Tieton’s Summer Solstice — Arts Unbound

TIETON — In an old fruit warehouse in this tiny Central Washington town, an igloo has formed.

Here, in a former cold storage room, icebergs are floating on a rolling sea. A starry night sky gives way to glimpses of the northern lights.

This arcticscape is part of an eerie, exciting, electrifying installation/performance art piece created by Seattle artist Allan Packer (pictured, photo by Andy Sawyer, YH-R). Titled “The Ozone Room,” it fills this immense, echoey space.

“I thought the irony of building an igloo in here was ideal,” says the 51-year-old Packer. He has spent the past two weeks building “The Ozone Room” with the help of Stephan “Buck,” who’s been involved in the theater and special events business for 40 years.

“The Ozone Room” will debut this weekend as part of Tieton Summer Solstice — Arts Unbound, a celebration that includes art displays and book arts demonstrations, as well as an evening dinner and concert to benefit the Artist Trust and the Yakima Symphony Orchestra.

Without giving too much away about “The Ozone Room” — which is part of the evening fundraiser — it includes “Corvus Corvax,” the igloo sculpture made of cast urethane that Packer created in 2005 at the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada. The piece was derived from Packer’s experiences living in 1980 in the high arctic community of Cape Dorset, known as the “capital of Inuit art.”

Rising up from the igloo is a Tesla coil — to make the Aurora Borealis — rows of black lights and a time machine, an art piece Packer created in 2006. During the 10-minute performance, there will be live narration, actors that look like stick figures and a soundtrack taken from deep space.

“The Ozone Room,” explains Packer, addresses a number of contemporary problems such as global warming and cross-racial issues, as well as questions like “what’s out there,” he says. The actual performance features “a sequence of events that are abstract but that tell a story,” says Packer.

“This has really grown,” he says of the installation. “It’s taken five years to come to this place.”

Packer first got the idea after visiting the warehouse during a similar event last year, which served as the major coming out party for Mighty Tieton, the name given to Seattle art book publisher Ed Marquand’s vision for this former bustling fruit hub that sits roughly 20 miles outside Yakima.

Marquand’s hope is to establish the foundation for a community of artisan businesses and hospitality enterprises — think furniture design, gift lines, concrete casting, catering companies, even a distillery.

“Some things are moving slower. I wish we had the cafe and tavern open,” says the 54-year-old Marquand.

“But, financially, we need to catch our breath,” he adds.

So far, Marquand has renovated the old town pharmacy into the Book Arts Studio — a place for his employees to get away from computers and get back to book-arts basics. He’s also purchased a number of storefronts, a former church-turned-community-events center called Harvest Hall and two fruit warehouses.

One warehouse has been — almost unbelievably — transformed into 14 airy live/work lofts.

The other, the Mighty Tieton Warehouse, houses a letterpress print shop and artist studios, including a workspace occupied by Trimpin, a Seattle-based multi-media artist and recipient of a 1997 MacArthur Foundation “genius grant.” (You know that electronic, funnel-shaped sculpture of guitars at the center of the Experience Music Project in Seattle? Trimpin made that.)

Next to Trimpin’s space is where Packer has been working. The large, cold storage room has been a place to experiment and develop ideas, he says.

“It’s a very nurturing place,” says Packer, who also loves the geography of the area and the stories from the Tieton old-timers who’ve come by to see what he’s doing.

“Here, it’s come and make art,” he says.

Although Packer’s piece will be under wraps during the day Saturday, visitors can check out the Mighty Tieton Warehouse, where works from a broad array of Northwest artists will be on display. Admission is $5 and benefits Tieton Arts & Humanities, a nonprofit corporation formed to produce educational events in conjunction with Mighty Tieton. Children with adults are admitted free, as are ticket holders to that night’s fundraiser.

Also on Saturday, just down Wisconsin Avenue in Galeria Dos — one of those storefront’s Marquand bought up — the young and adventurous artists from Seattle’s PUNCH Gallery will host an art and book swap and rummage sale.

