by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS Samba dancing began as semba in Angola, then evolved into its modern form in early-20th-century Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Olympia’s resident samba troupe, Samba Olywa, united to dance in Procession of the Species 1995. Now it performs several times a year under the direction of a seven-member steering committee. …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS ((See the OLY ARTS Luminary Procession 2017 photo essay, taken by Shanna Paxton)) The subtler sibling to the many-splendored Procession of the Species, the Luminary Procession shines bright, filling the streets of Olympia with glowing paper lanterns and live music. When it began in 2009, this procession was intended …
by Ned Hayes for OLY ARTS Nearly every inch of the route for the Procession of the Species is covered with vibrant chalk art. The Procession team hands out chalk to children from ages 0 to 99: Everyone is invited to create their own art on the route. Yet this is not just a momentary …
by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS It’s no exaggeration to call Eli Sterling the visionary behind Olympia’s own Procession of the Species. He produced a series called Earthbound for Thurston County Television in 1991; it went on to win nine Northwest regional and national public-access television awards. Earthbound, says Sterling, “was dedicated to pursuing a …
by Christina Butcher for OLY ARTS Olympia’s first poet laureate, Amy Solomon-Minarchi, is already hard at work promoting poetry within the community with her call for Writing in the Rain poems. Solomon-Minarchi is accepting short-poetry submissions until April 10, when she’ll select short poems of three to six lines to be “painted” onto city sidewalks …
by Adam McKinney for OLY ARTS In Islam, there are three times a day when it is forbidden to pray: sunrise, sunset and when the sun rests at its highest position on the horizon. Sunset, when praying isn’t allowed, is called Shuruq. Since 2012, in the South Sound, Shuruq has also become the casual name …
Olympia’s fall Arts Walk 2016 takes place on these days: Friday, October 7 (5-10 p.m.) Saturday, October 8 (noon – 5 p.m.) Think of Arts Walk as a weekend-long street party, with live music, theatrical performances and the conversion of downtown Olympia into one big gallery. It’s a showcase for the best of local arts and culture, …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Brian Wayne Jansen is a self-taught artist who began his career shortly after he took an art history class in high school. He enjoyed his first show at the Capitol Theater for a Stonewall Youth event eight years ago and has been showing around Olympia and Seattle since. For …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Robyn Chance has lived in the Northwest for most of her life. She attended the University of Washington, the University of Puget Sound and Bastyr University. She’s a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and is the author and illustrator of two children’s picture books. …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Tom Anderson is a contemporary mixed-media artist. He’s the artist who created Olympia’s Park of the Seven Oars by the roundabout on Harrison. His large paintings fill the walls in the emergency room at Providence St. Peter Hospital, and his work is in more than 1,600 public and private …