the artists are both witnessing and resisting change. MOHAI, 860 Terry Ave N 98109, ph: 206.324.1126 Hours: Tues-Sun 10am–5pm; Admission varies by age see website; FREE First Thursdays 5-8pm Down on Lake Union at MOHAI “Roots of Wisdom: Native Knowledge, Shared Science” features interactive displays, created in consultation with contemporary tribal members. Each display highlights a different theme and tribe: “Reestablishing a Native Plant” (Eastern Band of Cherokees), “Restoring Fishponds,” (Hawaii), “Rediscovering Traditional Foods,” (Tulalip) and “Saving Streams and Wildlife” (Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation). We can learn how to build a fishpond in Hawaii and or help preserve an ancient fish. The Lamprey, less glamorous than salmon, also suffer from the dams on the Columbia River. We can restore a river or learn why cane is better than grass near a river. We can weave a basket as we listen to traditional elders speak about caring for the land. The MOHAI exhibit makes each pairing of contemporary science and indigenous knowledge easy to remember. Most striking perhaps was the section on “biopiracy” in which the question of patenting seeds is raised, a big issue in today’s world. “Native Origins” suggests all the everyday products we use, like popcorn, that originally were created by Indigenous peoples. We are fortunate to have both of these shows featuring Indigenous creative ideas that suggest a few ways to survive on the planet. Another interesting exhibit: M Rosetta Hunter Gallery at Seattle Community College, 1701 Broadway (inside the building) Hours: Mon-Thur 10am-3pm This Fall at the M. Rosetta Hunter Gallery at Seattle Central College, the exhibition “Lush Computation” explores digital and algorithmic aesthetics. September 26–November 16, 2023. Curated by the exciting artist and director of the gallery, Meghan Trainor, “Lush Computation” explores the idea of resisting AI as these artists manipulate digital aesthetics, rather than using AI generated ideas. ~Susan Platt, PhD www.artandpoliticsnow.com

Celebrating public space, Libby L. Gerber invites viewers to look for views of Mount Rainier in mundane public spaces, using her hand-drawn map as a guide. Leschi artist, Libby L. Gerber, created a public art project mapping the views of Mount Rainier in the Leschi Elementary School attendance area (which includes Leschi and parts of the Central District neighborhoods) in public spaces. The public spaces represented include grand views like the breathtaking end-of-street overlook at 35th Ave. & E. Conover Ct. However, Gerber is most interested in ordinary, often overlooked places where Mount Rainier pops up. Some of the more mundane places marked on the map include the busy intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and Dearborn, the city parking lot adjoining Leschi park and the intersection adjacent to the Central Area Senior Center. Gerber has made the map available to the public to download from her website and use as a “treasure map” to find the views in the area. She invites viewers to capture the views on camera or in drawings and submit those drawings to be included. The project isn’t limited only to the neighborhoods represented in on the map. The map is just a starting place and an invitation to encourage the public to rediscover their neighborhoods. She made the map by walking and biking all the streets in the area on the clear days when “The Mountain” was out. Once she had collected all the data of where the views were located, she created a bright-colored mixed-media map that includes the contour lines of the area and is marked with a small icons of each public place from which you can view Mount Rainier. Libby L. Gerber is a Seattle-based artist who explores the intersections between urban life, the environment, and society. She exhibits her work in both traditional and unconventional public spaces as well as in formal galleries. She has shown work at the Center on Contemporary Art, Chaffey College, LAUNCH, The Audubon Center at Debs Park, The Milagro Allegro Community Garden, Gallery 825, Santa Ana College, The City of Brea Municipal Gallery, and the Angel’s Gate Cultural Center to name a few. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Public Art and Sculpture from California State University, Northridge and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Visual Arts from Occidental College. Contact: Libby L. Gerber, 206-245-8606, libby@libbygerber.com, www.libbygerber.com , Instagram: @libgerber @PublicViewsofMtRainier

Happy Holidays Everyone! We regret that we cannot invite you to our usual Holiday party with drinks and snacks, but the virus surge has continued restrictions on gathering. Instead, we are pleased to take you on a virtual tour of two important exhibits in Seattle—while we can’t go there personally, join our art critic, Susan Platt as she takes us on this journey: Barbara Earl Thomas and Marita Dingus, and Narratives and Guardians December 9, 2020, 7pm Zoom Meeting ID: 859 6839 7379, PW: 174163

