There may be a chill in the air, but the arts can certainly warm your soul if not your body. Check out a bit of October's bounty in this issue.
ARTS brief is designed to intrigue you while sharing useful information, events, happenings, and current news related to arts growth in our region. If you love what you see here, please forward this to your friends and encourage them to
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Five, Five by Cathie Joy Young
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Portland artist settles in Vancouver, finds it "peaceful"
One of the great things about Artstra's Open Studios program is that we get to see first hand the shifts and changes in our local community of artists. As new artists apply to participate in the fall tour, we discover each year another handful of recent arrivals, often from Portland. Cathie Joy Young is one such artist who chose to move to Vancouver just over a year ago.
Young is rooted in painting. Her dad was a painter. It's just what she does. Her life-changing influence was her experience in the mid 1980s while at Pacific Northwest College of Art when it was attached to the Portland Art Museum. Teachers in those days like Jay Backstrand, Harry Widman, and Bob Hanson made a huge impression on her.
At a moment when she was struggling on a piece, Hanson bluntly said to her, "Let me show you something" and walked her over to an impressionist landscape in the museum's collection. "See?" he said. "Underpainting!"
"It was a simple thing," says Young, "but I got it. I was 23 years old and that moment influenced my painting ever since."
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Cathie Joy Young in her studio
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Young's work expresses a dreamlike blend of the abstract and the figurative. As a seasoned painter, she begins a piece by just starting to paint, by laying down color to "see where it goes." The results are mysterious and beautiful.
Young is just one of 50 artists on this year's Clark County Open Studios Tour, happening the weekend of November 2-3.
For a preview of all 50 artists' work, the public is invited to attend the reception and preview exhibit from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on First Friday, November 1 at
Art At The Cave gallery. The exhibit will also be up through the month of November.
When asked why she moved to Vancouver with her husband Todd and their two dogs Moses and Pearl, Young says, "because it's peaceful."
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Indigenous People's Day: Honoring Women's Voices
The community is invited to gather on October 14 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Old Liberty Theater to honor the Indigenous People on whose traditional and ancestral land we sit and in acknowledgment that many Indigenous Nations of the Columbia River have connections to this place and their descendants live on.
Honored guests will include Tanna Engdahl, Spiritual Leader of the Cowlitz Tribe. She will offer a blessing for the gathering, which will honor Indigenous Women.
Native Nations women poets Laura Da', Ruby Hansen Murray, Leah Altman, Alise Sanchez and a youth poet will read their work.
Traveling Day Society, an inter-tribal and multi-cultural blend of musicians utilizing the voices of the drum and the Native American flute will join community members to drum at the event.
This celebration is free and open to the public of all ages.
Old Liberty Theater
115 N Main Ave., Ridgefield
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Call for Poets
Get published on the bus! Poetry Moves is a chance for you to inspire thousands or even help someone else with your creative heart and words. Artstra's Poetry Moves program features original works by poets in our region on C-Tran buses. The upcoming six-month season highlights adult poets and runs from January through June 2020.
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Pamela Chipman, from
Holding Secrets series
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Pamela Chipman and Jill Falk at Art at the Cave
Transcend your reality for a moment and visit the works of Pamela Chipman and Jill Falk at Art at the Cave's Interconnected, Interwoven, Interactive exhibit. Chipman's interactive video installation, photographs and video address sexism and gender inequality, while Falk's paintings reveal patterns and tendencies of perception that exist both within and beyond the present moment.
Opening reception: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., First Friday, October 4.
108 E Evergreen Blvd., Vancouver
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Works by Ami Brimhall (left) and Linda Kliewer (right)
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Ami Brimhall and Linda Kliewer at Second Story Gallery
Two artists working in two very different mediums combine their work for a special two-month show at Second Story Gallery in Camas. Ami Brimhall's abstract paintings are coupled with Linda Kliewer's pierced pottery vessels in an exhibit titled "Holding/Space: Presence and Possibilities."
Opening reception: 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., First Friday, October 4.
Camas Public Library (upstairs)
625 NE 4th Ave., Camas
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Mary Griffin, Fruits of My Labor
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40th Annual Southwest Washington Watercolor Society Fall Show at Vancouver Art Space
Over 80 paintings by members of the Southwest Washington Watercolor Society will be on display at Vancouver Art Space. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Artists reception: Thursday, October 3 at 6 p.m. with awards at 6:30 p.m.
8700 NE Vancouver Mall Drive
Suite 283, Vancouver
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Jemila Hart,
Sleeping Rough
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Jemila Hart, Jacob Heiny, and G. Scott Rafite at Esther Building Art Space
The fall exhibition at the Esther Building Art Space features, on the first floor, a
selection of pieces from G.Scott Rafites series Irrational Patterns. Rafite's patterns are beautiful mixed media lines and shapes on French paper.
The second floor exhibition features Jemila Hart and Jacob Heiny. Both artists approach the idea of landscape with a unique lens. Hart creates scenes of rocks, water, and sky using monoprint techniques while Heiny's photographs play with perception in clever ways. He frames images so that the viewer wonders what they are really seeing. The effect is both uncanny and delightful.
