Editor 
by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS More than love will be in the air when Olympia’s Own Tush! Burlesque takes the main stage of The Washington Center four days after Valentine’s Day. A highlight of the show will be the first-ever aerial burlesque performance by Valerie Veils. “I’m excited. I’m pretty nervous, though,” Veils admitted. …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS Olympia Little Theatre’s latest production, entitled Or, (including the comma), involves sexual freedom, lime-green fabric printed with butterflies and an invitation to tune in and turn on. “It’s a bedroom farce with a more serious message of love and tolerance,” said director Toni Holm. Yes, it is set in …
by Nora Kovacs for OLY ARTS Felt Decoded, the latest exhibition by Olympia-based textile artist Janice Arnold, has been over two years in the making. From working on 75-foot tables to alternating between a dry and wet studio, Arnold’s medium of choice is by no means a simple one. Not only does she navigate her …
by Christina Butcher for OLY ARTS Each month, Olympia poets, authors and literary enthusiasts gather for an evening of poetry and camaraderie. It’s a chance to let their guard down and simply enjoy the spoken word. Seldom do featured readers have much in common with each other in the way of theme, style or poetic …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Look up, look up for acrobatic feats of aerial grace at Rhythm & Rye as Joanna Gibson and her troupe of nine aerialists offer an evening of dance above the bar and tables at the popular Olympia watering hole—home to entertainment ranging from music to burlesque to the ever-popular …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS Friday night at the Hands On Children’s Museum, the subject is love. In fact, there’ll even be sex education happening at the museum’s quarterly Adult Swim, an evening of cocktails, music and discovery for those 21 and up. In honor of Valentine’s Day, the theme is Love & Reactions, …
by Jonah Barrett for OLY ARTS The Oly Old Time festivities on Saturday will include a square dance with Portland-based band Uncle Wiggily. Originally formed by the late Bill Martin and friends, Uncle Wiggily’s sounds encapsulate the music of old-fashioned square dances of the 1920s and ’30s. Today Uncle Wiggily consists of Amy Hofer and …
by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS To read Sarah Vowell’s bestselling nonfiction works or hear her frequent appearances on public radio is to experience our history through the eyes of, in her own words, a “partly cloudy patriot.” Her most recent book, Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, is a quirky biography of a French …
by Kelli Samson for OLY ARTS Olympia’s Bow Weevils are returning to The Oly Old Time Festival, the site of their 2016 debut. Prior to forming The Bow Weevils, Ruby Neatherlin (bass, fiddle, washboard), sisters Annie (fiddle, songwriting) and Ellie Davis (fiddle, guitar) and brothers Hatcher (guitar, mandolin) and Rizley Cox (banjo, fiddle, mandolin) played …
VISUAL ARTS REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Based on previous experience, I expected anything but traditional at in an exhibition of work by faculty and staff at The Evergreen State College. I expected political art and identity art and conceptual art, and I was surprised at how much traditional art there was—not that …