I am excited to announce that this first Thursday art walk will be full worth the trek downtown. Seattle artist [and RIVET Art Director!] Allie Manch will open her ”Saturn’s return” exhibit, featuring new embroidered works. Here’s the Skinny:

Thursday, April 3 at the Gallery4Culture from 6-8 PM.

“The Producers (Rick Rubin)”

Here is a glimpse of what you’ll see:

The title refers to the astrological phenomenon that occurs nearly every thirty years in a person’s life when said person undergoes a series of life altering changes and also a period of self reflection. Manch, nearing her thirtieth year, reflects upon her familial heritage through embroidered text and images on second-hand linens and handkerchiefs. Her family’s move from New York to Arizona, and then Manch’s subsequent move to Seattle, gave rise to a feeling of displacement and disconnection. Her study of photography influences the subject matter, be they cactus, hip-hop portraits or Jewish folk tales, as Manch examines icons and relics of her past and future”.     

allisonmanch.com                            

http://4culture.org/publicart/gallery/index.htm for directions

Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) was founded by Iraq war veterans to give a voice to the large number of active duty service people and veterans who are against this war, but are under various pressures to remain silent. IVAW’s strategy is to mobilize the military community to withdraw its support for the war and occupation in Iraq. Therefore, IVAW is leading the movement of veterans and GIs who are working to bring the troops home now.

Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan will feature testimony from U.S. veterans who served in those occupations, giving an accurate account of what is really happening day in and day out, on the ground.

The four-day event will bring together veterans from across the country to testify about their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan - and present video and photographic evidence. In addition, there will be panels of scholars, veterans, journalists, and other specialists to give context to the testimony. These panels will cover everything from the history of the GI resistance movement to the fight for veterans’ health benefits and support.

Tune in March 13-16: check here for details on where broadcasts are taking place. Check here to see where events in your city are being hosted.

Portlanders and Seattleites! If you are in any sort of design business and are a lady, too, join Design*Sponge for a Biz Lady Meet Up at your city’s Design Within Reach showroom next week.

Superblogger Grace Bonney will host the discussions of “small business concerns, marketing/PR, real life designer success stories and retailing/wholesaling” Tuesday, Feb. 26 from 7 to 9 p.m. in Portland and Thursday, Feb. 28 from 7 to 9 p.m. in Seattle. You can get all the details here.

(And even if you don’t attend the meetup, there’s always something pretty and new on the blog—so definitely visit.)

Get your black comedy on this Tuesday at 7 p.m. with Heathers, the first selection in the EMP and Science Fiction Museum’s new Exposed: Inside Film series. The screening will be followed by a conversation with writer Daniel Waters, the man who penned lines like “Bulimia’s so ‘87″ and who recently reunited with Winona Ryder for Sex and Death 101.

Heathers aficionados can toast Heather Chandler with a “Big Blue”—Captain Morgan’s Parrot Bay Coconut Rum, Blue Curacao and pineapple juice, muddled with lemon—at Revolution Bar & Grill’s pre-movie happy hour.

Future films in the monthly series include The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival and The Golden Compass.

Tomorrow marks a turning point in the evolution of our dear little city. Join the masses in South Lake Union to welcome the South Lake Union Streetcar [a.k.a. SLUT] on it’s maiden voyage. Note all the free stuff highlighted in bold print:

Festivities begin at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, December 12, with music, refreshments, and opening remarks by Mayor Nickels. The mayor will then lead the streetcar inaugural run and “break” the ribbon, followed by the official start of passenger service. Streetcar rides will continue to be free for the rest of December, conveniently connecting downtown, the Denny Triangle, and South Lake Union.

Starting from the Westlake Hub (Westlake Ave & Olive Way), passengers can pick up a fun South Lake Union Passport to explore the neighborhood and collect stamps from participating businesses. Riders can turn in their completed passports to win fantastic prizes at the South Lake Union Discovery Center.

During the entire weekend following grand opening day, passengers can also ride the streetcar down to the Lake Union Park station to experience a free ride on a classic sail or steamboat from the Center for Wooden Boats.

This weekend is the third annual Urban Craft Uprising, a huge shopping extravaganza at the Seattle Center that sure isn’t your mom’s craft fair.

But you would know all about that if you’d read the Indie Craft Fair Guide. It lists similar events all across the country, so citizens of every metropolis can buy handmade this holiday season and beyond. I’m waiting patiently for I Heart Indie Weddings, coming to Seattle at a to-be-announced date. (Maybe by then I’ll be engaged?)

Party with our friends at Crawl Space this Saturday night:
Crawl Space announces BAZAAR! a night of art, food, drinks and dancing to benefit Crawl Space artist-run gallery. Join us for hors d’oeuvres from local gourmets including Boat Street Café and Artemis, festooned servers (Brazilian Carnival meets Euro club kids), and a preview of this year’s exhibition of current works by Crawl Space member-artists.

This zany, lively event helps to cover a significant portion of yearly rent, utilities, and programming costs that our member artists aren’t able to cover out-of-pocket. The Bazaar! will be hosted by Seattle Art Museum Jon and Mary Shirley Curator of Modern and Contemporary art MICHAEL DARLING, internationally recognized video art pioneer GARY HILL, and the Crawl Space Booster Club Kids.

Crawl Space
504 E Denny Way *behind a wooden fence
November 17, 6 to 9 p.m.
Donor levels at $1000 - $500 - $100 - $25

Get decked out in your Saturday night best and join RIVET’s publisher, the Shunpike, at the third annual Factory Party.

Here’s the scoop:
Once again, the Shunpike takes you back to 1970s New York, where the artists were the art, the vibe was DIY and the dress was retro even before it had been worn the first time. Most important were the parties, where the glamorous, the hip and the creative mingled and collaborated until the break of dawn.

And the deets:
Saturday Nov. 3
8 p.m.
At Lo-fi
429B Eastlake Ave E in Seattle

Admission is $15—mention RIVET at the door and half of that will go directly to your favorite Little Magazine That Could.

Remember when we posted about the Crawl Space’s call for submissions  for, basically, a lock-in? Well, winner Michelle Fried has spent the last week wondering, ”How do these characters, like DJ Tanner, Kurt Cobain, Marshall Applewhite (the charismatic leader from the Heaven’s Gate Cult), and Igrid-Bayer (Escambia High School’s Homecoming Queen) play into our biographies as adults?”

Explore these questions of adolescence and other revelations this Saturday.

Details:

29 September – 14 October 2007
OPENING RECEPTION Saturday 29 September, 6-9pm
Crawl Space
504 E. Denny Way and Olive
*behind a wooden fence
Open Weekends 12-5 and by appointment

Where were you the night of September 6 between 6 and 9 p.m.? When they ask, be ready with not just one, but two, perfect alibis:

The second half of “Double Feature!” starring Live Nude Goats
Featuring art works by Greg Delia, Tom Douglass, Josh Gosovision, Joe Gray, Skye McNeill, Suzanne Motheral, Deborah A. Priest, Matt Whitney and Cait Willis
At Studio G in the Tashiro Kaplan building
312 S. Washington Street, Seattle
“Leather and Lace”
A collaboration by (RIVET Art Director) Allison Manch and (RIVET contributor) Ariana Page Russell
At SOIL Artist-Run Gallery
112 3rd Avenue S., Seattle
Both shows run through September.