by Christina Butcher for OLY ARTS Although this year’s Procession of the Species has come and gone, the festivities continue to have a resounding impact on at Madison Elementary School. Earlier this spring, the student body adopted an iconic procession-art piece and joined the parade for the first time. “Participating in the procession was a …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS The arts are for everyone to create and to enjoy. The Washington Center for the Performing Arts’s Young Arts Ambassadors are learning about the arts from the inside out, and they’ll share their knowledge and creations at a showcase this Saturday. A benefit for the program, the showcase features …
by Kelli Samson for OLY ARTS Evergreen State College alumna Amy Shephard has collaborated with Andrew Gordon and Daven Tillinghast to write Olympia Family Theater’s final show of its 11th season, Fishnapped! “It’s an interactive, musical mystery involving a missing goldfish,” says Shephard, who also choreographs the production. The musical numbers, composed by Tillinghast, are …
by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS Led by Jerry Berebitsky, Olympia Waldorf School has accepted the challenge of portraying a flock—technically, an “ostentation”—of peacocks. That includes at least 30 kid-sized peacock characters and an alpha peacock some 24 feet high, puppeteered by 20 people. The original alpha puppet was created by the Spirit of the …
by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS Since 1974, the Nisqually river delta has been set aside for public enjoyment as the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. This biologically diverse estuary covers over 760 acres, the largest delta refuge in the Pacific Northwest. It’s a birdwatcher’s delight, with over 200 species alighting there each …
by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS “Who can take a sunrise / Sprinkle it in dew?” We suspect any child of the 1970s, or of any decade since for that matter, could immediately answer that musical question. It’s “The Candy Man,” of course—in this case, a very specific candy man, the mischievous (and ostensibly homicidal) …
by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS According to the Daily Mail, there were over 200,000 wild lions in Africa three decades ago. Now there are a tenth of that number, with only five viable populations remaining on the vast continent. That’s why Madison Elementary is coming to the rescue. “Lion cubs are our mascot,” says …
by Ned Hayes for OLY ARTS Nearly every inch of the route for the Procession of the Species is covered with vibrant chalk art. The Procession team hands out chalk to children from ages 0 to 99: Everyone is invited to create their own art on the route. Yet this is not just a momentary …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS What happens in the library after the lights go out? Friday night at Tumwater Timberland Library, the answer sounds like something out of a fantasy novel: The library will become a battlefield, with intrepid teens forming teams to play capture the flag—or in this case, capture the glow wand—and …
THEATER REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Come out of the rain to kick off spring with Olympia Family Theater’s production of Alice in Wonderland—a lot of fun for kids from 3 to 73. Adapted from the book by Lewis Carroll by the multitalented writer, actor and director Kate Ayers and directed by OFT …