Lynn Di Nino talks TRIPOD in Tacoma

Tacoma’s TRIPOD began more than five years ago, where Lynn Di Nino brings artists of all stripes around to show off what they’ve done, what they’re working on, and where they’re going. Artists will come up on stage, readied with a projector, and show off 50 images over 15 minutes, guiding the audience through a story, or just giving them an inside look at their creative processes. The effect is somewhere between a TED Talk, show-and-tell, and a friend sharing their vacation slides.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival Celebrates its 90th Season

Melanie Ransom, Harlequin Productions’ costume department manager, says, “We go (to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival) every year. When we’re driving down and we get to the Ashland exit, my heart starts beating a little bit faster. I am just so excited to be there. It’s always a slam dunk for me. it’s a really special place.”

Unique Immersive Show “Our House” Revived for July-August 2025

Our House, written and directed by John Longenbaugh, is inspired by Thornton Wilder’s classic play Our Town. This unique immersive experience is back for a limited run beginning on July 17. The 2024 production received rave reviews: “Nothing short of a triumph. By all means find yourself to Our House,” Margie Deck, Ineffable Twaddle; “enlarges what theatre can be,” James O’Barr, Oly Arts; “there’s also magic…a liveliness that theatre strives for” Gemma Wilson, Seattle Times — as well as a Critic’s Choice from Oly Arts.

Collaborative Paintings at Tobin Gallery: Jazz in color

“This work needs to be seen by more than the 120 people who attended the opening,” said Tobin Ropes, owner of the new Tobin Gallery in downtown Tacoma, which is showing Schmitt & Hall: Collaborative Improvisations through August 15. Thirty-one Schmitt/Hall paintings are on display in the gallery, mostly figurative, most telling a story. While the artists cite German expressionists such as Max Beckmann as an influence, they’ve veered away from the darkness of expressionist paintings. Rather, these works feature color.

The New Olympia Arts & Heritage Alliance Museum Showcases Olympia’s Artistic and Cultural History

The newly opened Olympia Arts & Heritage Alliance Museum is designed to combine multiple elements under one roof, including a visitor center and an all-around community hub that features a rotating selection of displays, art exhibitions and cultural experiences, with a focus on regional topics. The museum made its grand opening the weekend of June 28 and is now open weekly from Thursday through Sunday. Centrally located on Columbia Street, the museum sits across the street from The Olympia Center and just steps away from Percival Landing Park near Olympia’s waterfront.

Animal Fire’s Midsummer Night’s Dream in Lacey’s Wonderwood Park

Animal Fire Theatre’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Lacey’s Wonderwood Park in July
“is something that I think we all need back in our lives — the magic and the mystery of all the human connection, love and lust and grandeur and all of that,” Director Brian Hatcher said. “We need to bring this levity back. “The last couple shows we did had a heaviness to them — Measure for Measure and King Henry IV,” he added. “We decided that this was the time to go light.”

Oly Arts Summer 2025 Print Edition

The Summer print edition of OLY ARTS N0. 33 is published! Here is a list of where in the Olympia area you can pick up your FREE copy, and a link to the PDF file so you can read it online. Enjoy!

tomakesenseofitall: Aisha Harrison and Paige Pettibon at Tacoma Art Museum

The art of Aisha Harrison and Paige Pettibon in their show, “tomakesenseofitall” at Tacoma Art Museum works to deliver orchestrated messages, respecting and supporting each other’s voice, singing a similar song which gives you many things to think about. Harrison and Pettibon have much in common, they both practice their disciplines with similar concerns in mind, they both utilize a rich, visually allegorical narrative, incorporating surrealism as a means of communication to express the niche space they occupy in the world.

Dive Into Summer Reading List at Childhood’s End

Summer Reading List at Childhood’s End Gallery gathers a diverse sampling of what the book arts can do. Childhood’s End is Olympia’s premiere art gallery, and this exhibition should not be missed. The artists are: Susan Aurand, Malpina Chan, Camella Gumaelius, Robin Gumaelius, Lucia Harrison, Randi Parkhurst, Shu-Ju Wang and Suze Woolf.

Heart of the Deernicorn and Studio Golden in Downtown Olympia

Mo Golden and Ross Cowman are the owners of Heart of the Deernicorn Inc. Cowman has been casually designing tabletop games since he was a kid. Cowman and Golden made a game together called Night Forest. Golden studied fine art with Marilyn Frasca, also movement with Rob Esposito at Evergreen. Cowman says the prompts in the game give an opportunity to share in a poetic way, poetry being a love of Cowman’s which he studied as a student at Evergreen.

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