Northwest Folklife’s Youth-Led Cohort Launches Creative Platform: The Hydrant

The Hydrant was conceived from Northwest Folklife’s 2019 Cultural Focus: Youth Rising. (Photo by April Jingco.)

In honor of Northwest Folklife’s 2019 Cultural Focus: Youth Rising, a collective of young artists, creatives, and change-makers have come together to serve the greater young creative community.

The collective saw the need for space for young creatives to connect, share, and showcase local artists and the result was clear. Within the series of community gatherings, brainstorming sessions, and design workshops, they developed an innovative platform to network, showcase, and inspire through arts: The Hydrant.

The Hydrant is a youth-led platform that provides opportunities to network, showcase, and inspire through arts of all kinds from local to global scale. It will exist both in the physical and digital landscape, through curated showcases of local musicians and an online platform to share art.

The Hydrant will officially launch at the upcoming 48th Annual Northwest Folklife Festival (May 24-27 at Seattle Center), with a curated showcase at the MoPOP Sky Church and a gathering space called The Hydrant Lounge.

“The Hydrant Showcase will not only be an energetic and emotional experience given the amount of up-and-coming youth artists on the lineup, but a time for us a community to learn about the causes and effects of our system here in Seattle, and our country, expressed in raw form, through art,” says Kid Roman, member of The Hydrant and co-curator of The Hydrant Showcase. “Hope to see folks of all kinds in the crowd and don’t be a stranger. Enjoy.”

The Hydrant Lounge will be a space available all weekend long to learn about the cohort, get involved, and hear from other youth creatives express themselves through art, spoken word, poetry, and music.

The Hydrant Lounge
May 24 – 27 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Daily in the A/NT Gallery Lobby
Visit The Hydrant Lounge located in the lobby of the A/NT Gallery throughout the weekend to experience The Hydrant movement, meet the cohort, see your #TapTheHydrant photos displayed, and get involved.

The Hydrant Showcase
May 27 from 12 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. at MoPOP’s Sky Church
Curated and hosted by youth, featuring performances by young musicians and poets that are helping launch The Hydrant platform.
Hosted by Yasmin Ettobi
Featuring: DJ HALF DEAD and performances by Kid Roman, Kay C, Aurelio Valdez, Carter, D.White, Vampzilla, and Lotus

The Hydrant was conceived from Northwest Folklife’s 2019 Cultural Focus: Youth Rising, a year-long program featuring peer mentorship, youth residencies, a series of youth-organized performances and events, and opportunities for creative collaborations. As folk is “for the people, by the people” this Cultural Focus and Northwest Folklife’s year-round events are built “for and by the youth.

Northwest Folklife also worked alongside a cohort of mentors and partners representing various backgrounds including art, media, music, and social activism to provide support for the Youth Rising collective.

The Northwest Folklife Festival will take place on Memorial Day Weekend (May 24-27, 2019) at Seattle Center. This is the place to find your folk.To see the full Northwest Folklife Festival schedule please visit our website.

Keep up with The Hydrant on Instagram (@thehydrant) and on their website.