We greatly appreciate the past partnership, support and tremendous generosity from our school community (Leschi Elementary families, extended family, friends and co-workers) as well as our local supporters (the Leschi Community Council, Leschi Market, BluWater Bistro, Rainier Food Bank, Northwest Harvest, Food for Schools; Mt. Zion Baptist, First AME and Mercer Island Presbyterian Churches). We welcome and thank you in advance for your support again this year! The Giving Garland is a charitable event which, in the last 10 years, has supported over 1,300 children and their families during the winter holidays. It is made possible by the Leschi school and neighborhood communities and is sponsored by the Leschi PTA. This year we anticipate twice as many of families requesting support this year; at this time 93 families with 273 children will benefit from the generosity shown through the Giving Garland. The support we provide families through the “virtual” Giving Garland is even more critical than ever…due to COVID 19, students and families are in greater need of help. How You Can Help! Donate Gift Cards for the most frequently requested stores: Safeway, Grocery Outlet, Costco, Target, Ross Dress for Less, Old Navy “Cash” donations for gifts and gift cards to be purchased: Checks made out to “Leschi PTA” (in the memo add “Giving Garland”) Make donation via PayPal (go to the school website listed below) Go to the Leschi School website to see WISH LISTS for individual gift items at: Snapdoodletoys.com (a local toy store!) Amazon.com Checks and grocery cards can be sent to 202 29th Ave Seattle WA 98122 or dropped at the school office weekdays from 8am to 2pm. In 2019 the Giving Garland supported 55 families with 180 children. The event is geared towards the children in the families. In pre-Covid years we hung tags on the garland which represented a gift, this year we will still be giving gifts to families…some items are fun: toys, bikes, art supplies, board games, balls, books and some are basics: clothing, bedding, warm coats or diapers. And every family receives gift cards to easily accessible grocery stores. There are currently 370 students enrolled at Leschi Elementary, all of whom are attending school via “remote learning”; approximately 50% of the student body qualify for free and reduced lunch and 19% qualify as homeless under the McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Our number of homeless children enrolled at Leschi has increased significantly in recent years. Presently there are 70 children attending Leschi who meet the criteria of “homeless”, making the homeless student population at Leschi Elementary one of the highest in the Seattle Public Schools. Leschi PTA is an 501(c)(3) Organization, Tax ID #91-1391625. For more information, contact Katie Busby (katiebusby@gmail.com), Jennifer Marquardt (206.423.2781 / jrmarquardt1@gmail.com) or check the Leschi School website: https://leschies.seattleschools.org/school_involvement/fundraising/giving_garland

If you looked east across Lake Washington on one of our few sunny days this past month, you’ve probably seen the gorgeous, snow-tipped peaks of the Cascades glistening in the weak November sun. The last two Novembers saw very little mountain snowfall, so it is so refreshing to see a thick blanket of white covering the mountains before Turkey Day. As of 11/20, Crystal Mountain was planning to be open by Thanksgiving, and Stevens Pass is aiming for December 2. Although Snoqualmie Pass hadn’t announced an opening date as of 11/20, there is already more than enough snow there to open up for limited operations. I am optimistic that this snow will continue to pile up for the rest of 2020 and well into 2021, and I am hopeful ski resorts will be able to stay open, operate in a safe way, and provide some much-needed outdoor recreation during these next few months. We saw a classic La Niña pattern for much of November, with a steady parade of moderate/strong storms arriving from the WNW and giving us gusty winds, moderate/heavy rain, and gobs of mountain snow. A “weak” La Niña was already present in August in September, but it quickly strengthened to a “moderate” La Niña through October and November. As we head into December, it is looking increasingly likely that the current La Niña strengthen to a “strong” La Niña that slowly weakens in spring 2021. During the first half of the “storm season” from October through December, La Niñas have historically given the Pacific NW above-average precipitation with near-average temperatures. But during the latter half of the storm season from January-March, La Niñas tend to be wetter & cooler than average, both allowing snow to build up over the Cascades late into the season and making it slower to melt during the spring. Particularly strong La Niñas, like the La Niña of 2007-2008 or La Niña from 2010-2011, can cause cooler and wetter-than-average weather to persist into May. I still remember skiing in the Alpental backcountry on Memorial Day 2008 with my mother, the last day there of the epic-2007-2008 ski season. Will It Snow at My House this Winter? La Niña years are consistently snowier-than average in the mountains, but the story in the lowlands is a bit more complex. La Niña winters tend to have more snow days than Neutral Years, but Neutral or weak El Nino years seem to have the biggest snowstorms. I can’t guarantee that we’ll see any flakes in the lowlands this year, but I think there’s a higher-than-usual chance for at least a few snowflakes to fall over Leschi this winter even if we don’t see any major snowstorms. ~Charlie Phillips Charlie Phillips is a Madrona resident who received his B.S. in atmospheric sciences from the University of Washington. He works in Portland as a meteorologist. Check out his weather website at Charlie.weathertogether.net .

