SEPTEMBER 2023 ARTBEAT

ARTBE T

WENATCHEE FIRST FRIDAYS MAP INCLUDED

LOOKING BACK TO MOVE AHEAD ON THE UPBEAT GIDEON’S DAUGHTER: ‘SHUSH YOUR MOUTH!’

BY MEG KAPPLER NCW ARTS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Lastmonth, I waxed poetic about inhabiting the spaces in between action and accomplishment. This month, it feels right to look back and highlight some of that action to date. (I’m going to say action one more time to cue all you Comet readers to imagine a Ron Evans quip here about getting some action. You’re welcome).

Just as a reminder, NCW Arts Alliance has only been in existence as a fully-fledged nonprofit since March 2022, and we are closing in on the last quarter of our very first fiscal year. We are immensely grateful for our community partners (listed below) who have stepped up to share our vision and help get the job done. So, let’s review some data highlights and get all nerdy for a minute.

Over the past year, NCW Arts has accomplished the following:

ArtBeat monthly newsletter:

• Contracted with professional editors for

ON THE COVER:

Glamorous showgirls and showboys will joyfully transport audiences to the Moulin Rouge, a ’60s beatnik café and the glittering Champs-Élysées when A Night in Paris hits the Snowy Owl Theater stage. This Seattle-based classic French cabaret also offers bonus features for the would-

continued publication quality.

• Increased physical distribution sites by over 20 percent, regionally.

• Expanded newsletter from 4 to 8 pages, including a First Fridays map insert.

• Increased online readership of said newsletter since the expansion by over 50 percent.

Regional event and arts programming support:

• Partnered to re-invigorate and re-brand Wenatchee First Fridays.

• Increased new business participation in Wenatchee First Fridays by 15 percent since the launch of the website in July 2023.

• Provided key legislative district-level organizational efforts in support of arts funding in Olympia.

• Provided access to opportunities and funding sources for individual artists and arts organizations in NCW.

Organizational foundations:

• Expanded our working board of directors from 6 to 9 members.

• Received funding to hire a part-time executive director.

Key partners: The Comet Magazine, Visit Wenatchee, Wenatchee Downtown Association, P2X Design, Jill Carter Design, Inspire Washington, Mike Irwin, Susan Lagsdin.

Key funders: Icicle Fund, Chelan County, City of Wenatchee, Woods Family, Community Foundation of North Central Washington, ArtsWA.

be-chanteuse: a Heels Workshop in the afternoon and Intro to Showgirl, a movement class, just before the first show. Showtimes are 7:30 and 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, at the Snowy Owl Theater, Icicle Creek Center for the Arts, 7409 Icicle Road, Leavenworth. For more info and tickets (including VIP boxes “with a sip”) go to icicle.org

BY KRIS LAHD

Wenatchee Americana band, Gideon’s Daughter was started by two musical veterans who just so happen to be a doting husband and wife. Brad and Lisa Petit formed Gideon’s Daughter in 2012 with Brad on guitar, keyboard, vocals, and bass drum; Lisa on vocals, piccolo and percussion; and Eric Frank on bass guitar, vocals and snare drum. The band has grown this year with two recent additions: Phil Lacey on keyboard and vocals, and Patrick Oscarson on mandolin and banjo.

After spending the past few years getting their wedding venue, The Sunshine Ranch, and their live music venue, The Old Barn Drinkery, up and running, these two have finally found some time to play music again. Or, as the old saying goes, “Get the band back together.”

What’s the story behind your band’s name?

Lisa: There are two parts to it. We knew we didn’t want to play under our old name “Linus & Lucy” since it was completely new original music, so we did a web search.

Brad: On a “how to name your band” website. It was one of those things where you go to this website and pick out the third word here and do this and that and everything else, and it came up with “Gideon’s Daughter.”

Lisa: I liked the name because I love the story of Gideon in the Bible and his strength. I loved the feminine part of it and the story behind it.

You’ve deconstructed the standard drum kit and separated parts out amongst yourselves. How did this come about?

Lisa: We had a very hard time finding the right drummer back then.

Brad: Yeah, so I said to our bassist Eric Frank, “I’ve got a great idea. Why don’t we just play the drums? I’ll play the kick

and, since I’m evil, I’ll make our bass player play the snare [with his foot] and I’ll have Lisa play the cymbals.

