First Thursday – What You Missed

You should be embarrassed if you’re reading this because you saw the “what you missed” part in the title and you thought “what DID I miss?” But just in case you have a good excuse, here are some photos from First Thursday in Pioneer Square:

The Nord Alley Party VI — people crammed the alley to look at the Green Alley competition entries, enjoy the food, listen to a jazz band, and to see the spot through one of the alley doors where Washington CASH will be setting up their new retail space next month (check them out, they’re an incredible company).

Sally Clark (City Council) announced the winners of the Green Alley competition: LMN won the grand prize and people’s choice. The only thing I remember about their entry is they had grass and called it an “iAlley.” Sadly, I didn’t take pics of the competition entries, so you’ll have to wait until ISI updates their site.

My favorite entry that night wasn’t even an official entry because it was done by the UW Green Futures lab last year. They had 3 months to create submissions for activating alleys in Seattle and had some really great ideas.

Unfortunately, this was only a design competition, and the entries won’t actually be installed in any alleys. That hasn’t stopped Todd Vogel of ISI, however — they have worked tirelessly to find new ways to change how alleys in Pioneer Square are used.

After leaving the alley competition, we walked through Art in the Park to check out the different vendors. I normally take pictures of the art to share, but will instead share photos of these these two gorgeous necklaces that I couldn’t resist.

The first one is by Monika Wysocki, a local artist from Lynnwood who has a booth at First Thursday every month and sells a variety of necklaces and scarves.

The second is from “Jewelry by Joy” and you can find her etsy shop here.

After leaving Occidental, we were on our way to the six19 Western Ave Arts building when I happened to glance over and see that the Delicatus (pronounced del-i-kot-uhs) looked open. I’ve been laughing at their website because it keeps changing from “Coming January 2010!” to “Coming February 2010!” to it’s current: “Coming March 2010!”

After talking with one of the owners (helpfully pointed out below), he said that they are waiting for the overworked health inspector, who should inspect them today. If that happens, they will finally be open mid-week next week.

The even better news is not that they have great seating on their second floor, or that they will have free wifi, or even that if you come in 3 times a day, “it will be a different experience,” but that on Thurs, Fri and Sat, they are planning on staying open until 10pm. Finally! More food options for the residents in the evenings.

We wanted to make it to six19 before the studios started closing, because we didn’t want to miss Jen Vertz’s display of photographs of homeless in Pioneer Square. I also would have taken photos of her event, but it was so incredibly crowded in the building, I don’t think I could have managed to squeeze my camera out of my purse.

Walking around Pioneer Square yesterday helps me forget some of my frustrations about our neighborhood. The square was packed with people who couldn’t wait to explore what our neighborhood has to share. And yet people leave and kind of forget what an incredible experience it was and go back to thinking that it’s unsafe and unpleasant.

I choose to hold on to sights like this image of Occidental Mall that remind me of all of the potential in my neighborhood and to plan for when there are this many people walking around daily, instead of just for special events.