WEEKEND PREVIEW is your weekly guide to events in Thurston County. We hope you’re ready for the holidays, because they’re in full swing in Olympia this week with plenty of theater and audience-participation shows. Be sure to make your way downtown this weekend for the always-spectacular festival Downtown for the Holidays–and look for free copies …
by Jennifer Crain for OLY ARTS On December 3, the Masterworks Choral Ensemble’s annual Christmas concert kicks off the Yuletide season. Gary Witley, director of the community chorus since he helped found it in 1981, says listeners can expect a family friendly evening with traditional favorites, sing-alongs and tunes to make them laugh. “Every Christmas …
by Ned Hayes for OLY ARTS The Inslee family has several traditions that revolve around family, and this year the first couple of Washington state was happy to share its traditions with OLY ARTS. According to first lady Trudi Inslee, Gov. Jay Inslee willingly transforms into an artist and storywriter over the holidays, as he’s …
by Jonah Barrett for OLY ARTS Once a year, the streets of Olympia close for a few hours as thousands of motorcycles roar down Pacific Avenue onto State, Capitol, Fifth and Deschutes Parkway. This is the 39th-annual Olympia Toy Run. Toys and proceeds are donated to the Salvation Army. They get there by being strapped …
READ COMPLETE JILL CARTER INTERVIEW HERE >> PRINT ARTICLE BELOW >> by Ned Hayes for OLY ARTS When the curtain first rose on Jill Carter’s original set design for Land of the Sweets 20 years ago, there was a gasp from the audience, followed by a round of applause. The audience cheered for the scenic design …
READ PRINT ARTICLE HERE >> COMPLETE INTERVIEW BELOW >> by Ned Hayes for OLY ARTS Here’s a holiday story: Once upon a time, a talented, young woman began a ballet class but fell in love with the scenery instead of the dancing. That was merely the beginning of her story. Jill Carter was fortunate to …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Olympia’s ever-surprising art gallery Salon Refu is instituting story time for the holiday season. Local poets, writers, storytellers and, as gallery owner Susan Christian puts it, “people of good will and excellent language skills” will read their work every Thursday through Sunday in December. During the month of December …
Writing in the Rain With Olympia’s Poet Laureate UPDATED Nov. 23, 2016: City Arts Program manager Stephanie Johnson announced that the Olympia City Council approved Amy Solomon-Minarchi as Olympia’s first poet laureate. Solomon-Minarchi is in her fourth year of teaching at North Thurston High School. She grew up on the Jersey Shore and moved to …
by Jennifer Crain for OLY ARTS Kids take the stage at Church of Living Water on December 2. One Starry Night, an evening of crafts, carols, choir and band performances—even live donkeys—is an annual event that launches the holiday season. Its central element is a retelling of the Christmas story. “It’s a really creative avenue …
by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS “Jake Marley was dead,” says director Kendra Malm, adding with a wink, “to begin with.” It’s a measure of the familiarity of Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost-Story of Christmas that Malm can drop that literary allusion so casually. In A Christmas Cactus, …