Tell me a story about the two of you writing a song together.

Brad: Ha, we can have creative differences.

Lisa: We butt heads a lot when writing.

Brad: We have a song called “This Old Barn.” I wrote the music, and Lisa wrote the lyrics. Because I don’t like all the choruses to be the same, I added one chord in there which added one extra line [of lyrics] that Lisa had to come up with. She got mad at me for changing the song at the last minute.

Lisa: That’s not why I got mad at you. I got mad at you because you were being stubborn.

Brad: Well, you were trying to get me to drop the line and I wasn’t going to do it.

Lisa: Well … anyway, I walked out of the room and said, “Shush your mouth!” That’s the line, “Hey! Sit right here and shush your mouth.” [laughing]. That ended the argument, and we were both like “YES!” We got right in there and recorded it.

What artists are you inspired and/or influenced by?

Lisa: Cindy Lauper and Billy Martin Brad: Classical music mostly — Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, in that order. Dave Brubeck changed my life with his odd timings and jazz improv. Then I moved into Led Zeppelin and Metallica.

Name 5 artists or bands we all should be listening to.

Caamp, Billie Marten, Fink, John Butler Trio and Trampled by Turtles

Upcoming Shows

Oct. 20 at the Old Barn Drinkery, opening for Artemidorus and the Dark Side of Oz.

You can find music by Gideon’s Daughter on Spotify and Apple Music.

Gideon’s Daughter: Eric Frank, Lisa Petit, Brad Petit and Phil Lacey.

CASCADIA: A MORE-THAN-HUMAN EXPERIENCE

Wenatchee Valley College’s Music and Arts Center Gallery kicks off its 2023-24 season during the First Fridays Arts Walk with a powerful exhibition of art and writing taken from the new book Cascadia Field Guide: Art, Ecology, Poetry.

The show runs Sept. 1 to Oct. 27 at the MAC gallery. First Friday’s opening reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Sept. 1.

In print, Cascadia Field Guide is a nearly 400-page collection of art, poetry and stories — scientific, sensory and cultural — to celebrate and illuminate the vast landscape from the Pacific Coast to the Continental Divide. The bioregion is “home to 13 ecosystems and many hundreds of unique beings who dwell among its mountains, deserts, forests and waters,” according to the book’s flyleaf. Some local inhabitants include king salmon, Douglas fir, common raven, western rattlesnake, elk and banana slug.

“It’s a useful guide to understanding behavior, appearance and adaptation as well as an inspirational anthology,” touts the publisher, Mountaineers Books in Seattle.

The gallery show will highlight images and writing from the book, including woodblock prints, hand-cut paper silhouettes, scientific ink drawings and nature poetry.

The book was co-edited by WVC professor and prize-winning poet Derek Sheffield, who also co-curated the exhibition.

“After five years of work, we are incredibly grateful that Cascadia Field Guide seems to be having a cultural moment,” said Sheffield. Since its release in March, the book has consistently made the Pacific

Northwest Booksellers Association’s bestseller list, he added, and is already into its second printing.

“We are also hearing that it is being used as a text at colleges, universities and ecoeducation organizations throughout the region,” he said.

An excerpt from Derek Sheffield’s poem “How We Look,” included in Cascadia Field Guide.

HOW WE LOOK

Fur-fat and stock-still in the trail they appear to be looking into a mythic sky, posed for a feral portrait, or a wish to draw us closer before they turn and level a frontal marmot scrutiny. The way their noses aim askance says they’re not here. Or we are gone. Or we are here but they’re not sure.

Upright on boulders, they are ready to tumble at the shrill signal if we become, in a blink, by sneeze or shuffle, believable. Our pack-heavy shapes, gathered in their sky, look up to Shuksan: how distant and present it juts, how sharp a lookout, clarity we envy through tilted glass until from every nowhere the whiteout …

Copyright © 2020 by Derek Sheffield

QUIZ: R.U. ART SMART?

(What are these art venues? See answers on page 8)

1. What winter sport venue is a great spot for hiking and biking as well as the home stage for Leavenworth Summer Theater‘s annual open-air production of The Sound of Music?

