"Fly Away," painting by Lonnie L. Spikes Jr.

OLY ARTS Cover Artist Lonnie Spikes

by Ned Hayes for OLY ARTS Lonnie L. Spikes Jr. is the artist whose piece “Fly Away” graces the cover of the Fall Arts Walk edition of OLY ARTS. “Fly Away” was created by Spikes after the death of a relative. During the funeral procession, Spikes noticed a monarch butterfly resting on a cross above …

Read more

"Street Love," mixed media by Evan Clayton Horback

Mixed Media From Evan Clayton Horback

by Adam McKinney for OLY ARTS Evan Clayton Horback is the cover artist for this year’s Fall Arts Walk program, with a piece called “Street Love.” Horback grew up in New Jersey and earned a degree in art from State University of New York. Between those two events, he pursued the monastic life in ashrams …

Read more

Sock Monkeys for Social Justice

Sock Monkeys for Social Justice at Arts Walk

by Jonah Barrett for OLY ARTS A barrel of sock monkeys will take the POWER center by storm this Arts Walk. Each sock monkey, created by members of Parents Organizing for Welfare and Economic Rights, will be on display in the front gallery of POWER downtown. Each monkey comes with its own story. “This project …

Read more

"Fly Away," painting by Lonnie L. Spikes Jr.

Cover Artist Lonnie Spikes

by Ned Hayes for OLY ARTS Lonnie L. Spikes Jr. is the artist whose piece “Fly Away” graces the cover of this edition of OLY ARTS. “Fly Away” was created by Spikes after the death of a relative. During the funeral procession, Spikes noticed a monarch butterfly resting on a cross above the interment site. …

Read more

Brian Jansen

Brian Wayne Jansen: Brave Chameleon

by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Whether as the lothario Vince in Brian Willis’s Seven Ways to Get There, the title character in Agamemnon, the purely evil Emperor Saturninus in Titus Andronicus or the insane Renfield in Tacoma Little Theatre’s Dracula, Brian Wayne Jansen is a larger-than-life presence on any stage. And he’s an exhibiting …

Read more

painting by Susan Christian (detail)

Susan Christian, Post Salon Refu

by Christina Butcher for OLY ARTS Many Olympians know Susan Christian as the former owner of gallery Salon Refu, rather than as a lifelong artist and painter. But truth be told, Christian has been painting for 57 years and creating art, rather than curating or managing it, is her true passion. After closing the doors …

Read more

Marilyn Frasca

Marilyn Frasca: Poet, Painter, Mystic

by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Marilyn Frasca is one of the South Sound’s most beloved artists, as evidenced by the crowds that flocked to her solo show at Childhood’s End Gallery in 2013. It was a rare honor for the artist, in that the gallery almost never does one-person shows. That show featured 71 …

Read more

Arrington de Dionyso

Unraveling the Mystery Behind Arrington de Dionyso

by Christina Butcher for OLY ARTS Despite building a vast body of work including experimental music, painting, directing and collaborating in Olympia for the past 25 years, Arrington de Dionyso is still somewhat of a mystery to many Olympia residents. There’s something about the experimental musician and painter’s work that draws audiences in but, chances …

Read more

"Logical Consequences," acrylic painting by C.J. Swanson

Color and Structure: Susie Englestad and C. J. Swanson

by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Featured artists for August and September at Art House Designs are painters Susie Englestad and C. J. Swanson. Both artists present work that is colorful and abstract but derived from nature. Englestad, the owner of Art House Designs, paints with flat squiggles and organic shapes that dance across the …

Read more

"Dragon Ballet" by Arrington DeDionyso

A Paper Narrative: Art at Browsers Bookshop

by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Browsers Bookshop is going into the art-exhibition business. On August 12 it opens a show of works on paper by five local artists: Arrington De Dionyso, Aisha Harrison, Evan Horback, Nikki McClure and Madeline Waits. The show is called A Paper Narrative. De Dionyso is an artist and musician …

Read more

Skip to content