JUNE 2024 ARTBEAT

ARTBE T

WENATCHEE FIRST FRIDAYS MAP INCLUDED

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT REGIONAL ARTISTS CLAIM SPOTLIGHT AT JURIED SHOW

BY MEG KAPPLER

NCW ARTS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Being the mom of two teenagers approaching adulthood at breakneck speed is both daunting and immensely rewarding. I’m proud to witness them voraciously gobbling up chances to engage in making music, doing theater and exploring the arts. What has nearly brought me to tears recently is the sheer amount of opportunity and support that my kids and others like them are receiving from community members, arts organizations, educators and local businesses.

For instance, the Numerica Performing Arts Center just held their annual Apple Awards ceremony, which helps encourage an outstanding sense of camaraderie among high school theater programs in our region. It provides support for these students by creating space for drama teachers to connect with one another, and for the students themselves to uplift and be inspired by one another throughout the year.

During the ceremony, Music Theater of Wenatchee distributed $18,000 in

grant funding to deserving students from several districts as they forge ahead to pursue degrees and possibly careers in the performing arts.

For Wenatchee First Fridays this month, multiple businesses are promoting emerging young artists: Lemolo Café & Deli, Epoch and Watercore Cider. Epoch is partnering with PFLAG, the LGBTQ+ support organization, to host a youth art gallery for Pride month, and Wenatchee High School senior, Abbey Kimmel, has curated “Divergent: A Queer Youth Art Showcase” hosted by Watercore Cider and Wenatchee Pride.

Joel Myrene, founder of Apple Valley Vinyl Record Expo, organizes semiannual all-ages rock concerts at the local Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) hall and provides constant encouragement for young musicians to perform and get their music “on its feet” in a welcoming, inclusive and extraordinarily fun atmosphere.

Icicle Creek Center for the Arts in Leavenworth is partnering with Village Art in the Park and the Cascade School District to secure funding to continue the visual and performing arts programs in Cascade schools for the 2024-2025 school year. And NCW Libraries and Write On The River again awarded prizes to three regional high-school age writers for their original short fiction, the 13th year of this competition.

This is just a fraction of the people and entities helping our kids thrive, and you’ll read more about some of these inspiring efforts in the following pages. I just couldn’t help but take a small bit of space here to acknowledge what a privilege it is for my family to live in a place where access to creativity is prioritized for ALL of our youth.

NCW Arts and the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center join this year to bring you the 2024 North Central Washington Juried Art Show and Sale, a showcase returning for the first time in three years. All exhibited pieces — twoand three-dimensional — are available for sale. The show will open at the museum during the Wenatchee First Fridays Arts Walk from 4 to 8 p.m., June 7, with free admission.

Any adult artist residing in Chelan, Douglas, Grant, Kittitas, Okanogan or Yakima counties was eligible to submit up to three pieces to the exhibit, and these three judges will have chosen the winning works:

Perri Howard is a multidisciplinary artist with a global reach through exhibitions and sound installations completed in Italy, Portugal, Brazil, Canada, the Arctic Circle, and in South India as a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar.

After working at Gallery One Visual Arts Center in Ellensburg, Sarah Haven recently returned to Central Washington University as the campus visits manager.

She creates pottery in her basement studio as well and serves on the board of the Washington Clay Arts Association. Stephanie Stauffer is board President of the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center and the general counsel for Starr Ranch. She says her personal artistic skill is limited, but she values creative expression and the opportunity to participate in the 2024 Juried Art Show.

The first-place winner will receive $500, the second-place winner $250 and the People’s Choice Award winner $200. Artists receiving awards will also receive one complimentary admission ticket to the museum’s Night at the Museum on Sept. 21.

After the June 7 opening, the exhibit of regional artists’ work will run through Oct. 5 at the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center, 127 S. Mission Avenue. Regular exhibit hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday; admission fees apply.

