2017 Artists of the Year. Illustration by Kelly Björk

Feature

2017 Artists of the Year

Illustration by Kelly Björk

Porter Ray released the kaleidoscopic Watercolor, his first full-length album with Sub Pop, and completed his first tour of the U.S.

Michelle de la Vega tackled commodification of the female body in her stunning and unabashedly challenging installation The Sugar Project at Oxbow and Bridge Productions

As Cherdonna Shinatra, Jody Kuehner created and starred in an adaptation of A Doll’s House with Washington Ensemble Theatre and premiered her latest full-length show at On the Boards

Eric Liu invigorated civic engagement with Citizen University’s Civic Saturday, his book You’re More Powerful Than You Think and a keynote address at the Obama Foundation Summit

SJ Chiro wrote and directed the feature film Lane 1974, which debuted at SXSW, won the SIFF 2017 Grand Jury Prize and was picked up for distribution by The Orchard

Poet/lawyer/activist Nikkita Oliver ran an inspiring Mayoral campaign with the Peoples Party, galvanizing Seattleites with a truly progressive vision for the city

Sherman Alexie published the powerful memoir You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me and set a moving example for taking care of one’s mental health

Anastacia-Reneé released three books of poetry, served as Writer-in-Residence at Hugo House and became Seattle’s newest Civic Poet

Meli Darby curated the 325 bands that performed in 26 Pioneer Square venues at the super-ambitious, first-ever Upstream Music Fest + Summit