Arts in the South End: February 2025 Roundup

Though it's the shortest month of the year, February is low-key one of the bleakest times in winter. We've been hit with the post-holiday blues in January only to have to fight through more cold and unending gray. However! The scariness outside must be met with resolve — there has never been a more needed time to show up, support, and uplift our community. This month, there is much to celebrate — Black history, art and films by Indigenous artists, and talks with boundary-pushing writers and thinkers. Go out, listen, and learn something during these next 28 days.

Think we missed something? Let us know at Arts@SeattleEmerald.org.

Feb. 1–28, 11a.m.–7 p.m.
Columbia City Theater
4916 Rainier Ave. S.

It's Black History Month and Rainier Avenue Radio is back with their Call to Conscience exhibition. Roll through their Columbia City Theater digs to check out installations about the Seattle Black Panther Party, a Quincy Jones memorial, the Hartsfield Family Enslaved Quilt Collection, and more.

Feb. 6–March 22
ArtX Contemporary
512 1st Ave. S.

For this month's First Thursday Pioneer Square Art Walk, ArtX Contemporary is showcasing a diverse range of paintings by Indigenous Australian artists in a show called The Creation Circle: Aboriginal Art and Time. Gallery director Cora Edmonds had this to say in the show's press release:

"The concept of 'cycles' is intrinsic to Aboriginal worldviews. This exhibition brings to life the way Indigenous Australian people experience time — not as a linear progression, but as a continuous, interconnected circle, where land, ancestors, and creation stories are all part of this living, breathing cycle."

Feb. 6–27
4Culture Gallery
101 Prefontaine Place S.

Also on First Thursday Pioneer Square Art Walk, be sure to catch the talented Ric'kisha Taylor's show, Gleaming, over at 4Culture Gallery. Her bedazzled montages/collages consist of materials and fabric meant to catch your eye, commenting on Black identity and self-expression. Keep your eyes peeled for an interview I'm doing with Ric'kisha very soon!

Feb. 8, 11 a.m.–3 p.m.
Seattle Chinese Garden
6000 16th Ave. SW

Go celebrate the Lunar New Year with the good folks over at the Seattle Chinese Garden at South Seattle College! There will be crafts, demonstrations, and music. Note that the event is free, but there is a $6 suggested donation.

Feb. 9, 8–12 p.m.
Seward Park

There's nothing like a half marathon to get your blood pumping for Valentine's Day. The My Better Half Marathon takes place along Lake Washington Boulevard and in Seward Park with the option to run three distances: 5 km, 10 km, and a half marathon as well as a half marathon relay. In addition to post-race food, there will be a large heated tent, race shirts, and aid stations every 2–3 miles. Walkers are welcome!

Feb. 11, 8 p.m.
The Clock-Out Lounge
4864 Beacon Ave. S.

I love reading and listening to my former Stranger colleague, writer, and filmmaker Charles Mudede wax poetic about any subject — Afrofuturism, Black cops in movies, clouds. And in the spirit of Valentine's Day, Mudede and historian Daudi Abe will be speaking about romance in the world of rap, dissecting and discussing love stories told across rhymes with DJ Vitamin D spinning some tunes. Feast on pizza and ponder desire told through hip-hop. Maybe prepare yourself with A Tribe Called Quest's "Bonita Applebum."

Feb. 16–22
Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center
S. Bernie Whitebear Way

Daybreak Star Radio's first annual Winter Indigenous Film Showcase is a weeklong celebration of Indigenous storytelling and will feature a mix of short films, feature films, and documentaries by established and emerging Indigenous talent. Check out the full roster of films over on their website.

Feb. 18
Benaroya Hall
200 University St.

Ta-Nehisi Coates' latest nonfiction book, The Message, reckons with race and oppression through the lens of writing. Over the past several years, he's traveled far-flung corners of the globe (Dakar; Columbia, SC; and Palestine) to thread disparate struggles together to try to understand the stories we tell and how we tell them. The book has faced significant backlash concerning his support of Palestinian liberation and how Israel's colonial treatment of Palestine directly echoes the systemic oppression of Jim Crow in America. While we've all long missed the opportunity to get IRL tickets to what I'm sure will be an enlightening talk, Seattle Arts and Lectures is streaming the discussion on their website.

Feb. 21–23
Theatre Off Jackson
409 7th Ave. S.

Written and starring performer Kathryn Seabron, Angry Black Woman 101 is a one-woman show that explores the realities of misogynoir drawn from Seabron's own experiences working at a Bay Area nonprofit.

Feb. 22, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.
Northwest African American Museum
2300 S. Massachusetts St.

For Black History Month, the Northwest African American Museum is hosting a pop-up market and displays from Black artists as well as guided tours of their latest exhibition, panels about the history of Black art in the PNW, and food.

Feb. 22, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.
Hing Hay Park
423 Maynard Ave. S.

Go celebrate the Lunar New Year in the Chinatown-International District's Hing Hay Park on Feb. 22. There will be dance performances and music throughout the day as well as a food walk with delicious menu items from businesses located in the neighborhood.

Feb. 27, 7–8:10 p.m.
Central Library
1000 4th Ave.

Writer Omar El Akkad is coming to Seattle in support of his nonfiction debut, One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, which directly is a chronicle of the realization that in the West "there will always be entire groups of human beings it has never intended to treat as fully human," specifically as it relates to Israel's ongoing destruction of Palestine. El Akkad will be joined for a discussion led by author and activist Ijeoma Oluo.