There’s a sense of spaciousness and silence in the art of the Southwest Washington Regional Juried Exhibition at South Puget Sound Community College in such works as Danny Schreiber’s graphite-on-paper Lost Between the Stars and Foam and Jeanette Jones’ Fire Hazard, a still life that illuminates, as gallery manager Sean Barnes put it, “a quiet moment of rest.”
The Sunday, August 10 art show celebrating Spidermonkey’s 25th anniversary features artists that have become part of the Olympia tattoo circle over the past few decades, some stretching as far back as Bryan Childs’ early days over 30 years ago. As Childs says, these pieces will not be physical tattoos, but rather “a gallery of paintings that dream of being tattoos tailored for the back.”
Bear’s Souper Sunday Cookbook: Recipes for Hungry Animals is a charming cookbook for the whole family with recipes and stories by Olympia author Chris Hyde and illustrations by Olympia artist Roxanna Groves. The Souper Sunday movement began with an idea that came to Hyde to foster community togetherness and feed his neighbors in a world isolated after the Covid pandemic. What started out as a Facebook group that offered free soup to community members flourished into something bigger including this book.
In his New York Times review, critic Ben Brantley compared The Book of Mormon, coming to Olympia’s Washington Center, favorably to The King and I and The Sound of Music, adding “… “but rather than confronting tyrannical charismatic men with way too many children, our heroes must confront a one-eyed genocidal warlord… and a defeated, defensive group of villagers, riddled with AIDS… In setting these dark themes to sunny melodies, The Book of Mormon achieves something like a miracle.”
Tacoma’s TRIPOD began more than five years ago, where Lynn Di Nino brings artists of all stripes around to show off what they’ve done, what they’re working on, and where they’re going. Artists will come up on stage, readied with a projector, and show off 50 images over 15 minutes, guiding the audience through a story, or just giving them an inside look at their creative processes. The effect is somewhere between a TED Talk, show-and-tell, and a friend sharing their vacation slides.
Our House, written and directed by John Longenbaugh, is inspired by Thornton Wilder’s classic play Our Town. This unique immersive experience is back for a limited run beginning on July 17. The 2024 production received rave reviews: “Nothing short of a triumph. By all means find yourself to Our House,” Margie Deck, Ineffable Twaddle; “enlarges what theatre can be,” James O’Barr, Oly Arts; “there’s also magic…a liveliness that theatre strives for” Gemma Wilson, Seattle Times — as well as a Critic’s Choice from Oly Arts.
“This work needs to be seen by more than the 120 people who attended the opening,” said Tobin Ropes, owner of the new Tobin Gallery in downtown Tacoma, which is showing Schmitt & Hall: Collaborative Improvisations through August 15. Thirty-one Schmitt/Hall paintings are on display in the gallery, mostly figurative, most telling a story. While the artists cite German expressionists such as Max Beckmann as an influence, they’ve veered away from the darkness of expressionist paintings. Rather, these works feature color.
The newly opened Olympia Arts & Heritage Alliance Museum is designed to combine multiple elements under one roof, including a visitor center and an all-around community hub that features a rotating selection of displays, art exhibitions and cultural experiences, with a focus on regional topics. The museum made its grand opening the weekend of June 28 and is now open weekly from Thursday through Sunday. Centrally located on Columbia Street, the museum sits across the street from The Olympia Center and just steps away from Percival Landing Park near Olympia’s waterfront.
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.”
The Summer print edition of OLY ARTS N0. 33 is published! Here is a list of where in the Olympia area you can pick up your FREE copy, and a link to the PDF file so you can read it online. Enjoy!