Kelly O is a Seattle-based photographer, storyteller, and former Stranger staff member. She has a knack for capturing exuberance on the street, in bars, art shows, and much more. She has covered events like the Womxn’s March, the #NODAPL protests, and much more.

“My photographs have appeared online in The New York Times, Huffington Post, ABC News, XLR8R, and VICE. In print, I’ve been published in SPIN, Interview, UNCUT, Mojo, BUST, Seattle’s City Arts Magazine and The Stranger. Previously showing work in Seattle art galleries Vermillion, Vignettes, Ghost Gallery, the Hard L, and Greg Kucera Gallery—most recently, three of my photographs (of musician Tendai Maraire) were featured in a show at the Seattle Art Museum. I've lived in Seattle, Washington since 1998, relocating from Detroit, Michigan—a city which still holds a little piece of my heart”.

Connect with Kelly O!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kellyoseattle

Website: http://www.kelly--o.com/

Hair Flip Comix Newspaper is an independently run Seattle-based art and comix quarterly.

Hair Flip was a creation by Ryan Tiszai and Simon Lazarus Vasta, two bartenders at Captain Blacks who wanted to relaunch a quarterly comic project “Intruders” that was started by Marc Palm. They changed the name to Thick as Thieves vowed to be more inclusive in their selections (Intruder was considered a boy's club), and put out seven more issues. When Vasta departed from the project, comic artists Regn Siisel and ASya Yaschenko joined Tiszai to help rebrand the project, organize events, and run back-end operations for the newspaper. The name Thick as Thieves was thus changed to Hair Flip. The new crew is planning to throw bigger launch parties, broaden the community of participating artists, and develop more of a web presence.

Read more about Hair Flip here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hairflipcomix/

Britt Brutality is a performance artist and drag queen in Seattle.

View more of Britt’s work here:

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/avidandgoliath/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brittany.greenwell

What began in 2012 as just a few posters, a table in a basement, and no clients, has since transformed into the integrated marketing agency that Polite Society is today. Our founder, Chuck Zimmerman, called up local organizations and asked them to take a chance on us. With the help of the community and a little bit of wild optimism - Polite Society transformed into a creative and innovative shop. 

“Even though it’s changed massively since the beginning, we are committed to being true to our roots - it is because of the support of local organizations and our neighbors that we could grow to where we are today, and we believe in supporting others in return. We work with everyone - from small bands & emerging artists, to national corporations. There’s no job too small or idea too big.”

Read more about Northwest Polite Society here:

https://www.nwpolitesociety.com/

Dustin Curtis is a Seattle-based puppeteer who has an interest in exploring the hidden stories found in every object. He is also the founder of Trivia Puppet Company in Seattle. Dustin received the UNIMA-USA 2017 Education grant to study shadow puppetry with Teatro Gioco Vita in Piacenza, Italy. He serves on the Board of Directors for Puppeteers of America as treasurer and also is President of his home puppet guild, The Puppeteers of Puget Sound.

Trivia Puppet Company, based in Seattle, Washington, was created in 2015 to serve as a foundation point to explore and produce various forms of puppetry with a global approach and focus on the Shadow Theatre. They believe puppetry is for everyone and strive to provide access to under-served populations. Dustin is now interested in expanding his practice into the UK and Europe.

Connect with Trivia Puppet Company:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/triviapuppet/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/triviapuppet

Website: http://www.triviapuppet.com/

Design in Public is a platform for bold design conversations. We believe that design is for everyone and that inclusive co-design practices are essential to shaping an equitable Seattle. We are multidisciplinary, socially engaged and civic minded.

Design in Public was founded in 2011 as a strategic initiative of AIA Seattle to promote public dialogue and community engagement about the role and impact of design in urban life. Join them in some of their upcoming events such as their Seattle in Design opening party on August 16th or Balance in Design: Community Storytelling on August 20th.

WHAT THEY DO:

Design in Public collaborate with diverse communities, architects, designers, civic and business leaders, nonprofits, artists and activists to generate solutions to complex social, cultural and ecological challenges that affect all of us.

+ They produce the Seattle Design Festival – our region’s largest multidisciplinary design events attracting 30,000+ attendees annually.

+ They curate compelling and relevant exhibitions at the Center for Architecture & Design.

+ They run global design competitions that generate innovative solutions to pressing social issues.

+ They inspire multidisciplinary design professionals to work alongside community groups and civic partners to apply the principles of design thinking to solve pressing social issues. 

Connect with Design in Public:

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/DiPSeattle/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DiPSeattle

Website: https://www.designinpublic.org/

Mercury Divine is a drag king and burlesque performer from Seattle, WA. Occasionally, Mercury likes to get onstage and act a fool.

The spawn of cosmic seahorses, Mercury was just too sparkly, nerdy, and strange to stick with his herd; he fell from the heavens and crash landed in Seattle, and ever since has taken to the stage to tell the stories of his people.