For countless individuals, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests produced some great presents for the year. The number and diversity of participants in the protests, the length and span of the protests caught many persons off guard. Millions of persons are pleasantly surprised and more hopeful because of the changes the protests wrought. Where you stand determines what you see and how you see it. For some of us, results are definitely small, medium, and large; some are promises fulfilled; others are promises we expect to be fulfilled. Certainly, all of us won’t draw the same conclusions; you may see more or fewer, possibly no substantive gains. I refer to the changes cited here as positives, regardless of size. Some of the changes are symbolic; others are drastic. Some took effect immediately; others are soon to be realized (we hope.) In July I received a list of some of these changes and immediately began making additions. With the many negatives we have dealt with this year—being told that 1000s are suffering and 1000s more will suffer long-term effects of COVID and many more will die—I thought this would be a good time to present some of the positives from the protests. Numerous cities approved—and are approving—measures to change police departments: Oakland, Columbus (civilian review board inspectors general), San Diego (commission with subpoena power), Philadelphia, New York, and other cities (end stop-&-frisk and/or set up oversight commissions). Minneapolis failed to dismantle its police department but succeeded in cutting the budget. Some police departments have been reimagined; some had their budgets reduced. Albuquerque, New Mexico, for instance, has a public safety department to handle problems some citizens believe the police should never have been expected to solve. A number of cities have banned the chokehold. Charges were upgraded against Officer Derek Chauvin, and his accomplices were arrested and charged with the murder of George Floyd. A number of cases in which police officers killed unarmed people of color are being brought to the public’s attention and sometimes reopened. Dallas adopted a “duty to intervene” rule that requires officers to stop other officers who are engaging in inappropriate use of force. New Jersey’s attorney general said the state will update its use-of-force guidelines for the first time in two decades. North Carolina’s Supreme Court will allow more than 100 persons on death row to appeal their cases. Georgia passed a hate crime bill. In Maryland, a bipartisan work group of state lawmakers announced a police reform work group. Los Angeles City Council introduced a motion to reduce LAPD’s $1.8 billion operating budget. Police brutality captured on cameras led to near-immediate suspensions and firings of officers in several cities (i.e., Buffalo, Ft. Lauderdale). Millions of dollars have been donated by persons and companies to fund fights against racial injustice--Nike, Adidas, Estée Lauder, Sephora, PayPal, Apple, YouTube, (the last three a total of $730 million), Seahawks $500,000.00. Netflix donated $120,000,000 to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, contributed $20,000,000 to HBCUs. More than fifty Washington State companies have committed $2,000,000 to Washington Employers for Racial Equity. Professional sports athletes/teams use their celebrity and money to support the cause of BLM: T-shirts, cleats. Many donated and/or pledged large sums of money, made statements calling for the end of racism, shared incidents they had endured. Some, a la Colin Kaepernick, took a knee. Some apologized to Colin Kaepernick, now say they understand what he was protesting. (still no job) Some companies allow employees to wear BLM on T-shirts and caps. Millions heard of Juneteenth for the first time. Thousands, maybe millions, marched to celebrate Juneteenth. Some states have made Juneteenth a holiday. Nike and other US companies made Juneteenth an official paid holiday. Merriam-Webster revised its definition of “racism” by including “can be systemic.” Asheville, North Carolina’s City Council voted unanimously for reparations. “Reparations,” “systemic racism” and “privilege” have become the subject of conversations. More persons have become aware that racism kills psychically, too. Both the Chicago Manual of Style and AP Style Guide sanction capitalizing “Black,” “Indigenous,” and other terms of identity. (BIPOC = Black, Indigenous, People of Color) The Mississippi state flag no longer bears the stars and bars, no more Washington Redskins nor Cleveland Indians; some high schools no longer have Native Americans as mascots. The Oregon vs Oregon State football game is not a “civil war.” Hasbro has removed cards “Invoke Prejudice,” “Jihad,” and “Pradesh Gypsies” from the game Magic: The Gathering. GitHub software is removing coding terms that refer to slavery. Quaker