And in the Book Arts Studio, there will be an exhibition and sale of artists’ books, prints and books about artists, plus a medieval bookbinding demonstration by bookbinder, toolmaker and conservator Jim Croft of northern Idaho. Croft builds books completely by hand without any electric machines or tools.

If you get hungry, the Tieton Lions Club will be firing up the grills in the town square.

Saturday evening, the Mighty Tieton Warehouse will be the site of the multifaceted fundraiser for the YSO and Artist Trust, the Seattle-based, not-for-
profit organization that provides direct funding to Washington artists and serves as a professional information resource. There will be art installation/performance pieces by Packer, Trimpin and Thomas Matthiesen during the reception hour.

Dinner follows with a chamber music performance, with oration, of “Façade,” featuring music by William Walton and poems by Dame Edith Sitwell.

The festivities wrap up Sunday morning at Harvest Hall with a light breakfast and conversation led by Brooke Creswell, conductor for the YSO. Creswell, along with Washington state Poet Laureate Sam Green, and artist, activist and creative community builder Karen Guzak will discuss “Creative Communities in Collaboration.” Admission to the breakfast is $15 at the door

If you go

WHAT: Tieton Summer Solstice — Arts Unbound.

WHO: Presented by Artist Trust, Mighty Tieton, Tieton Arts & Humanities and the Yakima Symphony Orchestra.

WHEN & WHERE: Saturday and Sunday throughout Tieton.

SCHEDULE:

* 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday — Barbecue in the town square. Proceeds benefit the Tieton Lions Club

* Noon-5 p.m. Saturday — Art and exhibits in the Mighty Tieton Warehouse. Admission is $5. (Free for that night’s benefit dinner and performance ticket holders.) Proceeds benefit Tieton Arts & Humanities

* Noon-5 p.m. Saturday — Art exhibits, demonstrations and bookstore in the Book Arts Studio. Admission is free.

* Noon-5 p.m. Saturday — Seattle’s PUNCH Gallery hosts an art and book swap and rummage sale in Galeria Dos.

* 5-10 p.m. Saturday — Tieton Solstice benefit dinner and performance in the Mighty Tieton Warehouse. Tickets cost $100 through www.brownpapertickets.com.

* 10 a.m.-noon Sunday — Light breakfast and conversation at Harvest Hall. Topic is “Creative Communities in Collaboration.” Admission is $15 at the door.

INFO: For complete event and ticket information, visit www.mightytieton.com or www.artisttrust.org.

Ten things to do this summer on less than a tank of gas

Just because gas prices — along with the cost of everything else — are skyrocketing, it doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your summer fun.

On Sunday, the Yakima Herald-Republic will include a speical, revamped SUMMER IN THE VALLEY guide (formerly our Summer Fun section) with information about everything that’s going on from now through September.

But we know you don’t want to wait until Sunday. You don’t want to wast any more precious days in the sweet sunshine. So here’s a sneak peek at what you’ll find this summer in the valley.
Read more

“The Climate Diet” Author Coming to Inklings

Eco-friendly author Jonathan Harrington will sign copies of his book, “The Climate Diet,” from 2-4 p.m. Saturday at Inklings Bookshop, 5629 Summitview Ave. in the Chalet Place shopping center. 965-5830.

“The Climate Diet” outlines three levels of participation in lessening your carbon footprint, and describes a basic plan for achieving each level.

A Beast of a Bar Crawl

The same guy that brought you the Labor Day snow party and jib fest is now organizing the ULTIMATE YAKIMA BAR CRAWL.

I received an e-mail this week from free-spirited Devon Harris, letting me know that on Saturday (June 14) about 30 people will be participating in what they’re calling “Jack-to-Jack” (or something like that).

They’re starting at 10 a.m. at Jack-Sons Sports Bar on 48th and Tieton and then making their way to 13 different bars during an approximately nine mile walk through town, eventually ending at Jack-Sons in Terrace Heights. (Unfortunately, I already have plans for tomorrow, or I’d so be there. Oh, also, I’m lazy.)