2. Since its opening in 2007, this Wenatchee Avenue coffee spot has provided a stage for writers and musicians and regularly exhibits work by visual artists.

3. With a pavilion built on the water, this downtown Chelan park has a grassy am-

phitheater for enjoying music of all kinds during the summer months.

4. This Wenatchee art gallery was aptly named to acknowledge the two significant local waterways that most people in the region cross over or recreate on.

5. The original Chelan PUD headquarters is just across the big parking lot from this building housing Music Theater of Wenatchee, a community theater with a year-round calendar.

6. Classical musicians and their audiences appreciate the acoustics of this intimate Icicle Creek Center for the Arts venue. A bonus is a close-up view of mountains behind the stage.

“Eastern Rivers Mandala,” by Justin Gibbens “Mountain Beaver,” by Sarah Van Sanden

“Headwaters,” by Claire Emery

SEPTEMBER 2023

ARTS WALK

Cyndi Noyd, Niki Stewart, Jane Zanol, group show. Location of this month’s First Fridays After Hours!

1. MAC Gallery 5–7 PM Cascadia: A More-Than-Human Experience, collaborative exhibition.

7. Watercore Cider 6–8 PM Kaid Gatens, electric guitar. $2 off cider flight. $1 off draft..

2. The Wells House 5–7 PM Back to School: Tours of the historic Wells House, featuring the Clark & Wells antique desk.

8. Tumbleweed 4-7 PM Brenda McGowan, jewelry.

9. Ground Control 4–11 PM Cameron Hein, photographer.

3. LynnArt Gardens 3–7 PM Hillbilly, junk metal art. Complimentary fish & chips.

10. Ye Olde Bookshoppe 4–6 PM Strange & Whimsical, Kennedy Clark, mixed media.

11. Pybus Art Alley 5–8 PM Big Wonder: Exploration and Introspection, Kmbris Bond, painter. Live music until 8pm..

4. Visit Wenatchee Visitor Center & Tasting Room 5–7 PM Mystic North, handcrafted jewelry. Arts Walk starts here at 5 pm. First 25 people to stop by will receive a La Vie En gift card.

12. Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center 4–8 PM Free admission: Apple Industry exhibit. Jazz Jam Quintet, live music.

5. Two Rivers Art Gallery 5–8 PM Jan Theriault, painter. Music by Pat Thompson & Glenn Isaacson.

6. Lemolo Café 11 AM-9 PM From our Studios, Sue Edick, Nena Howell, Claudia Mullek,

EAT & DRINK

11 AM-9 PM $3.99 chef special Honado Roll. One order per person. Dine in only when you mention First Friday.

6. Steam Panda

7. Iwa Sushi 11:30 AM-9:30 PM $3 coupon for all signature cocktails. One coupon per customer. First drinks only.

8. Epoch 3-9 PM $2 off all house cocktails

9. Norwood Wine Bar 5-7 PM

1. Horan Estates Winery

5-7 PM $2 off glass pours

2. Crayelle Cellars 5-7 PM $2 off glass pours

3. Atlas Fare 4:30-7 PM Meet Armour Wines winemaker and enjoy samples of their Viognier and Gamay Noir.

4. Stones Gastropub 3-9 PM $10 specialty cocktails

PYBUS MARKET

FULL CIRCLE PREMIERES CAEMMERER’S NEW PLAY

BY MEG KAPPLER

Something special this way comes. It’s a project that’s been brewing for several years and now culminates this month with the premiere of “Angel on a 50th Birthday,” a new play by Leavenworth playwright and artist Michael Caemmerer. Its origins are personal and touching, so read on as the stage is set for what you can expect.

In October 2021, Caemmerer reached out to Full Circle Theatre Company to see if they would help workshop a play he had written, which is a crucial step in the development of a new work. At that point, the script had already undergone several revisions during his residency at The Hundredth Hill artist retreat in Bloomington, Indiana, but Caemmerer wanted to see what an audience response would be to a staged reading of the show.

In early 2022, Full Circle worked with Collapse Gallery and the Grünewald Guild to produce these readings, and then, with direct input from the audiences and the cast, Caemmerer polished it and declared it ready to go.

When asked how a playwright knows a show is ready for the stage, Caemmerer said, “Well, I rely on friends and colleagues. I hope that there is enough in it to take it through the process of staged reading and more editing. And if it resonates with the actors and with a small audience, then I think it’s worth a shot.”