The Esther Building Art Space is open to the public Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Esther Building Art Space
610 Esther St., Vancouver
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"Death in High Heels"
Magenta Theater
In a high-end dress shop in Regent Street, London in 1937, you never know when or how someone's threads will fray. Everyday events take a dramatic turn over a lunch of rabbit curry when senior employee, Miss Doon, collapses and dies, poisoned by the oxalic acid crystals that another employee has been using to clean her hat. Follow the mystery at Magenta Theater.
Watch the Trailer.
Death in High Heels is a British play based on Christianna Brand's debut crime novel of the same name. The play is by Richard Harris, directed by Dana Black. Performances are October 4 through 19.
More info and tickets
Magenta Theater
1108 Main St., Vancouver
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In Mulieribus Presents Barbara Strozzi: Virtuoso of Venice
In Mulieribus honors the 400th anniversary of the birth of Venetian composer Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677), a gifted composer whose works shaped the great vocal genres of the Baroque.
Lutenist John Lenti and baroque cellist Adaiha Macadam-Somer join IM to present a captivating program of her chamber cantatas, laments, and motets to celebrate this remarkable figure.
The performance is Saturday, October 12 at 7:30 p.m. There will be a pre-concert talk at 6:45 p.m. by singer/scholar Hannah Penn.
Tickets
Providence Academy Chapel
400 E Evergreen Blvd. Vancouver
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Southwest Washington Wind Symphony: "Contrasts"
The Southwest Washington Wind Symphony opens its 15th season with a concert entitled "Contrasts" at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 20 at the Union High School Performing Arts Center.
Under the baton of Patrick Murphy from the University of Portland, the Wind Symphony will present selections from contemporary American composers portraying darkness and light and contrasting moods. The program includes Angels in the Architecture by Frank Ticheli, Equipoise by Alan Baylock, Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Grainger, and In Two Places by Haley Woodrow. Free and open to the public.
The Union High School Performing Arts Center
6201 NW Friberg-Strunk St., Camas
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Poet Allison Cobb
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Allison Cobb at Barnes & Noble Vancouver Open Mic
Allison Cobb is the featured poet at Barnes & Noble's October 29, 7 p.m. open mic. She will read from her book
Green-Wood, described as "a gorgeous, subtle, idiosyncratic gem" by the
New York Times. The book is a cultural biography of New York's famous Green-Wood Cemetery and a cry of mourning for post-9/11 war and environmental violence. Born in New Mexico, and now resident in Portland, Cobb works for the Environmental Defense Fund and co-hosts The Switch reading series.
7700 NE Fourth Plain Blvd., Vancouver
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Poet Jonathan Oak
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Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic: Jonathan Oak
This month's Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic is Thursday, October 10, at 7 p.m., featuring Jonathan Oak, author of two poetry books as well as the upcoming novel
Jerry. He has lived and performed in Portland for the last six years. He was part of the VAMP reading series in San Diego and a fixture in the Phoenix poetry and music scene. He was on three Slam Nationals teams, hosted a poetry radio show, worked underground theater in San Francisco, and ran writing workshops for 15 years.
Hosted by Christopher Luna and Toni
Lumbrazo Luna of Printed Matter Vancouver. Open Mic sign up begins at 6:30 p.m. and closes at 7 p.m.
Angst Gallery
1015 Main St., Vancouver
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Our all-volunteer organization works toward building greater arts awareness, rewarding creative excellence, and expanding arts accessibility. We are working to facilitate long-term arts development for Southwest Washington. We envision a stronger arts infrastructure that includes an art center and a community-focused performing arts facility.
Your support will help to make this vision a reality. Artstra's current programs include our annual Clark County Open Studios Tour and Poetry Moves, a collaborative effort that features the words of local poets on C-Tran buses. Both of these programs have already demonstrated the power of art in our lives to connect us, transform us, and fuel the economy.
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5 ways to support the cause
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- Donate
- Declutter
Give useable items to Nifty and Thrifty at 6607 E. Mill Plain Blvd. And when those items sell, the money is split 50/50 with participating nonprofits. Just let them know your items are donated to benefit Artstra.
- Shop
Link your Fred Meyer Rewards Card to Artstra using our code #84120. Just by using your rewards card number, and at no cost to you, every time you shop you'll help Artstra earn a quarterly donation from Fred Meyer.
- Shop online
Use this link to login to Amazon, and they will donate a portion of the proceeds from your purchase back to Artstra.
- Volunteer
Artstra is an all-volunteer organization. If you have specialized skills, especially in fundraising, outreach and marketing, we'd love to talk with you.
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Editorial Policy and submission guidelines
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| ARTS brief is intended to be useful to readers by offering a curated selection of stories and announcements related to the growth of arts in our region. Submitted items should be newsworthy. This means that arts-related items for content consideration must perform well in at least two of the following five areas: timing, significance, proximity, prominence, and human interest. Please submit materials to artsbrief@artstra.org, no later than the 25th of each month. Note that submission does not guarantee publication. We evaluate each submission to determine how it fits our goals for ARTS brief and whether the item under consideration aligns with the mission and vision of Artstra. We do not accept materials that primarily have a commercial objective. |
Artstra, formerly "Arts of Clark County," is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization advocating for the arts in Clark County and southwest Washington. We envision a vibrant arts economy in our region, north of the Columbia River, with public/private investments and facilities that sustain artists and enrich community. Our mission is to elevate the arts, build greater arts awareness, reward creative excellence, and expand arts accessibility.
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