Bundle up for the Fremont Art Walk tonight from 6-9PM at a variety of venues in the Fremont neighborhood. Visit the (relatively) new and super snazzy Fremont Art Walk website or their Facebook for more details!

Try as we might we can’t be everywhere at once so send us your favorite moments! Or share them with us via Twitter or Facebook

Cheers!

Big day in Fremont tomorrow. First up, it’s the Lenin Lighting at 5:30 p.m. It’s recommended to get in the area by 5 in order to find a cozy spot.

If you’re not familiar, the thing we’re actually lighting is a neon red star that will sit on Lenin’s head. This year the star was fixed up by the good folks over at City Light Neon, who did the work as a donation to the community.

There will be live music courtesy of Rabbit Stew String Band and free refreshments: Peet’s coffee, sweetened mint tea, hot cocoa, and Mighty-O Donuts. Santa Claus will also be on hand handing out oranges. Why oranges? It’s Fremont, that’s why.

Check out Fremocentrist’s post on the event for more details on why you should attend.

Following the lighting, stick around town because the Fremont Friday Art Walk will officially be under way. Between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., some of your favorite stores, restaurants, hang-outs and coffee shops will be featuring live music, art, painting, videos, sculptures and a whole lot more. Check out the full list of participating places here along with what each of them is hosting.

The weather report calls for clouds with a chance of showers so be prepared. The events will go on rain or shine.

We’re lucky in Fremont to have a First Friday that really gives art lovers an abundance of aesthetically pleasing and interesting offerings. The Fremont First Friday Art Walk goes on tonight, rain or shine, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Some highlights for tonight:

• Fiddler Alex MacLeod and David Pearlstein on banjo, who together make up The Rabbit Stew String Band, will be performing at the Lenin statue from 6 to 9.
• John Fleming, who created the “Grass Blades” sculpture beside the Experience Music Project at Seattle Center, has a new exhibition of pieces made from old traffic signs at Johnston Architects PLLC, 100 NE Northlake Way, Suite 200.
• Ringling School of Art & Design graduate Nick Orban‘s oil paintings depict the Pacific Northwestern Landscape. See them at the 509 Winery and Tasting Room, 1300 N. Northlake Way and enjoy snacks by Skillet Street Food from its Airstream in the parking lot. Wash it down with wine at $5/glass (or 5 glasses for $20). Blues rock band The Jelly Rollers will perform from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

One of Nick Orban’s oil paintings

• Pacific Northwest artist Bunny Lee has a show called “Arrangement,”: “a series of acrylic portraits on canvas, the subjects of which are creatures inspired by visual patterns and symbols.” Check it out tonight at Frame-Up Studios, 3515 Fremont Ave. N.

Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata has launched Seattle Art Walks, a neighborhood resource web page highlighting 13 art walks throughout Seattle.

The web site includes a map of Seattle surrounded with links to neighborhood-sponsored art walks. Fremont First Fridays are among the 13 art walks. The others include: Ballard, Upper Queen Anne, Belltown, Pioneer Square, West Seattle, Greenwood-Phinney, Wallingford, Madison Valley, Capitol Hill, Central District, Chinatown-International District and Georgetown.

Licata, long time chair of the Seattle City Council committee overseeing arts, highlighted the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs’ Creative Vitality Index. This 2007 data ranked Seattle’s overall creative vitality at roughly six times the national average.

Even though it’s been feeling more like January than July, it is the first Friday in July in Fremont, which means it’s Art Walk night!

From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., visitors and Fremont residents can enjoy exhibits and events at more than 15 venues.

Here is a sampling of tonight’s offerings:

• 509 Winery and Tasting Room (1300 N. Northlake Way): “Birds”, a collection of recent paintings by local artist Bryan Feddern, expands on themes of ‘Raptors and Blooms’ and other avian motifs. 509 Winery will be offering a FREE wine tasting in honor of the art walk, plus the Koasamai Thai truck will be parked next to the entrance.
• Ballroom (456 N. 36th St.): See Scott Cahill Rude’s photographic series “Reflecting On Seattle” (one image is below).



• Creativity Loves Company (619 N. 35th St., Ste. 110, alley behind PCC): Peter Anderson’s photographic series covering the Iowa Sate Fair will be on display. Visitors can also take pictures on the “orange couch photo booth” while there. CLC is also offering $50 in print credit for any session booked in person tonight.
• evo Timesinfinity Art Gallery (122 NW 36th St.): “Join us for the Official Launch and Fundraiser for the Bedouins, a new non-profit with a focus on using skateboarding and street art as instruments of peace between Arab and Israeli youth. “Yallah! Artivism for Peace” is a group show that validates art as a vehicle for creative expression with a positive purpose. Support us in mixing art and activism for peace in the Middle East. The event will be a collaborative art show including skate decks, paintings, photos, video and music with the purpose of raising awareness and funds for peace projects for Arab and Israeli youth.”

Another First Friday, another Fremont ArtWalk. Lots going on tonight, so be sure to give yourself lots of time, for there will be plenty of opportunity for new discoveries this evening.

Just some of the many interesting events you could find on your journey tonight:

• At the Fremont Abbey Arts Center: Playing off of the philosopher Walter Benjamin’s “dialectical image”, Craig van den Bosch’s current work “addresses the dynamics of biology vs. technology and asks whether there will be a harmony between the two as the gap closes.” But wait, it’s not just an exhibit, but an experience engaging several senses: the soundtrack to the evening’s art show will be provided by Diagram of Suburban Chaos and Logic Probe in the Abbey’s Café with VJ accompaniment by Lindell Alderman (video). “The combination of the ethereal artwork and the electronic and ambient music of the artists will provide a curious test for the senses and a Friday night not to missed.” Also: video from Karin Steven’s Dance Company who performed recently at the Abbey with music composed by van den Bosch.
• Over at Theo’s Chocolate (3400 Phinney Ave. N.): Music by Shawnmarie starting at 6, poetry by Landon Longhill at 7, music by Boyz 2 Dinosaurs at 8. Look for the Molly Moon’s ice cream truck outside the entry to Theo’s throughout the evening.
• An artist reception at Portage Bay Goods (706 N 34th St.) from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., where Anne Baumgartner displays in the old Capers building window as part of the “Expose yourself to Art in Fremont” Window Art Project. It’s part of an an ongoing series “aimed at repurposing vacant storefront space in Fremont for artistic expression in-between tenants.”

And here’s an event you might not see everyday: Emerald Sprints Roller Racing: “Beat The Racer” Night at 9 Million In Unmarked Bills (3507 Fremont Pl. N.). You don’t even have to hit the pavement in this one! Racers go on stationary bikes and compete in 400-meter heats in this free, all-ages Cascadia Crits event.

It’s that time of month again, when Fremont’s fine arts exhibitors and businesses open their doors from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, rain or shine, for the Fremont First Friday Art Walk.

Art walkers can stare their eyesockets out at the bedazzlement of the Art Cars at 36th & Phinney; nibble on chocolate samples and sip hot chocolate listening to slam poet Sara Brickman as she performs with old time band Tonic at Theo Chocolate (34th & Phinney); discover several artists at Fremont Abbey Arts Center; at Notebleu (600 N. 36th, suite 420) check out postage stamp designs of the future as envisioned by Annex Theatre; enjoy coffee at Caffe Vita on Fremont Avenue while looking at the work of painter Maron Resur; and much, much more than you could probably squeeze into 3 hours.

Click on the link above to set up your itinerary for the evening.