Seattle, WA. Seattle Folklore Society is connecting people globally through its virtual Seattle Song Circle, a free program in which participants gather through Zoom to sing songs with others. SFS President John Ullman shares that it’s “exciting to see what’s happened” with Seattle Song Circle’s online transition. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Seattle Song Circle consisted of a dozen people who would meet every Sunday in someone’s living room to sing songs. One person would begin singing, and others would join in. However, since Seattle Song Circle’s online transition, attendance at these singing sessions has nearly tripled. The song circle’s co-host Bruce Baker describes one of the sessions as “amazing,” and reports participants coming from Australia, England, and Vancouver B.C., as well as eight states across the U.S.
A photo of a recent Seattle Song Circle session through Zoom.
Founded in 1966, Seattle Folklore Society is a nonprofit folk organization known for producing folk music concerts, dances, song circles, camps, and a newsletter called the SFS Flyer. Due to COVID-19, SFS had to cancel and postpone many of its offerings, including concerts that were planned earlier this year. However, the Seattle Folklore Society Concert Committee is planning to livestream a fall concert series for the public. These concerts will either have paid tickets or donation-based viewings. To hear more updates about upcoming SFS concerts, people may sign up for the concert announcement mailing list or become a member and hear news via the SFS Flyer.
Ullman shares that after the pandemic passes SFS hopes to still broadcast concerts online, even if they happen in person. While webcasts won’t replace in-person concerts, Ullman recognizes the many benefits to livestreamed performances, including people getting to “see artists they like more often, taking the pain out of being on the road for musicians, and helping musicians’ incomes.”
The Todalo Shakers, pictured here, were set to perform through Seattle Folklore Society on March 28. Due to COVID-19, the concert was canceled.
Another popular event that was canceled was the weekly SFS sponsored Emerald City Contra Dance. Contra dance is a style of folk dance comprised of long lines of couples dancing together. The mixed origins of contra dance trace back to various English, Scottish, and French styles from the 17th century. Ullman shares that many people who enjoyed these dances are administering their own virtual dances independently through Zoom. He says that while these virtual dances “won’t replace dancing with other humans” they are managing to “keep the community together.”
People can check out the dance page on SFS’s website to see updates and news on future dances once COVID-19 passes. A video of a pre-pandemic Emerald City Contra Dance at the Phinney Neighborhood Community Center is featured below and includes the musical group Great Bear Trio.
An Emerald City Contra Dance prior to COVID-19.
Ullman praises people who are “persevering and being imaginative” throughout the pandemic, especially regarding how arts organizations are shifting programming. Ullman points out that the technology needed to broadcast events, like concerts, has been available for about 20 years, but “nobody did it because there was an energy barrier” that the virus has forced people to get over. Ullman shares that a “silver lining” of overcoming this energy barrier will be “making the arts scene more accessible.”
Children dancing at a pre-pandemic SFS dance event.
From Seattle Folklore Society:
Seattle Folklore Society is always accepting new members. Members receive discounts at events and the SFS flyer, which lists dozens of upcoming local concerts and dances. SFS membership costs $20 a year, $25 for a household, and $15 for students and seniors. More information on the benefits of becoming a member is available here.
The purpose of the Seattle Folklore Society is to preserve and foster awareness and appreciation of folk and traditional arts in the Seattle area. Our non-profit folk organization, founded in 1966, has one of the largest and most stable memberships in the country. We produce folk music concerts, dances, song circles, camps, and a newsletter, the SFS Flyer. Many of our members are active concertgoers, dancers and players of the acoustic guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, dulcimer, ukulele, and other folk instruments. The SFS is a member of Folk Alliance.
Seattle, Wa. The Woodland Park Zoo has made some changes since reopening. Due to COVID-19 the zoo requires anyone above the age of 5 to wear a facemask at all times throughout the park. As well as having markers to make sure people maintain correct social distance. Other changes can be found in ticket purchasing and the duration at the zoo. The zoo is “strongly recommending you purchase ticket online in advance to your visit.” This to help with crowds and allows someone to go directly into the zoo. There are now “specific entrance times…guests and members should avoid arriving earlier than 5 minutes prior to their entry time, if you arrive early stay inside your vehicle”. The Woodland Park Zoo’s website states that “Woodland Park Zoo has been working closely with state and county health authorities to develop a new guest experience that meets Washington State guidance for reopening.” This partnership has led to changes in and out of the park to help ensure safety. For more information or FAQs about the new guidelines at Woodland Park Zoo you can visit the websites HELP page found here.
Woodland Park Zoo’s New Health Guidelines in Effect.
