2022

Intertwined
​Through April 15, 2022
Wa Na Wari, in collaboration with the Seattle Art Museum (SAM), presents Intertwined by Hank Willis Thomas and Portland-based artist and storyteller Intisar Abioto. Nine banners, each four feet tall, featuring the artists’ words and images, can be seen along 23rd Avenue, Jackson Street, Union Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Seattle’s Central District through April 15, 2022.

Writing Workshop with Rajnii Eddins
Saturday April 23rd, 2022

​Low key jazz night with Rodger Pegues and Jason Chambliss
Friday, April 15th, 6pm-8pm

Brunch celebration with Aisha Harrison and Chloe King
featuring beats by Larry Mizell and food by Chef Tariq Abdullah.
Saturday, April 2nd, 2022
In-person at Wa Na Wari

Ezra Wube, Virtual Artist Talk
Streamed on WNW’s Youtube and Facebook
March 31st 12pm

​Silent Disco with DJs Topspin and Lady Coco
March 26th, 6pm-9pm

New dance works by Akoiya Harris, marco farroni, and Cipher Goings
March 13th at 2pm
In-person, mask required

Collaborative writing workshop for aspiring self- ublished authors and writers of all levels. Hosted by Seattle Urban Book Expo (S.U.B.E.)
March 12th, 2022

Mushroom Cultivation for Beginners
In-person workshop with Darren Le Baron
March 6th, 2022

Psychedelics in Africa: The Untold Story
In-person workshop with Darren Le Baron
March 5th, 2022

Aliyah Niambi Concert
Outdoors at Wa Na Wari
February 24th, 2022

Artist Talk: neec nonso
February 10th, 2022
​Streamed on Wa Na Wari’s Facebook and Youtube

Poetry Workshop with Anastacia-Renee
Feb 8th, 2022
Virtual event

2021

Joy Has a Sound Book Release events
In the anthology, Joy Has a Sound: Black Sonic Visions, Wa Na Wari makes a home for the essays, poetry, scores, scripts and silences of Black poets, musicians, artists and scholars. Assembled by editors Rachel Kessler and Elisheba Johnson, Joy Has a Sound wonders about the time- traveling, place-making power of sound.

BLUMEADOWS celebrates the legacies of Bruce Lee and Jimi Hendrix through music.
Saturday, November 27th, 2021
This event is outdoors with heaters and hot cocoa.

​Put the Black in Black Friday.
​Support local vendors and artists when you shop for vintage clothes, plants from @thepowerplant.seattle, art inspired pieces from @thecurlynugget, life changing teas from @2witchesapothecary, skincare from @solglowbyayers, books from @wanawariseattle

Walk The Block
This fall Wa Na Wari is taking art to the streets for our 2021 Fall Fundraising Event. We are creating our own one-day art walk in the Central District, and it's called “Walk the Block.”
October 16th, 2021

Wa Na Wari presents The Porch.
Music from our porch to yours. Join Wa Na Wari, online, for musical performances from our region's greatest to get you through your day.
​September 13th-October 4th, 2022
Tiffany Wilson, Adra Boo, Chelsey Richardson, Thaddeus Turner

Pan Afrikan Marketplace
Saturday and Sunday September 18th and 19th
Curated by Afua and WNW, come find vintage and antique materials for your artwork and support local Black vendors selling their locally made products.
Details

Funktional Urban Design Lab, For The Pacific Northwest: A Workshop with Xenobia Bailey
Free Virtual Event
Sunday, September 26th, 2021

W E by Vanessa German
Saturday, August 21 2pm-4pm PT, Sunday, August 22, 12pm-2pm PT
In-person. Mask required.

​Confessional Poetry with Jibade-Khalil Huffman
Saturday, August 14, 2021
In-person event at Wa Na Wari. Mask required.

Art Opening
Wa Na Wari is proud to be a part of the Seattle Deconstructed Art Fair and to present the works of Adetola Abatan, Natalie Ball, Amber Flame, and Vanessa German, on display from August 6th to December 31st, 2021.
Opening Reception: Friday, August 13 from 7-9pm.
In-person. Mask required

Their Names are Mine Book Reading by Rajnii Eddins
Sunday, August 8th 6pm-7:30pm
Outside with masks

Seattle Wikipedia Edit-a-thon
[ONLINE] Saturday, July 31st
​Wa Na Wari and The Grocery are partnering with BLT to increase the visibility of Black artists from the PNW on Wikipedia.

