posts that will be on the front page
By TODD B. GRUEL Julia Shapiro, guitarist and singer for Chastity Belt, considers what feminism means in the 21st century for an all-female band. “To me,” she decides, “it just means being a person with multiple identities, one of them being female, and not having to really think about the fact that I’m a woman …
By MELINDA MINTON Henry Ibsen wrote the play A Doll’s House as a daring portrait of a man who loves his wife as an equal. While that concept remains fresh in the #MeToo era, 150 years ago the thought of an equal partnership between man and wife was shocking. Ibsen himself said, as he was writing it …
By ALEC CLAYTON The Washington Center for the Performing Arts celebrates local artists of all stripes in its fourth-annual Center Salon. This year’s event will be headed by playwright Bryan Willis, OLY ARTS’ contributing editor and founder of the Northwest Playwrights Alliance. It features music, poetry, short stories and theater. “We’re looking forward to featuring Washington …
By CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL Janae Huber and other citizens launched the group Olympians for People-Oriented Places in 2015. Their goal was to support a compact, diverse Olympia designed around attractive public spaces. Abbreviated O-POP, the organization recognizes the challenges of housing an estimated thousand new residents each year without sacrificing environmental protections or civic beauty. Toward …
By KAREN LUNDE Coppelia arrives at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts April 18 through 20, bringing a tale of mayhem, mischief and mistaken identities. Studio West Dance Theatre’s production follows the antics of Swanhilda and her friends as they try to discover the identity of Coppélia, a mysterious woman who’s enthralled Swanhilda’s fiancé, Franz. “Coppélia is the …
By MELINDA MINTON Olympia Symphony Orchestra’s grand finale for its 66th season provides the experience of visiting characters its audience will immediately recognize. The group’s upcoming concert, Cast of Characters, subtitled “an overture in four parts,” could also refer to the players themselves, whom conductor Huw Edwards calls “a cast of characters and a microcosm of society.” The show …
By Alec Clayton Painter and teacher Scott Waeschle has shown his figure paintings and landscapes in area galleries for decades. This year, Olympians get to see something new from Waeschle: flowers. Waeschle explains how the new work came about. “I had both knees replaced two years ago,” he says, “and spent two months in the …
By Alec Clayton Tom Anderson is practically an art institution in Olympia. His studio has been open to the public since the 1980s. He’s created many well-known, public-art installations: the Park of the Seven Oars on Harrison, a suite of mural-size paintings in the emergency-room lobby at Providence St. Peters Hospital.His works are in many …
By Alec Clayton The gallery space once known as Salon Refu is now Lucy Gentry’s studio. “For Arts Walk,” Gentry says, “Susan Christian and I, plus a wonderful, Seattle artist named Lauren Boilini, are showing at my studio. Lauren’s work is really wonderful. Susan will be showing some paintings and a stick sculpture. I will be …
By Alec Clayton Once again, Bob Cable and Debra van Tuinen grace the space at Waterstreet Café for Arts Walk. “I will be showing my new oils on canvas,” van Tuinen says. “I have a new series. ‘Light Revealed.’ That I am also showing at my show at Space gallery in Denver in July.” Van Tuinen is celebrated for …