2010 Bend-It Extravaganza Call for Queer Artists

Bend-It is calling for all Queer Artists to be a part of the 2010 Bend-It Extravaganza

We are currently planning our 3 day art festival which will be June 25th-27th in Cal Anderson Park and Hugo House on Capitol Hill. Get the word out there!
We are hoping to showcase some new talents as well as some beloved favorites.

That means all you Acrobats, Singers, Breakers, Jugglers, Storytellers, Burlesquers, Poets, Pop Divas, DJs, Painters, Photographers, Hip Hop Artists, Drag Queens, Dancers, Film Directors, Clowns, Actors, Body Painters, Fashion Designers, Drag Kings, Boylesquers, Zinesters, Ukulele Strummers, Belly Dancers and Rock Bands AND artists! We are especially excited about young, local, and people of color artists.

Check out our website and use the Get Involved section to submit information if you have interest in performing, organizing, or just learning more.

Or, you can contact one of these organizers directly:

Sam - Sam.J.Irish@gmail.com
LT - ltmkt2@gmail.com
Quinn - quinnwyatt@gmail.com
Eden - Ourrainyparade@gmail.com

This year as part of the Bend-It Extravaganza , we will have a table where queer zinesters can leave, or pass out their zines for free. Everyone who contributes is guaranteed free photo copies for work sent in by June 11, so tell all your friends. If you've never written a zine before, but have always wanted to, now is your chance. We are accepting all kinds: lit zines, comics, poetry, adventure stories, cooking, mental health, DIY, etc., but would ask that they be in agreement with our mission statement and values.

Mail your submissions to:

Bend-It
PO Box 20252
Seattle, WA 98102

All submissions must be postmarked by June 11

For more information contact Quinn at
quinnwyatt@gmail.com
and go to benditbandits.org

Bend It is a queer artist activist collective that makes the world a more fabulous place by building welcoming, liberated spaces, strengthening community, and creating meaningful alternatives for queer young people and their friends.

Since 2003, Bend-It has been organizing a three-day arts festival during the weekend of the Seattle Pride Parade in June. We designed our festival as a meaningful, non-corporate, proactively inclusive alternative to Pride, hosting community artists-led workshops, concerts, photography exhibits, film festivals, fashion/drag/burlesque shows, and spoken poetry open mic nights. We have encouraged DIY (do-it-yourself) and DIT (do-it-together) mentalities by offering reciprocal skill-building workshops—as opposed to top-down, one-way interactions.

The Radio8Ball Show, or The Pop Oracle

Michael Upchurch of Seattle Times says "You'll have fun at this show." I wholeheartedly agree, though I might be just a wee bit biased since I've been live-tweeting for them all season. Then again, if I didn't like the show, I wouldn't still be running Radio8Ball's Twitter for them, now would I?

Check Upchurch's article for a good explanation of the show, but the one I nicked off the Radio8Ball Blog works too: it's the show "where questions are answered by picking songs at random and interpreting them like musical tarot cards". It's also group therapy, intentional/unintentional comedy, really New-Agey meaning-making and a really intimate acoustic basement show all rolled into one. It's not for everyone (especially if you're allergic to words like "synchronicity" or "feelings"), but if you're into it after one show, you're hooked.

I certainly am, anyway. And now so is my S.O. after I towed him along to celebrate my upcoming birthday and got my question picked(!) - "Question #5 (me!) How can I help my S.O. realize his dreams? Song answer: Say you love me [by Jenny Jenkins]". It was really the cutest damn thing ever. If you really feel like reading how that particular musical question & answer went, backwards, see below. I gotta warn you, it's pretty mushy.

(happy birthday to me!)

John sez: I love you too - you are my dream.

I say: I love you John Sepulveda!

Andras sez that sometimes all you need is to realize your dreams and get thru life is someone who believes in you and loves you

trying to understand her S.O.'s language of love

Jenny sez that this song is about

I dont' know much about being stable/ but thanks for cleaning up after me /sorry I'm not making any money

When you're gone I go neurotic/ now you're back it feels exotic about

Question #5 (me!) How can I help my SO realize his dreams? Answer: Say you love me

Call to Artists: Capitol Hill Station Wall Project - Roster of Artists

This particular call to artists is of very personal interest to me. I live not too far away from the station site and wish to be treated to challenging, boundaries-pushing, world-class art on a daily basis. I'll also be on the selection committee (I got to help pick DK Pan as lead artist! So cool!), so I really want a great group to choose from. And, yes, I also happen to like Broadway and wish the best of financial success on its businesses, and I do believe that great art on the construction wall can do a lot to keep foot traffic from abandoned the street in droves.

So, tell all your awesome artist friends who do large scale, edgy work to send in an application. The future of Broadway and my viewing pleasure depend on it.