Sky Bear Media: Olympia’s Indigenous Film Company

By Alec Clayton Olympia, the city of natural abundance, award-winning culture and celebrated diversity, is home to a video production that was founded by and is run by an indigenous filmmaker — Sky Bear Media. The company is housed in the Steamplant Building in the heart of downtown, described by company founder Jeff Barehand as …

Read more

Olympia Arts Month Featured Artist: Laurel Henn

By Alec Clayton This year’s Spring Arts Month cover art will be “Fluttering,” a hand-painted relief block by Laurel Henn, depicting quilts on a clothesline. The artist says this image is dear to her because of her mother’s life-long work as a quilter. “Quilts are a source of comfort and a symbol of family heirlooms,” …

Read more

Lacey’s Goldfinch Productions Announces 2021 Season

By Molly Gilmore At a time when the pandemic has made many theater companies hesitant even to make plans, South Sound’s Goldfinch Productions is ready for takeoff on its 2021 season. The plucky nonprofit, founded in 2018 with the goal of opening a theater and studio in Lacey, will produce a half-dozen audio plays, with …

Read more

Hotel Olympian 100th Anniversary Grand Gala Extravaganza: A Radio Project

By Alec Clayton Subtitled “A Community Comes Together,” the “Hotel Olympian 100th Anniversary Grand Gala Extravaganza” is a recreation of the gala opening celebration of the downtown Hotel Olympian in June 1920. The project is spearheaded by playwright Bryan Willis, founder of the Northwest Playwright Alliance and directed by Deane Shellman, with an all-star cast of …

Read more

Compelling Clay: Unglazed and Rough-Surfaced Sculpture by Aisha Harrison

By Alec Clayton  Aisha Harrison is an inventive sculptor and former art teacher at The Evergreen State College. She also does two-dimensional art, drawing and printmaking, but it is as a sculptor of strong and emphatic figures that has made an indelible mark on the South Sound art world. “Aisha contributes so much to our …

Read more

Evolving Artist Becky Knold on Cardboard, Roofing Paper and Collages

By Alec Clayton Becky Knold was a late blooming artist. She didn’t start painting seriously until she retired from teaching in 2006. Her only formal training had been a few classes at The Evergreen State College. She learned by doing and by looking at the art of others as much as possible. Once she started, …

Read more

Teri Bevelacqua: Acrylics, Encaustics and Billboards, Oh My!

By Alec Clayton Imagine a billboard that is a work of art — not just a commercial that’s artistic, but an actual painting, and not a full-size billboard but large enough, and lighted for nighttime viewing. That’s what local artist Teri Bevelacqua created for Burning Man 2019. The title of the piece is “From Here …

Read more

Hart James: a Layering of Existences Imbued With Intense Energy

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 …

Read more

An Artistic Revue: Procession of the Species 2019

By NED HAYES Photography by Shanna Paxton Photography Procession of the Species is Olympia’s annual celebration of the natural ecosystem. It’s been enlivened in recent years by the massive creations of large-scale puppeteer Jerry Berebitsky, whose creations delight crowds with brilliant color, innovative imagination and awe-inspiring movement. This year, however, instead of a single, oversized …

Read more

Skip to content