Oats is retiring Aunt Jemima; a new name is forthcoming. Mars is retiring Uncle Ben. Confederate monuments in many places have been removed. “The Bachelor” is a black man for the first time. NASCAR banned Confederate flags. Hordes supported Bubba Wallace when a noose was found in his NASCAR garage (Fans have no access to the garage.) A few days later it was revealed that the noose could have been in the garage for years, yet the initial response was heartening. Some cities, notably New York, D. C., and Seattle, have “Black Lives Matter” streets and plazas. Commercials in newspapers, magazines, and on television present public service announcements geared toward eliminating racism. Many incidents of bias in academia, the arts, business, trades, etc. are being related to the public whereas once victims were afraid to speak for fear of retaliation. Both the Chicago Manual of Style and AP Style Guide sanction capitalizing “Black,” “Indigenous,” and other terms of identity, BIPOC = Black, Indigenous, People of Color. Best-seller lists are led by books about race, many written by African Americans; sales are up 500% because of anti-racist books. Almost all of the top ten nonfiction books on the New York Times list are about race and racism. The PUBLIC MARKET bolded the “B,” “L” and “M” in it’s name. Many, many apologies have been made. As stated earlier, everyone may not see these changes or see them as positive. That millions around the world joined in the protests, confronted racism, and called for inclusion, diversity and equity is a wonderful gift for anyone who celebrates any holiday of the season. Some changes give hope, renew hope. What better way to make peace on earth and good will to all people everywhere a reality than respecting and supporting the tenets of the mission of Black Lives Matter, especially if we believe all lives matter? ~Georgia McDade, Ph.D. Georgia S. McDade, a charter member of the African American Writers’ Alliance, began reading her stories in public in 1991 and credits the group with making her write poetry. Many poems are inspired by artists. Georgia writes for South Seattle Emerald and Leschinews. She also does interviews for KVRU (105.7) and KBCS (107.3). Outside the Cave is the name of four volumes of poetry; Observation and Revelations: Stories, Sketches, and Essays is the name of her volume of prose.

Ray Troll has been drawing fossils since he was four years old, based on a plastic dinosaur set his parents gave him. We know that most children go through a “dinosaur phase,” but Ray never came out of it! He says, “My mantra in this whole thing — in fact, we’ve even written songs about it — is that paleo-nerds should be proud of the fact that they are grown men who still love dinosaurs.” So, by the way, he is also a musician. During COVID 19, Troll started a podcast with David Strassman, a professional ventriloquist and fellow fossil nerd. called Paleo Nerds https://www.paleonerds.com/ This podcast is fascinating and funny, scientific, and speculative, full of curiosity- how did whales go from land animals to the sea, how did that first microorganism of life lead to all the rest. They interview a lot of scientists! I recommend listening while we wait for the exhibition to open. Troll’s detailed paintings and drawings are both scientific and fanciful, they have been called scientific surrealism. They have titles like Down at the Sockeye Hole One Million Years Ago and Cult of the Crab Concretions. He has worked for years with paleontologist Kirk Johnson, now director of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. They drove thousands of miles searching for fossils along the coast of North America. They previously documented the adjacent fourteen states in Cruisin’ the Fossil Freeway. The exhibition includes many of Ray’s detailed paintings, as well as life- size models of dinosaurs, and a light and audio installation. There are mammoth teeth found near Seattle. and a cast of the lower jaw of the Blue Lake Rhino, an Ice Age rhino found in Coulee City Washington. Fossils of flowers, plants, and whales come from the Burke’s own collection and finally we will see “Suciasaurus rex”—Washington’s first and only dinosaur fossil. Troll never seems to take himself too seriously, his podcast is full of playful asides, but he in partnership with Kirk Johnson, he achieves something impressive: interesting everyone in science and art at the same At the end of the PaleoNerd podcast no. 2 with Kirk Johnson, he is asked why people don’t believe in facts and science. His answer it is partly just science’s failure to communicate in a way people can understand, but also tribalism, people belonging to a group that believe in alternative views and that is much harder to penetrate. He made a movie called Polar Extremes to move the conversation forward. Surprisingly, he himself has his roots in a fundamentalist