posts about art, art shows, galleries and other visual arts…
By Alec Clayton Hart James is quickly becoming one of the Olympia area’s most beloved visual artists. People who have not seen her paintings should do so. “Life is a layering of existences. Each layer is imbued with intense energy,” James explains. “My work speaks of this energy and these layers; the current of the …
By Laurie Owen, community contributor The Leonor R. Fuller Gallery at South Puget Sound Community College is hosting a remarkable show—the 12th Annual Native American Arts Exhibition, curated by Philip Red Eagle. Six Native American artists are represented, each of whose work could easily find a place in major shows in New York City or …
By Molly Gilmore Sometimes humanity hits like a ton of bricks. Artists behind bars and community volunteers banded together last month to raise thousands of dollars to help homeless people and survivors of domestic violence. Artists in correctional centers across the state donated more than 200 of their creations — from paintings and sculpture to …
By Aigner Loren Wilson This past January, Tacoma Art Museum (TAM) won a $15,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The grant will be used to bring awareness, resources, activities, and fund its annual Dia de los Muertos Festival that happens in the fall of each year. With the grant, TAM plans …
ART REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Tacoma artist Sharon Styer is primarily known as a photographer whose photographs of vacant and abandoned buildings, among other subjects, are haunting and mysterious. Now she’s onto something new. About two years ago, Styer began making collages that are funny, bizarre and intelligent – often with known …
Review by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Art House Designs is a large frame shop and gallery with hundreds and hundreds of paintings, prints and other artworks displayed salon style on the walls and on tables and even stacked on the floor. The collection includes hundreds of original paintings and prints by local and regional …
By Alec Clayton The art gallery in South Puget Sound Community College’s Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts will be named for retiring trustee Leonor R. Fuller in honor of her advocacy for arts and education. The dedication event will take place January 24. Fuller served as the chair of the Women of Washington …
By Anna Schlecht Olympia has become a “city of murals”, with an ever-growing number of large format artworks on walls across the urban hub and beyond. Some murals appear overnight, executed without payment or permission. Others are juried by experts and commissioned for thousands of dollars. Into this pantheon of public art enters a unique …
By ALEC CLAYTON Almost everyone familiar with the Olympia art scene knows – or should know – Susan Aurand’s work. For many years, beginning in 1974, she taught at The Evergreen State College, and over the years she’s shown her art in such local venues as Childhood’s End Gallery and South Puget Sound Community College …
By ALEC CLAYTON On a Wednesday morning in November, over 20 people gather around two long tables in downtown Olympia’s Hummingbird Studio. They’re students at The Evergreen State College, or they’re from the Transitions Program of Olympia School District, which provides opportunities to envision the potential for post-secondary education. As the Transitions website puts it, …