Past Programs

Held each November, this event featured unique 8″ x 8″ pieces of art created by local artists priced at $40+ each. The event ran 2007-2023.

The event was held for years at the Burien Community Center, 14700 6th Avenue SW, Burien, and included food, a band, and a raffle. About 490 people attended the 2019 event at the Center.

For 2022, Vision 20/20 became Vision 2022 then Vision 2023 the next year. Featuring over 50 artists who created 8″ x 8″ art works for the occasion, the in-person event was held at the SeaTac Community Center, Banquet Room, 13735 24th Avenue South, SeaTac, WA, on November 19, 2022 and on November 18, 2023.

There were appetizers, wine, and live music as well as a silent auction. These were dress-up events; some attendees wore elaborate costumes, others wore evening clothes.

In 2019, Burien Arts sponsored an Arts and Crafts section as part of the Burien’s Strawberry Days annual street fair in Town Square and along 152nd Street.

Artists could rent a 10′ x 10′ booth space for $50.00 at the Discover Burien website and leave the booth canopy in place for both days of the fair.

Strawberry Days was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

Burien Arts ran a strawberry shortcake booth every June in Town Square during the annual Burien Strawberry Days town festival for many years through 2018.   The booth was located in the center of Town Square during Strawberry Days and was a major fundraiser for our programs. Burien Arts was the only food vendor allowed to sell a strawberry item and the booth was very popular. The shortcakes were delicious.

Strawberry Days was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

Burien Arts participated in the First Friday Music & Art Walk, hosted by Discover Burien and the B-Town Beat. This took place on the first Friday in Burien downtown businesses on 152nd, 153rd, and in Seahurst during the warmer months. Our exhibits at the Highline Heritage Museum, 819 SW 152nd St, Burien, were part of the event.

The 2022, 2023, and 2024 Art Walks took place every Friday 4:00-8:00 in participating businesses in downtown Burien.  Discover Burien issued a new map of participating businesses each Friday on its website.

The Art Walk did not function in 2021 due to the pandemic.

In collaboration with seven other non-profits, Burien Arts sponsored an art contest for students of the New Start High School, 614 SE 126th, Burien, in 2021. The theme was garden, plants, or wildlife.

A local sign shop mounted photographs of the winning works in a fabricated aluminum composite sign and installed them along  the fence of the New Start Community Garden  adjacent to the school.

An opening event took place on September 4, 2021 at the Community Garden.

These continued quarterly in 2023.

In the Artist’s Studio was a series of workshops featuring local artists demonstrating their techniques. Due to the pandemic, these moved to video and Zoom.

May-June 2021: Lezlie Jane gave a virtual workshop. Please see the YouTube video.

August 2020: Artist Paul Illian (shown above) gave a Zoom workshop on landscape painting as the first in this series. Please see the YouTube video.

He gave an in-person workshop, Landscape Painting with Paul Illian, in October, 2019, at the Museum.

October 2020: Artist Reinhardt Hollstein gave a virtual workshop demonstrating how he creates his “electronic touch audible paintings” of iconic musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, and Bob Marley. The paintings can be touched to play a 30-second clip of their music. Please see the YouTube video.

November 2020: Rebecca Sayre gave a virtual workshop in November. Please see the YouTube video.

March-April 2023: Danny Mansmith gave a virtual workshop in March. Please see the YouTube video.

In February 2020, Chris Porter gave a talk at the Museum on How Art is Used in Activism and the Cultural Impact It Has, Past and Present. Chris was State Committeeman for the 34th District Democrats and Associate Supervisor, King County Conservation District.

Burien Arts regularly collaborated with the City of Burien and Discover Burien to offer free face painting during their events:

• Mardi Gras at the Point – March
• UFO Event – April
• Pride Fest – June
• Awesome Kids Day – July
• Arts-a-Glow Face Painting Booth – September
• Dia de los Muertos Face Painting Booth – November

Burien Arts ran an all-ages Open Mic at the Salmon Creek Café, 11620 Ambaum Blvd SW, Burien, in 2018 on the third Thursdays from 6-8. It was open format and featured poetry, comedy, stories, and songs, depending on who showed up.

Image of poster for 2017 jazz walk here.

Burien Arts presented an annual jazz musical event 2009-2017.  This was a jazz walk 2015-2017. The 2017 Jazz Walk was September 23 from 3:00 -11:00 PM in Olde Burien, featuring 21 bands & vintage jazz films in five venues, Burien, all for $25.

Venues included St. Elizabeth’s Church, 909/913 Courtyard, Humble Vine, and Frankie’s B-Town Bistro (now Classic Eats) plus vintage jazz films at The Tin Theater.

Musical styles ranged from jazz of the early days of Dixieland to the Swing bands of the 1930’s to the Cool sounds of the 1960’s in additions to Acoustic Blues, American Roots, and World Jazz musicians.

The event had its own website as well.

Image of Highline Classic Jazz Festival dancing (Courtesy of Westside Weekly)

As the Highline Classic Jazz Festival 2009-2014, the event was held at the Landmark Event Center in Des Moines, WA and featured several bands in two auditoriums, together with dinner service, dancing, and jam sessions in a party-like atmosphere.

Burien Arts periodically presented interesting speakers in the arts such as poet Shin Yu Pai, who spoke in April 2017 at the Burien Library onThe Painted Word: When Poetry Collides with Art.  Shin Yu is the author of 11 books and served as Poet Laureate for the City of Redmond 2015-17, becoming Civic Poet of Seattle 2023-24. Her work has appeared in publications throughout the U.S., Japan, China, Taiwan, the UK, and Canada. Shin Yu is creator and host of a popular award-winning podcast Ten Thousand Things (formerly The Blue Suit) on Asian-American stories for KUOW, Seattle’s NPR affiliate station. 

We also sometimes presented single concerts, such as international world flute recording artist Gary Stroutsos, on November 30 2017.  Gary played a wide range of world flute music, including traditional love songs from Native American tribes, British traditional music, and introspective jazz.

Poets West and Burien Arts co-presented poetry readings 2017 =2018 on every first Friday April-October at Phoenix Tea, 447 SW 152nd, Burien, 7:00 PM-9:00 PM. Poet Lisa Noble organized and curated the readings. Poets could arrange to read ahead of time or drop in. All ages were welcome, but some material was not suitable for children. This program was postponed after 2018 due to the pandemic. Phoenix Tea is now closed. www.poetswest.com

Burien Arts partnered with the Highline School District and the National PTA Association to bring the PTA Reflections Program to Burien in 2019.

The National PTA has sponsored an art contest in the Visual Arts, Literature, Music, Photography, Dance Choreography, and Film categories for 50 years.  The 2018-2019 theme was “Heroes Around Me.” Burien Arts provided art supplies. The opening reception was January 8, 2019, at the Burien Community Center.

See National PTA Reflections for more on this program.