Looking back on a year of island arts and culture — and compiling a “best of” list from hundreds of events — is a difficult task, indeed.

But why not try?

Here are my picks, with a disclaimer: I couldn’t attend everything! If you had a favorite arts or culture event of 2024, write to editor@vashonbeachcomber.com, and tell us about it in 300 words or less. We’ll try to include these favorites in upcoming issues.

January

14/48 Vashon returned to Open Space for Arts & Community — an annual fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants theater festival featuring the seven writers, seven directors, over 25 actors, plus a gaggle of designers, musicians, and technical wizards.

Without going into too much detail, one day before the festival began, nothing that wound up comprising it had existed. But two days later, 14 new, 10-minute plays had been written, memorized, and performed in just 48 hours. It is an absurdly hire-wire stunt of theater-making — and it’s set to return in a few weeks to Open Space.

Vashon Center for the Arts (VCA) presented “Landscape & Desire: Homage to John Anderson,” an exhibition of the late photographer’s breathtaking landscape photography of mountain tops, seascapes, and other wild places. The show also boasted landscape photography by Mary Liz Austin, Harvey Bergman, Jim Burke, Terry Donnelly, Michael Elenko, Ed Holmes, and Dawn Stief, shown in homage to Anderson’s influence on them.

February

Paula Poundstone performed two sold-out shows at the Vashon Center for the Arts (VCA) — proving she’s still in top comedic form after decades in the biz. Between shows, Poundstone also filmed hilarious Instagram posts of herself in island locations. In one video, she stood beside a road sign on Vashon Highway that read, “Begin Shoulder Rumble Strip.” The sign, she said, instructed all pedestrians to commence a required dance which she then briefly demonstrated, before stopping in exasperation. “I’m not gonna,” she said. “Come and get me, Vashon coppers.”

Poundstone fans, rejoice: she’ll have a return engagement at VCA on Feb. 7.

March

Vashon Repertory’s splendid revival of Mike and Gerry Feinstein’s “Kissing the Joy as It Flies: The Wit & Wisdom of Brian Doyle” shined brightly at VCA, and a 35-member multigenerational island cast also tore up the stage in “As You Like It,” Shaina Taub’s brilliant remix of Shakespeare’s comedy.

“As You Like It” — presented by Drama Dock in collaboration with Vashon High School’s theater department, Vashon Island Chorale, and members of the island’s Free Range Folk Choir — was an act of joyous community co-creation.

Also in March, local singer/songwriter legend Pete Droge returned to a live stage for the first time in six years, choosing VCA as the lucky venue. And lucky us. His show, performed with his partner in music and life, Elaine Summers, and presented by island music impresario Debra Heesch, was a night to revel in and remember forever.

April

April brought a bountiful array of diverse voices to the Vashon Center for the Arts for the inaugural Katherine L. White Invitation Choral Fest, featuring performances by the Emerald Ensemble; Seattle Trans and Nonbinary Choral Ensemble; Ancora Choir; the African American Cultural Ensemble; and The Sound of the Northwest.

Best all all? Our own beloved Vashon Chorale, under the direction of Dr. Gary D. Cannon, presented a stirring reprise of “Carmina Burana,” sung in tribute to his late member Katherine L. White. White’s vision and generosity made it possible to build the concert hall that is now named in her honor.

The second annual Choral Fest will be presented in 2025.

May

Vashon Opera’s production of Charles Gounod’s 1867 opera, “Romeo and Juliet” had it all — lavish parties, sword fights and the most tragic teenage romance ever told.

The opera boasted a star-studded cast of singers including Daniel O’Hearn, a current young artist at The Metropolitan Opera, and others fresh from debuts at major opera houses across the country and the Northwest. The opera was the first to be staged under the company’s new artistic director, Allison Pohl, who is off to a brilliant start.

June

One of the highlights of Pride Month was Pam Ingall’s stunning exhibition of oil portraits of LGBTQ+ islanders, shown throughout June at Dig Deep Gallery. The show, “Facing Our Queer Community,” featured 47 luminous portraits spanning generations of LGBTQ+ islanders. To gaze upon these faces was a moving and important experience.