Artist Talk with Shoccara Marcus
Thursday, July 26th
5:30-6:30pm
On WNW’s Facebook Live and Youtube Page
bit.ly/wanawarilive
Join Wa Na Wari as we listen to exhibiting artist Shoccara Marcus where she will discuss her art practice and her body of work “Choreographing My Past.”

Artist Talk with Lisa Myers Bulmash and Carletta Carrington Wilson
Thursday, July 22nd
Facebook Live & Youtube

Pan Afrikan Market Place
Sunday, July 18th
Wa Na Wari Gallery
Curated by Afua and WNW, come find vintage and antique materials for your artwork and support local Black vendors selling their locally made products. Free meals from Feed the People community kitchen.

Is Your God a Violent God? A Theology for Survivors w/J Mase III. How has religion impacted the ways we experience violence as targeted communities?
July 10, 2021
In-Person at WNW Socially Distant or on WNW’s Facebook and Youtube Channels

Silent Disco with DJ Topspin and DJ SummerSoft
Friday, July 9th, 2021
Join Wa Na Wari for a fun dance party in our backyard with Silent Disco headphones (Sanitized and Safe), DJ's TopSpin and SummerSoft with drinks by Erudite & Stone.
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BLUE MEADOWS TRIO (JUNETEENTH AFTER PARTY)
SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 2021

MIXED MEDIA MATERIAL YARD SALE: ​SALE of both common and odd materials for the creative mixed-media artist.
Saturday, June 5th, 2021

​"No Heaven for Good Boys" A Book by Keisha Bush w/ Lisa Lucas
Wednesday, June 2nd
Co-presented by The Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle Public Library and Wa Na Wari : Black Art Center and hosted by Seattle Public Library as a Zoom webinar

I Speak to God in Public, by Bart Fitzgerald
Sunday, May 23

Free Community Portraits with Intisar Abioto
Saturday, May 15 and Sunday, May 16 from 12pm-3pm

FILM & DISCUSSION: Keepers of Nations --The Power of Women of African Descent.
Friday March 26th

​Films for Isolation, March 18th, 6pm
Featuring short films by Rikki Wright, Clifford Prince King, Sydney Canty, and Alima Lee. Curated by Alima Lee.

Wa Na Wari and Jacob Lawrence Gallery present: Human Design and the Long Con
Saturday, March 13, 2021
Join us for a screening of two films by Ilana Harris Babou: The Long Con and Human Design. Following the screening we will have a talk back with Ilana and Kemi Adeyemi, curator and founder of The Black Embodiments Studio.

​Film Screening of Cosmic Slop: Space Traders
Thursday, March 4, 2021
Following the viewing we will have a talk back with producer Reginald Hudlin and longtime collaborator Charles Johnson.

Charcoal, Wood, and Metal: Charmaine Lurch’s Being, Belonging and Grace
An online lecture by Katherine McKittrick
February 16th, 2020 12pm-1:00pm

Concert with Brown Calculus
Thursday, February 11, 2021
Brown Calculus explores the soundscapes of the post-soul movement. Keyboardist and beat maker, Andre Burgos, and singer/songwriter, Vaughn Kimmons, are Geminis, illuminating the sacredness of Black music, seeking to bring about community on Earth and beyond.

​Virtual Concert Experience with Wizard Apprentice
January 14th 2021
A performance and exhibit which will take place in a venue created in Mozilla Hubs, which can be experienced via laptop, smartphone, or Occulus VR headset. Wizard Apprentice will orient you and take you on a tour of the space. There’ll be opportunities to explore, mingle, and attend a musical performance by Wizard Apprentice.

​Feed the People X Wa Na Wari New Year’s Day: Beans and Greens
January 1st, 2021
Start your new year off right with our favorite southern tradition, eating black eye peas and greens for good luck. While we can’t meet in person this year we must keep up the tradition, so come by the Feed the People community kitchen to get vegan, Black eyed peas, greens and cornbread.

2020

Black Listening: A multi-media performance by Zachary James Watkins
Dec 27, 2020
Join Wa Na Wari for an experimental multimedia performance by current exhibiting artist Zachary James Watkins. Watkins will be performing a piece that is a continuation of their exploration “Listen to Clarence” online at Wa Na Wari.

​Artist Talk with Andrea Colman
Dec 12th, 2020
Artist Andrea Coleman will talk about her multimedia practice and her work currently on view at Wa Na Wari.

