Lynette Charters Serembe

Critic’s Corner: Best Visual and Performing Arts of 2024

Many of the South Sound’s best theater and visual arts critics write for OLY ARTS. We asked six of them to highlight some of their favorite visual and performance art shows from 2024, and we congratulate and celebrate the Olympia and Tacoma-area artists selected. Due to the limitation we put on the critics of no more than two or three shows, we are aware of and acknowledge that many great shows and artists were not picked. We are lucky to live in such a vibrant creative community.

Paper Trails at Childhood’s End

The current Childhood’s End Gallery show, up through December 23, is visually impressive and stimulating and yet simultaneously very relaxing to be with, demonstrating the versatility, and diversity of paper. The variety of styles and skills of the artists are cohesively unified by their shared love of the material.

SPSCC’s 16th Annual Native American Art Exhibition

The question was posed to Native artists, “How can we lovingly honor our ancestors, heal generational traumas, and preserve culture in the modern world?” Their many responses varied, vibrant and intriguing responses can be seen in this art exhibition at SPSCC’s Leonor R. Fuller Gallery at the Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts through Dec. 13.

Art of Salish Peoples with Featured Artist Ed NoiseCat at Evergreen Gallery

The Art of Salish Peoples, showcasing Coastal and Interior Salish People’s art, is a group exhibition until Jan 10, 2025, curated by the staff of The House of Welcome at The Evergreen State College. It is an all-Salish project, with lead artist Ed Archie NoiseCat and invited artists at Evergreen Gallery.

Form & Pose: Joint Show of the Works of Gabi and Alec Clayton

In Rex & Rose, a new coffee shop located in the beautiful and historic Security Building on 4th Avenue, you will see the works of two of the most prolific artists Olympia has to offer, Alec and Gabi Clayton. The art there until the end of October was chosen by co-owner Jay Michael Becker who curates the shows. This is the first time the Claytons have shown together other than in their home, and it is engaging to see how the two bodies of work interact with each other in such a beautiful setting.

Fall/Winter 2024 Print Edition

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!

Enterlope’s Fashion Runway in the Alley for ArtsWalk

by Lynette Charters Serembe — Tucked away in the heart of The Hotel Olympia building adjacent to Sylvester Park is the raw gem of a fashion enterprise named Enterlope. Cal Ledbetter is the owner and main designer, who has big dreams with plans of bringing couture fashion to our community in a truly Olympian way. He started creating clothes for drag queens, making some very flamboyant outfits, then moving on to make prom dresses. At the time being, inspired by designers of the past, such as McQueen, Dior, Lagerfeld and Galliano, he says he mimicked their designs to learn their techniques. Then he was introduced to local designer Dakota Miller; they teamed up working with their new brand aesthetic.

Summer at the Schmidt: Midsummer Night’s Dream Faire

“Midsummer Night’s Dream Faire” at Schmidt House in Tumwater features live music by Tacoma-based Pearl Django, other performances, games, dinner and refreshments (21+). This one-night event on Thursday, August 8th is a fundraising event to benefit the Procession of the Species organization.

Corpses, Fools and Monsters: The History and Future of Transness in Cinema  

“It is a great honor to have such prominent authors [Willow Catelyn Maclay and Caden Mark Gardner] meet remotely with our community. They are lauded as two of the best film writers working today, and their new book is poised to become a foundational text about cinema and queer history.” Trans Film Festival and library Zoom event with authors.

OLY ARTS Summer 2024 Print Edition

You can read the articles that are in OLY ARTS Summer 2024 Print Edition from links on this page, and you can read and download the PDF version linked in the website’s sidebar.

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