posts that contain mini-bios of our writers
By Karen Lunde Ever bought a musician at auction? On October 20, The Olympia Peace Choir will auction off some of its finest musical talent at its gala benefit, Tune in to Fall. Guests will be able to bid on six different acts, and musicians will then perform for the winner and everyone at the …
By Lucy Volker Family-friendly comedy Corduroy opens this month at Olympia Family Theater. The original book, written and illustrated by Don Freeman in 1968, was recently adapted for the stage by Barry Kornhauser. After seeing the play’s world premiere this spring in Minneapolis at the Children’s Theater Company, artistic director Jen Ryle knew it would …
By Jonah Barrett For a vegan, dining out can be a minefield. Options are usually limited to Asian food, bland burritos and the old fallback, green salads. Downtown Olympia has an alternative for that with the recent opening of The Wayside Cafe & Deli. Jamie Vulva and Kevin Rainsberry opened their Capitol Way restaurant on …
ART REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS John Logan’s dramatic two-man show Red at Olympia Little Theatre is engaging, intelligent and highly intense. It is a tour de force for actors Christopher Valcho as the painter Mark Rothko and John Tuttle-Gates as his studio assistant, Ken, and for director Jim Patrick. At an hour …
ART REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Carol Hannum is an underappreciated local treasure. Her art has been shown in museums and galleries and is in private and public collections worldwide, including many in Lacey and Olympia, and she has taught at South Puget Sound Community College. And yet a glance at her resume …
By Karen Lunde and Billy Thomas Imagine a 20-pound rodent that looks like a weird cross between a beaver and a rat. It has enormous orange teeth and a skinny tail. It lives in swampy, tidal areas and dines mostly on aquatic plants. It procreates prolifically. You’ve got yourself a nutria, and it’s the subject …
By Alec Clayton The angst, artistic sensibility and intelligence of the great abstract-expressionist painter Mark Rothko will be on display — raw nerve ends and all — when Olympia Little Theatre brings to the stage John Logan’s dramatic two-man show Red, directed by Jim Patrick and starring Christopher Valcho as Rothko and John Tuttle as …
By Karen Lunde Olympia brings artists and thousands of art lovers together each spring and fall for its semi-annual celebration of the arts, Arts Walk. Angel Nava, arts-program specialist for City of Olympia Parks, Arts & Recreation, has taken the helm for the fall event, shifting responsibility from arts-program manager Stephanie Johnson. Johnson pointed out …
By Adam McKinney Olympia has never been short on entertainment options; the city’s embrace of the arts and wide varieties of creative expression ensures there’s something interesting to do and see just about every night. The sheer volume of options borders on overwhelming. It’s helpful, then, to know of one place, in particular, that always …
Visual Art Review by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Photo: “Poised” pastel by Barbara Noonan, courtesy Childhood’s End Gallery Barbara Noonan’s work at Childhood’s End Gallery was announced like too many other landscape displays — pretty, predictable and unimaginative. But when one visits the gallery in person, the work communicates a surface quality and an …