SOU’WESTER EVENTS!

S P E C I A L   K I D S   S H O W

Mr. Ben!!!

Mr. Ben plays live music for kids and families in and around Portland, OR. His shows are the perfect blend of entertainment and education. Your child can participate as much or as little as they choose — they are free to explore new musical ideas and concepts at their own pace and in their own way.

So when you come to a Mr. Ben show, you can feel good about the fact that you are taking an active role in your child’s cognitive development, laying the foundation for their musical education, and helping to dispel the myth that only some people have musical potential. Who knew you could do all that just by attending a live children’s music show?

www.mrbenmusic.com

This event is free, all ages, and open to the public!

Art Exhibit

We’ve Never Met Before Today

by artists Becca Van K and Andrew Cortes
August 9 through November 3, 2019

A new art exhibit in a vintage travel trailer turned into a permanent art gallery, at The Sou’wester Lodge

‘We’ve Never Met Before Today’ is an exhibition featuring sensory textiles and fiber landscapes by east coast artist Becca Van K and sculpture-like mosaic-based work by west coast artist Andrew Cortes. This show will also include collaborations in needlepoint and mosaics between these two artists who share similar themes and were brought together by residencies at the Sou’wester that spurred them to become creative partners in this exhibition.

“We’ve Never Met Before Today is the result of two Sou’wester artists-in-residence’s Instagram connection in the immediate aftermath of their respective times at the Lodge in the winter of 2018. Like ships in the night (Cortes one week, Van K the next), the artists never had the opportunity to meet in person, but serendipitously found each other on social media through Sou’wester posts. The two have formed a kinship and collaborative relationship through their mutual reverence for each other’s work. Until the show’s installation, they have never met in person, as Cortes is a resident of Los Angeles, CA, and Van K is from New York’s Hudson Valley. Shipping works from coast to coast, they work together to create elaborate studies in spiritual, meditative repetition and love for the natural world. Each piece contains mosaic mementos from Cortes’s travels and each Van K needlepoint is directly inspired by a landscape that she has visited. This exhibition is a combination of individual works and collaborations.”

OPENING RECEPTION on Friday August 9, 6pm-9pm.

OPEN: Fri/Sat/Sun 9am-9pm (and by request: visit the lodge front desk and we’ll open the gallery for you)

Art Gallery & Opening Reception free and open to the public.

Becca Van K (b. 1991, Chicago) is a mixed media artist based in New York’s Hudson Valley. Her work is highly sensory, with a strong focus on tactile comfort, the sounds of house & techno music, and vibrant colors & patterns which she explores through various handcraft and fiber art methods. Listening exclusively to dance music mixes when working puts her in a repetitious, meditative rhythm through which she transcribes her sensorial experiences. Her work has most recently been exhibited at Basilica Hudson’s 24-HOUR DRONE (Hudson, NY), Trestle Gallery (Brooklyn, NY), Geoffrey Young Gallery (Great Barrington, MA), Hastings College (Hastings, NE), and Paradice Palase (Brooklyn, NY). Torn between city nightlife and the woods of the Catskill Mountains, she’d only leave New York if there were techno clubs in the desert.

Andrew Philip Cortes is a first generation Southern California Native, who in growing up split his time between the rural suburbs near rolling cow pasture hills where his parents settled and the city of Los Angeles. He attended University at California State Long Beach followed by a move to New York City where he lived and worked in Gowanus, Brooklyn for several years expanding his creative vision into woodwork, installation, and sound art. Upon his return to Los Angeles, he came full circle settling in the neighborhood of Cypress Park, where his family had immigrated to in the 60’s. His practice was re-imagined in his grandfathers old workshed and does not shy away from a deep often spiritual like connection to his past and its entanglement with the natural world. A marriage of painting, sculpture, mosaic, and textile materials, his reference points for his work grows from ongoing travels through the west coast of America, the deserts, mountains, and forests he explores collecting stones, driftwood, and taking photographs as he travels. He has developed a system in which he is even able to work on sculpture while on the road to directly be able to connect with his surroundings on site. Ultimately though, his traveling ideas materialize fully when they make their way back to his studio and abode where their energies find a new home to live. Andrew lives and works in Los Angeles, California with his two cats Mosh and Peatree. He spends his time surfing and rock climbing when he’s not in his studio always adhering to a strict code of pursuing the fleeting moment.

This trailer is a 1960’s Aloha made in Aloha, Oregon. It was rescued from a neglected RV park in the northern part of the Long Beach Peninsula. Now repaired and transformed into an art space, this art gallery is part of our Artist Residency Program and our non-profit organization, Sou’wester Arts.