​Live studio stream with the artist L. Haz
Dec 5th, 2020
Watch artist Zahyr Lauren aka The Artist L. Haz while they create new work live. Viewers will also have the opportunity to ask the artist questions about their process and practice.

​Art21: Borderlands - Screening and Discussion
Tuesday, November 17, 2020
North Seattle College Art Gallery and Wa Na Wari are partnering to screen Art21: Borderlands with a post-screening discussion.
A vast geography encompassing open deserts and densely populated metropolises, the borderland between the United States and Mexico has long been a site of not only political conflict and social struggle but also intense creative ferment.

​Black Lunch Table at Wa Na Wari
November 20th, 2020
Black Lunch Table creates a space for people, art, Black studies and social justice issues. The Black Lunch Table (BLT) is an oral-history archiving project. Our primary aim is the production of discursive sites, wherein cultural producers engage in dialogue on a variety of critical issues.

​Sacred Stoops: A Lecture by Germane Barnes
Tuesday, November 24th
Join Wa Na Wari and Seattle Public Library for a rebroadcast of a lecture by architect Germane Barnes about the “porch” in Black communities.

​Black Lunch Table Online "Edit-a-Thon"
November 3rd, 2020
We will create, update, and improve Wikipedia articles pertaining to the lives and works of Black visual artists.

​Wa Na Wari Virtual House Party 2020 Fundraiser
October 28th, 2020
Join us to celebrate the house that fights displacement with Black art, Black culture, and the self-determination of Black people.

​Experimental Mapping in the Central District, A workshop with Sara Zewde
​Wednesday, October 21st, 2020
A partnership between Wa Na Wari and Seattle Public Library

​Cultural Puppet Making and Stop-motion Animation Workshop
with Gabrielle Tesfaye
Saturday, September 26th, 2020

​Films by Gabrielle Tesfaye
The Water Will Carry Us Home and My Love, Ethiopia.
September 25th, 2020
Wa Na Wari and Sankofa Film Society bring you an evening of films by Gabrielle Tesafye. Immediately after the films, please join us for a talk back with filmmaker Gabrielle Tesfaye and Zola Mumford.

Virtual ​House Concert with Cedric Watson playing and exploring the Black roots of Creole, Cajun, and Zydeco music.
Creole, Cajun, and Zydeco music!
September 16th, 2020, 6pm

​Artist Talk with Lisa Jarrett: House/Field/Home
September 1st, 2020
Lisa Jarrett's intersectional practice considers the politics of difference within a variety of settings including: schools, landscapes, fictions, racial imaginaries, studios, communities, museums, galleries, walls, mountains, mirrors, floors, rivers, and lenses.​

​The History and Politics of Black Hair and Beauty: A new online lecture series at Wa Na Wari
June 21st and August 4th
The current art exhibitions at Wa Na Wari showcase the work of Lavett Ballard, Lisa Jarrett, Elise Peterson, and Jamaal Hasef Tolbert. These works all explore ideas of Black hair, the Black beauty industry and the Black body. Please join us for a lecture series that dives deeper into these themes while helping us understand the social, political and economic history around Black hair and beauty.

​A Space To Rest with the Nap Ministry: A Black and African Diaspora Online Experience
Sunday, August 2nd 2pm-3:30pm (PST)
Tricia Hersey, founder of The Nap Ministry, will hold space for collective silence, daydreaming, and a moment of deep connection to our Ancestors

​a convoluted remedy to my soft hands
A performance by Maya Vivas
Thursday, July 23rd 5pm(PST) ​
Live feed and premeditation converse while maneuvering through accrued diasporic therapies and rumination.

​Constructing a Black Ass Show
Ayana Evans is presenting a 30 minute online performance for the Wa Na Wari community and beyond. Evans is best known for her on-going performances/public interventions: "
June 24th at 12pm(PST) and 2pm (CST) on Instagram Live.

​“This is WAK” - a virtual post-colonial karaoke soiree/party/jam
June 10 7pm EST time 4pm PST (happy hour)
Join us for a live socially distanced collective catharsis that combines quarantine, institutional critique and post-colonial karaoke! (On Zoom).

​Autumn Knight: Our Water is Melted Snow: An experimental participatory performance
May 22nd, 2020
Tap into an experimental half-hour with artist Autumn Knight. This participatory performance explores a multitude of themes from the uniqueness of Seattle as a place, to the experience of eating together.

