Author: Historic Wallingford

Public art enriches our lives without us even knowing it and becomes part of our experiences, says sculptor Toby Mendez. Wallingford is full of outdoor art—from the whimsical mosaics of the Boys and Girls Club to the Animal Storm sculpture outside Wallingford Center to the eye-catching murals found throughout the N. 45th St. business district.

With this as inspiration, a collaborative neighborhood group, Wallingford Beautification, is working on plans to add to Wallingford’s artistic landscape, to enhance visual interest and raise community pride in Wallingford. With guidance from project manager Juan Martinez from the City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, this group is focused on adding graphics to three utility boxes along N. 45th St.—at the SE corner of Meridian and 45th in front of Silver Tray Thai; on the north side of 45th in front of QFC; and on the SE corner of 45th at Densmore by Wells Fargo.

The group invites your input on potential graphics for this project. Your feedback will assist the committee in charting the path forward as it enhances the utility boxes in Wallingford.

From February 11th to 15th, Historic Wallingford will be partnering with Tutta Bella for a fundraiser, making it easy as pie to show your love for Wallingford this Valentine’s Day!

Dine in or order delivery, takeout, or curbside from Tutta Bella during those days and use the code EasyAsPieWallingford at checkout. Twenty percent of sales made during February 11-15 using our special code will go directly towards Historic Wallingford’s efforts to foster an awareness of and appreciation for our neighborhood’s history and architecture. Thank you for your support!

Note: Valid for orders placed at the Wallingford, South Lake Union, Columbia City, and Issaquah restaurants, or the Kirkland or University Village QFCs (by ordering online, not at the kiosk). Orders made through third-party delivery services like DoorDash or UberEats do not qualify.

We had a ball Thursday night at Historic Seattle‘s 15th annual Preservation Celebration at Washington Hall. Thank you so much to Historic Seattle for hosting this event, and congratulations on 50 years! We were so honored to receive the 2023 Community Advocacy Award. Our Board President Rhonda Bush and Vice President Sarah Martin accepted the award on behalf of our organization.

This award is dedicated to the hard work of our valued volunteers, the generosity of our gracious donors and sponsors, and the passion of our supporters. Our work would not be possible without you. Thank you!

Historic Wallingford is pleased to announce its 2nd annual Exploring Wallingford self-guided activity. The public is invited to pick up a FREE brochure at one of these sponsor locations between August 1 and September 15:

Verity Credit Union – 4545 Stone Way N
Cedarhouse Flowers – 1621 N 45th St.
Yazdi – Wallingford Center 1815 N 45th St.
Slave to the Needle Tattoo – 403 NE 45th St.

The activity encourages participants to explore the neighborhood highlights in any order and at any pace. The hope is participants will take their time and experience Wallingford in new ways!

The rich, colorful brochure highlights 18 natural, historical, and artistic points of interest on Wallingford Hill between 40th and 45th streets. A QR code in the brochure links to an interactive map with more information about each feature and additional points of interest. See this link for the 2022 activity.

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Historic Wallingford is grateful to the sponsor businesses and for the continued support of 4Culture, which provides arts and culture funding throughout King County. The activity was produced by a team of volunteers, including  Tyson Baty, Lynne DeLano, Joice Denand, Sarah Martin (project manager), Dennis McCarthy, Linda Sewell (graphic designer), and Jean Werner.

A podcast of the July 26th broadcast of The Wallingford Local is now available on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

This once-a-month radio show is broadcast on community radio station SPACE 101.1 FM live from the Wallingford Farmers Market. It is hosted by Wallingford’s own Feliks Banel and Laura Scott is the show’s producer.

The episode featured Ben Chandler with updates from the Seattle Farmers Market Association; Jack McLaughlin of Wallyhood.org with an update on neighborhood news and co-host of our first-ever Wallingford trivia contest; Sarah Martin announcing Historic Wallingford‘s latest Exploring Wallingford activity; Barb Burrill on the story of the Meridian Park bandstand; Danny Swanson of Swanson’s Shoe Repair; Benjamin Jaffee, owner of Marrowstone Mushrooms; and music by violinist Claire Swihart. Shout out to Brooke for winning the Wallingford trivia contest. Thanks to all for participating!

Special thanks to Joe Jeszeck who composed the show’s theme music – listen here!

Catch the next show Wednesday, August 30 at 5 PM!