Black text on a white background. Text is a poem from Foster High School student, Anass.  Text is “I am the son of Morocco a place where the sun shines on our orange terracotta house."

Anass's beautiful poem helps us mark #PoetryMonth. Written with help from #poet and #TeachingArtist Merna Ann Hecht.

He Who Misses His Garden (Excerpt)

#JackStrawWriters #Poetry #ArtInSchools #Education #RecordingStudio #Seattle #Tukwila #FosterHighSchool #PoetryMonth2026 #MENAHeritageMonth

Catch a little peek at #JackStrawArtist Sylvia Jones in the studio!

#PoetryMonth

Join Claudia Castro Luna, former Washington State Poet Laureate and 2026 Jack Straw Writers Program curator, for an event that is part poetry reading, part discussion, part writing workshop.

White background. The Humanities Washington logo is towards the top. Below is a path through a forest. Below that is Claudia Castro Luna’s headshot in the lower right corner. Text to the right of the headshot is “Free Public Talk with Claudia Castro Luna: Green Expectations, A Poetry Workshop.”

Jack Straw Speakers Bureau Series

Claudia Castro Luna: Green Expectations, A Poetry Workshop

Thursday, April 9, 7pm
In person or streaming via YouTube or Facebook
FREE

Happy Easter to all who celebrate! Here's how Alaya spent hers.

#Easter #Easter2026 #RecordingStudio #KimballElementarySchool

Black text on a white background. Text is an excerpt from #JackStrawWriter Makayla Danielle Gay. Text is “What are the future effects of the good that you do?"

April is #PoetryMonth and we're kicking it off with this excerpt from #JackStrawWriter Makayla Danielle Gay.

I am haunted by monks on bar stools (Full excerpt on Instagram)

#JackStrawWriters #JackStrawWriters2025 #Poetry #RecordingStudio #SeattleRecordingStudio #Seattle #PoetryMonth2026

Take a peek at #JackStrawArtist Briggan Krauss in the studio at #JackStrawCulturalCenter.

#RecordingStudio #JazzAppreciationMonth

A black bar with white text is at the top of the image. Text is “Tara Tamaribuchi.” A gray outline of a microphone is centered above the white text. Gray text on either side of the microphone is “Jack Straw New Media Gallery Podcast.” A yellow bar with a jagged edge and black text is on the bottom of the image. Text is “Groove Bardos In the middle of the two bars is a dimly lit room with multicolored lights. In the middle of the room is a human figure laying down with multicolored lights reflecting off of it.

Here’s the latest installment of our New Media Gallery #podcast. #JackStrawArtist Tara Tamaribuchi talks with Carlos Nieto about her Jack Straw New Media Gallery installation Groove Bardos.

Listen at buff.ly/jDEp0kK or subscribe via Apple Podcasts

Admission to each reading is a $10 suggested donation, and comes with a gift of the 2026 Jack Straw Writers Anthology.

Writer and program curator Claudia Castro Luna will host three readings with the writers, in person in the studio and streamed live via Jack Straw Cultural Center on Facebook and YouTube. Each reading video will be available afterward on Facebook and YouTube.

The Jack Straw Writers Program celebrates its 30th year, with a series of readings featuring new poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction from the 2026 Jack Straw Writers.

The Jack Straw 2026 May Reading postcard with a blue background.

Three readings featuring the 2026 Jack Straw Writing Fellows, hosted by 2026 Writers Program Curator Claudia Castro Luna

Join us in person at Jack Straw Cultural Center, 4261 Roosevelt Way NE, or via free livestreams on Facebook or YouTube.

#JackStrawWriters2026

HAMPI (“medicine” in Quechua) is a multilingual, multimedia, autobiographical, and autoethnographic project chronicling Coello’s journey of ancestral reconnection to the Andean cosmovision.

Ancient stone buildings on a mountainside in black and white. White text is "Hampi, river coello."

River Coello | HAMPI

April 3 – June 12, 2026
Call 206-634-0919 or email jsp@jackstraw.org to schedule a visit
Open during evening events at Jack Straw

Opening Reception and performance: Friday, April 3, 7pm
In person at Jack Straw

The performance started at 4:00pm on Saturday, May 15th, and ended the following day at 11:20am, after the piece had been played exactly 840 times. To our knowledge, this was the first time this had been done in Seattle.

#Vexations #840Vexations #PianoDay

Black background. The upper part is a textured white background with a jagged diagonal edge. In the center is an image of musical notation. Yellow text at the top and bottom of the image is “Jack Straw Project Spotlight, Vexations.”

A piano board propped up against a white wall. White cards are attached to it. Above the piano on the wall are the words "this old piano".

Dimly lit room with a piano in the center and a pianist seated at it. A large microphone stand is near the piano.

Dimly lit room with a piano in the center and a pianist seated at it. A large microphone stand is near the piano.

How ‘bout an appreciation post for “Vexations”?

In May of 2010, a rotating cast of pianists at Jack Straw played through Erik Satie’s infamous “Vexations” theme 840 times, as suggested by the composer’s vexatiously enigmatic note on the original manuscript.

buff.ly/NRHujp9

Black text on a white background. Text is an excerpt of a poem from Concord Elementary School student, Valerie. Text is “My trustworthiness is like a grey moon brightening people’s lives and letting them know I’m always there.

