Arts Briefs | September 4
Published 4:31 pm Wednesday, September 3, 2025
Author event
The Vashon-Maury Island Land Trust will present Lynda Mapes, an award winning Seattle Times journalist and author of the new book, “The Trees are Speaking,” for an evening of storytelling and inspiration centered on our region’s salmon-fed forests. The talk will take place at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5, at the Land Trust Building at 10014 SW Bank Rd.
Isaac Slade
Isaac Slade will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 5 and 6, at Vashon Center for the Arts. His career-spanning solo set will feature songs from his former multi-platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated rock band The Fray, as well as new music.
Get tickets and find out more at vashoncenterforthearts.org.
Jam in the Atrium
A new installment of “Jam In The Atrium” a free series of concerts, will take place from 1-3 Saturday, Sept. 6, at Vashon Center for the Arts.
The concert will feature revered Seattle jazz multi-instrumentalist Jay Thomas, who is a four-time Earshot Jazz “Best Instrumentalist” award winner who has been recognized for his enduring influence on Seattle’s jazz culture. In addition to his performing career, Thomas is a educator and author, sharing his knowledge of jazz improvisation, history and technique with new generations of musicians.
Joining Thomas will be his long-time jazz cohort, pianist John Hansen, highly regarded as one of the most in-demand jazz pianists in the Northwest.
One More Mile
One More Mile, a beloved Vashon band, will play with Seattle blues guitarist Orville Johnson at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5, in the back yard of Sugar Shack, located at 17636 100th Ave SW.
Band members include front-man Jason Lollar (who will not appear in the Sept. 5 show due to an injury), Mike Nichols, Dan Tyack, Wesley Peterson, Chris O’Brien and Chuck Keller, playing a mix of classic blues standards with some soul, gospel and New Orleans funk covers mixed in.
The show is for ages 21 and older only. Pay $10 to enter through the back gate in the alley behind Sugar Shack.
Japan Festival
Mukai Farm & Gardens will present its 6th annual Japan Festival from 1-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6. This free event celebrates Japanese culture and heritage with a lineup of performances, activities and food for all ages. For more information visit mukaifarmandgarden.org.
VIVA news
Vashon Island Visual Artists will hold its annual member meeting and potluck from 2-4:30 p.m. Sunday, September 7, in the Vashon High School lunchroom. Non-members may join during the meeting. Annual membership fees are $25 per person, payable by cash or check at the meeting, or through PayPal on VIVArtists.com.
At the meeting, get information about the VIVA Holiday Tour on Dec. 6-7 and 13-14, with applications to participate due on Oct. 2; VIVA’s Spring Studio Tour; the Christine Beck VIVA Educational Art Scholarship Fund; and plans for the 2026 VIVA Member Show. VIVA will also take nominations for the organization’s board of directors. The potluck begins at 3 p.m.
Find out more at vivartists.com.
Liangong
Island performer, dancer and movement teacher Arlette Moody will offer a series of 12 classes, from 6:40-7:35 p.m. on Thursday nights, beginning Sept. 4, on Liangong, a health exercise practice developed in China in the 1970s. Participants will learn the first 18 exercises of the practice, which will address aching neck and shoulders, healing backaches and strengthening hips and legs. The classes will be held at Tree of Life Wellness Center.
Find out more and register at arlettemoodymovement.com.
Hand Bell Choir
The Vashon Hand Bell Choir will begin its fall season on Monday, Sept. 8. The small multi-generational choir meets from 6:30-7:30 on Mondays at the Vashon Presbyterian Church, with monthly performances at churches and community events. All are welcome, no prior experience is necessary. For more information, stop by the Presbyterian Church on Sept. 8 or contact Tina Parrish at tinaparrish@comcast.net.
Join the Chorale
The Vashon Chorale begins rehearsing on September 9 for its annual winter concert, “Night of Silence,” to be performed on Dec. 13 and 14 at Vashon Center for the Arts.
The program will include works by American and British composers.
Pre-registration and music distribution for the Chorale’s fall session will be held on Saturday, Sept. 6 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Windermere Real Estate, or 30 minutes before the first rehearsal, which begins at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 9 at the Presbyterian Church. Rehearsals are held every Tuesday evening.
Founded in 1989, the Chorale has been led since 2008 by Dr. Gary Cannon, an active conductor, tenor soloist and musicologist.