religion, Seventh Day Adventism! How could he become a world-famous paleontologist, Ray asked him? The answer was fascinating: his church didn’t believe in evolution, but they talked about it all the time! So as a child the word and concept became more familiar to him than his friends, none of whom had any contact with the idea since it wasn’t taught in schools. Paleo Nerds, the podcast talks a lot about geologic time, infinite amounts of time, they stretch our brains and make us realize what an incredibly short time we humans have been here. Once you start thinking in geologic time, your day-to-day life changes to a tiny, irrelevant blip. I find that idea particularly helpful right now. I think we are all living in a moment of existential change on the planet, so looking at geologic time can remind us that everything changes all the time. Roger Shimomura “100 Little White Lies” Greg Kucera Gallery OPEN Tuesday to Saturday 10-30- 5:30 212 Third Avenue South January 7-31 Finally, I just learned that the unequalled Pop/Modernist Roger Shimomura opens a new show in early January. He is even discounting work that includes the ex-President! ~Susan Platt, Ph.D. www.artandpoliticsnow.com

“Lust for power and territory is the same lust that kills man, women, children and the land itself.” ~Selma Waldman 2002 What would Seattle’s deeply political artist Selma Waldman think of our current catastrophes? On a bitter winter day in January 2008, I accompanied Selma Waldman to the last demonstration that she attended before her death in April. “Shut Down Guantanamo” began with a demonstration of waterboarding. A young man, tied face down on a board, had a wet towel over his face and water poured over his head into a bucket. Even in the simulation, the volunteer felt as though he was about to drown. During the speeches that followed by politicians and political activists, we held up enlarged images of one of Selma’s explicit drawings of waterboarding from her long series Black Book of Aggressors. They scrupulously depict in her expressionist drawing technique, several means of waterboarding, with detailed text taken from newspapers. Selma urgently said in my ear, “But it shouldn’t be only Guantanamo, what about the black sites, the other places of torture.” She always understood that one place is connected to so many other places; one manifestation of torture connects to the will to power everywhere, the will to oppress, the desire to destroy the human spirit. “A Conversation in Time and Space” presents thirteen of Selma Waldman’s monumental drawings at the Center on Contemporary Art partnered with nine brave COCA members responding to her forceful work and statements with their own art and commentaries (all of which can be seen and read on the COCA website https://cocaseattle.org/time-and-space until February 20). Waldman’s art embraces the classical tradition of Käthe Kollwitz in her expressionist line. The materials of chalk and charcoal were part of her politics as well, a metaphor for the fragility of life. How ironic that this timely exhibition cannot be visited in person. The current disasters we face, COVID-19, climate change, homelessness and hunger, intersect with the abuses Waldman addresses: torture, detentions, endless wars, starvation. Rainer Waldman Adkins carefully selected the works to touch on large themes in his mother’s work: the Holocaust series called Falling Man Suite from 1966, The Man and Bread series, featuring extreme desperation in famine, police brutality in The Thin Naked Line, drawn after the 1999 World Trade protests in Seattle and the aggressions of war, in nine images from the over 80 works in the “Black Book of Aggressors,” from the cycle called Naked/Aggression—Profile of the Armed Perpetrators first begun in the late 1990s in response to the genocide and war crimes in Bosnia and Chechnya. Waldman grew up in Kingsville, Texas, deep in South Texas, where everyone was employed by the mighty King Ranch as virtual slave labor. Although her own family was middle class, she learned about oppression as a way of life in her early years from Chicano friends. When Waldman was on a Fulbright Fellowship in Berlin, she was profoundly affected by the 1960 documentary Mein Kampf. She began a series of drawings of dehumanized and distorted figures based on images and accounts of the Warsaw ghetto. These are the first works on the Nazi holocaust by a Jewish American artist to be acquired by a German museum. Collectively titled Falling Man, the ninety drawings are near life-size representations that were dramatically hung from the ceiling and stairwell of the Jewish Museum in Berlin. It is represented with one huge drawing at COCA called “The Doll.” The helplessness of the naked figure, subtly rendered only in line, brings us directly to our current crisis as so many people lose their homes and live in the streets in