They even have matching shirts.

So, when you see a massive, drunk group of people in identical T-shirts holding up traffic as they march through town, you’ll know what’s going on.

2008-09 Best of Broadway Series Shaping Up To Be A Good One

The Capitol Theatre hasn’t officially announced its 2008-09 Best of Broadway season, but after poking around on the Capitol’s Web site, it looks like the upcoming series is going to be a good one.

Here’s what’s on the calendar:

• Oct. 3-4 — East Village Opera Company.

• Oct. 31-Nov. 1 — “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”

• Dec. 12-13 — “Sweeney Todd.”

• Jan. 9-10, 2009 — “Movin’ Out.”

• Feb. 13-14, 2009 — “The Pajama Game.”

• April 17-18, 2009 — “Drowsy Chaperone.”

“Shrek The Musical” Tickets On Sale Today

Looking to be the best dad, ever? Or, mom, aunt, grandparent …

Tickets to the pre-Broadway engagement of “Shrek The Musical” went on sale this morning.

The lovable swamp ogre and his friends take the stage at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre Aug. 14-Sept. 21 before debuting on Broadway in December.

Tickets are available by calling 888-5TH-4TIX, or online at www.5thavenue.org.

Sunshine & Wine — The good life

BY JEAN GUERRERO

Looking for a taste of the best wines in the state?

The seventh annual Sunshine and Wine event is coming to State Fair Park on June 21. Wine tasting, food and an auction will accompany the showcasing of results from the only wine competition worldwide that revolves exclusively around Washington wineries.

Fifteen judges will compare 390 wines from 87 Washington wineries this Saturday.

A week later at Sunshine and Wine, guests will get their chance to taste some of the winners firsthand. Fifty-five of the wineries from the competition will be serving up their finest, some sporting double gold, gold, silver and bronze medals.

One local winemaker, 27-year-old Sean Gilbert of Gilbert Cellars, will feature his 2006 chardonnay, 2005 syrah, 2005 cabernet sauvignon and 2005 malbec.

In addition to entering his top wines into the competition, Gilbert said he has been putting the finishing touches on a tasting room and wine bar that will open at Front Street and Yakima Avenue on July 1.

“Our priority is making great wine and hopefully making an economic and social contribution to the Valley, providing people with something to do downtown,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert Cellars isn’t the only new downtown wine tasting room. Masset Winery, Plaza Sociovale, and the Cascade Wine Co. have all opened in downtown Yakima during the past year. Desert Hills, Donitelia and Kana Winery are the other wineries with tasting rooms downtown.

Local business owners plan to reap some of the benefits from Sunshine and Wine, because hundreds of wine lovers are known to travel to the event each year.

Scott Bouchey, a Cascade Wine Co. employee, said the shop is anticipating spillover business from the competition, calling it a “symbiotic relationship.”

Wine experts said the downtown area will regain prominence as a cultural focal point largely based on the success of wine tourism.

“(Wine drinking) is equated on the part of many people as a lifestyle,” said Jim Collins, owner of Cascade Wine Co. “It’s a symbol of the good life.”

He said the wine industry has been doing well despite economic instability because of the unshakable allure of wine.

“If you’re making a good product that appeals to people not only in terms of quality but the uniqueness of it, and it’s fairly priced, people are going to flock to it,” Collins said.

Gilbert, whose family has owned the prominent local tree fruit company Gilbert Orchards since 1897, became aware of this new potential early on.

He said he was studying history at Pomona College in California when he began considering the possibilities within the wine industry.

Gilbert returned home during the summer of 2001 to help his father plant a test vineyard in the Ahtanum Valley west of Yakima. A year later, his family purchased another vineyard in Mattawa.

“That really got our foot in the door,” Gilbert said.

At first, he and his brother just sold the grapes to other wineries and made small quantities of wine for friends and family.

