How does this sound? Pulled pork sliders, corn on the cob with melted butter, home made pie, and a little bluegrass music on a summer evening, outdoors, on a farm? Come on, you know you'd love it! Join us and support the arts by coming to the best dang party around this August 30 at Shangri-La Farm.
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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Vancouver offers a welcome boost for the arts
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Summer is in full swing. And as many of us are enjoying these long days and the great events and activities our community has to offer, important news can sometimes slip by unnoticed.
If you haven't heard, The City of Vancouver's has a newly-minted grants program with the purpose of funding "projects that exemplify the best of the creative community through performances, exhibitions, events and other innovative collaborations for the public's benefit."
This is the first of two years where up to $100,000 per year has been budgeted for eligible arts and culture programs and projects.
As a nonprofit arts advocacy organization we often get requests to help fund a project that needs just a bit more cash to get off the ground or to the finish line. Almost all are worthwhile requests and, over the years, Artstra has been able to provide small working grants to both artists and other nonprofits. So we have seen the positive impact of this kind of help in the community. Having the City's support will add even more opportunities for exciting, new, and interesting projects, programs, and workshops.
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Support the arts at our August fundraiser party!
Please join us at Shangri-La Farm in Camas for a country style fund-raising event to benefit Artstra. Wear your cowboy attire and try your luck at a game of chicken poop bingo! Suggested minimum donation: $50 per adult. Kids are free! Your donation is tax deductible. All proceeds will benefit Artstra programs in our community.
Thanks to artist, farmer, master gardener, beekeeper, and (as she calls herself) "recovering politician," Liz Pike, you'll be treated to a delicious BBQ Cowboy Dinner, along with her famous homemade pies. Liz is the owner of Shangri-La Farm and a participant in Artstra's Clark County Open Studios Tour. Her amazing generosity and positive spirit have made this Hootenanny for the Arts possible.
Check out the details and register online!
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Mark your calendar for November's Open Studios Tour
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50 artists artists have been selected for this year's tour scheduled for November 1-2, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Each year, new artists apply to join the tour so the mix of artists continually changes.
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In Memory of
Kelly Keigwin
Our deepest condolences to the friends and family of Kelly Keigwin. Kelly and Sam MacKenzie have been participants in Artstra's Open Studios program for many years, but their community engagement reaches far beyond opening their studio, and reaches kindly into the heart. It's a great understatement to say that she will be missed.
Pictured here are ceramic hearts from "Love is A Radical Act" an art project by Sam and Kelly celebrating love, positive relationships, and all types of families.
Though Kelly is gone, her work and her spirit live on. This November, Sam will be sharing the art of "Keigwin and MacKenzie" during the Clark County Open Studios Tour.
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Sheary Clough Suiter,
Breaking Surface 17
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Sheary Clough Suiter and Nard Claar at Attic Gallery
Attic Gallery presents new works from encaustic artist Sheary Clough Suiter and mixed media painter Nard Claar in the exhibit "Double Vision: A Two Person Show." Sheary will be demonstrating encaustic painting during the opening reception and Nard will be demonstrating water media.
Opening reception: 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., First Friday, August 2.
421 NE Cedar St., Camas
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Top to bottom:
Pepe Hidalgo, Creating Your Own Reality; Jason Litts, An Unproductive Day at the Office; Jesse Reno, Collar Made of Angel Wings
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Pepe Hidalgo, Jason Litts, and Jesse Reno at the CAVE
Art at the Cave presents the works of 3 artists whose work explores a personal, unconscious, and imaginative dreamworld.
Pepe Hidalgo's style is figurative and abstract narrative. He paints predominantly with acrylic and sketches. His artistic process started as a child during frequent visits to the Museo del Prado in Madrid.
Jason Litts describes his work as trying "to capture the ephemeral muse" with the hope that "symbolism and secrets hidden within my work may tap into the subconscious and create a new and individual story for the viewer."
Jesse Reno revels in search for the unknown, outside the bounds of our conscious and concrete world. He says, "Some locks do not open with keys. This is a world where candy canes grow at the tops of mountains. Freedom comes from belief and choice, and all things are connected."
An artist talk with Litts and Reno will be held at the gallery at 11 a.m. Saturday, August 10.
Opening reception: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., First Friday, August 2.