Icicle Creek Center for the Arts agreed to partner on the production and offered the Snowy Owl Theater as a venue, which

couldn’t be a better fit for Caemmerer, whose family are longtime residents of Plain and the Upper Valley. So, what’s it about? “I write mostly in what I call ‘memoirical fiction,’” said Caemmerer. “This story is based on real life personal events and yet it is entirely made up, much like a lot of memories. My dad was a master painter. His paintings hang in collections around the world, and they are also all over my house. He brought me a painting that he did especially for my 50th birthday. When he unveiled it, I was staring at the worst painting he had ever done. It was terrible. So, I stashed it in an extra bedroom. Then in a storage loft. Finally, my wife and I were faced with the dilemma: what to do with a work of art that we didn’t want but couldn’t get rid of?”

There is another element to this story, which resonated deeply with audiences and cast alike during the readings. “My dad was in the midst of dementia when he gave me the painting in question,” said Caemmerer. “He didn’t think he was giving me a bad painting, and it’s only my arrogance to declare it so. He left it up to me, and at the very least it spawned this play.”

“Angel on a 50th Birthday” captivates those who enjoy experiencing family dynamics unfolding on stage and grappling with concepts like, “Who gets to determine the value of art?” and “What happens when art enters the commercial realm?” The absorbing and often very funny journey of this painting, from father to son, from storage loft to art world, and

back again, is something you won’t want to miss.

“Angel on a 50th Birthday” runs Sept. 28 through Oct. 1 at the Snowy Owl Theater at Icicle Creek Center for the Arts,

7409 Icicle Road, Leavenworth. Showtimes are 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. For tickets, go to icicle.org. There will be a talkback with the playwright and cast on opening night directly after the show.

Michael Caemmerer

“Angel on a 50th Birthday” in a staged reading.

TOP LATIN PERFORMERS

TO JOIN WITH WENATCHEE SYMPHONY IN WVC FUNDRAISER

Big names, big sounds, and big goals all come together on one glittering night of music at the Numerica Performing Arts Center in Encanto Concierto for WVC, a major fundraiser long in the planning.

Soprano Marianne Natali Silva Mendoza and guest conductor Miguel Angel Alatorre from the Colima Symphony in Colima, Mexico; the Mid-Columbia Mastersingers Choir from Pasco; and Nikolas Caoile and the Wenatchee Symphony will perform a mesmerizing mix of opera, mariachi, classical piano and romantic Mexican boleros.

And even the emcees are notables: State Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven Gonzalez and Wenatchee School Board President Maria Iniguez. They will all join with Seattle Opera tenor Jose Iniguez. The ultimate goal of the performance is to provide scholarship aid for Wenatchee Valley College students.

Raised with 10 siblings in a migrant orcharding family in Mattawa, Iniguez has sung and worked his way to become a celebrated figure in the music world. His “pay it forward” mentality led him to found Seattle-based Encanto Arts. That group, which grew from Iniguez’s twin loves of opera and bolero, gives young people an opportunity to collaborate and perform with professional musicians. Iniguez’s talent ranges far beyond the vocal range and power of his singing voice. He has been recognized through numerous prestigious awards, and starting

in 2013, Iniguez’s benefit concerts around the state have provided scholarship endowments for Latino/a students at Eastern Washington University, Central Washington University, and Columbia Basin College in Pasco. And although he has been a guest of the Wenatchee Symphony in the past, this year for the first time his Encanto Concierto is focused on generating funds for WVC students.

The goal of the evening’s performance is clear, according to Wenatchee College Foundation Executive Director Rachel Evey: raise $35,000 for a scholarship endowment that will help support WVC students in perpetuity. Last year the Foundation raised over $1 million dollars for the college, $645,000 of it earmarked for direct student scholarships, which are believed to help college students most effectively by breaking down the barriers of tuition, transportation or childcare costs.

“The concert is a first-time partnership between Wenatchee Valley College Foundation, Encanto Arts, the Wenatchee Valley Symphony Orchestra and the Mid-Columbia Mastersingers,” said Evey, “and it’s been a long time coming. I first met with Jose Iniguez in early 2020, and for obvious reasons (COVID-19) we delayed the planning. We’re eager to finally bring it to the PAC.”