After a steady string of successes, however, Gilbert was determined to realize the full potential of this new operation by turning it into a real business.

“(Grapes are) a newer crop, and the climate is well-suited to grape growing here,” said Barb Smith Gilbert, Sean’s mother. “It provides an opportunity for agri-tourism and draws people to the Yakima Valley from other parts of the state.”

In 2004, Sean Gilbert interned at Januik and Novelty Hill wineries in Woodinville to learn how to make wine. He then returned home and became the general manager of Gilbert Cellars.

“(Sean) is very enthusiastic about the future of the Yakima Valley, and I think that’s terrific,” Barb said of her son.

Gilbert said he decided to open a Gilbert Cellars tasting room in the historic Lund Building at the corner of Front Street and Yakima Avenue because of its elegant stone exterior and wooden floors, which he believes reflect the style of his wine.

Last year, Gilbert won a silver medal for his 2004 claret. This will be his second time participating in the annual competition.

“Washington wines are getting better known all over the world,” said Brian Carter, a prominent winemaker who has won multiple awards for his Brian Carter Cellars wine. He will be one of the judges at the competition.

Carter said the competition is significant because Washington wines are beginning to win national and international acclaim.

He attributed the high quality of these wines to a combination of winemaking skills and the distinctive environmental conditions of Central Washington: well-drained soils, plentiful water supplies and a relative lack of rainfall.

“A lot of undefined characteristics just come together to make Washington state a really unique winegrowing area unmatched by any place in the world,” Carter said.

Gilbert said he is looking forward to Sunshine and Wine because it will help his wine achieve recognition throughout the community and beyond.

“It is important for the public to be able to see the results (of the competition) so they can make informed decisions about what wines they want to buy,” Carter said.

More than 500 people are expected to attend the event, which will run from 2-7 p.m. and costs $75 per person to attend. All profits made from the event will be used to renovate buildings at State Fair Park.

If you go

WHAT: Sunshine & Wine.

WHEN: 2:30-7:30 p.m. June 21.

WHERE: State Fair Park, 1301 S. Fair Ave.

HOW MUCH: $75. Includes food from regional restaurants and chefs, award-winning wines, live music and silent and live auctions. Call 248-7160 or visit www.sunshineandwine.com.

Davis brings home 5th Avenue High School Musical Theatre Award

It was the parents who walked away with a 5th Avenue High School Musical Theatre Award this week.

Davis High School won for Outstanding Lobby Display, which was created by parent volunteers for the school’s production of “The Wizard of Oz.”

Also, Eisenhower High School’s Patrick Smith was one of 10 students who received Special Honors for Student Achievement.

For the achievement award, a student is nominated for going above and beyond. Ike drama teacher Janey Peterson nominated Smith for his work on the lighting and sound for “High School Musical” and for helping to take charge back stage.

Presented by Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre, the awards program, now in its sixth year, recognizes exceptional musical theater productions presented during the 2007-08 school year.

This year, 73 schools entered productions for judging. In addition to Davis and Ike, Sunnyside High School entered its production of “Seussical the Musical.”

The awards were presented Monday (June 9) at Benaroya Hall in Seattle.

Tiki party to benefit Allied Arts

On Saturday (June 14), you can give a big aloha to art at the Yakima Valley Women’s Club’s Tiki Pa’Ina, a tiki party fundraiser for Allied Arts of Yakima Valley.

The hula-themed happening runs from 6-11 p.m. at the home of Bob Shields (whose yard was featured on last year’s Yakima Area Arboretum Garden Tour). It features live entertainment from local R&B favorites the Wayman Chapman Band, a silent auction, raffle and food and drink.

Tickets cost $75 and include heavy hors d’oeuvres with a tropical theme served buffet style, dessert and two glasses of beer and wine.

All proceeds from this 21-and-over event will benefit Allied Arts’ summer children’s programs, including its ArtsVan.

For more information and tickets, call the Allied ArtsCenter at 966-0930.

