July 15, 2026 — Catch song and dance men and jump into Lakefair
Molly Gilmore “Arts Aficionado” — July 15, 2026
— Port starts summer concerts
— Elvis is still in the building
— All’s fair in Oly
Other Events
Isthmus Park’s New Welcome Figure Marks the Region’s Past, Present and Future
Olympia’s Isthmus Park is a gateway to downtown Olympia with views of both the State Capitol and Olympic Mountain Range on the horizon. The land and water around Isthmus Park carry many stories across the generations, and sit at the junction of historical, ecological and cultural significance. At the beginning of June, a new Welcome Figure carving by Squaxin Island Tribe artist and carver, Andrea Wilbur-Sigo, became a permanent installation at Isthmus Park. Named Həʔapus sqʷəbay, Mother of Restoration, Wilbur-Sigo’s carved figure connects themes of cultural heritage, local history and conservation into a towering 13-foot cedar wood carving.
Oly Arts Summer 2026 Print Edition — Issue No. 36
The summer print edition of Oly Arts magazine is published! Copies of the printed version are available free of charge throughout the area – find out where you can pick up a copy and see a list of articles in this issue.
Puget Sound Book Artists’ 15th Annual Membership Exhibition
The Puget Sound Book Artists are highlighting artists who have transformed the bare bones of books into fractals, dioramas, sculptures, and stunning blossoms of origami. The exhibition is running through June 30 at University of Puget Sound, appropriately in the Collins Memorial Library; surrounded by thousands of bog-standard books, the books being exhibited are wild and frequently abstract. One uniting factor among the works is the theme of “15,” which is interpreted in various ways.
Celebrate Mother’s Day Weekend at the Center Salon, a Creative Showcase for South Sound Audience
The 2026 Center Salon will take place Mothers Day weekend, Saturday, May 9, in the Washington Center Black Box Theater with cabaret-style seating to provide an immersive ambiance. In commemoration of Mother’s Day weekend, many pieces included in this year’s Center Salon will tie back to the themes of mothers and motherhood. This includes a slideshow that will be projected ahead of the salon, featuring family photos of performers and audience members.
Oly Arts Spring 2026 Print Edition
The print edition of Oly Arts magazine is published! This is our 10th anniversary edition and it includes The Oly Arts Origin Story and much more! Find out where you can pick up a free copy and/or read and download the PDF version.
Wild Child’s New Year’s Menu: “Eat the Rich”
Olympia’s family friendly Wild Child Taproom’s openness to a wider swath of the community is evidenced by their involvement with Arts Walk and SafePlace, and by the range of their events programming, whether organized in-house, or, in the case of music, by CapCity Presents, or in New Year’s Eve’s “Eat the Rich” by Capital City Pride, or by the many other individuals and organizations, large and small, who’ve come to see Wild Child as a welcoming venue.
David Mollari Sederberg, a 45-Year Art Retrospective
Nobody does it like David Mollari Sederberg, an artist whose work is simultaneously otherworldly and grounded in reality. You have certainly seen his otherworldly Glowhenge (2020-2021), nine brilliantly painted monoliths standing upright on the mound by the shore of Capital Lake, each lit with black light at night and each painted by a different artist. During fall Arts Walk this year, Sederberg’s work will be featured in a retrospective exhibition of artworks in various media assembled by the artist: painting, sculpture, lighted installations, and video created from 1981 to the present at the Olympia Ballroom.
Oly Arts Now Offering Writing Classes!
Oly Arts is now offering classes! Hone your writing skills and learn more about the art and craft of writing. Our first two classes, which take place in November 2025 and have limited space, are: John Longenbaugh teaching “The 10-Minute Play,” and Alec Clayton teaching “Writing for Newspapers & Magazines.”
Animal Fire’s Midsummer Night’s Dream in Lacey’s Wonderwood Park
Animal Fire Theatre’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Lacey’s Wonderwood Park in July
“is something that I think we all need back in our lives — the magic and the mystery of all the human connection, love and lust and grandeur and all of that,” Director Brian Hatcher said. “We need to bring this levity back. “The last couple shows we did had a heaviness to them — Measure for Measure and King Henry IV,” he added. “We decided that this was the time to go light.”