While the Rainier Valley in South Seattle is bombarded with Seafair guests, the “Columbia City Last Thursday Art Walk” continues to walk.

Local art galleries and businesses will be open today until 9 pm during the last Thursday Columbia City Art Walk for guests to explore the galleries and other businesses promoting local artists. Over a dozen galleries and local businesses will be open featuring art by local artists.

Elva Bennett, Caitlin McIver and Charles Mudede are among the featured artists in Columbia City this summer.

Columbia City Gallery is the heart of the vibrant art scene in this south Seattle neighborhood. The gallery is featuring the work of Elva Bennet and Caitlin McIver through August 23 in a show dubbed Tension & Tenderness.

Bennett told Public Display Art earlier this year, “My art helps me make sense of the world by centering people and connection. The world makes more sense to me when people are at the center of it - moments of connection, care, liberation. My art observes what we look like in these moments. My art helps me make sense of the world by demanding presence and observation.”

Mudede’s photography is featured at Taproot Cafe & Bar in a show dubbed In Public. Taproot Cafe is celebrating 14 years in the heart of Columbia City. Mudede is a multi-media artist, filmmaker and senior staff writer at The Stranger.

For more on Bennett look for their feature in the current issue of Public Display Art available at nearly 900 locations around the Puget Sound.