posts that contain mini-bios of our writers
by Jonah Barrett for OLY ARTS The island archipelago of Haida Gwaii lies 585 miles from Olympia, WA. These islands serve as the heartland of the Haida Nation, and the setting of Georg Koszulinski’s new social justice documentary, White Ravens. The film focuses on the history of the Indigenous Haida Nation and their current resistance …
THEATER REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Harlequin Productions’ latest offering is Three Days of Rain, the Pulitzer Prize-nominated drama by Richard Greenberg, author of Take Me Out. Without a clear picture of who’s who, this play can be confusing. Here’s a brief overview of the plot: In act one, 1995, Walker Janeway (Fox …
by Bryan Willis for OLY ARTS Washington State’s new Poet Laureate, Claudia Castro Luna, will be featured at the Lacey Library Monday, May 7 at 7:00 p.m. at a free event for the public. Castro Luna will be joined by Olympia poets Dawn Pichón Barron and Emily Van Kley. All three poets will read from …
by MELISSA AVRIL HARRIS for OLY ARTS In search of an escape this spring season? Take a trip down the rabbit hole with Studio West Dance Academy’s production of Alice in Wonderland. The classic children’s tale of a little girl who ventures into a world filled with tardy white rabbits, mystical caterpillars, and fearsome Queens …
by MOLLY GILMORE for OLY ARTS Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake didn’t earn much acclaim when it debuted in 1877 in Moscow, but once it took wing, the ballet continued to soar. Ballet Northwest’s production of the classic about a young woman cursed to live as a swan opens May 11 at the Washington Center for the …
by Jonah Barrett for OLY ARTS The work of two visual artists will collide in a single show at Arts Walk this weekend. Local multimedia virtuosos Katherine Smith and Jess Tanguay create works of art that function as polar opposites in subject matter, but harmonious in style. This dual show will be presented by the Olympia …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS Harlequin Productions’ “Three Days of Rain,” opening May 3, is a subtle mystery — not a whodunit, but rather a “what happened and why.” Richard Greenberg’s Pulitzer-nominated 1998 drama begins with a sister (Alyssa Kay) and brother (Fox Rain Matthews) and one of their childhood friends gathering to …
Arts Walk Pick 2018 by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS The Evergreen Arts Walk Tour describes China Star as “a conceptually-minded process artist working across disciplines in 2D, 3D, installation and performance.” In Arts Walk this spring, she will show abstract, mixed-media paintings from a series called “MORTALITY: The Loss Paintings.” She explained, “The series …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS The subtler sibling to the many-splendored Procession of the Species, the Luminary Procession shines brightly, filling the streets of Olympia with glowing paper lanterns and live music. When it began in 2009, this procession was intended exclusively for participants, as a ritual honoring the human spirit. “There’s something extraordinarily …
Arts Walk Pick 2018 by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Chris Maynard’s unique and unforgettable feather art has often been seen at Childhood’s End Gallery in Olympia, and his work has been shown and resides in private collections worldwide, most recently at the Coors Western Art Exhibit and Sale in Denver. Using delicate instruments — …