by Ned Hayes Olympia has professional theater, amateur theater, family theater and community theater. Yet we are often bereft of truly experimental genre-busting theatrical adventures. In late July, on one night only, writer/performer/puppeteer and underground wandering clown-minstrel Donna Oblongata will grace Olympia with her presence and fill your need for an experimental journey to the …
By CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL Alejandro de Acosta, philosophy faculty member at The Evergreen State College, is the essayist and translator responsible for a Texas micro-press called mufa::poema. Born in Argentina, de Acosta translated poetry collections by Jorge Carrera and Carlos Oquendo de Amat. His wife, Elise Dressler, is the poetry coordinator who leads a modern-poetry book …
By Billy Thomas Local author, entrepreneur and community activist Olivia Salazar de Breaux has written a new book that pays homage to family and her hometown of Olympia. She recently sat down with OLY ARTS to talk about her journey along the creative process. “The idea came to me in an English course a couple …
By ALEC CLAYTON Capital City Pride will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots this summer with a parade from the Capitol steps to Heritage Park. Festivities include drag performances, food vendors, informational booths from area businesses and social organizations, music and speeches. Some 15,000 people are expected. The Stonewall Riots are acknowledged as …
By CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL Lacey will soon have its own theatrical troupe. Artistic director Kevin McManus explains, “Seven of my closest friends and I gathered together to form a theater company. We got ourselves a little 501(c)(3) license and are heading toward a three-production, inaugural season.” That fledgling company is Goldfinch Productions. “It’s exciting and a …
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 …
By Kirk Ericson, special contributor I am 59 years old, and I only recently learned that I am a cisgendered straight male. It seems late in the game to learn such a fact about one’s self, but awareness of such matters sometimes comes late, especially if you’ve failed to pay adequate attention to changes in …
ART REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS The Evergreen State College graduate Ashley Miller has returned with a photography exhibition called Sweet Things in Galerie Fotoland, first floor Library Building. The press release and a printed statement on the gallery wall refer to her pictures as still-life photography, but although traditional still life arrangements …
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 …
By Alec Clayton Local artist Kimberly Saltiel believes art has the power to heal, and she has the research to back it up. She notes that studies show a direct link between the content of images and the brain’s reaction to pain, stress and anxiety. Hospitals and elderly care facilities turn to art as part …