July

VCA’s third annual PianoFête — a four-concert festival of piano virtuosity — boasted the incredible talents of world-renowned pianists Rexa Han, Vyacheslav Grayaznow, Konstantin Soukhovetski and Kevin Kenner. Grayaznow, known fondly on Vason as “Slava” for his appearances in the Katherine L. White Hall, once again curated the entire brilliant affair.

Also in July, the Vashon Heritage Museum, helmed by its new executive director, Gretta Stimson, welcomed islanders to the grand reopening of its new permanent exhibit, aptly titled “Vashon Stories.”

New interactive displays in the museum detail the s ̌xwəbabs Indigenous community who have called Vashon home since time immemorial; the first contact between cultures; the rise of industries on the island; the transformative impact of War World II and the post-war era; as well as the gentrification and activism that define island life today.

August

An incredible lineup of acts took the stage at the Art Heart Soul Music Microfest, held at Open Space for Arts & Community. These included David Gans, Marcus Rezak’s Shred is Dead, Rebecca Frazier Grateful Strings and Rae Isla, all filling Open Space with irresistible dance grooves.

Best of all? The acclaimed Sam Grisham Project — a tribute to the music of Jerry Garcia and Sam’s legendary father, David “Dawg” Grisman, headlined the festival, with the elder Grisman joining his son Sam’s astoundingly talented band on the stage.

What a day of “got-to-get-up-and-dance” music on Vashon!

And speaking of dancing (barefoot in the grass, that is), Vashon Events also staged an incredible lineup of Vashon Park District’s annual Concerts in the Park series of free, live shows in Ober Park.

And for those who love to consume their art in a more sedentary way, sitting comfortably in the dark, the Vashon Island International Film Festival was back for its third annual edition at Vashon Theatre, featuring 12 remarkable features and 10 short films from around the world.

September

Stupid Bike Night took its brilliance to a new level this year, with hundreds of participants pedaling lit-up, tricked-out contraptions down Vashon Highway.

Vashon Opera presented Guiseppe Verdi’s “Otello,” with magnificent performances by principal singers Jennifer Krikawa, Chad Armstrong, and two-time Grammy winner Errin Brooks. Bravissima!

An important new work of public art was installed in Chautauqua Elementary School’s playground, honoring the legacy of Lucy Slagham Gerand and her important role in preserving the history and culture of the šxwəbabs People. The towering mural colorfully depicts clams, ducks and herons swirling around a 14-foot-tall portrait of Gerand. It was painted by Anthony Duenas, and based on a design by Daniel Baptista. Both are Puyallup artists.

October

The month kicked off with a spectacular Japan Fest, at Mukai Farm & Garden, reminding islanders and visitors from afar of the beauty and importance of this vital heritage site on Vashon.

And after closing its doors in 2023, Seattle’s Book-It Repertory Theatre, a beloved institution known for bringing literature to life on stage, presented “The Story of Edgar Sawtelle” at VCA — a thrilling comeback made possible through a partnership with Vashon Repertory Theatre.

Steffon Moody’s exhibition, “Iconic Vashon,” was a must-see for anyone who has ever claimed to love Vashon. To gaze at Moody’s 34 oil paintings on view — all remarkably created “en plein air” by Moody throughout last summer — was to fall in love all over again.

November

November was all about the theater kids of Vashon, with VCA’s Teen Musical Theatre’s high-octane production of “Newsies, Jr.,” and Vashon High School’s sublimely spooky “Trap.”

December

On the afternoon of Dec. 1, Vashon’s music community gathered at VCA to celebrate the life of Rebekah Kuzma, a beloved local singer who owned Vashon stages in recent years with her virtuosity and grace, and who died suddenly and much too soon, in October. Performances by dozens of Kuzma’s collaborators and admirers, and remembrances of her life, deeply touched all those in attendance and reminded us that even in tragedy, making and witnessing art can help heal our deepest pain.

Chautauqua Elementary School students looked up and listened as a mural of Lucy Slagham Gerand was unveiled on the school’s playground in September. (Elizabeth Shepherd photo)