Woodland Park Zoo used to have daily programs to make visitor experiences even more interesting. Due to COVID-19 these programs will stop for the foreseeable future. The zoo wants to “invite you to enjoy one of our many virtual keeper talks and special video presentations.” These online events can be located here on the Woodland Park Zoo’s website. Some programs listed are Super Snack Time and Gorilla Family and Baby. There are also more interactive videos on the Woodland Park Zoo’s YouTube channel. The zoo has been uploading at least one video every day to help bring the experience of the zoo to you.
Woodland Park Zoo Mission Statement:
Because human impact on this planet is so profound and pervasive, all wildlife and wild places are now in our care. What will we do with that responsibility: stand by or stand up? Now imagine what our influence can do if we choose to stand together for wildlife.
Seattle, WA. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, YouthCare has continued to work toward its mission to end youth homelessness by providing shelter, safety, and stability to young people. “In times such as these, YouthCare cannot close our doors,” writes YouthCare CEO, Melinda Giovengo, in a news release. YouthCare’s emergency shelter, community living, and independent living programs have remained open throughout the crisis. To accomplish this, YouthCare temporarily suspended its education, employment, and prevention programs, and instead directed the brunt of its people-power toward keeping essential food, shelter, and housing programs open. “We know that every young person deserves more than just survival. Yet, for now, we must do all that we can to protect young people and the broader community,” says Giovengo.
Before the COVID-19 outbreak, YouthCare’s Orion Center served over one hundred young people per day. YouthCare is now serving a fixed number of young people, approximately 200 youth and young adults across their Seattle area shelter and housing programs. To follow Governor Inslee’s stay-at-home order, these young people are no longer allowed to have visitors, or leave and come back without pre-approval. To flatten the curve, “YouthCare must navigate the complicated balance of keeping our doors open and shut at the same time,” says Giovengo.
Gourmondo joined forces with 16 Seattle businesses to provide over 1,000 meals to youth experiencing homelessness
Providing young people with food and safety as they shelter in place has required additional resources. YouthCare is keeping its facilities staffed 24 hours a day so that clients can shelter in place 24/7. The young people served by YouthCare are also now sharing three communal meals per day, which means increased food costs. Responding to YouthCare’s increased need for food, many restaurants, businesses, and non-profits have donated food and meals to YouthCare.
A student working hard at virtual school
In addition to food donations, YouthCare is also now collecting donations to its Back-to-School drive as schools begin to reopen online. With most schools holding classes exclusively online this Fall, the students served by YouthCare must have access to the supplies they need to stay connected to and engaged with their classes. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, YouthCare is not currently accepting in-person donations. Instead, those hoping to donate can do so through YouthCare’s Amazon wishlist, or ship supplies directly to YouthCare’s main office.
From YouthCare:
YouthCare envisions a community where no young person experiences homelessness, all young people have the opportunity to thrive, and the systems that oppress them are dismantled.
Seattle, WA. Town Hall Seattle officially shut its doors on March 11th in light of the COVID-19 virus. Since then Town Hall Seattle has transitioned online, Lusink shares that the organization has been able to “adapst pretty quickly” and livestreams are being received well by the public. Town Hall Seattle is offering the community livestreams nearly every day with guests in various fields, including the arts, sciences, and civics. The people that will be featured in these livestreams include disability activist Alice Wong, author Mychal Denzel Smith, comedian Michael Ian Black, and many more. Tickets for these online events cost $5 for the general public and are free to those 22 years old and younger. For households with three or more people viewing the event, tickets cost $15. Director of Marketing and Communications Jordan Lusink shares that purchasing household tickets allows the public to “support [Town Hall Seattle] a little more if multiple people are watching.” More information on upcoming livestreams is available here.
Recordings of livestreams are also available on Town Hall Seattle’s YouTube page. Below is one of Town Hall Seattle’s recent recordings of Richard Scholar’s conversation with Kathleen Cain regarding the history and significance of French words in the English language.
Another featured participant for the livestreams is disability activist Alice Wong,
Disability activist Alice Wong will partake in a livestream with Elsa Sjunneson about disability activism in the 21st century on 9/9 at 7:30 PM.
Author Mychal Denzel Smith will have a livestream about “life after the American dream” on 9/22 at 7:30 PM.
Comedian Michael Ian Black will discuss toxic masculinity and “how to be a better man” in his livestream on 9/30 at 6:00 PM.
Town Hall Seattle is a nonprofit that acts as a gathering place for the Seattle community to engage in conversations about a variety of topics. Since 1998, Town Hall Seattle has “matured into a nationally unique artistic and civic hub in the heart of Seattle.” Town Hall Seattle regularly works with rental partners to “level the cultural playing field and amplify the voices of diverse communities.” The organization’s staff also collaborates to create over 200 programs every year that span the arts, sciences, and civics. Aside from its numerous events, Town Hall Seattle also maintains a landmark historic building that was originally the Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist, in Seattle. The building was constructed in two stages from 1916 through 1922 and the congregation was its only occupant until it was later sold to Town Hall Seattle in 1998.
