Submitted by the City of Olympia
Regional Festival Celebrates the Arts!
Explore the creative and spirited arts community of Olympia as Arts Walk XLVI takes to the streets of the City’s historic downtown. Tucked into a valley at the foot of South Puget Sound, Olympia is the state’s Capital, and also home to a vibrant mix of musicians, filmmakers, writers and visual and performing artists. Arts Walk is the largest festival of this type in the region – an unparalleled opportunity to embrace the arts and meet the artists! Dates for the event are Friday, April 26 from 5-10pm and Saturday, April 27 from 12-8pm.
As day reaches into night, Arts Walk brings together over 120 businesses, and hundreds of visual and performing artists with over 30,000 visitors as they welcome the arts in all forms during this twice-yearly event.
Literary and performing arts share the limelight with paintings and sculpture:
Meet artists from all career levels: pre-school through professional~
Listen to a variety of live music including jazz, classical, folk acoustic, bluegrass, blues and Rock & Roll~
Learn the Charleston, tour the Hands on Children’s Museum art collection, or try a new instrument~
Check out human powered kinetic sculpture, the electric vehicle competition and demos from encaustic painting to martial arts~
Take in impromptu street performances, crafts markets and of course, exhibition of fine art from photography, painting and drawing to sculpture, textiles, ceramics, printmaking and more!
The festival also includes the spectacular Procession of the Species, an artistic and environmental celebration presented by Earthbound Productions, www.procession.org The event is a colorful and joyous street pageant using the languages of art, music and dance to inspire cultural appreciation, understanding, and protection of the natural world; the Procession begins at 4:30pm on Saturday. Due to the popularity of the Procession, it is extremely important for individuals to pay close attention to street closures and tow away zones.
Peaceful City, by artist China Star, adorns the cover of the Arts Walk map this spring, constructed of low-relief mixed media illustration. China’s studio work documents, through portraiture and repetition, a record of interactive vibrations between the 2nd and 3rd dimensions. As an interdisciplinary artist, China has produced artwork in various mediums, elemental and synthesized, for the last 20 years. Her Painted in the Language of Maps series, from which the 2013 Spring Cover Art is derived, documents her personal relationship with the physical and technological environments within which she lives and loves. China’s cover art can be seen during Arts Walk at The Steam Plant (#12 on the Arts Walk map), and she’ll also show an installation of sculpted nests at the Yoga Loft (#100).
Arts Walk is sponsored by the City of Olympia Parks, Arts & Recreation Department and Olympia Arts Commission, with support provided by Art House Designs, Capitol City Press, Heritage Bank and MIXX 96fm. Arts Walk maps are available at participating locations after April 13, and at Olympia City Hall, 601 4th Ave. East and The Olympia Center, 222 Columbia St. NW. An electronic Arts Walk guide is also available at www.olympiawa.gov/artswalkmobile For more information, contact Olympia Parks, Arts & Recreation at 360.753.8380.