Learn more at ncwarts.org or wenatcheevalleymuseum.org

ON THE COVER:

“Dynamo” by Wenatchee painter Henry Stinson is a featured artwork of the 2024 North Central Washington Juried Art Show and Sale. Stinson has been strongly influenced by the bold hues and massive brush strokes of the Russian Impressionists. His own paintings are personal and allegorical, often of common objects that gain significance with a twist. Serious or whimsical, they are all imbued with rich color.

“Juniperus californica bonsai” by Wenatchee painter Jim McGreevy and “Unexpected Plastic Consumption” by Winona Snell will be on display at the 2024 North Central Washington Juried Art Show and Sale.

NONPROFITS RESCUE

LEAVENWORTH ART TEACHERS

By Jamie Howell

Lore Smart was devastated by the letter that landed on her desk in early February. “Your position is being eliminated,” she read. The tears came quickly, followed by the uncertainty and the fear.

Smart loved her job, loved her students. After four years serving as a para-professional for the Cascade School District, she’d gone back to school to earn her teaching certificate and her masters degree before landing her dream job as the art teacher at Icicle River Middle School in Leavenworth.

But now, two years into her new career, it was all ending. The letter said that there’d be no money in next year’s budget to fund her position.

“I do know in this profession that I’m kind of on the front lines,” said Smart. Budget crunches feel as though they’re becoming the new normal in school districts across the state, but that her position would be deemed obsolete in a community so vibrant with the Arts made no sense to her. “Leavenworth was founded on creative ideas,” she said.

And then it got worse.

Her 17-year-old son went into atrial fibrillation (AFib), a dangerous irregular heart rhythm, and was airlifted to a Seattle hospital for treatment.

Her son’s heart rhythms were eventually restored, but the scares weren’t over. The bills were terrifying, said Smart, bills that would not be covered in the future if she

lost her job and benefits.

Something had to be done.

Smart soon realized the school district had no extra funds in its budget. But instead of caving to the hard fiscal realities, “We all rallied,” said Smart.

Enter the nonprofits

Ultimately, word reached two longstanding Leavenworth nonprofits — Icicle Creek Center for the Arts and Leavenworth Village Art in the Park — and the outlines of a solution began to appear.

Under the resulting arrangement, the nonprofits were able to allocate $86,000 to cover salaries and art supplies for not one, but two art teachers for the 2024-25 school year.

Smart was saved. She will remain at the middle school as a district employee for at least one more year, which means she will also retain the benefits so vital to her and her four children.

In addition to Smart, Leavenworth-based teaching artist Amber Zimmerman will become a direct employee of Icicle Creek and provide arts instruction at PeshastinDryden and Alpine Lakes elementaries for the upcoming school year. Village Art in the Park is pitching in up to $6,000 to provide all the arts supplies for the schools next year.

In all, the deal impacts more than 800 students, ensuring arts education opportunities that each of the parties agree are critical to creative growth and the future success of Leavenworth’s students.

Looking to the future

“These local nonprofits are once again demonstrating that we have great community partners who make a difference with kids each and every day,” said district Superintendent Tracey Edou.

Smart is already laying the groundwork for a new Cascade Arts Foundation to continue fundraising for Arts in the school district. She’s also planning to get yet another certification in CTE (Career & Technical Education) in the hopes that a proposed legislative bill will designate Art as a credited CTE course.

“We can set ourselves apart with the Arts,” said Smart. “It’s been really beautiful to watch the community come together to support the schools and these students.”

Jamie Howell, founder of Howell at the Moon Productions in Wenatchee, is a writer, filmmaker and digital content creator. He currently serves on the boards of the NCW Arts Alliance and Leavenworth Village Art in the Park.

(Who are these local artists? Initials are given; see the answers below.)

1. (K.S.) This prolific actor and director, now deceased, was an inspiration to hundreds of his Wenatchee Valley College theater students and founded Music Theater of Wenatchee.

2. (S.K.) This lifelong artist, who was on the Graves Gallery board, has moved from graphic ink sumi, or “gestures,” to vibrant color and calligraphy in books and small intimate paintings.

3. (D.G.) Local writers have applauded this Cashmere teacher’s success since the 2016 publication of “The Honest Truth,” the first of his six acclaimed novels for young readers.

