Op-Ed: Art Tells the Truth

By Ned Hayes and Billy Thomas On August 24, OLY ARTS helped organize a day-long reading of Volume I of the Mueller Report at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts. A number of local, theatrical artists and elected officials participated in the successful event. Some in the artistic and reader communities have asked why our organization involved …

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Peace on the Move: A Benefit Run for New Traditions Fair Trade

By Melinda Minton New Traditions Fair Trade — the classic, loving, healthy venue for good eats and music — is set to host a benefit run in downtown Olympia. Locals are encouraged to run, walk or stroll. “In fact, bring your beautiful babies in a stroller, an international baby wrap or anything that makes that young …

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Choice Comedy at Rhythm & Rye

By Alec Clayton Local comedian Sam Miller has teamed up with storyteller and StoryOly co-founder Elizabeth Lord to bring to Olympia “Choice Comedy,” an evening of all-female standup comedy to benefit reproductive rights in Alabama. The show will be hosted by Lord and will feature Amanda Biddle from Olympia plus Jill Silva from Tacoma, and Portland’s Tory …

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Submissions Open for 36th-Annual Olympia Film Festival

By JONAH BARRETT The Olympia Film Society is now accepting submissions for its 36th-annual Olympia Film Festival. Filmmakers are welcomed to submit their films online until the deadline of December 23, 2019. Named one of the “Top 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World” by MovieMaker Magazine in 2018, the Olympia Film Society has hosted the …

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New Downtown Olympia Mural to Receive Dedication

By Alec Clayton The Chinese dragon mural in downtown Olympia will be dedicated Saturday, August 24 to honor Chinese-American history. The public is invited to attend the dedication at noon on the corner of Fifth Avenue SW and Columbia Street SE. Dragon Mural Committee spokesperson Anna Schlecht said, “In 2015, I was inspired by a …

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Music in the Park: Ethan Tucker Band

By Molly Walsh Hailing from Olympia, Ethan Tucker’s acoustic-guitar-driven songs range from midtempo party anthem “Crazy Tonight” to the melancholy strums of ballad “Josephine.” Expanding beyond his Pacific Northwest origins, Tucker has toured the country with such acts as Jimmy Cliff, Buddy Guy and The Wailers. With a slightly raspy, soulful voice and sweet, acoustic …

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Special Counsel Robert Mueller

The Mueller Report at Washington Center

By CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL On April 18, 2019, after almost four weeks in the hands of Attorney General William Barr, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s findings on the subject of foreign involvement in the election of President Donald J. Trump were released to Congress and the public — albeit heavily redacted — by the Department of Justice. …

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Shakespeare’s The Tempest Storms into Olympia’s Port Plaza

THEATER REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS The Tempest — third and final of this area’s outdoor-summer-Shakespeare plays — opened Thursday, August 15 at the viewing tower at Olympia’s Port Plaza. It opened with the crash of thunder and lightning in a chaotic scene of a storm at sea performed in front of the …

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StoryOly Hits Another Grand Slam

By Alec Clayton The storytellers at StoryOly are at it again. The fourth-annual StoryOly Grand Slam competition will be held at Rhythm & Rye Saturday, September 7. StoryOly is Olympia’s premiere story-slam event. Community members come together every month to share, compete and tell true stories based on a monthly theme. Past themes have included …

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CINE•FILES: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

By Ellis Boran Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is another amazing film by the Japanese writer/director Hayao Miyazaki. This movie is about Nausicaa, a young woman who risks her life to protect her home in the Valley of the Wind from a toxic jungle. The complicated part of the story is that, even …

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