​Friday Night (Virtual) Comedy with Solomon Giorgio
May 8th, 2020

Friday Night (Virtual) Comedy with Danielle Radford
April 3rd, 2020

​Wa Na Wari's Birthday (Virtual) Dance Party!
April 5th, 2pm - 4pm
Wa Na Wari is turning one years old and we want to celebrate with you! Join us for a virtual dance party with DJ Vitamin D and performances by Yirim Seck and Black Stax

​Art Opening for Artists Lisa Jarrett, Elise Peterson, Jamaal Hasef, and ​Lavett Ballard
Saturday, March 14th, 2020

​Jam the Ballot Box: Primary Election Party and Parade
March 9th, 5pm-7:30pm
Musicians Owuor Arunga and Aaron Walker Loud will lead a musical procession to drop our ballots off to the Garfield Community Center ballot box

​Sanctuary Print Shop at Wa Na Wari
​Saturday February 29, 11:30AM-1:30PM
For this special POC-led and -focused printmaking session at Wa Na Wari, Sanctuary Print Shop: Seattle curator, Thea Quiray Tagle, will lead an interactive printmaking session and conversation about placemaking and the power of print. No experience necessary- wear close-toed shoes and comfy clothes you wouldn't mind getting paint on (just in case!)

​Living Room Concert with Tiffany Wilson
Saturday, February 29, 2020
Join us for an hour of incredible music by the Northwest's Tiffany Wilson. Tiffany Wilson is a true musical artist and songwriter whose voice speaks to something real and soulful...more details

​The Value of Our Stories Workshop
​Thurs, February 27, 2020
​Join an interactive workshop with Seattle-raised spoken word poet and educator Rajinii Eddins.

​A Presence Scene: Writing Workshop with Civic Poet Jourdan Keith
February 4 - 25th (every Tuesday in February)
Each week participants will select a piece of art from the exhibits as the subject for their creative writing response. Using prompts to explore ekphrastic writing examples and techniques, we will generate working drafts during each Workshop. Select one Workshop or participate in all four to build your skills as we develop a supportive writing community.

​Film Screening: Whispering Into the Void by Amir George
Wa Na Wari and On the Boards have partnered to bring filmmaker Amir George to Seattle to screen his new film series “Whispering into the Void.”
Screening with Talk-back and Q&A with Amir George and Inye Wokoma:
Saturday, January 25th at On the Boards in the Studio Theater
Sunday, January 26th at Wa Na Wari: 911 24th Ave, Seattle, Wa 98122

​Jaleesa Johnston Artist Talk
January 10, 2020
Join Wa Na Wari for an artist talk with exhibiting artist Jaleesa Johnston. Johnston will talk about her current exhibition and her practice as a performance artist

​Vanishing Seattle Film Series Launch
January 16, 2020
Vanishing Seattle is excited to launch its series of short films that take a deeper dive into the stories of legacy, resistance, and resilience behind the #VanishingSeattle hashtag! We are premiering with a film about Wa Na Wari!
Come join us at Wa Na Wari for the film screening (directed by devon de Leña + Chimaera Bailey) -- plus art, food, & community. The event will also feature music and performances by Yirim Seck and Ebo Barton.

​New Years Day: Beans ‘n’ Greens at WNW
January 1, 2020
Start your new year off right with our favorite southern tradition, eating black eye peas and greens for good luck. Food prepared by Inye Wokoma and Tarik Abdullah. $5 a plate or pay what you can

2019

Central District Stories: Neighborhood memories through poetry
December 19th, 2019
Wa Na Wari is partnering with the African American Writer's Alliance on the first of an on-going series called "Central District Stories." This series invites artists of various disciplines to share their stories and history of the neighborhood through art.

​Holiday Jazz Show with BluMeadows and Friends
Saturday, December 7th, 2019

​The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open, Film Screening
Wednesday, December 4th, 2019

​Special Performance and Reception with Hanna Benn and C. Davida Ingram
Thursday, October 17th, 2019

​Botanicals for Beauty and Self-Love
Fri, October 18, 2019
Our skin is the immune system's’ first line of defense, and is often where we first see the effects of spiritual and environmental stress. In this class, we’ll discuss nutritional support for glowing skin, featuring African ancestral herbs and foods that have long been used for beautification and vitality.