Images of Town Hall Seattle’s building throughout time, designed by architect George Foote Dunham.
A more recent photo of the interior of Town Hall Seattle’s building.
Town Hall Seattle was already taping many of its programs, so Lusink shares it was “really easy to pivot to a digital stage.” The organization’s only exception to non-in-person programming was its weekly livestreamed concerts with Earshot Jazz through June and July.
A promotional photo for one of Earshot Jazz’s livestreams with Town Hall Seattle.
Lusink points out that there “hasn’t been a lot of support for arts and cultural organizations” throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, despite arts organizations often being the “first things people turn to when times are tough.” Nevertheless, Lusink shares that it is “interesting to see what the community looks like in a digital space” and encourages people to check out Town Hall Seattle’s upcoming events, as “a lot of important conversations are coming up.”
A pre-pandemic image of people gathering at Town Hall Seattle.
From Town Hall Seattle:
To support Town Hall Seattle, people are asked to check out its calendar of events. Town Hall Seattle is also a member-supported organization, so people may show support by becoming members today. Membership prices start at $30 for students and seniors and $45 for general members. Town Hall Seattle also accepts financial donations.
A vibrant gathering place in the heart of Seattle, Town Hall fosters an engaged community through civic, arts, and educational programs that reflect—and inspire—our region’s best impulses: creativity, empathy, and the belief that we all deserve a voice.
Renton, WA. Evergreen City Ballet will offer the public different versions of dance classes for fall. Artistic Director Bennyroyce Royon says “to address the varying needs of the community, [Evergreen City Ballet] has created new programs and expanded them.” Students have the option of taking classes in-person, virtually, or through a hybrid model, in which class groups alternate between in-person and virtual classes every week. Currently, in-person classes are limited to five students per class group, but this may change following local and state requirements. Virtual classes will be conducted entirely through Zoom. Evergreen City Ballet is also instating various protocols in its studio to ensure the health of its students and staff amid the COVID-19 pandemic. These protocols include providing physical distancing markers, wearing face masks, administering daily temperature checks, and frequent hand washing. Information about class tuition at Evergreen City Ballet is available here. Watch the video below to see an overview of Evergreen City Ballet’s offerings:
Evergreen City Ballet is a nonprofit pre-professional ballet school located in Renton, WA. Royon, a Julliard alumni and former dancer on Broadway, says that since 1994, Evergreen City Ballet has been a “small but mighty” school that provides dance education for people all around the Pacific Northwest. The ballet school offers programs for dancers of all ages and abilities, from 20-month-year-old children to adults. In addition to its classes with live accompaniment, Evergreen City Ballet also showcases an annual production of TheNutcracker that tours to several cities in the greater Seattle area. Evergreen City Ballet’s The Nutcracker aims to provide the community with an “affordable and accessible” production to enjoy.
A pre-pandemic performance of The Nutcracker at Evergreen City Ballet.
Royon shares that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Evergreen City Ballet “had to close and shut down” its classes earlier this year, as well as cancel rehearsals and productions. Following ECB’s closure, staff had to quickly “learn new ways of teaching through Zoom.” Royon shares that this transition was a “challenge,” as Evergreen City Ballet’s “education of students is hands-on.”
Students train at the ballet barre in a class prior to COVID-19. Photo by Michelle Smith-Lewis Photography
Fortunately, Royon shares that the dance community is equipped to “problem solve, create systems, and move forward,” which was an asset for Evergreen City Ballet’s online transition. And despite the loss of revenue stream from ECB’s productions, the ballet school was grateful to receive support from past and current families that take classes, as well as receive grants. Royon says Evergreen City Ballet is “really lucky and thankful for funders.”
Young students dance in a pre-pandemic dance class.
Royon reports that ECB’s program modifications are managing to “bring people together in strange and unexpected ways,” and even spark innovation. Throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, ECB will closely follow local and state news and mirror its offerings with what is happening in local school districts. Royon hopes to maintain the school’s “open-door policy,” as Evergreen City Ballet is a “second home to a lot of families and students.” Moving forward, Royon wishes for people to “reflect and connect deeper within themselves and with people in their environment” and utilize the arts as a way to heal.
From Evergreen City Ballet:
Evergreen City Ballet accepts any kind of support or encouragement people can offer. Anyone is welcome to make financial donations, and Royon shares that no donation amount is too big or small. People are also encouraged to keep an eye out for future virtual productions on ECB’s website.
ECB’s mission is to provide high-quality dance education and performance opportunities to students of all ages and to enrich the diverse communities in the Puget Sound region through performances, outreach, and community engagement initiatives. Our long-term vision is to be a nationally recognized, premier, pre-professional ballet school with a studio company that cultivates excellence, diversity, inclusiveness, and innovation.