Spring/Summer 2019 Workshop Series

How the Light Gets In with instructor Suzie Kassouf

It can feel unbearable to carry the pain of our world in this unprecedented era of social upheaval and ecological destruction. Luckily, the task of tending to our broken world can infuse us with life-affirming purpose, connection and joy. Through vinyasa, meditation, group activities and time spent in nature, we will learn to honor our pain as a precious signifier of our compassion and care for our world. Most importantly, we will develop in ourselves a robust and muscular hope, rooted in the very unpredictability of these times. Leonard Cohen implores us, “ring the bells that still can ring/ forget your perfect offering/ there is a crack in everything/ that’s how the light gets in.” I look forward to sharing this with you.

Suzie Kassouf is an educator, yoga instructor and climate justice activist. After 10 years of personal practice, she completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training at The People’s Yoga with Suniti Dernovsek in 2018. She has worked extensively on multiple campaigns including Bernie Sanders’ 2016 Presidential Run and the 2018 Portland Clean Energy Fund. Suzie believes strongly that our world is desperate for healing on multiple levels, and that true liberation can be found in community and service to others. She is passionate about marrying activism and spirituality and strives to courageously live the path of nonviolence in her life and work.

COST: sliding scale $40, $30, or $20

BRING:Pen, paper, yoga mat and a reusable bag. Please wear clothes comfortable for practicing yoga, walking on the beach and in the woods, and sitting for meditation. *optional: meditation cushion, blanket, yoga props. Sharing food is a powerful tool for deepening connection and building community. Please bring a dish to share as you are willing and able as well as an individual plate/bowl and utensils. Hot tea and coffee provided.

12 students max.

RSVP: souwesterfrontdesk@gmail.com or 360-642-2542 between 9am-9pm

The Sou’wester Lodge at 3728 J Place, Seaview, WA 98644

This class is part of the Spring/Summer 2019 Workshop Series. All classes are open to the public and all skill levels welcome. Visit www.souwesterlodge.com/art/workshops to see the full schedule of artist-led workshops.

Following the release of his latest album, Pearls to Swine, and his I Came to Sing the Song EP, both via Fat Possum in 2016 and 2017 respectively, Adam Torres has established himself as a powerful and poignant performer and songwriter. His explorations find him sitting equally within psych-folk and indie, and flavored by his affinity for his family’s roots in the U.S. Southwest. The resulting music offers deep, introspective journeys, both intimate and memorable.

This event is free, all ages, and open to the public!

Spring/Summer 2019 Workshop Series

Carve a Wooden Spoon: A Carving and Green Woodworking Workshop with Emilie Rigby

canceled – Learn to safely use a myriad of hand tools in order to carve your own wooden spoon! In this class we will be splitting logs of freshly cut wood and using hatchets and knives to carve them into beautiful and useful objects. You will leave this class with a spoon and enough knowledge to continue the craft. Tools available for purchase at the end of class.

Emilie Rigby is a self-proclaimed “crazy spoon lady.” She carved her first spoon 8 years ago, while sitting around a campfire with some friends. After 4 hours she had a very ugly spoon and some blisters to show for her effort. She realized that she had spent those four hours living completely in the moment. 8 years and thousands of spoons later, she is teaching others how to carve so that they too can live in the moment. These days, you can find her in Portland, OR driving around in her camper van and picking up logs from development sites to turn into spoons. 

COST: $30 plus a $10 materials fee (Please pay material fee directly to the instructor.)

BRING:water and a journal, please bring a sack lunch and/or snack (Hot tea and coffee provided.)

This workshop is for students age 13 and up. Minors need to be accompanied by an adult. 15 students max.

RSVP: souwesterfrontdesk@gmail.com or 360-642-2542 between 9am-9pm

The Sou’wester Lodge at 3728 J Place, Seaview, WA 98644

This class is part of the Spring/Summer 2019 Workshop Series. All classes are open to the public and all skill levels welcome. Visit www.souwesterlodge.com/art/workshops to see the full schedule of artist-led workshops.

Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Scott Taylor, crafts ethereal folk tinged with country funk & plastic soul influences. Following the disbandment of No Go Know, New Victorian sprouted roots as a pointed downshift into nuanced reflection. Self-recorded over a period of several years in between duties as a husband, father and mental health social worker, “High Mass,” presents a resonant song cycle detailing loss and reformation.

New Victorian are currently prepping two EPs for release in 2019, while continuing to tour throughout the Pacific Northwest.

This event is free, all ages, and open to the public!

Shag Rock!!

Sallie Ford, Maria Kohler and Amanda Spring present their latest rock n roll outfit!!

