New Show At SAM: “Karon Davis: Not My Circus”

There’s a terrific new show opening at the Seattle Art Museum in November…It’s KARON DAVIS: NOT MY CIRCUS from the 2025 recipient of SAM’s annual Gwendolyn Knight and Jacob Lawrence Prize. The show will run from November 5th through July 4, 20 27 in the third floor gallery at SAM. The opening night party for “Not My Circus” is happening Thursday, November 12th from 5pm to 8pm and will feature “entrancing surprise performances” to showcase the work of an artist whose work “strides the line between visual art and performance”.

More info below and at https://www.seattleartmuseum.org/whats-on/exhibitions/karon-davis-2025-gwendolyn-knight-and-jacob-lawrence-prize-winner

In Not My Circus, Davis invites visitors into the big top of the circus. In Davis’s hands, the insidious underbelly of the circus is brought into the limelight as she draws parallels between the circus tent’s public personas and the private power dynamics of greater society, bringing the personal dramas of our lives front and center.

5–8 pm | DJ SuperChib
Brotman Forum
SuperChib is a Seattle-based Cameroonian-American DJ whose sound is shaped by his African roots and the diverse sounds of the global diaspora. Blending afrobeats, amapiano, house, hip-hop, and everything in between, SuperChib draws on his cultural background, eclectic taste, and love for music discovery to create dynamic sets that bring different sounds and influences together.

5–8 pm | Vanishing with Gruff Webb
Explore the galleries and you might be surprised with what you find. And when you find it, ask for a “trick.”

Gruff Webb is a Jamaican American folk magician and performance artist whose work explores the intimate space between illusion, storytelling, and spiritual tradition. A quiet worker of small wonders, he performs in candlelit bars, roadside chapels, and other close-held spaces where audiences gather to share in moments of mystery and connection.

Webb is also an independent scholar focused on the history of Black magic, folklore, and diasporic spiritual practices. His research and performances draw from ancestral knowledge, ritual, and the enduring figure of the trickster as both cultural force and storyteller.

5–8 pm | Analog Photobooth with Flying Camera Studio
Brotman Forum
Flying Camera Studio is an analog portrait studio in Seattle’s Pioneer Square. They create large-format portraiture and analog photobooth pop-ups. Their paper positive reversal process creates beautiful and truly one-of-a-kind images, capturing you in your own best light.

6–6:30 & 7:15–7:45 pm | Hi-Cotton Tales with Blu Bone
Brotman Forum
Immerse yourself in the traditions that evoke the Black Church, miming, masquerade, praise dance, and the blues. Blu Bone, also known as Namir Fearce will create a portal through guttural, visceral gesture. Once the portal is open, he will guide you through an interactive experience of shared lyric, call-and-response, and radical embodiment.