Paperboys kick off Ober concerts
The Paperboys, a Canadian band, will kick off this summer’s free Concerts in the Park series, from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 2, in Ober Park. The band’s mix of music includes explosive brass lines from their eight-piece ensemble, fiddle and pennywhistle played on Celtic reels, and a kind of melting pot of sound that reflects the band’s diversity and that of their home city, Vancouver, B.C. Next up in the series will be Cuban band Kiki Valera & Cumbache, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 9. In case of rain, the concerts will be held at Vashon Center for the Arts.
Poets read for human rights
Raising Our Voices for Compassion: A Poetry Reading to Benefit the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) in Support of Reuniting Families, will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 2, at Vashon Bookshop. The reading is sponsored by the Indivisible Vashon: Immigration/Refugee Work Group. All donations from the evening will go to the NWIRP in support of their continued efforts to provide pro bono lawyers for the parents and children separated at the U.S./Mexico border. The lineup of poets includes Washington State Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna, ACLU attorney and poet Shankar Narayan, Tacoma poet Robert Hasselblad and Vashon poets Lynn Carrigan and Merna Ann Hecht. There will also be an an open mic; readers should present their own or another poet’s work that directly or tangentially speaks to breaches of human rights and dignity. The reading, organizers said, is part of a longstanding tradition of poets and artists speaking up for human dignity, human rights and justice. More information for NWIRP is at nwirp.org, and more information about the reading is available at immigration@indivisiblevashon.org or mernaanna@yahoo.com.
Flying high at Open Air
The annual Open Air Outdoor Aerial Festival will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 4, at Open Space for Arts & Community. This year’s line-up includes touring professionals Dream Frohe, Tanya Brno, The Bunion Sisters, Emma Curtiss and a talented cadre of UMO Aerial School graduates — Josie Slade, Sarah Smith, Annie Crawford and Madeline Schroeder. Other local performers will include Glenn Easley and Nehara Kalev (ladder in the sky) and Thy Alybaba (fabric). Magician Tom Pruiksma and singer/songwriter Lucy Phar will also perform. Bring your family, friends, a blanket and picnic basket to share. There is a suggested donation of $10 per person, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
‘Catch Us While You Can‘ call for entries
Artists and performers who have spent 25 years or more on Vashon are invited to submit work to “Catch Us While You Can,” an upcoming extravaganza of art, music and more set to open Sept. 7 and run for a month at Open Space for Art & Community. The show, organizers said, will be a rare chance to celebrate, all in one place, many artists who helped build a vibrant culture of the arts on Vashon. The event, sponsored by Vashon Island Visual Artists, Vashon Events and 4Culture, will include gallery shows, salon discussions and a final weekend festival of visual and performing arts. A special memorial section will be devoted to artists who are no longer living — suggestions for this section are welcome. Visual artists should submit a piece that reflects their early work (or image thereof) that is not for sale, a current work for sale and a photograph of themselves and bio. Musicians should submit a recording of early work for playing during the exhibit run, their bio and photograph, and be prepared to perform. The deadline for dropping off submissions is Aug. 15 — works will be accepted at Open Space from 9 a.m. on. Contact cdbeck@yahoo.com to make special arrangements or request additional time. There are no size restrictions for artwork and no entry fees for visual or performing artists. Honorariums will be paid to musicians. For more information about the show and the call for entries, visual artists should contact Christine Beck, cdbeck@yahoo.com or Kristen Reitz-Green, reitzgreen@comcast.net. Performers should contact Vashon Events at vashonevents@gmail.com.
Arts fest special events
Three participatory events are coming up at Vashon Summer Arts Fest, at Vashon Center for the Arts. From 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 3, Wren McMurdo will have a pop-up show of originally designed tarot cards and will be on hand to discuss the art of tarot cards. From noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 4, in VCA’s parking lot, there will be demonstrations by Makerspace members in the arts of 3D printing, etcher wood carving and making your own cyanotype. Suzanne Hubbard’s community weaving project, “The Big Weave,” has been extended, and Hubbard will guide people in the project from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 3, and 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 4.
#Metoo exhibit and workshops
The October gallery show at Vashon Center for the Arts will be a visual arts response to sexual abuse and harassment. The call for art is open to all gender identities and anyone who would like to use the visual arts to explore the theme. In conjunction with the gallery show, VCA is currently offering a series of free workshops exploring #MeToo themes. Participants will have the option of including their completed artwork in the October gallery show. Written work can be included in the show as a stand-alone piece or incorporated into visual artwork. “Collage: A Practice in Truth-Telling,” a workshop for ages 16 and older, will be taught by Alisara Martin from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 4. “Written Word Encaustics,” a workshop also for ages 16 and older, will be taught by Deborah Kapoor from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18. To register for the workshops (this is required) and find out more about the call for artists and the exhibit, visit vashoncenterforthearts.org/mymetoo.
Joel McHale to perform at VCA
Well-known comedian and actor Joel McHale will take the stage at Vashon Center for the Arts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 11. Tickets, $35 to $65, are now on sale at vashoncenterforthearts.org. Vashon’s Pearce Cobarr will host the evening; Island opening acts will be Mik Kuhlman and Richard Franklin Moore.