Encanto Concierto for WVC is at the Numerica Performing Arts Center 7 p.m. Sept. 23 in Wenatchee. Tickets are available online at numericapac.org.

ENTERTAINMENT

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS ON STAGE

12-4PM SATURDAYS

AUGUST 5-26

“JUICY TOKUL”

A MULTIMEDIA GROUP EXHIBITION FROM MEMBERS OF SOIL, AN ARTIST-RUN COLLECTIVE BASED IN SEATTLE.

SEPTEMBER 2-30

“BARNSTORM”

AN INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION JURIED BY JOANNA GARNER, SENIOR STORY CREATIVE DIRECTOR AT MEOW WOLF.

AUGUST 5

12-2PM • THE WAVESONS THOUGHTFUL ALTERNATIVE ROCK

2-4PM • OBO MARTIN PSYCHEDELIC FOLK SONGS, STORYTELLING AND COMEDY

AUGUST 12

2-4PM • KILLDEER STRING BAND CELTIC, GYPSY, BLUEGRASS

AUGUST 19

2-4PM • JAN JAFFE’S STRUM-ALONG

AUGUST 26

4-6 PM • DJ BANSHEE

6-8PM • THE LOW HUMS

PSYCHEDELIC ROCK AND ROLL

SEPTEMBER 2

2-4PM • THE APPLE VALLEY WRANGLERS WESTERN SWING

SEPTEMBER 9

2-4PM • SAINT SEPTEMBER ACOUSTIC ROOTS, STRINGS AND HARMONIES

SEPTEMBER 16

2-4PM • BITTERBRUSH

CLASSIC RAWK AND ROWL

WWW.PUNCHPROJECTS.ORG

10630 N. THORP HWY

PUNCHGALLERY

OPPORTUNITIES:

DOUBLE DUTY AUDITION

Find out how good you can be! Music Theater of Wenatchee is gearing up for its winter stage productions. Open to anyone in the region, with an added promise of no pre-casting, this two-night tryout is how they’ll find a dozen adult actors (six

TRY IT OUT HERE

Poetry or prose, first or final draft, give it a read in the convivial company of local writers at “Four Minutes of Fame.” It’s free and open to the public. The Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center and Write On The River co-host the autumn open mic, with beverages and

men, five women, plus one of any gender) for the Christmas 2023 production of “A Twisted Christmas Carol” and the January 2024 play, “The Inspector Calls.”

Auditions are Sept. 13 and 14. Details will be available online soon at mtow.org.

SEPTEMBER 23

2-4PM • RILEY & NICOLE

POPULAR FEEL-GOOD, WITH A TWIST

SEPTEMBER 30

4-6 PM • DJ BANSHEE

6-8PM • SETH GARRIDO

OUTLAW SOUL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY KITTITAS COUNTY LODGING TAX FUNDS

snacks available, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 27, at WVMCC, 127 South Mission Street, Wenatchee. Sign up for limited reading slots and/or Zoom access by Sept. 25 at wenatcheevalleymuseum.org

GRANTS FOR LOCAL ARTS GROUPS

Established in 2011, the Woods Family Music and Arts Fund helps support the mission of NCW regional arts and culture groups with annual grants. Special considerations grantors that will look for in 2024 are providing access to arts and culture for youth, reaching out to underrepresented

audiences and celebrating our region’s diverse cultural heritage.

Schools, arts organizations and other eligible nonprofit groups may apply for up to $5,000 by Sept. 30. Go to cfncw.org for details and an application form.

FOR WOMEN WRITERS

If you can envision yourself on Whidbey Island next summer, intensely immersed in your personal writing project, look into Hedgebrook’s Writer-in-Residency program. Since 1988, selected women writers from around the world (scriptwriters, poets, authors and essayists) have enjoyed,

for free, not just work time but handcrafted private cottages, secluded nature walks, gourmet meals and evening socializing. Apply by Sept. 11 for the 2024 July October sessions. Details at hedgebrook.org/writers-in-residence.

1. Leavenworth Ski Hill 2. Cafe Mela 3. Riverwalk Park 4. Two Rivers Art Gallery

5. Riverside Playhouse 6. Canyon Wren Recital Hall