Arts Education Gets Equity Boost With Art Beat Olympia

By MELINDA MINTON Art Beat Olympia is working to bring art-education equity to Olympia schools. Because art is essential for all students, this program offers a high-quality arts-learning format that teaches sequential skills and techniques, develops students’ 21st-century skills and is culturally responsive. Art Beat’s protocol includes training teachers to integrate arts with other subjects, …

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Rumors Has It

By Melinda Minton Rumors, a local wine bar, has expanded and moved from Fourth Avenue into an airy space on Washington Street in the heart of downtown Olympia. Rumors offers curated selections for every type of palate—old world, domestics and imports from the finest variety of wineries around. Rumors is all about wine and the …

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Arts and Culture Events This Memorial Day Weekend

By Billy Thomas As the weather continues to warm up, and the sun — that’s that bright thing in the sky, for those of us who have forgotten, due to its infrequent presence — begins to shine brighter, the promise of a long weekend is a reprieve from the slog. For readers who are looking …

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Los Lobos: Yes, They Can!

Celebrated band Los Lobos (Spanish for “The Wolves”) is coming to Olympia for a concert that’s sure to sell out.

Jammin’ at the Jamboree

By JONAH BARRETT Steamboat Island isn’t known for its boisterous antics, but that changes every spring as it bursts with a variety of melodies. The fifth-annual Steamboat Stringband Jamboree, occurring the last day of May and first day of June, is hosted by Olympia bands The Oly Mountain Boys and The Pine Hearts. The jamboree’s a celebration of …

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Olympia Film Society Introduces Screen Scores

By NOAH SHACHAR Cinema and music have been intertwined since the debut of moving pictures. With the invention of sound cinema, however, we lost the combination of a live orchestra playing alongside the silver screen. Starting in May, Olympia Film Society (OFS) introduces an all-new film program series, Screen Scores. The program attaches live ensembles …

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City of Olympia Seeking Citizens for Heritage Commission

By Billy Thomas The City of Olympia announced on Friday that it is looking for citizens interested in serving on the Heritage Commission. “The commission provides a structured way for citizens to share opinions and perspectives, study issues, develop recommendations, and provide the Olympia City Council advice from the citizen perspective,” said Kellie Purce Braseth, …

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A Year of Growth for Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia

By LUCY VOLKER Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia (SOGO) provides musical education, technical training and performance opportunities for aspiring, young musicians. The group offers a variety of intensive classes and training programs for elementary, middle and high-school-aged youth. SOGO aims to prepare students for careers in classical music. Its programs focus on artistic development, ear …

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Out of Salem: a Teen-Zombie-Werewolf-Witchy-Faerie Fantasy-Murder-Mystery

By Tom Simpson Hal Schrieve is well known to Olympians as a local word nerd, ardent reader, University of Washington graduate and trans activist. Schrieve, 22, is about to be well-known for hir—Schrieve’s preferred pronoun—powerful, debut novel, a transformative murder mystery that features teen zombies and werewolves. “I tried to imagine a modern fantasy world …

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Ben Moore’s Space Set to Transform into ‘Percival Place’

By Billy Thomas South Puget Sound Community College announced that it has partnered with the City of Olympia to transform the former Ben Moore’s restaurant into Percival Place at Ben Moore’s. The special event location will provide the college the opportunity to return to downtown Olympia, bringing with it its mission of education and workforce …

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