Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition celebrations are kicking into gear

Posted by: Karin Hoffman, Communications

This year Seattle is celebrating the centennial of the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (AYPE), a world’s fair that showcased the resources of the region and celebrated the development resulting from the 1897 Yukon Gold Rush. The fair was held on the University of Washington campus, and while only three original buildings from AYP remain – Architecture Hall, Cunningham Hall and the Engineering Annex – much of the landscape designed by Richard Charles Olmstead is still recognizable.
From April to May volunteers from the Friends of Seattle’s Olmstead Parks will be giving tours that highlight Olmstead’s vision to create a campus in which "the magnificent views...will...be by far the greatest features...” Anyone who has sat at Drummheller fountain on a clear, sunny day and taken in the view of Mount Rainer would agree. It’s magnificent!

The tours will take place on the last Saturday of every month and start at 10 am at the Burke Museum. The 90 minute tours are free, but registration is required. For more information check out the Web site for Friends of Seattle’s Olmstead Parks.

Local artists invited to submit to Puget Sound, I Love You contest

As a natural history and culture museum, the Burke values art as much as we value our local environment. So I was pleased to hear about this contest, which helps connect the two. From the folks at People For Puget Sound and the La Conner Seaside Gallery:

People For Puget Sound and the La Conner Seaside Gallery invite local artists to enter the Puget Sound—I Love You art contest and to have their entries exhibited at Seaside Gallery June 6-15.
The contest welcomes entries in photography, painting and sculpture depicting activities related to actions protecting and restoring Puget Sound.

Entries will be judged by a regional panel and entries will be exhibited during a two-week Puget Sound—I Love You celebration at the La Conner Seaside Gallery. Entries can be submitted through May at locations in Olympia, Seattle and Mount Vernon.

“It’s exciting for People For Puget Sound to be organizing a regional art contest for citizens to share what they love about Puget Sound and individual actions they are taking to restore Puget Sound,” said Britta Eschete of People For Puget Sound.

“The months of April and May are filled with community opportunities—but you don’t even have to travel out of your own backyard to participate. Everywhere in Puget Sound is connected to Puget Sound, so share what you are doing—along the water’s edge or in your garden— to ‘Save Our Sound.’”

According to Jana Turner, volunteer art contest organizer, “This art contest is an opportunity to showcase this beautiful area we live in, while helping people understand how we as a conscious community can make a difference to help the Orca whales and the Sound.”

"The dynamics of the Puget Sound ecosystem has played an important role in my life,” said Mark Conley of the La Conner Seaside Gallery. “I have enjoyed scuba diving and many wonderful family activities in and around the Sound. I am pleased to be a sponsor of this year's benefit art exhibit and to help further the efforts of People For Puget Sound."

Complete entry rules and event information are at www.pugetsound.org/events/iloveps

Get outside and write something every day!

Posted by: David Williams

“I am grateful and happy. The workshop blew the top off of my head,” was one comment heard at the Burke seminar called Environmental Writer’s Workshop: Inspire, Observe, Inhabit. The April 11, all-day program brought together three local writers, Lyanda Haupt, Jourdan Keith, and Coll Thrush, to discuss writing and the relationship between people and place in the urban landscape. Joining them were 42 participants from around Puget Sound.

The day began at the Burke with a discussion where the instructors shared stories about their writing and inspiration. We learned that Coll has a goal to “disorient people;” that Lyanda “witnesses stories through animal tracks and song;” and that Jourdan has “landscape tattoed inside me.” A lively, thought-provoking conversation explored the difference between environmental writing and classic nature writing, along with history, race, and making connections. Following the talk, participants worked with one instructor both in and outside of the museum.

Keeping with the goal of getting everyone out into the environment, the workshop moved to the Center for Urban Horticulture (CUH) for the afternoon. Again, the participants worked with one instructor, each of whom took a different approach. Jourdan used haiku and haibun, a combination of haiku and prose that focuses on everyday experiences. A highlight of Lyanda’s class was considering one’s quirks as a way to inform one’s writing. Coll took a longer approach, asking participants to think about writings about the CUH property by surveyors from the 1860s and from Japanese truck farmers from the 1920s. The workshop ended with several participants sharing what they had written during the day.

The program was made possible through the Rebecca S. and Robert M. Benton Endowed Fund. Planning is already underway for next year’s workshop encouraged in part by one participant’s final thought, “Get outside and write something every day!”

Burke collections enhanced by community support

Posted by: Karin Hoffman, Communications

Are you a lover of Washington plants and lichens? Do you love to take pictures? Do you love taking pictures of plants? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then check out this fabulous Burke herbarium Web site where you can contribute your own photos and share botanical knowledge with the world!

The Burke Museum’s WTU Image Collection Web site is truly a resource that has been built by the community. According to Richard Olmstead, curator of botany at the Burke Museum, “this kind of access enhances the value of our collections and gets the public involved in a way that is different from most of our other outreach efforts.”