Here's a poem from Valerie to brighten your day. Written with help from #poet and #TeachingArtist Vicky Edmonds.

#JackStrawCulturalCenter #JackStrawWriters #Poetry #Education #ArtsEducation #RecordingStudio #Seattle #ConcordInternationalElementarySchool

Black text on a white background. Text is an excerpt from #JackStrawWriter Kaitlyn Teer. Text is “In coastal regions around the world, the rising seas and raging storms of a warming climate are exposing the footprints of ancient humans."

Here's an excerpt from #JackStrawWriter Kaitlyn Teer.

The Heaviness (Excerpt)

#JackStrawWriters #JackStrawWriters2023 #RecordingStudio #SeattleRecordingStudio #Seattle #WomensHistoryMonth #WomensHistoryMonth2026

This week we share an excerpt from the audiobook of Jack Straw New Media Gallery artist River Coello‘s HAMPI, produced at Jack Straw. River’s New Media Gallery installation HAMPI, which incorporates sound from the audiobook, opens April 3rd, with a reception and performance from the artist.

Textured white background. The lower half is black with a diagonal jagged line as separation. A gray outline of a microphone is on the middle right side, with text reading “Jack Straw Artist Of The Week.” A gray sound wave runs across the top of the image. Dark grey text above the soundwave is “River Coello.” In the center is the cover of River Coello’s audiobook. Yellow text under the collage is “HAMPI (Excerpt).”

Check out the newest episode of our Artist of the Week #podcast, featuring #JackStrawArtist River Coello. Listen at jackstraw.org/podcasts/artist-of-the-week/ or subscribe via Apple Podcasts.

Youth and Family Workshop: Saturday, March 21, 2pm
E-mail education@jackstraw.org for more information or to sign up

Join us in the gallery and studios at Jack Straw Cultural Center for an audio art workshop with artist @tarayoungborg.bsky.social, in conjunction with not a town but a landing page.

Outdoor scene with vines strewn throughout.

Tara Youngborg | not a town but a landing page

Closes Friday, March 20, 2026
Call 206-634-0919 or email jsp@jackstraw.org to schedule a visit
Open during evening events at Jack Straw

Artist Talk: Friday, March 20, 7pm
In person at Jack Straw and streaming live on YouTube and Facebook
FREE

Black text on a white background. Text is an excerpt of a poem from Roxhill Elementary School student, Sihaan. Text is “When a person dips me in paint I spread my creativity onto the paper."

Here's an excerpt from a beautiful poem by Sihaan to kick off the weekend. Written with help from #poet and #TeachingArtist Vicky Edmonds.

Paint Brush

#JackStrawCulturalCenter #JackStrawWriters #Poetry #AudioArts #Education #ArtsEducation #RecordingStudio #Seattle #RoxhillElementarySchool

Discover the remarkable first generation of African American artists and performers whose contributions helped shape popular culture. Using newly discovered documents from the era, this talk reveals the talent, ingenuity, conflicts, and solidarity of the “Vanguard Generation.”

Ethnomusicologist and Jack Straw Writers Program alum Daniel Atkinson continues our series of events featuring Jack Straw Writers in partnership with Humanities Washington’s Speakers Bureau.

White background. The Humanities Washington logo is towards the top. Below is a black and white picture of a man. Below that is Daniel Atkinson’s headshot in the lower right corner. Text to the right of the headshot is “Free Public Talk with Daniel Atkinson: The Vanguard Generation: African American Artists, 1880-1918.”

Jack Straw Speakers Bureau Series

Daniel Atkinson: The Vanguard Generation: African American Artists, 1880-1918

Friday, March 13, 7pm
Jack Straw Cultural Center, 4261 Roosevelt Way NE
In person or streaming via YouTube or Facebook
FREE

Black text on a white background. Text is an excerpt from #JackStrawWriter David K. Rea. Text is “You, who loved so well, loved the flutter of your freedom more.” 

We've got an excerpt from a poem by #JackStrawWriter David K. Rea for you today.

When My Bluebird Made Me Blue

#JackStrawWriters #JackStrawWriters2023 #RecordingStudio #SeattleRecordingStudio #Seattle

In their residency, they created audio for their show I’m on Fire, You’re on Fire, We’re on Fire, presented through the Velocity Regionally Established Creative Incubator Program. The show opens tonight at 12th Ave. Arts and runs through Saturday, March 7th.

Textured white background. The lower half is black with a diagonal jagged line as separation. A gray outline of a microphone is on the middle right side, with text reading “Jack Straw Artist Of The Week.” A gray sound wave runs across the top of the image. Dark grey text above the soundwave is “The Bonnies.” In the center is Jenny Peterson and Kaitlin McCarthy jumping in a room. Yellow text under the collage is “Cowboy Bob.”

Check out the newest episode of our Artist of the Week #podcast, featuring #JackStrawArtist The Bonnies. Listen at buff.ly/jFkoI6b or subscribe via Apple Podcasts.

Jenny Peterson and Kaitlin McCarthy/The Bonnies produced "Cowboy Bob" as part of their Jack Straw Artist Support Program residency.

We're looking back at this interview for #InternationalWheelchairDay.

In 2009 Jack Straw Cultural Center started Arts Inspire, a project for students with muscular dystrophy and spina bifida: buff.ly/931mzpm

#JackStrawCulturalCenter #ArtsInspire #WheelchairDay