desperation. The two “Man and Bread” drawings of the late 1960s come from a group of more than 300 works (of which 25 are in the Collection of the Memorial Terezin Ghetto Museum). Waldman based the imagery on Elie Wiesel’s descriptions in Night (Bantam Books, 1960) of the struggle for food to the death in concentration camps. On March 21, 1960, Selma Waldman saw the front-page photographs of the Sharpeville Massacre, in South Africa. She was so shocked that she decided to commit her art more deeply to a “struggle to end genocide and racism.” We can draw a direct line from South Africa to our current atrocities in the United States and elsewhere, by the military, the police and most recently armed militias. Police brutality in the large drawing Thin Naked Line, 1999–2002, based on press photographs (the point of departure for much of her work), gives us the faceless mass of the Seattle riot police who attacked the anti-World Trade Organization demonstrators in 1999. They are dehumanized warriors who advance toward us as a group. Finally, her last series Naked /Aggression: Wall of Perpetrators IV–V, The Black Book of Aggressors (I–IV) (2005–2006) bears witness to the degradation of human beings and the systematic abuse of power in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and elsewhere. Left unfinished at the time of the artist’s death in April 2008, the Black Book of Aggressors would have included two hundred drawings and eight walls. For the final wall, she planned to reconfigure Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son (1820–1823), The Colossus (1808–1812), and other black paintings, to address atrocities world-wide. As Selma Waldman wrote “the cycle ‘corrects’ the mythic profile of the invulnerable warrior-hero, born to fight and trained to win—and reveals it as a reckless existential lie and an obscene fraud without which battles could never be engaged—confirms it as the fool’s proof of manhood, the lifeblood for fascist, the main meat dished out to defense profiteers, and the first refuge for scoundrel fanatics.” What could be a timelier statement given what we have just witnessed in the US capital! Every detail of Selma Waldman’s life carried her strong spirit of resistance and her belief that creative voices could win over forces of oppression. In her small home in Rainier Valley (now lost) she filled every surface with art, poems, quotes, and books. Selma Waldman would answer the question with which I began by speaking of the intersections of past and present, all seated in an obsession with power manifested as racism, fanaticism, and inhumanity. But she always paired her witness to depravity and the abuse of power with a celebration of the human spirit in all of its glorious powers of creativity and resistance. ~Susan Platt, Ph.D. www.artandpoliticsnow.com

Please attend our March meeting and bring your ideas on how we can help the unfortunate folks who are camping out in our neighborhood parks. We have done some basic research into resources, but it will take all of us to put our heads together and try to solve some of the crises from pandemic to massive job loss which have resulted in increasing homelessness. Leschi March meeting March 3, 7pm https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85079640595?pwd=REJoVmlvRisvTnY3WFpIS3NqS0taQT09 Meeting ID: 850 7964 0595 Passcode: 041066 One tap mobile +12532158782,,85079640595#,,,,*041066# US (Tacoma) +16699006833,,85079640595#,,,,*041066# US (San Jose) Dial by your location +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose) Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbTgecRmhC

Leschi Community Council Meeting on Zoom April 7, 7pm Pacific Time (US and Canada) Friends of Street Ends (FOSE) is a city-wide all-volunteer group that was founded right here in Leschi. FOSE members will provide an overview of the group, its mission, its work in partnership with the City, as well as its successes and failures. Throughout its 25 years, FOSE has had a significant impact on Seattle. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86471275822?pwd=WENYU1crbDVYMHBGTXp2NE51NkZtdz09 Meeting ID: 864 7127 5822 Passcode: 429394 One tap mobile +12532158782,,86471275822#,,,,*429394# US (Tacoma) +16699006833,,86471275822#,,,,*429394# US (San Jose) Dial by your location +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose) +1 646 876 9923 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