Fish War
Backbone Campaign’s Meaningful Movies series will continue with a screening and discussion of “Fish War” from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9, at Vashon Theatre.
The film covers the time period in the 1960s and 70s, when the state of Washington started arresting Indigenous tribal fishers. Scores of legal battles culminated in a landmark Supreme Court case that was meant to put an end to the violent Fish Wars. Fifty years later, the fight for salmon continues.
See a trailer for the film at tinyurl.com/4kwke58t.
The film screening will be followed by a discussion with speaker Ed Johnstone, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission Chairman, and moderator Patrick Christie, a professor at the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs and the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington.
The screening is made possible with support from Vashon Theatre, Island Green Tech, 4Culture, Friends of Thunderbird, Vashon Heritage Museum, Vashon-Maury Island Land Trust and the Meaningful Movies Project.
Poetry book launch
“Grief Age Love: Poems for the Autumn Years,” a new poetry collection that plumbs both the joys and sorrows of aging, will be launched at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 10, in the atrium of Vashon Center for the Arts.
The book is the first to contain the works of four Vashon poet laureates: Inaugural Poet Laureate Ann Spiers, Merna Ann Hecht, Sandra Noel and Margaret Roncone, who serves in the position currently. Edited by islander Jeanie Okimoto and published by Endicott and Hugh Books, “Grief Love Age” boasts the work of more than 30 Vashon poets, many of whom will attend the event on Sept. 10 to read their works.
Find out more at endicottandhughbooks.com.
Auditions
Vashon Repertory Theater will hold auditions for its April 2026 production of “Moby Dick,” adapted and directed by David Quicksall, to be performed at Vashon Center for the Arts. Seattle auditions will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13, at Re-Act Theatre; Vashon auditions will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, at the Vashon High School band room.
Find out more at vashonrepertorytheatre.org/auditions-and-opportunities, and sign up at tinyurl.com/36y44baa.
Kiki Valera
Grammy-nominated bandleader Kiki Valera will bring Son Cubano music to the stage at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, at Vashon Center for the Arts. A multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, and producer, Valera plays with a lineup of talented musicians who are sure to keep audiences on their feet. Get tickets and find out more at vashoncenterforthearts.org.
Bella Rayne
Bella Rayne, a 18-year-old, self-taught guitar phenom from Mendocino, California, will bring her band to Vashon for a concert at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, at Open Space for Arts & Community, 18870 103rd Ave SW. Her music blends her love of the Grateful Dead, southern rock and bluegrass and 1990s grunge into a fresh approach. Find out more and get tickets at openspacevashon.com.
Art Talk
Art historian Rebecca Albiani will present a talk on the life and work of famed Japanese printmaker Utagawa (Ando) Hiroshige at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 14, at Vashon Center for the Arts. Find out more and get tickets at vashoncenterforthearts.org.
Rebel With a Clause
Grammarians, rejoice: A special one night screening of the documentary film, “Rebel With a Clause,” featuring a Q&A with filmmakers Brandt Johnson and Ellen Jovin, will take place at 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 15, at Vashon Theatre.
The film follows Jovin, a grammar guru, as she takes her pop-up grammar advice stand on a rollicking road trip across all 50 states, showing that arguments about Oxford commas can actually bring Americans closer together in a divided time. Watch the trailer at tinyurl.com/ycx6rc79 and get tickets at vashontheatre.com.
Irish Music
Lane to the Glen, an acclaimed Sligo traditional trio made up of Oisín Mac Diarmada (fiddle), Daithí Gormley (accordion) and Samantha Harvey (piano, dance) will perform at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 15 at the Vashon Havurah, 15401 Westside Hwy SW. To reserve a seat, call or text Jan Strolle at 206-228-0730 or email janstrolle@comcast.net. Tickets are $25, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Vashon Opera
Vashon Opera will launch its 2025-26 “fairytale season” with Jules Massenet’s “Cendrillon” (Cinderella) with performances at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19 and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21, at Vashon Center for the Arts.
The opera, with a French libretto by Henri Cain, is based on Charles Perrault’s version of the fairytale. Vashon Opera’s production will boast the local debuts of rising national and regional opera stars Sarah Colt (Cinderella) and Sarah Eduljee (Fairy Godmother), and the return of Vashon Opera favorite Grace Skinner as Prince Charming. Find out more and get tickets at vashonopera.org.