4. (E.E.) Classical training blends with a decidedly modern sound in “Atlas,” from her new album. She sings around the region and was the subject of Kris Lahd’s first “On the Upbeat” interview in ArtBeat.

5. (R.H.) Also a graphic and interior designer, this veteran painter since 1970 has explored using the subconscious to create the “abstract automatism” works he exhibits in local galleries.

1. Keith Sexson

2. Susan Kimmel 3. Dan Ge-

meinhart 4. Elaine Eagle 5. Russ Hepler

Icicle River Middle School art teacher Lore Smart

PM “Journey through a year in Washington,” Rachel Madden, watercolors. Good Cause Coaster Art Project making session.

9. Mela 5-8

PM

1. MAC Gallery 5-7

“Signs We Were Once Here,” Ron Evans, sculptures and miniature signs. Exhibition runs through June 26.

10. Chelan-Douglas Trust 5-7

PM Allison Teal Lewis, paintings. Grace Young, live music. 11. Ye Old Bookshoppe 5-7

PM Aubrey Brisbine, Paper Ninja, art and jewelry.

PM The Darkest Moon, mixed media.

12. Mountain Chick Floral 5-7

2. Wells House 5-7 PM Columbia River Community Flute Choir. Free guided tours.

PM Cory Pearson, metal art. Complimentary food and beverage.

3. LynnArt Gardens 3-7

4. Visit Wenatchee Tasting Room 5-7 PM Alpine Stitches, handstitched embroidery art. Wenatchee First Fridays maps available.

PM Youth Art Gallery in partnership with PFLAG.

13. Epoch 5-11

PM Barbarianheart, hand dyed silks. $2 off glass pours.

14. Norwood Wine Bar 5-10

PM “Supporting the Littles at Lemolo,” Holly Edwards (age 11), artist.

5. Lemolo Café & Deli 4-6

15. Pybus Art Alley 5-10 PM Terry Johnson, paintings. Just Us, live music.

6. Zebra Brasserie 5-9 PM Lindsay Breidenthal, paintings. Enter drawing to win a print.

PM Opening of the 2024 Juried Art Show & Sale Exhibit. Free admission. Jazz Jam Quintet.

16. Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center 4-8

PM “Exploring Botanicals in Collage,” Sheri Trepina, collage. Suzanne Grassell, harpist. Local wines.

7. Two Rivers Art Gallery 5-8

5. Steam Panda 4-9 PM Buy one noodle soup, get 2nd noodle soup $5 off. Dine in only when you mention First Friday.

8. Watercore Cider 6-8 PM “Divergent: A Queer Youth Art Showcase.” Curated by Abbey Kimmel in partnership with Wenatchee Pride.

1. Horan Estates Winery 3-7 PM $2 off glass pours.

6. Cave Noire 4-10 PM

2. Crayelle Cellars 3-6 PM $2 off glass pours.

6. Cave Noire 4-10 PM Enjoy a complimentary glass after any wine tasting flight. 7. Hilton Garden Inn 5-10 PM $12 Smoked Apple Old Fashioned cocktail special. $2 off wine pours.

3. Stones Gastropub 3-9 PM $10 specialty cocktail.

4. Watermill Winery On The Ave 3-8 PM Appetizers and wine specials.

1. American Shoe Shop 5–7 PM Extended hours 2. Tumbleweed 4-7 PM Ruby Mountain Crochet. Featured for the month of June. 3. Mercantile All Day $10 day pass for First Fridays. 4. The Original Children’s Shop 5-7 PM 10% discount on all merch when you mention First Fridays. 5. Woody’s Classic Man 3-8 PM Happy Hour pricing on all beers and ciders. Extended hours. 6.Firehouse Pet Shop 3-6 PM Lick Art Event! Bring your pup and have them create a masterpiece. 7. 383 Threads 5–7 PM 20% off brand name, vintage & designer pieces.

Bring a FriendSip Wine and Create Portraits of Each Other! JUNE 12 5:307:30

& SIP PAINT & SIP

Wenatchee First Fridays Summer Concert Series kicks off with The Kevin Jones Band from 7 to 9 p.m. at Centennial Park. Beer garden by The Taproom by Hellbent Brewing.