Mercury has nearly 20 years experience onstage – live theatre, orchestra, shadowcasting, belly dance, burlesque, drag, and improv comedy. Each act utilizes narrative themes, storytelling and fandom elements, and fashion influences to craft a tale unique to each performance! Expect the unexpected – because the unexpected is expecting YOU!

Connect with Mercury:

Instagram: @mercurydivine

Website: http://www.mercurydivine.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mercury.dances

Cookie Couture is a Seattle drag queen who best describes her style as ’I Love Lucy’ meets Pamela Anderson. Originally from Bellingham, Couture moved to Seattle to pursue performing in some kind of way one day. She got her start performing in a band with her husband, Jared Mills, but ultimately made a shift from music to drag.

In just 4 years, Seattle drag entertainer Cookie Couture has gone from drag ingenue to a leading force in the Seattle drag community, hosting & producing monthly drag shows Queen4Queen (Pony) & West End Girls (Skylark), as well as the resident DJ at Sped Up (Re-bar) and hostess of R Place’s RuPaul’s Drag Race viewing parties & their incredibly popular local drag competition show So You Think You Can Drag? When Cookie‘s not applying metric tons of make-up to her face, she enjoys spending time with her family, hanging out with her dog & laughing at her own jokes.

Connect with Cookie:

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/cookiecouturequeen/?hl=en

Max Clotfelter is a mini-comics artist in Seattle.

“Clotfelter’s always been wildly inventive, of course, creating comics that bridge the stylistic and thematic gap from old-school undergrounds to present-day “aht comics,”Not to mention everything else that Clotfelter’s work is known for : smart, disturbing, gruesome, frequently unsettling. Whether he’s doing autobio, stuff you hope to God is anything but, or stuff that you well know absolutely can’t be, there’s no mistaking the deliriously warped sensibilities, the absurdist humor, the willful disposal of all things “high-brow,” and the dogged tenacity for just drawing out of every single page that are our guy Max’s stock in trade. This is dynamic. Visceral. At its best, maybe even combustible.” - Four Color Apocalypse

You can find Clotfelter’s work in Seattle’s own Dune comic/ meet-up where cartoonists gather together and draw/write what comes to mind on the spot. You can also see Clotfelter’s work on his website, linked below:

http://maxclotfelter.blogspot.com/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/slop_manual/

Four Color Apocalypse article: https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2019/02/01/max-clotfelters-rat-tactics-rush-to-get-these-rush-jobs/

The Seattle Design Nerds are an all volunteer non-profit organization dedicated to design in the public realm. They focus on making exciting things for the public that can be experienced in unexpected locations & ways.

 The Seattle Design Nerds was established in 2014 as a chapter of the international Design Nerds Society and incorporated as a non-profit in 2015 in Washington State.  

“We're like minded designers who join forces to work on public interest projects which are funded via grant or donation.  No topic or medium is off-limits our only goal is to make Seattle a little more awesome. “

Joining the Seattle Design Nerds is free and easy. There are no dues, all we want is your passion for great design and a willingness to improve your city.  Add yourself to our membership list below and we'll let you know how you can help. Design sessions are open to all and are listed on our website if you'd ever like to dive in. 

Connect with Seattle Design Nerds:

Website: http://www.seattledesignnerds.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seattledesignnerds/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SeattleDesignNerds/

Mimi Jaffe is a Seattle artist. She likes making zines, drawing comics, and taking photos.

Mimi Jaffe is a Seattle based artist who has been making comics and zines since she discovered her dad’s stash of underground comix at a (much too) young age. She enjoys making zines that make people feel less alone.

View more of Mimi’s work here:

Website: https://www.mimijaffe.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.jaffe/

Jon Garaizar is a bay area artist living in Capitol Hill. After studying Printmaking at AAU in SF, showing and printing in the east bay and internationally, he now makes scary pictures and books in Seattle.

Jon Garaizar is known for his stark and frightening esoteric art in comic, tarot, and print forms. He has an upcoming art show in Ballard in October.

View more of Jon’s work here:

Website: jongaraizar.com 

Instagram: enchantingstranger

Butylene O’Kipple is a Seattle-based drag queen, artist, producer, and host.

Butylene O'Kipple is a fun-loving performer based in Seattle, WA. Butylene has a background in painting, sculpture, and video. She is also part of a Dungeons and Drag Queens podcast called Queens of Adventure.

Follow Butylene on Instagram: @butyleneokipple

Website: https://queensofadventure.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ButyleneOKipple

Arson Nicki is Seattle's preeminent aggressively transgressive drag artist. They produce, host, and perform at Rapture at the Timbre Room every second Saturday, as well as at Fresh at 18th & Union: An Arts Space every quarter. Their work focuses on pushing drag's creative boundaries, presenting queer performance in unconventional contexts and spaces, and expanding underserved populations' access to drag.