Thanks to all who have contributed to the Web-based herbarium collection at the Burke! And a special thanks to David Giblin, herbarium collections manager and Ben Legler for creating an open forum for community participation.

Lilium columbianum, Columbian lily. Photo taken by Tim Hagan, 2004.

Earth Day!

Posted by: Sarah Tollefson, Operations Manager (and Burke Sustainability Action Committee chairwoman)

Every day is earth day, but the official 39th annual Earth Day is coming soon on Wednesday April 22nd, 2009. The Burke Museum challenges you to do one green thing and make it part of your daily life.

There are many fabulous happenings all over town this weekend as well as on the day proper. You can get out and active with a work party in the Arboretum and Climate Day for Kids at the Olympic Sculpture Park. Or, enrich yourself sedentarily with all-day environmental programming on UWTV.

On the UW campus, the Earth Day Melange is on Wednesday the 22nd. The UW Green Coalition, a network of environmental student groups at the UW, is organizing the main celebration on campus.

• 10am-2pm – Fair on the Hub Lawn: Free food, music, booths, green art gallery, electric car.

• 10am-2pm – Electric Car Show in Red Square: Display provided by Seattle Electric Vehicle Association.

• 3-5pm – Social at the Waterfront Activities Center: Connect with fellow environmentally-minded people and enjoy free food.

• 6pm – Guest Speaker & Film in Odegaard 220: Jerry Heinlen CEO of Yakima Products, Inc., followed by a screening of The 11th Hour.

More Earth Day happenings:

• via Grist magazine: http://www.grist.org/article/2009-03-15-celebrate-earth-week-seattle/

• via WA Dept of Ecology: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/earthday/2009events.htm

• via Earth Share: http://www.esw.org/event/2009/04/18/day/all/all/1

Happy Earth Everybody!

Discovering Seattle's past through maps

Posted by: Karin Hoffman, Communications

150 years ago Pioneer Square in downtown Seattle was a lagoon and thought of as the best place to catch flounders. Early settlers quickly realized that flat, and dry land for that matter, was a limited resource. After 1853 Seattle’s early pioneers slowly started filling the lagoon with whatever they could find: sawdust from Yesler’s Mill, building remains from the Great Fire of 1889, gravel and garbage. These materials formed the foundation from which Seattle was born.

How do we know this? Through research using maps, illustrations, photographs, and written historical accounts, most of which are held in the public domain.

So what is the connection to the Burke? The Waterline’s Project! An interdisciplinary team, lead by Peter Lape, Burke curator of archaeology, Amir Sheikh, staff member on the Puget Sound River History Project, and Donald Fels, a researching artist have developed The Waterline’s Project to explore how Seattle’s landscape has changed over time. The Waterline’s Project is a fascinating way to explore the history of Seattle through maps.

The project website , which was recently posted on the Burke’s homepage, is just the first step in providing the public with a unique way of examining the history of Seattle. In addition to the new website the team is currently in the planning stage of creating outdoor exhibits, electronic broadcasts for handheld devices, and an installation of lines in Pioneer Square marking past shorelines.

Check it out!


Photo: Bird's eye view of the city of Seattle, Puget Sound, Washington Territory, 1878. A.L. Bancroft & Co., lithographersDrawn by E.S. GloverLibrary of Congress Geography and Map Division, Washington, D.C

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Posted by: Karin Hoffman, Communications

Spring is seen as a time of renewal and growth. Robins singing at dawn, the green tips of tulips emerging from the soil, and apple blossoms are just a few of my favorite indicators of spring. As is usually the case in the Pacific Northwest, this week spring made a brief appearance before hiding behind the gray skies and April showers we are more accustomed to. I made sure to take advantage of this weather treat (and absorb some much needed vitamin D) and headed outside to see spring in action.

I immediately wished I had brought a plant guide book with me. I found myself wanting to know the names of plants with beautiful drooping magenta flowers and delicate yellow flowers. Although one plant that I was able to identify, thanks to its’ distinctive smell, was skunk cabbage. So everyone get out there and enjoy spring and don’t forget your favorite plant guide book. You never know what you’ll run into!

Also, over the next few weeks make sure to check out the cherry tree blossoms located in the Quad of UW’s Seattle campus. AMAZING!

There are a number of helpful guides out there (I find Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast very useful) and make sure to check out the Burke’s Herbarium division which has a number of great resources.

Bridging the Gap

Posted by: Karin Hoffman, Communications

I had the pleasure to sit down and speak with Edwin Martinez, third-generation coffee farmer from Guatemala and owner of Onyx Coffee, about the importance of connecting those who produce coffee with those who consume it. Edwins' passion for coffee stems from his experiences working in every aspect of the coffee chain, from picking ripe cherries to exporting green coffee beans. The photos featured in this video are from his families farm, Finca Vista Hermosa. I hope you enjoy.