108 E. Evergreen Blvd., Vancouver
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Kathleen Cosgrove,
Abstract River View
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Kathleen Cosgrove, Don Gray, and Tom Relth at Anstine Gallery
"Arriving at the Water's Edge," an exhibit featuring the work of Kathleen Cosgrove, Don Gray and Tom Relth, is on display at the Anstine Sixth Floor Gallery through Friday, Sept. 20. The Anstine Gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Opening reception: 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., First Friday, August 2.
Anstine Sixth Floor Gallery
Clark County Public Service Center
1300 Franklin St., Vancouver
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Magenta launches new children's theater program
"Magentots" first production is an interactive short comedy for young audiences, entitled
Sleeping Beauty (with a twist). The play runs just under an hour so youngsters won't get too wiggly. Magentots productions are be best enjoyed by children aged 4-10 but all ages are welcome. Babies 9 months and under are admitted free of charge. All other attendees need a ticket.
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Metropolitan Performing Arts: Shakespeare in the park
MPA brings free theater to southwest Washington this summer with
The Taming of the Shrew, directed by Kris Heller.
Learn more.
August 3 and 4 at 6 p.m.
Mended Oak Winery
10209 NE 299th St., Battle Ground
August 10 at 2 p.m. and August 11 at 6 p.m.
Columbia Springs
12208 SE Evergreen Hwy., Vancouver
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Journey Theater presents "Newsies"
Set in turn-of-the century New York City,
Newsies is the rousing tale of Jack Kelly, a charismatic newsboy and leader of a band of teenaged "newsies." When titans of publishing raise distribution prices at the newsboys' expense, Jack rallies newsies from across the city to strike against the unfair conditions and fight for what's right! Showtimes are August 2 through August 11.
Heritage High School
7825 NE 130th Ave, Vancouver
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Sladen Peltier stars as a young Saul in the film, Indian Horse.
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"Indian Horse"
at Kiggins Theatre
Opening August 16, Kiggins Theater brings the film adaptation of Ojibway writer Richard Wagamese's award-winning novel. This moving and important drama sheds light on the dark history of Canada's boarding schools or Indigenous Residential Schools and the indomitable spirit of aboriginal people.
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Literary happenings at Angst
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Book Launch for Maria Heckinger's "Beyond the Third Door"
Join Vancouver author Maria Heckinger on August 22 for an event to celebrate the publication of her memoir debut,
Beyond the Third Door. Heckinger will be present to read from and sign copies of her book which tells an incredible story, straddling the fine line between blind luck and unexplained miracles. On a Greek island in 1952, 15-year-old Hariklea's life is changed in an instant. Sent by her father to a doctor on the mainland, the girl discovers she is pregnant. Given the social taboos of the time, Hariklea is exiled to the streets of Patras where she gives birth to her child in the most difficult of circumstances. 30 years later, carrying a handful of papers to translate, the orphaned child returns to Greece. Through sheer serendipity, Maria finds her birth mother, a woman with many secrets. What happens after their coincidental reunion makes this a story like no other.
Angst Gallery
1015 Main St., Vancouver
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Writer, photographer Eugenia Hepworth Petty
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Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic: Eugenia Hepworth Petty with Xavier Cavazos and Connor Simons
This month's Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic is Thursday, August 8, at 7 p.m., featuring Central Washington poet Eugenia Hepworth Petty with special guests Xavier Cavazos and Connor Simons. Eugenia writes, shoots film, and covers things with wax and resin. In the past she had an obsession with cassette tape recorders. She prefers buses over planes. In the mid 1990s she lived in Ukraine and began using her camera more than her tape recorder, and later began making postcards, which she continues today. Most recently she co-founded and co-edits the online journal Squatters' Press, which is dedicated to the myriad causes and consequences of the migration of sentient beings upon this earth. Her most recent publication is
For the Apocalypse. 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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Sladen Peltier stars as a young Saul in the film, Indian Horse. |
Washougal Art Festival
Saturday, August 10
The 2019 Washougal Art Festival not only brings nearly 30 professional artists to show and sell their works, but features an exciting line up of music and dance performances. The fourth annual event will be held Saturday August 10 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is presented by Washougal Arts and Culture Alliance (WACA) to raise funds to bring public art to Washougal.
Washougal Art Festival
Reflection Plaza
1703 Main St., Washougal
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Mark your calendar for September 19
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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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4 ways to support the cause
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- Donate
- 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 [email protected], 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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