posts by Molly Gilmore
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.”
Animal Fire Theatre has set its Uncle Vanya in and around Olympia’s Lord Mansion. It’s a setting that’s as enchanting as Anton Chekhov’s play is bleak. Theatergoers are part of the action, and moments of surprise and drama elicit jumps and gasps.
String and Or So It Would Seam: A Giant Puppet Voyage Into the Hidden Universe runs through July 21 in Olympia’s Decatur Woods Park and then tours the Northwest till Sept. 1. You really do want to make time for this confection, packed with visual puns and silly walks. String and Shadow’s worlds of fantasy and fable aim to pluck at the strings of universal wonder, innocence, and joy.
There’s been lots of buzz around Susan Christian’s participation as curator of South Puget Sound Community College’s 2024 Southwest Regional Juried Exhibition which runs July 8-Aug. 16. The show includes 39 works by 32 artists from Southwest Washington. Awards will be presented along with a gallery talk by Christian at the opening reception on Thursday, July 11.