​Poetry Redaction Workshop with Chantal Gibson
​Saturday, October 19th, 2019
The workshop will lead guests though a poetry redaction exercise that re-contextualizes and reimagines problematic historical texts through the framing of James Baldwin.

​Chantal Gibson: Reading
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Chantal will read from her book, How She Read. Copies of the book will be available for sale. How She Read is a collection of genre-blurring poems about the representation of Black women, their hearts, minds and bodies, across the Canadian cultural imagination.

West African Music and Dance with Thione Diop
September 21st, 2019

​Gary Hammon Plays Original Compositions
Sunday, September 15th, 2019
Born and raised in Seattle's Central District, saxophonist and composer Gary "Jubil" Hammon spent decades in the Boston and New York jazz scenes before returning to Seattle to "give back to the community that raised him." Gary will be sharing work-in-progress excerpts from a new show he is creating that blends live storytelling and original compositions.

​Draw Till You Laugh: A Comics Workshop for All Ages
Hosted by Wa Na Wari and Short Run Seattle
Teacher: Local comic artist Lauren Armstrong
Saturday, August 31st, 2019

​Doll Making Workshop with Marita Dingus
August 11th, 2019
This workshop is fun for all ages. Come play with re-used materials and make a doll with nationally acclaimed artist Marita Dingus.

​Home | Reclamation through Movement and Music
August 10th, 2019
​Created & Performed by: Hannah Mayree and Nia-Amina Minor
Presented in association with: The Black Banjo Reclamation Project

Alchemy Poetry Series
Tuesday August 6th
Alchemy Poetry Series is a curated performance art experience that elevates voices that are often silenced. Performers in our community focus on the brilliance of storytelling by offering personal stories and reflections that are socially relevant

​Okanomode: Performance
Saturday, July 20th
okanomodé [uh-kahn-uh-mah-day] is the sole lyricist & vocalist of the critically acclaimed experimental pop opera Now I'm Fine by Ahamefule J. Oluo

​Hotter Than July Party
Unapologetic Artists and Creatives host the Hotter Than July party
July 7th, 2019
Vibes by DJs Topspin and N So, Food by Def Chef, Cocktails by Erudite and Stone

​JusMoni and Stas THEE Boss
Saturday, June 29th
JusMoni- JusMoni aka Moni Tep (b. 1993) is a singer and songwriter whose body of work, to-date, includes five self-produced albums, performances across the United States and Canada, and collaborations with the best and brightest emerging talent of the contemporary R&B music scene.

​Josephine Howell
Saturday, June 22nd
​8pm - 9pm
“Josie” possesses a God-given endowment for the arts. She first explored her interest and abilities for singing in the children’s choir at her childhood church, The True Right M. B. Church. It was the beginning of the foundation that would sustain her through a life filled with the type of experiences that inspire every song, every word, and every moment she is on stage...(read more)

​Performance: Rachael Ferguson, Sound Artist
Monday, June 3rd
Recordings of intimate moments of love songs, and original music mixed with anonymous testimonials regarding Black love. Different listening stations will be set up in the four corners of the room.

​Artist Talk: Melanie Stevens
Sunday June 2nd, 2019

​Opening Artist Reception
Saturday, June 1st
Artists: Melanie Stevens, Rachael Ferguson, Jeremy Okai Davis, Alisa Sikelianos-Carter

​The Let It Go Art Exhibition Closing Party
Sunday, May 26th
Come celebrate the closing of the current art exhibitions at Wa Na Wari by the Unapologetic Artists and Creatives(UAC), Chi Moscou Jackson, Ariella Tai and Howard Mitchell. There will be kids activities and an artist talk with the UAC at 3pm. Come listen to DJ's Blendiana Jones and Toya B with a bar by Brown Liquor Company and catering by Def Chef.

​Performance: Blu Meadows
Saturday, May 25th
The music of BluMeadows has been described as a mix of various styles, Afro-Cuban, funk, hip-hop, reggae, rock calypso and everything in between. BluMeadows says his music is best described as “consciousness” rock with a universal message.

​Performance: Paul Rucker
Sunday May 19th, 2019
Paul Rucker is a visual artist, composer, and musician who combines media, often integrating live performance, sound, original compositions, and visual art. His work is the product of a rich interactive process, through which he investigates community impacts, human rights issues, historical research, and basic human emotions surrounding a subject.

Artist Talk: Ariella Tai
Friday, May 17th, 2019