July 8, 2026 — Get thee to a gallery and take your pick of parks
by Molly Gilmore
SPSCC Regional Juried Exhibition returns
South Puget Sound Community College’s Southwest Regional Juried Exhibition, open through Aug. 27, looks a little different this year. The spaciously hung show spotlights 27 pieces by 24 artists, many of them familiar names. That’s not because of a lack of applications; indeed, 79 artists submitted 209 pieces.
“The number of artists submitting was one more than our record,” said Sean Barnes, director of the college’s Leonor R. Fuller Gallery (https://spscc.edu/art-gallery). “We were at 78.” Guest juror Allison Hyde, Auburn’s arts program supervisor, “wanted to do a minimal show,” Barnes said. Regular gallery visitors are likely to be surprised by the small number of works, yet viewers might enjoy the ease with which they can take in each individual piece.
Among the well-known artists whose work was chosen are Susan Aurand, Amy Fisher, Danny Gordo, Ron Hinton, Hall Jameson, David Moore and Aimee Shreiber. Some of the most striking pieces came from artists Barnes didn’t know. “My Inner Rest,” by Peruvian-American artist Asenath Lizárraga, evokes a myth or perhaps a dream. Steven Scheibe’s “River-Light: At Water’s Edge” fairly glows. “Moving water awakens me,” Scheibe of Offut Lake wrote in his artist’s statement. “Light on water mesmerizes and enchants me.”
The opening reception is from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, July 9, and the gallery is open from noon to 6 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, except holidays.
Music in the parks
It’s high season for free al fresco tunes. LoveOly Music in the Park opens Wednesday, July 8, with a triple bill featuring the American Legion Band, launched in 1925 by World War I veterans. Also on the program are the joyous dancing and drumming of Samba Olywa and the barbershop-inspired Voices of the Sound. The music begins at 6 p.m. in Sylvester Park, 615 Washington St SE, Olympia. You can also hear the American Legion Band in Lacey; the Boston Pops-inspired band will play at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 9, in Huntamer Park, 618 Woodland Square Loop SE. The concert is part of Lacey in Tune (https://laceyparks.org/lit/), which is also kicking off its noon concerts Wednesday in Huntamer Park with the not-so-traditional 133rd Nation Guard Rock Band, Full Metal Racket.
Concerts at Tumwater Falls
Evenings at the Falls, the Olympia Tumwater Foundation’s new summer concert series, launches Friday, July 11 with the jazz- and soul-inflected sounds of Erina, created by Seattle-based singer-songwriter Jessie Branch. The visual and audio backdrop of the falls themselves sounds pretty dreamy. The music — and the setting — are free. Food and drinks will be available from La Esquinita and Well 80 Brewshouse. The event (https://olytumfoundation.org/event/evening-at-the-falls-with-erina/) happens from 4 to 7 p.m. at Brewery Park at Tumwater Falls, 110 Deschutes Pkwy. SW, Tumwater. More concerts are in the works for Aug. 8 and 22 and Sept. 5.
Molly Gilmore loves al fresco entertainment, though she does wish she could find a low-to-the-ground chair that is at once comfortable, lightweight and easy to set up.
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To keep track of what is happening in the arts in the South Puget Sound region, be sure to read Molly Gilmore’s weekly “Arts Aficionado” column in Oly Arts magazine. Subscribe to Oly Arts to receive an email when we publish new articles and columns.