posts by Molly Gilmore
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.”
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.”
Comedian Sam Miller and his mother, Mary Soehnlen, performed “The Jail Letters Project” several times in 2017, when Miller was doing standup locally and hosting a comedy open mic. They’re revisiting it now because Stand Up Records, which produced Miller’s 2023 Round Trip, is working on a documentary about him. “I’m used to standup, and I’m good at standup,” he said. “Even though I’ve done this show before, it is more challenging. … The thing about my drinking and using that I am most ashamed of is how I treated my mom. Doing a show with my mom about that time is the hardest thing.”
Gallery Director Sean Barnes said of the 2025 Juried Invitational Exhibition at South Puget Sound Community College, “This show has this nice balance of kind of spirituality and observation of the natural world. We have these temples and this little chapel for (Charles Pitz’s) work and then a goddess dress, and they are surrounded by
representational images of nature. It really came together in an interesting way.”
Speaking of the Center Salon at The Washington Center, Jill Barnes, executive director of the center, said, “It’s really fun to see so many different genres of art in one night. It’s pretty special. The center hosts touring artists from all over the world, and this event showcases our homegrown talent. It complements the rest of our programming and who we are and what we do.” Co-curated by Olympia’s own, Bryan Willis, the Center Salon will fill the center’s black box on the evening of Saturday, March 22.
Lynette Charters, now showing through the end of January at the gallery at Tacoma Community College is having fun setting the record straight. “The Matildas are the joyful part,” she said. “The Missing Women series poses the question of why women aren’t included in exhibitions and museums and history, but the Matildas are all about what women achieve and how important their achievements are.”
Olympia Family Theatre, which has closed its adjacent all-ages space and reduced staff hours, is hard at work on raising the money it needs to keep the theater on solid footing going forward. Dean Shellman, chair of the non-profit theater’s board, said, “We’re carefully looking for savings opportunities that don’t change the experience for our audiences and students. OFT provides magical moments for families, and that won’t change.”
Oly Arts Walk * Bucoda Spook-Tacular * Anna Schlecht * Tacoma Film Festival * Enterlope * Eileen Bochsler * OFT & More! You can read our 31st print edition here. It is hot off the press and distributed free in the area plus available online!
by Molly Gilmore — There’s a glow at the center of Eileen Bochsler’s encaustic painting Forest Awakening, made with layers upon layers of wax mixed with tree resin that give the painting its luminosity and texture featured on the cover of the fall Arts Walk map. Awakening will be on display at Splash Gallery — a cooperative where Bochsler’s encaustics are always hanging.
By Molly Gilmore — How much does Bucoda love Halloween? The town officially changes its name to Boo-Coda for the scary season, and its elaborate Spook-Tacular lasts the entire month of October. That’s not all, though: The town (population 600 or so) celebrates All Hallow’s Eve in winter, spring and summer as well as fall. Laura Wilson, president of the Bucoda Improvement Club, says, “You get it into your soul when you’re handing out here in Bucoda. It’s Halloween year round.”