ON THE UPBEAT OWEN BARNHART: FROM STEHEKIN TO HOLLYWOOD AND BACK AGAIN

Owen Barnhart

By Kris Lahd

Born in Wenatchee and raised at the north end of Lake Chelan in the remote community of Stehekin, Owen Barnhart encountered a hardship in childhood that led him to realize his talents as a multi-instrument musician, singer and songwriter. Focused mostly on drums in his youth, he did what many 20-something musicians dreamed of doing — he moved to Los Angeles with his band.

What was it like growing up in Stehekin?

I had a real amazing childhood growing up in the woods. I went to the one-room schoolhouse there that was built in 1921. My parents had a great vinyl record collection, and I grew up listening to guys like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. The real reason I started playing music as a kid was because I have alopecia, which started around age nine. (Alopecia is an

autoimmune disease that attacks the hair follicle causing hair loss.) It was really strange and confusing, and it happened very fast. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I think I was searching for an outlet, so beating on a drum served that purpose. I dealt with it by wearing a baseball cap and after school I would play my drums for hours. I gained a lot of my confidence back by being the musical kid after losing it from being the bald kid.

Where has music taken you?

After college, around 2002, I moved to Pasadena, Calif., with a band I’d been playing with since high school. We all lived in a house together. I don’t think any of us had jobs lined up, which is hilarious when I think about it. I drove out to Hollywood one day just to see the sights and went into Guitar Center (a music store) and asked them if they were hiring, and they were. I interviewed and got a job that day. I worked there for about five years, and I played music. The band lasted barely a year, but we did play some scrap gigs in Hollywood like on a Tuesday night. Then I started playing drums with a singer-songwriter who brought in some really amazing studio players who had played on some albums I really loved. We started playing more legit gigs on Sunset Boulevard, and that was a pretty significant experience for me — to be around that caliber of musicians.

What

brought you back to North Cen-

CHEERS! HIGH SCHOOLERS EXCEL

Write On The River and NCW Libraries recently announced the imaginative and well-versed winners of the 13th annual Teen Short Fiction Competition:

First Place: Grace Hodges, a 9th grader at Cashmere High School for “Stag”

Honorable Mention: Orlo Parkinson, a 9th grader at Liberty Bell High School, Twisp, for “Like Love, Like Lightning”

Honorable Mention: Ella Stepanov, a homeschooled sophomore from Chelan for “The Sound of Silence”

Librarians from around the region and members of the Teen Library Council judged the competitive entries and chose these three students to share a $200 cash award. The high school-aged writers submitting this year made up the most geographically diverse and largest slate of entries in the competition’s 13year history,

You can learn more about these teen writers and read their winning entries at writeontheriver.org or ncwlibraries.org

Applause and well-deserved praise took the main stage at the

tral Washington?

It was a spectacular experience going from Stehekin to high school in the big city of East Wenatchee, then jump to L.A. and Hollywood. It was just incredible. After 15 years down there I did start missing the seasons and even the snow, which is what brought me back. I do miss the ocean now though.

How do you find inspiration?

It’s a lot of reflection, journaling and processing my own experiences. I started playing country music solo in 2020. I love writing, recording and performing gigs — singing with my banjo.

Owen is currently recording a self-produced solo album heavily influenced by country and bluegrass. You can catch him playing solo all around the area this summer and he’s also drumming with Curtis Moore’s band, The Stone Blind Horses.

A Few Upcoming Solo Gigs

6/1 Even Keel Roadhouse, 6-9 p.m., Chelan

6/7 Bob Fiel Boats & Motors, 12-3 p.m., East Wenatchee

6/7 Sigillo Cellars, 6-9 p.m., Chelan

6/13 Gard Public House, 6-8 p.m., Royal City

6/14 Patterson Cellars, 7-9 p.m., Leavenworth

6/15 Union Hill Cider, 4-6 p.m., East Wenatchee

6/20 Rocky Pond, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Chelan

6/29 Blue Spirits, 6-9 p.m., Leavenworth

IN WRITING AND THEATER

2024 Apple Awards for high school theater programs at the Numerica Performing Arts Center on May 16. Participating districts included Quincy, Chelan, Cashmere, Wenatchee and East Wenatchee. Several “bests” were awarded in the annual tribute to young theater artists:

Both best musical and best musical ensemble went to Quincy High School for “The Addams Family.”

