How do the arts re-imagine cities? How has Seattle’s geography and history – including as the incubator of grunge music and Pacific Northwest hip hop – engage with aesthetics and urbanism? This course introduces students to relationships between artistic practices and urban (or city) practices. Two interlocking threads animate this course. First, students will survey (and optionally produce) arts across genres including theater, music, dance, poetry, and visual art, and learn about Seattle artists such as Nellie Cornish, Sylvia Forte, Merce Cunningham, Tina Bell, Kurt Cobain, Northwest Asian American Theatre, SiS Productions, eSe Teatro, Takiyah Ward, zoe | juniper, and Black Collectivity. Second, students will explore how the arts intersect with urban histories and urban studies including with mapping, the Works Progress Administration, Model Cities, cultural policy, creative placemaking, and public art.

The course engages fields including American Ethnic Studies, Art History, Dance Studies, Geography, Musicology, and Theatre and Performance Studies. Field trips around Seattle histories and Seattle-area arts locations such as the Frye Art Museum, On the Boards, and Wa Na Wari will animate course learning. Assignments include mapping projects and art critiques about Seattle arts practices. No arts background required.

Learn more about the instructor of this course: https://drama.washington.edu/people/jasmine-mahmoud