Seattle, WA. DO-IT Summer Study, the foundational event of the DO-IT Scholars program, was held online this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During pre-covid times, DO-IT Scholars were able to learn on campus at the University of Washington. Despite the challenges of adapting a traditionally hands-on program to the virtual landscape, Sheryl Burgstahler, DO-IT’s founder and director, declares that the event “went really, really well.”
The goal of the DO-IT Scholars program is to prepare high school students with disabilities for success in college, careers, and leadership. In a typical year, participants, who are referred to as “Scholars” throughout the program, attend Summer Study at the University of Washington’s Seattle campus. During the ten-day program, participants live on campus, attend labs, and lectures with UW faculty, work on projects together, and explore Seattle-area resources and careers. This Summer session has taken place every year since 1993 and served more than 400 Scholars.
According to Burgstahler, when the DO-IT team realized that Summer Study could not be held in person this year, they considered not running it at all. “It was a challenge because the Summer Program is really about networking,” said Burgstahler.
To move the program online, the DO-IT team looked at the program’s typical in-person activities and tried to find substitutions that aligned with their goals, and made sense in the virtual format. “We ended up with a lot of things on the cutting room floor,” said Burgstahler. Some things, like a time-honored activity where participants help each other build kites, could not be run remotely.
According to Kayla Brown, a counselor and coordinator at DO-IT, the team prioritized activities that they thought best aligned with the program’s goals and values. This year, they invested a lot of time in a web design workshop. During the workshop, participants worked together in small teams to develop a DO-IT Summer Study 2020 website.
DO-IT students conducting an oceanography experiment during a previous summer study program.
According to Brown, although some activities could not be run remotely, the DO-IT team was able to make a virtual version of “pretty much everything” they typically do. Summer Study normally allows participants to network and build relationships with each other. This year, although students could not meet face to face, they were still able to bond through various optional social activities, including game nights, group lunches, a talent show, and a Zoom meeting where everyone, Burgstahler included, shared their pets. “We tried to do our best to make it fun,” said Brown.
During pre-covid times, DO-IT Scholars were able to network on campus at the University of Washington.
On the academic, career-focused side of the program, participants were still able to meet with, and have one-on-one conversations with faculty via Zoom. In fact, according to Burgstahler, one of the advantages of having the program online was that participants were able to meet with faculty from outside of Seattle. Instead of taking a field trip to the Microsoft campus as they would in a typical year, a panel of Microsoft employees with various disabilities joined the DO-IT Scholars in Zoom for a conversation about how work, school, and entertainment can be inclusive through innovative technology.
DO-IT used Zoom video conferencing software as their primary mode of communication this year; this presented its own challenges. “Logistics were, I wouldn’t say more complicated, just different,” said Burgstahler. Since participants in the program have a variety of disabilities, any software, websites, videos, or other technology resources used in the program need to be fully accessible. Fortunately, DO-IT staff includes some of the world’s leading experts in technology accessibility, so this was an easy transition.
A group of students enjoying Summer Study
Another challenge DO-IT faced when transitioning Summer Study online was keeping students engaged. According to Brown, the first thing the DO-IT team had to consider after deciding to run Summer Study virtually was how many hours a day they could keep students behind a screen. The program is usually very intensive, with the Scholars engaged in activities throughout the day, but that type of engagement can be more difficult to cultivate in the virtual format. “Now they’re at home,” said Brown, “they’re with family, and they have other things they’re doing.” Ultimately, the DO-IT team agreed to reduce the program to a few hours of academic programming per day, with social activities at night. To meet their goals while working with students for less time each day, the team ran the program over three weeks rather than the usual ten days.
Summer study 2013 phase 1 scholar Nicole Madsen and instructor Jeff Stewart participate in EXO Labs.
“Ultimately, even though it wasn’t perfect, what we learned was that things can be done online,” said Brown. At the end of the program, students reported back on their experiences. According to Burgstahler, a lot of them talked about making friends, which shows that Scholars can make the connections DO-IT aims to foster online. Although Burgstahler hopes that the program can be held in-person next year, some of the Scholars have disabilities that make them more vulnerable to COVID-19, so DO-IT must be cautious when deciding whether Summer Study will be held in-person or remotely in 2021.
For more information on the DO-It Scholars Program:
From DO-IT:
The DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) Center is dedicated to empowering people with disabilities through technology and education. It promotes awareness and accessibility—in both the classroom and the workplace—to maximize the potential of individuals with disabilities and make our communities more vibrant, diverse, and inclusive.
NONPROFIT BENEFIT TICKET GIVEAWAYS!
Sign up for our free weekly highlights for the chance to win two tickets terrific nonprofit events! If you “like” us on facebook, or sign up for our weekly news highlights, you’ll be entered to win! Sign up today!
Look for another ticket giveaway soon! Are you a nonprofit looking to bolster your publicity with facebook and tweets? Email us and we’ll run a contest with tickets to your event! [email protected]