“Arson’s performance art is provocative and political with a hint of sensuality,” says Aleksa Manila, a drag star who identifies as “trans*gender-fluid FilipinX” and works as an addiction counselor at Seattle Counseling Service by day. “It fits perfectly here, as it blends with Seattle’s rebellious character and at the same time disrupts the status quo of stereotypical drag. Arson creates chaos whilst creating art.”

“Arson has a reputation for gathering community, working in unconventional venues and channeling the spirit of performance artists, designers and club-kid style. Since donning the face and personhood of Arson Nicki three years ago, their community-driven projects, performances and events have taken off: FRESH, at 18th and Union, is an ongoing, noncompetitive showcase that serves as a launchpad for new drag artists. Rapture, a monthly avant-garde drag show mashed up with dark techno dance night held at the Timbre Room, leans into the artistic and outrageous side of drag, a place to see and be seen. The events, buried in the subterranean grotto, ooze with looks that defy the formalities of drag proper, somewhere between hallucinatory and alien.” - City Arts Magazine

Follow Arson Nicki on Instagram: @arsonnicki

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arsonnickidrag

City Arts Article about Arson: https://www.cityartsmagazine.com/being-arson-nicki/

Totally Legit is a creative collaboration group with the mission to have fun innovating with art and technology projects, and share our work through creative exhibitions and events.

“We are an interdisciplinary group of artists, technologists, designers, makers, engineers, and builders who share a passion for art, technology, and culture. We have created everything from interactive sound and lighting experiences to giant murals, often incorporating futuristic themes.  We seek to challenge traditional artistic boundaries by treating everything as a creative medium — including lasers, LEDs, painting, Arduinos, culture hacking, totally controlled lighting, pinball machines, events, community organizing, and so forth.

To foster collaboration among our crew, we converted our home (the GHOOB) into a live/work art space, including the Kilin Club for kiln work, and have developed an artists’ retreat in Skykomish called the Skywalker Cabin.”

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TotallyLegitLLC/

Website: http://totallylegitllc.com

Urban ArtWorks is a Seattle-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides opportunities for contemporary artists and local youth to work together to create public works of art. Our goal is to empower young people through professional opportunities in the arts.

“Since 1995, we collaborated with more than 2,000 youth to bring art to public and private spaces throughout Seattle neighborhoods. Our pre-employment training and subsidized employment programs foster a renewed sense of self-esteem, self-motivation and self-sufficiency in the young persons we work with.

As we expand our reach throughout the city, we look forward to continuing to help nurture strong communities by bringing contemporary public art to the streets of Seattle and beyond.”

Read more about Urban Artworks here:

https://urbanartworks.org/

Handa is a Seattle illustrator. Handa (or H&A) finds an escape from the relentless current of life through illustration, crafting, and cycling.

Her work has appeared in local collections such as Intruder, Extruder, Thick as Thieves, Short Run's Relay Anthology, and the Seattle Weekly. In 2017, her paintings were featured in FAAIM's annual exhibition in Chicago, IL. She is currently studying 3D modeling and animation in Seattle, WA.

“I don't feel anyone has to know me to understand my work, however. A lot of it is light-hearted, silly, and aimless. I try to get away from myself as a subject in a lot of drawings. Entering the world of comics as an illustrator meant that I had to start writing. It certainly isn't my strong suit and I usually convey simple, straight-forward ideas. Since there isn't a lot to interpret, I primarily focus on the fluidity of paneling and pacing. So if a reader does not understand the visual sequencing, I do feel I've missed the mark. In regards to non-sequential illustration, I hardly have deep intentions to defend. It can be refreshing and insightful to have someone else explain their perspective of my work to me. As an opinionated person, I need to be open to other perspectives.Like many people, I feel the constant urge to make things. Art is my mind's exhaust which means it isn't necessarily a choice, but I do find it therapeutic, and it makes me happy.”

Connect with Handa:

Website:https://www.whoishanda.com

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/hellahanda/

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/hellahanda

Solana Solstice is a 26 year old trans-woman. Coming from a Korean American army upbringing. Solana is all about body positivity and confidence at any size and shows that through her combination of dancing and emotion on stage. You can catch Solana strutting all around Capitol Hill in Seattle as a free range queen whose goal is to be everywhere!

Follow Solana on Instagram: @ solanababy

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/solanababyxo

Sarah Lovett constructs beautiful, intriguing objects as poetic interpretation, life forms, dreams, visions, memories and fairy tales.

“A rich knowledge of materials and hand-construction techniques, sourced from sewing, knot work, puppetry, ceramics, woodworking... anything that works for a particular object. I love to engineer lightweight and collapsible forms for events and festivals that are fun to use. The foundation of my works aims to integrate structure, beauty, nature and connection.

While I enjoy conceiving and constructing 3D formats; my artistic passions are grounded through graphic design, illustration and painting, which allow me freedom to play with color, light and innovative ways to depict movement and energy.It has been said I am “gifted at capturing the Essence of “things” in lighthearted, accessible forms”, and I certainly hope this is true.”

See more of Sarah Lovett’s work here:

https://www.lovettarts.com/