December happenings

If you are looking to time your holiday party this year so that it coincides with the arrival of the Christmas ships, it would be wise to plan your event for Saturday, December 18. Argosy Cruise’s “Christmas Ship” and its festive flotilla of followers are scheduled to appear off of Madison Park Beach between 4:55 and 5:15 that evening. The Vivace! Cathedrals Choir will be providing the live music.

Other than boat-borne concerts using our fabulous water backdrop, Madison Park doesn’t have much in the way of a performance venue, so holiday events in the Park each year are pretty limited. That doesn’t mean that there’s nothing happening in the neighborhood, however. Art and photo lovers, for example, will have several opportunities to view some static art at different locations in the Village during the month.

Madison Park photographer David Hiller, who spent his formative years in Los Angeles as a photographer to the music and entertainment industry, will have photos from his Music Legends portfolio on display at the Madison Park Café throughout the month. Hiller’s clients have included several icons, including Angelina Jolie. Three of his shots of Jimi Hendrix will be used for a new boxed-CD anthology to be produced by Experience Hendrix LLC (that’s Jimi above).

Madison Park’s own “Fauvist-inspired” artist, Art Messer, will have some of his work on the walls of Park Place Deli during December. His pieces were inspired by a recent trip to Paris, where he found “the movement” is still alive and well in the city’s museums and contemporary art galleries. His oil-on-canvass painting, Yellow River is shown above. A reception to kick off the show will take place on opening night, December 2, from 6 until 9 pm.

Abstract artist Margo Spellman, meanwhile, will have her art on the walls of Wendy Amdal Salon during December. Spellman was recently featured as “Artist of the Day” on Max’s Kansas City, a national art, fashion, and music website based in NYC. That’s her recent work, Through Up, above. The Madison Park Blogger’s conflict of interest regarding this talented local artist is fairly well known.

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Here’s a final note on December happenings: If you plan on picking up Greek pastries from the Church of the Assumption for your upcoming holiday party, you better get your order in quickly. The last day to get your dibs on the baklava, paximadia, and koulourakia is Tuesday, November 23. You can place your order here and pick the pastries up on December 4th and 5th at the Church, located at 1804 13th Avenue E. on Capitol Hill.

Happy December!

[Madison Park Café is located at 1807 42nd Avenue E., Park Place Deli is located at 4122 E. Madison Street, and Wendy Amdal Salon is located at 4120 E. Madison Street. Photo of the Christmas Ship courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives.]