Molly Gilmore “Arts Aficionado” — July 8, 2026 — Get thee to a gallery and take your pick of parks — SPSCC Regional Juried Exhibition returns — Music in the parks — Concerts at Tumwater Falls
Few people knew John Lennon as intimately as May Pang. Pang was Lennon’s lover during the infamous “Lost Weekend” which lasted 18 months during late 1973 through 1975. During this highly creative time for Lennon, Pang took candid photos of Lennon in a comfortable, relaxed environment. A collection of these private photographs will be on …
Join us Saturday, July 11th from 2pm to 3pm for an Artist Conversation with Susan Christian and friends, a relaxed afternoon discussion in the gallery surrounding the current exhibition Slow Work. FREE to attend Childhood’s End Gallery 222 4th Ave W Olympia, WA 98501 childhoods-end-gallery.com info@childhoods-end-gallery.com *Seating is limited
Susan Christian has lived in Olympia for 54 years and she has been central to the arts community here. Irritated that there were few places for artists to show art, in 2011 she started Salon Refu Gallery downtown. There she showed many local artists, held poetry readings, book readings, and artist talks. It was a joyous hub of the local arts community. Speaking of her own work, Christian says she very intentionally doesn’t paint pictures of things, nor suggestions of things either. She describes her work as someone “touching the surface.” She points out that art needs to be visible and, not one for complacency, she was “not going to let people go to sleep.”
Slow Work is an excellent art exhibition featuring paintings on wooden lathe with a sea full of blue by Susan Christian and bonfire fired pottery by Steve Belz at Childhood’s End Gallery in Olympia — thought provoking, deceptively simple and beautiful art. This is a must-see exhibition through July 26.
The Puget Sound Book Artists are highlighting artists who have transformed the bare bones of books into fractals, dioramas, sculptures, and stunning blossoms of origami. The exhibition is running through June 30 at University of Puget Sound, appropriately in the Collins Memorial Library; surrounded by thousands of bog-standard books, the books being exhibited are wild and frequently abstract. One uniting factor among the works is the theme of “15,” which is interpreted in various ways.
Sculptor Abe Singer turned an old water tank as large as a boxcar into a series of sculptures for Olympia’s Grass Lake Park. The water tank was on the park property before the recent park renovation. It was to be removed as part of the renovation, but instead of sending the tank to a scrapyard, the city thought it would be cool if someone could repurpose it for art. The city said they would deliver the tank to the selected artist if the destination was within 60 miles of the park. Singer lives on a farm in rural Montesano, so when he was selected for this project, the city delivered the tank to his shop on the farm property where it now keeps company with his turkeys. He utilized pieces of the massive tank to create the two mushroom entryway sculptures as well as the bird blind sculpture on the bridge.
“The point of the studio tour is to allow people to go behind the scenes and see how the work is made.” said Susan Aurand, acting president of the South Sound Studio Tour’s board of directors. Many artists are sharing their studio space with colleagues for the tour, happening the last weekend of May in Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater, so there’ll be about 80 artists involved, showing their work and offering insights into their methods.
The 2026 Center Salon will take place Mothers Day weekend, Saturday, May 9, in the Washington Center Black Box Theater with cabaret-style seating to provide an immersive ambiance. In commemoration of Mother’s Day weekend, many pieces included in this year’s Center Salon will tie back to the themes of mothers and motherhood. This includes a slideshow that will be projected ahead of the salon, featuring family photos of performers and audience members.
The print edition of Oly Arts magazine is published! This is our 10th anniversary edition and it includes The Oly Arts Origin Story and much more! Find out where you can pick up a free copy and/or read and download the PDF version.