The Arts in Brief
PUBLIC ART UNVEILED
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Vashon Artists in Schools, students at Vashon High School worked with island artist Ela Lamblin to create an inspired and inspiring sculpture. Lamblin explored public art with students in physics and art and design classes at the high school and developed a design that he then fabricated from stainless steel. The students had an in-depth tour of Bob Powell’s Meadow Creature studio along the way. Powell’s studio boasts an abrasive waterjet machine, and the stainless steel components of the sculpture were cut there.
Vashon Pharmacy offered space for the sculpture to call home, and a public unveiling of original work will take place at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8.
Vashon Artists in Schools is a Vashon Center for the Arts program in partnership with Vashon Island School District. Additional funding is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, Washington State Arts Commission, Vashon Partners in Education (PIE) and individual donors.
CONSCIOUS CARTOONS
Islander Bill Jarcho is bringing his film festival, Conscious Cartoons, to the Vashon Theatre Sept. 14 to 16.
The festival aims to use animation as a means of awakening global awareness, social justice and compassion. An array of films will be offered for adults and children. The event will include juries, awarding $20,000 in cash prizes, and an array of international filmmakers. Among them will be Norwegian filmmaker Trine Vallevik Håbjørg and her partner, who will show their 2016 short film, “When I Hear the Birds Sing,” on Saturday, Sept. 15.
Narrated by five children living in a Liberian refugee camp who fled the war-ravaged Ivory Coast in 2010, the film uses animation to tell their stories of survival and hope.
The film will play at 4 p.m. during the festival’s kids’ program with an encore screening at 6:30 p.m. during the adult and teen program.
Advance tickets for the festival are on sale at vashontheatre.com and at the Vashon Theatre box office.
VIVA ARTISTS SALONS
VIVA (Vashon Island Visual Artists) will offer four free artist salons in September as part of the Festival 25: Catch Us While You Can arts and music celebration. Salons will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Open Space for Arts & Community Atrium Gallery and are open to all.
Wednesday, Sept. 12 – Penny Grist & Larry Muir, Reinventing Yourself: There may come a time in the lives of artists when they must change their medium. Those who attend will tell their stories and discuss strategies for navigating the transition from the comfort and confidence of the familiar to the excitement and anxiety of the unknown.
Monday, Sept. 17 – Peter Serko, Change Your Point of View … Change Your Art: Serko will discuss and demonstrate how changing his point of view helped transform his work as a photographer.
Wednesday, Sept. 19 – Joan Wortis & Don Cole: Wortis and Cole plan to talk about the intersections of their lives and work, what turns them on and what moves them. They find that shared experiences, visual and cultural, impact them both and then are abstracted and processed differently.
Wednesday, Sept. 26 – Valerie Willson: Willson will describe her history as an artist, including why she has made changes in her career. She has made a living creating fine art since she graduated from The Pacific Northwest College of Art in 1973. One of the most lucrative and interesting parts of her career is major art fairs all over the country.
“I will discuss how competitive they are, how much they cost, how much you can make, how to find out about shows and the great camaraderie of people who become your friends from all over the world,” she said.
