May 17 Sunday
The Leavenworth Spring Bird Fest, put on by the Wenatchee River Institute and North Central Washington Audubon Society, occurs every 3rd weekend in May. The annual Leavenworth Spring Bird Fest promotes conservation through educational and recreational activities about birds, wildlife, and their environments.
Come bird with us, discovering the natural beauty and wonders of North Central Washington! Celebrate the return of migratory birds in the midst of peak wildflower season. Enjoy the excitement of birding field trips and workshops. Take part in speaker events, music, visual arts, picnics, and activities for all ages and abilities.
Registration for all trips and events opens Wednesday, March 25th.
Experience the beauty of North Central Washington at the 24th annual Leavenworth Spring Bird Fest from May 14–17, 2026. This year’s festival features over 30 expert-led field trips tailored for all skill levels—from canyon hikes to riparian walks—alongside a fascinating keynote presentation by raptor ecologist Dr. Neil Paprocki on the GPS-tracked movements of Red-tailed and Rough-legged Hawks. Attendees can explore the nature-inspired work of Spotlight Artist Carleen Ormbrek Zimmerman at the River Haus gallery, join the vibrant Community Fair on Saturday for live music and hands-on activities, and wrap up the day with the festive Birders’ BBQ on the Wenatchee River Institute lawn. Whether you're a seasoned birder or a curious newcomer, Bird Fest offers a unique opportunity to celebrate wildlife, conservation, and the peak of wildflower season in the heart of the Cascades.
Artistic Partner Mei-Ann Chen joins us for this fantastical East meets West program. Following Che-Yi Lee’s dynamic and virtuosic Dancing Strings, violinist Melissa White brings us the beloved Butterfly Lovers’ Concerto, a tale of love, longing and transformation. Ravel’s Mother Goose closes our season, with magical spinning wheels, pagodas, princesses and enchanted gardens. This program includes a mini Taiwan Festival with food and activities provided by Asia Pacific Cultural Center.
March 31, 2026 – June 27, 2026Tuesday through Saturdays from 10am to 4pm, CLOSED Sunday, Monday
Light is ethereal; it opens and spreads. It radiates and fills spaces. It illuminates both the beautiful and tragic as well as the mundane, bringing the contents of our lives into sharper focus. In a traditional sense, light is also ephemeral—it is with us, and it wanes; humankind has celebrated its existence and return throughout the ages.
We measure time through movement of light: the arc of the sun, the length of a shadow, the fading of day into night. Light does not simply mark time; it carries it. In physics, light is also a record of the past. Starlight reaches us years or millennia after it was emitted, turning observation into an act of looking backward. Light, in this sense, is time made perceptible.
"Longer Light: Selections from the Collection" offers a wide-ranging exploration of how artists represented in the museum’s holdings have engaged with this universal and compelling relationship. For many, their creations preserve fleeting moments amid constant change; for others, the emphasis lies not on fixed appearances but on shifting conditions and perceptions. Still others approach light itself as a quasi-transcendent or spiritual force, evoking a sense of timelessness that can serve as a reassurance or reminder in the face of impermanence.
While the presentation will span a variety of genres and media approaches, Longer Light will give special emphasis to the museum’s growing photography collection, where the use of available light is fundamental to lens-based practices.
LOCATION | The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU is located in the Crimson Cube (on Wilson Road across from Martin Stadium and the CUB) on the WSU Pullman campus.
IMAGE: Paul Strand, Wall Street, 1915
Master of Fine Arts: Thesis ExhibitionMarch 31, 2026 – June 27, 2026Tuesday through Saturdays from 10am to 4pm, CLOSED Sunday, Monday
The annual "MFA Thesis Exhibition" is the culmination of three or more years work by the Master of Fine Arts graduate candidates. With its wide range of art-making approaches, it provides a stimulating experience for faculty, students, and museum visitors. This year’s MFA candidates are Keegan Baatz, S. Camille Comer, and Kahyun (Kate) Uhm.
Arriving from diverse locations, these student-artists immersed themselves in an intensive, interdisciplinary studio experience. Through regular group discussions and individual critiques with faculty, alongside sustained engagement with visiting artists and scholars, they received wide-ranging perspectives on their work. Over time, each artist strengthened their voice, refined their practice, and clarified their artistic direction. This MFA Thesis Exhibition represents both a culmination of focused study and a meaningful threshold as they step into their professional lives.
IMAGE | MFA candidates Keegan Baatz, S. Camille Comer, and Kahyun (Kate) Uhm.
Mimi Jung: An Unfinished Origin ExhibitionMarch 31, 2026 – June 27, 2026Tue-Sat, 10am-4pm, CLOSED Sun, Mon
"Mimi Jung: An Unfinished Origin" brings together recent sculptural works from this Helena, Montana-based artist. The loom has long served as the foundation of her methodical and often labor-intensive process, where the slow creation of each piece allows for deliberate shaping and assessment over time. Using unexpected and unconventional materials like paper and foam as wefts, a variety of non-traditional strings as warps, as well as woven pieces cast in metal, the artist’s work rewards close inspection, asking us to slow down and engage reflectively.
Central to her concerns are the gaps between what we believe we know and what remains unknown, creating space for wonder, contemplation, and connection. Correspondingly, her woven forms are intentionally ambiguous and in a state of change. Their structures invite multiple interpretations appearing near completion, undergoing deconstruction, or suspended between concealment and exposure. Jung relates this fluidity to one’s own sense of evolving self.
“The core component of my work has always been identity and self-preservation,” says the artist. “It’s about how our narratives constantly evolve to fit into a much larger cultural narrative in order to survive.”
LOCATION | The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU is located in the Crimson Cube (Wilson Road across from Martin Stadium/CUB) WSU Pullman campus.
IMAGE | Mimi Jung, Resonate With, 2023
Mimi Jung: An Unfinished Origin ExhibitionMarch 31, 2026 – June 27, 2026Tuesday through Saturdays from 10am to 4pm, CLOSED Sunday, Monday
"Dream Logic”
Group Fine Art and Craft Exhibition
Artists: Torrey Dasmann, Valency Genis, Gumaelius Family, Joelle Montez, Shannon Richardson
Dates: April 24 – June 7, 2026
Spring Arts Walk Artist Reception April 24 5-9pmArts Walk con't Saturday April 25 12-6
FREE
Childhood’s End Gallery222 4th Ave WOlympia WA 98501
Image on Poster:Shannon Richardson"Triumph of Inertia"Oil on canvas
May 18 Monday
