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Tacoma’s Ground to Sound Festival Makes Art and Conversation Out of a Vital Ecological Concern

If you enjoy a good old-fashioned multi-disciplinary arts party, including more than a dozen zero-budget film productions by local artists, the Ground to Sound Arts Festival in Tacoma might be your lucky festival. Co-sponsored by Foster’s Creative and the City of Tacoma, the Ground to Sound Arts Festival began last year with local artists creating original short films highlighting the problem of untreated water and trash and its journey to the Sound in documentary form. This year there will be a Music Open Mic, film and art, a Literary Reading and Open Mic.

Saundra Fleming’s World

Much of Saundra Fleming’s art is quirky and humorous, but there is also intensity. Her raw, unabashed, expressive paintings are packed with the movement and disarray of her very personal experience of the world around her, laced with a heavy and welcome shot of humor to make it ever-so-slightly more, but not completely bearable, which, let’s face it, is not too far from what we’re experiencing as a nation … on steroids. Meaningful art for our times indeed.

Speaking for Laramie at Lakewood Playhouse

The overwhelming sensation in The Laramie Project, playing at Lakewood Playhouse through March 9, is not one of anger or of sorrow, but of a kind of cautious hope. Because of our society’s “one step forward, two steps back” approach to LGBT rights, any one of The Laramie Project’s performances since its opening in 2000 could be said to be unfortunately timely, and now is no different. This terrific ensemble cast comes together to paint a picture of a town trying to process a tragedy.

TCC Gallery Celebrates Black Art at 3rd Annual Exhibition

Expressed in a wide range of media – from glass to collage, print, paint, drawing and digital – the 3rd Annual Black Artists Exhibition at Tacoma Community College through March 7th is a dynamic and brightly hued exhibit. The overall feel of the show is vibrant, uplifting and as refreshing as a dip in a clear pool.

A Valentine’s Oratorio: How Much the Heart Can Hold

“How Much the Heart Can Hold” by Bryan Willis and Linda Kalkwarf will be performed one night only at Harlequin’s State Theatre. Inspired by the words of writer and artist Zelda Fitzgerald: “Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.” Directed by Kathryn Dorgan, the play is a series of illustrative scenes tied together with readings of what Willis calls “snippets of wisdom, culled from a variety of writers and thinkers, that guarantee inspiration for lovers of all ages.”

SPSCC’s 14th Annual Fine Art Postcard Exhibition and Auction: “Forgotten Conversations”

Gallery Director Sean Barnes says of SPSCC’s annual postcard show: “I find the collective contributions from the community to be the most remarkable aspect of the exhibition auction. Every year 100 plus artists and non-artists contribute hundreds of small works inspired by the theme which are cultural and universal in nature. The show brings our creative community together to support the arts.”

No Exit at Olympia Little Theater

‘No Exit’s’ famous aphorism “L’enfer, c’est les autres” generally translated as “Hell is other people,” has become common parlance for the tiresome behavior of human beings, but it’s worth remembering this was written in occupied France, where the native Parisians referred to the invaders in their midst as “les autres,” or “the others.” When you’re surrounded by Nazis and potential collaborators, it’s no surprise you’d get jaded about humankind — and the alternate version “Hell is the Nazis occupying your beloved city” might have gotten Sartre in big trouble. ‘No Exit’ plays at Olympia Little Theatre Jan. 31 to Feb. 16.

Tacoma Little Theatre presents ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time opens January 24 at Tacoma Little Theatre. It’s the story of Christopher Boone, a 15-year-old who is on the autism spectrum. The action begins with Christopher’s discovery of his neighbor’s dog who’s been killed with a garden fork. Because he’s a kid who is different, Christopher finds himself under suspicion. For this reason and others, he sets out to find the killer, even though his father, with whom he lives, is strongly opposed to his search.

Shake It With Olympia Funk Festival

The Funk Fest is seen by the organizers, Ecstatic Sound Collective, as “more than just music—it’s a celebration of community and culture.” To that end, downtown Washington Street will be transformed into a lively street party. This 2nd annual Olympia Funk Festival is an incredible lineup of talent coming to three Capital City venues—the Olympia Ballroom, the Olympia Center, and the historic Capitol Theatre!

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