This event is free, all ages, and open to the public!

Noah Kite shapes pop, jazz, and classical influences to accent folk’s lyrical poignancy. This chambered folk-rock uses its roots in a childhood of Ravel, Sade, Van Morrison, Enya, and Steely Dan to make melodic and poetic sense of experiences teaching, traveling, and touring abroad. While these dynamically orchestrated dramas find an expansively symphonic home on the record, in live settings arrangements are distilled to their essential workings; Kite’s guitar and voice are laced by the haunting oboe of Laura Gershman, the eclectic percussion of Alan Cook, and the emotive cello of Esme Schwall to deliver each tune its own life.
http://noahkite.com/

This event is free, all ages, and open to the public!

Fall/Winter 2019 Workshop Series

Sandalmaking with Rachel Sees Snails Shoes

We’ll explore every step of the sandal-making process, starting off by customizing trusted patterns to suit your own feet and design preferences. (Any design is possible: tying sandals, buckling sandals, or slides.) Then we’ll cut and assemble the leather pieces, paying close attention to fit and attach to a cushiony rubber sole. I’ll bring a wide selection of leather colors to choose from. You’ll be able to design and make any sandal as long as it has an open toe and an open heel. This class is hard work: be prepared to use utility knives, adhesive, hammers, wooden mallets, shoe anvils, and to get barefoot! The best part is, you’ll be able to replicate the process later on your own, with only a few basic tools.

My name is Rachel Corry and I make sandals and shoes in Portland, Oregon. I’ve been teaching sandal classes for 9 years. I believe that learning to make sandals is a great first step if you’re interested in making your own shoes. My brand, Rachel Sees Snail Shoes, began in 2010. Meeting a clogmaker in the UK first sparked my interest in shoemaking but it wasn’t until a fire in my apartment burned all my shoes (!) that I set out to learn to make my own, working to replace my favorite sandals one pair at a time. I drew upon the wisdom of various shoemakers, cobblers, and old books to help me along my way.

photo by Airyka Rockefeller

RACHEL SEES SNAIL SHOES makes simple, modern sandals- one pair at a time. RSSS believes in sustainable choices, working small, and empowering people to make their own shoes. Rather than creating just more products for the consumer market, I hope to make unique shoes that have a personal connection to their wearer. Whether you’ve made your own shoes in my class, or collaborated with me on a custom pair, I want my shoes to stand out as wearable art objects worn with pride and a knowledge of how they were constructed.

COST: $150 plus $100 materials fee (Please pay material fee directly to the instructor.) *SPECIAL NOTE: This class requires a deposit of $150 at the time of registration. Please no cancellations. If a student must cancel and does so before August 14th 50% of deposit will be returned. If the workshop is canceled for any reason we will refund 100% of the deposit to all students.

BRING: Wearing easy to slip on/off shoes is helpful. All supplies provided. Please bring a sack lunch and/or snack for lunch break around 1pm. Coffee and tea provided.

This workshop is for students age 15 years and up. 3 students min, 6 students max.

RSVP: via 360-642-2542 between 9am-9pm *Please be ready to pay a deposit of $150 at time of RSVP.

The Sou’wester Lodge at 3728 J Place, Seaview, WA 98644

This class is part of the Fall/Winter 2019 Workshop Series. All classes are open to the public and all skill levels welcome. Visit www.souwesterlodge.com/art/workshops to see the full schedule of artist-led workshops.

Mouth Painter’s music is an exploration of an alternate, exotic form of “New Country”. The foundation of Mouth Painter is the partnership/dichotomy of Barry Walker Jr. and Valerie Osterberg. Barry was raised in middle Tennessee where music abounded. He has played rock and roll, bluegrass, straight country, and experimental/new-age/ambient music. Valerie grew up in an isolated community in North Dakota where she learned to sing close harmony with her twin sister and play classical flute. Early Mouth Painter performances found Barry and Valerie simply singing together with acoustic guitar and flute accompaniment. Slowly, the more experimental side of their interests crept into the mix–Barry’s tectonic pedal steel guitar, and Valerie’s Flamstyle Music involving the formulation of synthetic natural sounds (the Hawaiian jungle, a buoy rocking in the ocean, meteorite impacts, etc.) using a variety of instruments. Since 2017, Jason Willmon has brought the low end on bass guitar. Over the past few years, Mouth Painter has shared the stage with Michael Hurley, Marisa Anderson, Little Wings, Howlin’ Rain, Lavender Country, Dragging an Ox Through Water, and Ralph White among others. 

https://snakehandlerrecordings.wordpress.com/mouth-painter/

This event is free, all ages, and open to the public!