Many of us developed different ways to break the tedium and anxiety of the Covid lockdown and surprised ourselves in the process. I tried baking sourdough bread but lacked the patience and creative experimentation the process demanded. And I explored drinking too much wine, taking endless long walks, practicing Italian via Duolingo, and even, for a short time, considered cleaning the basement. Never would I have imagined that the solace and energy I sought would be found by taking a daily plunge in Lake Washington. But what began as a traditional Thanksgiving dip was followed the next day by another and the next day, another. And then the game was on. By mid-March I had tallied more than 100 lake plunges and increased the time I could spend in the water from the few seconds it took to get my head wet to eight minutes. In addition to receiving a marvelous endorphin rush from the cold shock, to which I am now admittedly addicted, my visits to the lake provide an opportunity to revel in the beauty of the water in all its moods. The glassy silk on a calm winter afternoon reflecting purplish hues is an immeasurable reward after a few days of quick submerges when strong southerly winds kick up waves and the dreaded frigid water from the lake’s depths. I have gone in on full moons, and when it snowed, and in pelting rain squalls. Friends have joined the challenge and we compare notes on what hurts the most in the cold water: fingers or toes. We tell ourselves we are boosting our immune systems but, really, we are boosting our morale. We have learned we are not alone. There is quite a community of winter swimmers out there. We hear rumors of the yoga teacher who swims naked at dawn near Seward Park, and we have seen the long-distance swimmer whose stamina astounds us. We have also learned about Wim Hof and cold-water breathing techniques and watched “My Octopus Teacher.” And as if all that weren’t enough to distract from the pandemic, on February 14, my husband and I went down to the small rocky beach next to the T dock and were surprised to see a pair of dark eyes staring at us from the still water. A seal! A mere ten feet from the shore! Time and breath stopped together as the luminous eyes fixed us with a curious stare. My husband and I stood spellbound, transfixed, silent. Then, with a graceful dive, the creature was gone. I’ve seen beavers, nutria and muskrats in the lake, and once even a sea lion rolling over in the exact same spot on a hot summer afternoon when the lake was full of oblivious swimmers, but these sightings paled in comparison to this moment when meaningful chance took on a deeper relevance and we felt connected to the spiritual beauty of Nature. Uncertain and hesitant, not sure I wanted to break the spell, I finally did a quick dash in and out of the frigid water, then raced home to get warm and fire up the Internet. Sure enough, there have been other sightings of seals in the lake (and sea lions, too). Harbor seals, the most populous mammal in Puget Sound, will follow fish through the locks at Ballard and make their way to the lake. (I’m not sure if there is evidence of their returning the way they came.) Having answered my most important question, “Will they bite humans in the water?” (yes, they do have large teeth, but biting is highly unlikely as they are shy and solitary. They might also scratch with their flippers. Yes, an infection could follow contact...), I came across the story of Butch, a harbor seal who lived for 25 years in Lake Sammamish and whose idea of fun was pulling unsuspecting dogs under water when they were swimming after sticks. He was known for also playing with children, chasing cats, and nuzzling the odd swimmer. ( https://www.historylink.org/File/5542 ). Reading about Butch calmed my fears about swimming with seals (it’s one thing to see them, but another to share their space). I perused a few other seal facts and came away knowing that they eat up to ten pounds of fish per day (a fact that does not bode well for the fishers on the T dock), they are known as “pinnipeds,” and they can lower their heartbeat to less than one beat per minute when they dive. In the end, the most profound takeaway was the knowledge that to the Northwest coast tribes, seals represent wealth and plenty, the very intangible gifts the lake in Leschi has offered me this past winter: a wealth of experiences and plentiful moments of awe. If you see a seal or sea lion, report it to the state to help wildlife officials keep track of populations. https://wdfw.wa.gov/get-involved/report-observations and let us know at Leschi News! ~Anne Depue

Curious how the Dreamcatcher Sculpture came about? Join us for an informative meeting on the sculpture at the intersection of Yesler and 32nd Ave. Artist Lawney Reyes wanted to replace the old wooden Thunderbird with something that he felt more appropriately reflected memories of his brother Bernie Whitebear and his sister Luana Reyes. The neighborhood activist who helped bring this about, Joan Singler, will join us. May 5, 7pm Meeting ID: 883 6692 6560 Passcode: 921233 One tap mobile +12532158782,,88366926560#,,,,*921233# US (Tacoma) +14086380968,,88366926560#,,,,*921233# US (San Jose) Dial by your location +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 646 876 9923 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)