Best overall play and best ensemble in a play went to Eastmont High School’s “Radium Girls.”

Individual awards went to Savannah Webb in “Anything Goes” at Wenatchee High School for best lead in a musical, and to Rowan Kappler as best lead in a play in “Radium Girls.”

Best supporting musical performer was awarded to Gavin Hundley for “The Lightning Thief” at Eastmont and best supporting performer in a play was a tie for both David Kelly in “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” at Chelan High School and for Gabby Winchester in “Sabrina Fair” at Cashmere High School.

ARTBIZ

MIND THE GAP (GRANT) — IS IT WORTH IT?

by jamie howell

What’s more fun than filling out grant applications? Answer: Literally just about anything.

But it’s GAP Grant season again — that time of year when Washington artists vie in hordes for that cherished, if not-sowhopping $1,500 check from Washington’s Artist Trust.

To be completely honest, though, the odds aren’t really in your favor. Only 65 Grants for Artist Projects (GAP) go out each year for the 187,196 working creatives in Washington state. Hundreds, if not thousands, of those will apply. So is it really worth your effort?

To GAP or not to GAP

“Totally worth it,” said playwright Michael Caemmerer, a 2022 GAP recipient from Plain. He used his $1,500 to help mount his first play, “Angel on a 50th Birthday”, with Full Circle Theatre Company at Leavenworth’s Snowy Owl Theater last year.

Caemmerer is one of the talented and fortunate few who landed the GAP grant on his first try. “As an artist looking for a little street cred, this helps,” he said. In addition to the cash, he pointed out, GAP Grant recipients are afforded the opportunity to attend a variety of Artist Trust events during the year. “There are lots of connections to be made through Artist Trust.”

Painter Scott Bailey, director of the Art Department at Wenatchee Valley College and another GAP Grant winner, sees benefits in applying even if you get rejected. “It gets the artist’s work in front of judges who are experts in their field and ... it is a great activity to force them to update artist statements, resumes, images, etc. — all things that can be used for other applications.”

C’mon, it’s only 700 words

“It’s among the least difficult grant applications out there,” according to Bailey. The Artist Trust likes short answers, capping applications at just 50 words about your artistic practice; another 150 words about you; 350 more to describe your project; and finally, no more than 150 words about how the $1,500 would help.

It’s also worth noting that our quaint little plot of irrigated desert here in NCW qualifies as an underfunded “rural community” and, as such, benefits from a bit of artistic affirmative action.

Other groups “strongly encouraged to apply” include the BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities, plus those living with disabilities.

For those still feeling a touch intimidated, loads of resources live online at artisttrust.org — a pre-recorded webinar, toolkits and a reference guide with examples from past winners. Rob Schlegel, a writer from Walla Walla County, won with, “I am a poet,” as the entirety of his discipline statement.

Odds be damned

You’re an artist. Since when have you ever paid attention to the odds? The GAP grant, win or lose, represents a valuable exercise in moving yourself toward success. And should you happen to land one of the 65 GAPs to be awarded this October, I’m guessing you won’t be complaining about the extra $1,500 in your art jar.

Applications for the 2024 Grants for Artist Projects (GAP) are due by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, June 21. Apply online at artisttrust.submittable.com/submit

Jamie Howell, founder of Howell at the Moon Productions in Wenatchee, is currently marking his 25th year as a writer, filmmaker and digital content creator.

FEATURED OPPORTUNITY:

Here’s a new way to create and sustain art! Two thousand artfully adorned 4x4-inch drink coasters will paper a local wall, with the $10 sale of each going to support local arts. How will they get there, when, and who’ll make them?