Want Some Chalk With That Wine?

Adults and kids are invited to Two Mountain Winery on Saturday (June 14) for the third annual CHALK PARTY, a benefit for the Pegasus Project Therapeutic Riding Center.

Artists of all ages can express themselves, via chalk, on Two Mountain’s cement tasting room floor and enter a friendly chalk art contest. The winning design will adorn the label of Two Mountain’s special dry rosé summer release.

The chalk party runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the winery, 2151 Cheyne Road in Zillah. While there, visitors can also enjoy Miz Dee’s Southern barbecue and live music.

The event is free, but donations will be accepted for the Pegasus Project, which provides therapeutic riding and equine-related activities to those with special needs and disabilities.

For more information, call Two Mountain at 829-3900.

Save the Date: Guilty Pleasures Party II

The rumors and drunken ramblings are true: Our roving reporter of good times and the Yakima Sports Center are throwing another summer bash. Yes, the second annual Guilty Pleasures Party returns for a night of good-natured debauchery.

The date: July 25.

The place: the Yakima Sports Center.

The details: Well, as always, those are still a little fuzzy, but what we can tell you is good-lookin’ singer-songwriter Colin Spring will be back with more musical guilty pleasures (i.e. sweet cover tunes), and headlining is the electric, eclectic indie folk/roots maverick Chuck Prophet.

Of course, we’ll be supplying a whole stack of “Hello My guilty pleasure is” name tags and setting up a photo studio, so remember to wear something snazzy.

Guilty Pleasures is also hoping the Sports Center will be making Jell-O shots again (hint, hint).

The cost: Only your pride and dignity if you miss it. Uhh, we mean $5.

Stay tuned for more information closer to the P-A-R-T-Y.

Arboretum’s Annual Garden Tour this Saturday

Attention green thumbs and gardening groupies, it’s time for this year’s Garden Tour, benefiting the Yakima Area Arboretum.

The self-guided tour runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday (June 14) and features the glorious gardens of:

• Ollie Weitz.
• Metiner and Cynthia Kimel.
• Neil and Leslie McClure.
• John and Carol Barany.
• Dave and Margie Van Cleve.
• The Master Gardener Demonstration Garden.

Garden Tour-goers will discover luscious lawns filled with colorful perennials, stunning water features, shade gardens, children’s gardens, wildlife habitats, unusual plants and clematis gardens.
Read more

Edge Fest V: Back from the edge

The biggest surprise for Saturday’s fifth annual Edge Fest isn’t the Blue Mouse Theatre reunion, or that an artist from notable independent label Barsuk Records is on the bill.

It’s that the daylong music festival, which shakes the Yakima Valley Community College courtyard each June, is happening at all.

“There was a lot of surprise,” says 22-year-old Donovon Walton, YVCC Associated Student Body co-director for student programs and coordinator for this year’s Edge Fest.

“No one expected it to happen.”

Walton won’t necessarily say it was guilt that forced him to take over Edge Fest — “I don’t think it was that bad,” the soft-spoken Walton says with a smile — but there definitely was pressure to keep the popular event going after festival founder Jeff Murray left for college in Spokane.

So Walton did, with the help of several phone calls to Murray, who will be back to visit, and volunteer, this weekend.

Edge Fest runs from 1 p.m. to midnight Saturday and features local and regional punk, metal (a lot of metal), indie-rock, hip-hop and folk (much more than years past) bands playing on two alternating stages. Admission is $10, or $5 with at least three nonperishable food donations for the Northwest Harvest food bank. Monetary proceeds will go to help bring two women from Afghanistan to study at YVCC.

Returning to Edge Fest are Shook Ones, Adipose, Chokeout, Colin Spring, With A Bullet, Typical Ace, Grey Fox, The Lonely Forest, Behold, SadistiK with DJ Dominic, and perennial Edge Fest favorite Thee Letting Forth of Fire.

