February e-news
Sharing our stories. Strengthening our communities.
What's new at Window Seat?
COMMUNITY ROOTS
Exhibit Opening & Event Series
Thursday, February 8th, 5 - 7:00 p.m. Program at 6:15 p.m.
Olympia Timberland Library
FREE for all ages. Come join!
- Olympia Timberland Library, 313 Eighth Ave S.E., Olympia.
- Intercity Transit Routes 60 & 64
Join Window Seat Media for the opening of our Community Roots Exhibit! Learn more about the stories and project. Community Roots is a community oral history project that shares stories about how people come together to make change and create new possibilities for themselves and their neighbors. Since January 2023, a small team of community researchers have been gathering oral histories about three important local spaces – the Liberation Cafe, Camp Quixote, and Driftwood Daycare. Research ideas came to us from our cohort, who had personal interest and connections to these stories. Come experience the stories through an interactive exhibit and discussion with project participants. Snacks provided.
DOCUMENTING OURSELVES
an oral history workshop for families and communities
Saturday, February 17th, 2 - 5:00 p.m.
The Liberation Collective
Ages 16 and up. Please register.
- The Liberation Collective at the YWCA Friendship Hall
- 220 Union Ave. in downtown Olympia
- Intercity Transit Route 13 or 60
- Sliding scale, access-for-all: $10-$200 (actual cost $60 per person)
This interactive workshop is for community members interested in learning an oral history process and tools for documenting their family or community stories. We’ll practice our listening skills, consider how to spark memories, make a meaningful connections through the interview process, learn recording techniques and technology, and explore ethical considerations of recording other peoples’ stories. Participants leave with skills and confidence to carry out an oral history interview with a loved one. Snacks provided.
PLACES WHERE I BELONG
a Playback Theatre Performance with Brave Practice Theatre Collective
Thursday, February 29th, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
OYAA Stage at Olmypia Family Theater
All ages. Please register.
- OYAA Stage at Olympia Family Theater
- 612 4th Ave E. in downtown Olympia
- Intercity Transit Route 66 East
- Sliding scale, access-for-all: $0-100 (actual cost $20 per person)
Join Brave Practice Playback Theatre Collective for a conversation through storytelling and theatre. What does “access-for-all” mean? When are moments and experiences of finding spaces of belonging locally? While the world is fraught with scarcity and division, how can we root ourselves more deeply in community and collaboration? Come experience the magic of Playback Theatre with Window Seat’s team of theatre artists. Share stories and see them played back artistically on the spot. Let’s have a dialog about community spaces.
WE NEED SPACE!
a collaborative zine-making workshop
Saturday, March 2nd, 2 - 5:00 p.m.
Olympia Timberland Library
FREE. Ages 10 and up. Come join!
- Olympia Timberland Library, 313 Eighth Ave S.E.
- Intercity Transit Route 64
Our need for affordable spaces to live, work, and gather is a common thread in our Community Roots oral history narratives, and it continues today as Thurston County continues to experience rising rental and real estate costs. In this zine-making workshop, participants will work with prompts centered around the importance of access to affordable spaces to create a collaborative zine. Led by local organizer and librarian, Kelsey Smith. All materials are provided, and no zine-making experience is required.
Project Sponsors
Community Roots is made possible through sponsorships, in-kind contributions, and donations from people like you! If you love our work, we welcome donations large and small. Please consider subscribing to our Friends of Community Storytelling program to show your support.
Mark your Calendars!
February Creativity Salon
Tuesday, February 13th from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
The Liberation Collective at YWCA Friendship Hall
Access-for-all. Open to artists and storytellers of all-ages who can benefit! Subscribe to our Friends of Community Storytelling Program to support.
Come learn from and with other artists. Work on a creative project, build skills in your chosen artistic practice and gain insight from other creatives during your process. We're hosting a space to support community members engaging in creativity. Bring a storytelling project in your chosen medium that you want to work on in a group setting - memoir-writing, poetry, script-writing, composing, painting, audio editing, collaging, cross-stitch, or something else. Sessions will have a mix of dedicated creative work time and peer-to-peer process sharing guided by Window Seat hosts.
Our goal is to support our community's capacity to tell our own stories. We are all knowledge-holders. When we create opportunities to cultivate collective wisdom through intergenerational conversations and peer-to-peer sharing, we can more readily tackle the challenges of today and imagine the possibilities of tomorrow.
Bravery & Belonging with Brave Practice
Saturday, March 9th, 2 - 4:30 p.m.
Briggs Community YMCA
All-ages. Register or just show up!
- 2-3 P.M. - PERFORMANCE, 3:15 to 4:30 P.M. - WORKSHOP
- Briggs YMCA, Large Multipurpose Room
- 1530 Yelm Highway SE, Olympia, WA 98501
- FREE and by donation!
Join Brave Practice Playback Theatre Collective for a community reflection through storytelling and theatre. How do we live out these shared values of caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility? What does it take to step into a new space for the first time? How have you experienced being welcomed into this community? Where do bravery and belonging fit in your own journey? Stay for both the performance and workshop, or just the performance. Practice bravery in community in the way that makes sense for you on the day. No previous theatre experience is necessary!