Every month on the Wenatchee First Fridays Arts Walk from now until December, a different local artist will lead a free workshop at Mela to help participants cre-

ate small original art (at $1 per coaster), which will join others on the back walls as the Creative Cause Coaster Art Project. Basic supplies are provided, but participants are encouraged to bring any favorite tools of their own. The completed installation, with coasters available for sale, will run next December and January, when the project hopes to raise $20,000 for the local arts community.

VISIT NCWARTS.ORG FOR MORE OPPORTUNITIES

Samples of 4x4-inch coaster art.

COMMENTARY PUBLIC ART: FOR WHAT AILS YOU

“Dog Bites Banker” by Richard Beyer, a sculpture on the WVC campus.

by natalie dotzauer

Deep in the corners of the Wenatchee Valley College outdoor garden classroom is an unloved and confusing sculpture. Many staff and students have grumbled over this work. While walking through a side path between fresh lawns and back fencing I stumbled upon this bizarre sculpture, an aluminum cast man with an oversized belly in a business suit in the act of getting bit in the rear by a wild creature. My next question had me asking, “Well, how did THAT get here?” How does public art find its way into our daily lives and public spaces? Public art is a fickle forum for art lovers and community members. A public art piece can be in your midst and you may never have paid attention to it, such as Mark Staz’s “Convergence,” the roundabout sculpture on Fifth Street and Riverside Drive in Wenatchee.

Other works we may be fond of such as “Ped,” by Kevin Petelle on the Apple Capital Recreation Loop Trail, or “Coyote Reading a Candy Wrapper” by Richard Beyer on the front steps of the Wenatchee Valley Museum Annex. Each work of art that we have in our public domain has been debated, selected and evaluated by groups of community members. And the funding source for those committees and commissions varies for each organization. With community groups fueled by volunteer efforts, some deciding members may be interested individuals, artists,

those that are working in the civic sector or concerned citizens. Art on the Avenues is a community-based organization founded in 1995 and is responsible for many of the sculptures on Wenatchee Avenue, the Loop Trail and positioned amid our public buildings.

Works funded by the state’s Percent for Art Program, such as “Water Wall” by Carolyn Law at Wenatchee’s Wastewater Treatment Plant, are a result of a law that sets aside money to invest in site-specific artwork at the construction or renovation of buildings. Commissions empowered by the state include municipal workers, artists, art supporters, architects and other members involved in the site operations. This gem of a law is the sweet spot of funding, public involvement and art designed for locations.

Look closely at your public art next time and ask, “Well, how did that get here?” Maybe it’s made to fit the location. Maybe it’s work that asks us to question and ponder. But artwork that can help strike up a conversation is always worth a second look.

Natalie Dotzauer is an installation artist with an M.F.A. from the California College of the Arts and is a fulltime faculty member at Wenatchee Valley College teaching sculpture, drawing and printmaking. She is on the board of NCW Arts Alliance.

WATERCORE HOSTS ‘DIVERGENT: A QUEER YOUTH ART SHOWCASE’ FEATURED EVENT:

“Serenity” by Abbey Kimmel

As a kick-off to June’s Pride Month, downtown cider shop Watercore teamed up with prime organizer Abbey Kimmel and Wenatchee Pride (whose mission is to empower and connect the NCW LGBTQIA2S+ community) to offer an unprecedented opportunity for young queer-identifying artists in the greater Wenatchee

area. Kimmel characterized “Divergent” as a stressless way for up to 20 local high-school-age amateur artists to enter the larger art world, and she said this isn’t a juried show, but a showcase for artistic expression.

Submitted work is both two- and three-dimensional. Expect variety in themes and media: the exhibit ranges from introspection to landscapes to abstracts, from sketches to photos. Each piece will be available for sale. “My own art is here, too,” said Kimmel, whose father is an art teacher. “It’s acrylic and ink, very bright and colorful repeated designs.”

See “Divergent” at Watercore, 19A Wenatchee Avenue on the Wenatchee’s First Fridays Arts Walk, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on June 7.

VISIT NCWARTS.ORG FOR MORE EVENTS