However, absent this year are longtime Edge Festers Feverclub (formerly The Look) and Optimus Rhyme. Feverclub had to cancel because of a scheduling issue; Optimus Rhyme is on a break while band members explore other projects.

Also, Thee Letting Forth of Fire won’t be closing out the festival as the experi-metal ensemble traditionally does. This year’s final spot is being filled by the reunion of Blue Mouse Theatre. (Not that there are probably any hard feelings. The two bands go way back and even split an EP.)

After jokingly mentioning a reunion show, Blue Mouse Theatre, the former Ellensburg metal band that often played The Zone and even the inaugural Edge Fest, sent an e-mail via Edge Fest’s MySpace asking to play this year’s festival.

“Of course, I had no idea who they were,” says Walton, who moved to Yakima just a year ago.

But Murray still has access to the Edge Fest MySpace, “and within a day I got a phone call from Jeff saying, ‘Book Blue Mouse, book Blue Mouse,’” says Walton.

While the reunion began as sort of a lark, now that the band has a gig and has been practicing, this might not just be a one-night-only thing.

“It’s really hard to tell,” says vocalist B.J. Kooy, who will also be playing bass. “We’ll probably enjoy it so much we might do it again.”

Newbies to the Edge Fest stages this year are locals Bad Habit, Fourth & Forever, Makings of a Massacre and Chad Bault, as well as Ellensburg’s Mon Marie and Seattle’s Guns of Nevada.

“I tried to mix it up as much as I could to appeal to a wide range of people,” says Walton, who received more than 60 requests from bands looking to play this year.

“As we got closer, they just started pouring in,” he says.

The latest addition is Seattle indie-folk singer-songwriter Rocky Votolato, who’s signed to Barsuk Records, the Seattle label that’s put out albums by the likes of Death Cab for Cutie, The Long Winters, Nada Surf, Viva Voce and What Made Milwaukee Famous.

Votolato’s latest effort, “The Brag & Cuss,” is a beautifully melancholy album with an alt-country tinge and tales of rough crowds, drinking, lovin’ and lonely highways.

Now paid for out of the YVCC Associated Student Body programming budget, Edge Fest was founded in 2004 by Murray, then a wild-haired 19-year-old YVCC student who simply wanted to throw a rock show that would benefit the Northwest Harvest food bank — and, perhaps, earn him a few cool points. He named it for 88.5-FM The Edge, the YV Tech radio station where he was then student general manager.

In that first year, Murray cobbled together eight local and regional bands ranging from hip-hop to jazz, Christian metal and emo, all playing on a wobbly stage.

In Murray’s opinion, it was terrible, but the good reviews kept rolling in. The next year he secured funds from YVCC and focused all his energy on Edge Fest, which expanded to include more than 20 acts on two alternating stages, similar to the Vans Warped Tour setup.

It drew about 800 music fans, brought in more than 1,000 pounds of food for the food bank and cemented itself as an early summer tradition committed to the spirit of independent music and the community built around it.

But as Murray headed off to Whitworth College in Spokane, the future of Edge Fest seemed bleak.

Enter Walton, a noticeable figure on YVCC’s campus with his long dreadlocks and multiple piercings.

Edge Fest was the first cool event he remembers going to when he moved here from The Dalles, Ore.

“It was pretty much like, I can’t let this stop,” he says.

So he didn’t. And there’s already a potential organizer for next year’s festival.

“We’re really trying to keep the legacy going,” says Walton.

* Find links to the bands playing this year’s Edge Fest and pictures from last year’s event at on.yakimablogs.com/music.

Ellensburg Film Festival Fundraiser on Saturday

The Ellensburg Film Festival folks and Gallery One are throwing a fundraiser bash on Saturday (June 7). It should be fun, those guys know how to party.

Details (in poster form) below:

Best Date Movie of the Weekend

If all the showings of “Kung Fu Panda” are sold out, you may want to check out the documentary “Young@Heart” which opens here tomorrow. It looks so good.

Next Page »