posts that will be on the front page
ART REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Olympia’s Art House Designs is not your typical art gallery. They seldom have regularly scheduled shows. Rather, it is more like an art fair or a funhouse of contemporary art with prints, paintings, ceramics, and sculpture by more than 30 artists, including such popular local artists as …
By ADAM McKINNEY There’s an ongoing movement around the world to foster positivity, community support and creative outlets for young people. Locally, the Bridge Music Project works with at-risk youth, teaching them to combat the difficulties of life through the expression of songwriting. The organization started the Bridge Summer Concert Series, now entering its fourth …
VISUAL ART REVIEW By Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Christopher Mathie is a frequent exhibiting artist at Childhood’s End. It’s been long enough since I’ve seen his work that it’s a pleasure to see it again, even if the paintings in his current show are a tad too much like ones I’ve seen before. Is …
OLY ARTS brings to the South Sound Wordsmiths, a new local literary interview series. Wordsmiths features local literary groups in the Pacific Northwest and their impact on their local communities. In Chapter One, Wordsmiths interviewed Jackie Casella and Joshua Swainston of Tacoma’s Creative Colloquy – a nonprofit where writers come together and read their work …
By Melissa Avril Harris Olympia’s oldest live theater continues its tradition of offering diverse, theatrical experiences that appeal to both actors and patrons. Its 79th season offers what artistic director Kendra Malm describes as a “balance between drama and comedy, new and classic, and conventional and off-beat.” Play suggestions are submitted by a group of …
By MOLLY GILMORE Creative Theatre Experience is a summer program for young people, yet its season offers a chance to see mature work by local, theatrical powerhouses. This summer, the program presents Footloose, based on the Kevin Bacon film about a teen who moves to a town where dancing is forbidden; Crush, an alien-invasion rom-com …
By MOLLY GILMORE Melissa Etheridge is known almost as much for activism as for such hits as “I’m the Only One,” but when she plays July 17 in Olympia, the singer-songwriter plans not to educate or advocate but simply to rock. “We’re calling it ‘The Rock Show,’ because it’s rocking,” she said in a phone …
By REBEKAH FINN Olympia Family Theater has been inspiring young minds for over a decade. This summer that legacy continues with camps and workshops for every age, ranging from 5-year-olds to teenagers, first-time campers to seasoned theater veterans. “One of the things that always excites us is the mix of returning students and new kids …
By CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL An audacious theatrical venture is about to debut at Olympia’s Capitol Theater. Under the guidance of impresario Kyle Murphy and artistic director Lexi Barnett, Broadway Olympia Productions plans a full season of five Broadway musicals derived from or popularized by cinema. The company’s mission statement promises “a sustainable program which operates on …
By Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Christopher Gerber, an aesthetic engineer with Artists With Ecology, sees the dilapidated old Olympia Brewery building in Tumwater as an eyesore and a blight on a beautiful area, and he wants to do something about it. His proposal is to beautify the abandoned brewery by replacing the broken doors …