Arts
The Arts

PNW artists’ work evokes salmon to educate, inspire change
Northwest artists have drawn inspiration from salmon as long as people have walked along the running streams. But, the movement to close four dams on the lower Snake River has some artists, activists and naturalists hopeful that their pieces will not only tug at heartstrings, but also move forward the conversation of salmon conservation and restoration.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee recently signed budget bills to study removal of the four dams. Activists have been calling for the dam removals in order to preserve and restore salmon populations.
Continue Reading PNW artists’ work evokes salmon to educate, inspire change

Tacoma ‘craftivist’ featured in documentary on ‘health care for all’ movement
A new documentary, Healing US, premieres in Tacoma at the Grand Cinema on May 19. The documentary tells the story of the national movement for Medicare for All, where folks are advocating for an universal healthcare system. One of the key players in that story is Laura Fielding, founder of the Red Berets for Medicare for All coalition in Tacoma.
Continue Reading Tacoma ‘craftivist’ featured in documentary on ‘health care for all’ movement

Badger Mountain Challenge: A unique running community, a changing landscape
Badger Mountain Challenge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQTyTxkMOS0&list=PL6pHcbVJ2q0GlWFInFMhze7AALPhxA-zs&index=42The annual Badger Mountain Challenge brings together an extraordinary community of people who celebrate running and support each other on this unique, treasured and threatened ultramarathon course… Continue Reading Badger Mountain Challenge: A unique running community, a changing landscape

Pacific Northwest poet revisits social injustices
Five years since it was first published, Maps, a collection of poems by Tacoma writer Christina Vega, is still relevant today as a response to social injustice, they said.
“I’m asking readers to return to the work,” Vega said. “Let’s look at it again, these issues are still here.”
Continue Reading Pacific Northwest poet revisits social injustices

The Results Are In! Classical Countdown Spring 2023 Playlist
You voted for your favorite classical works. See how they are ranked in the countdown. Continue Reading The Results Are In! Classical Countdown Spring 2023 Playlist

Joseph Bologne Gets His Due: “Chevalier” Creators Introduce A Compelling Character
For those with just a casual interest in classical music, the name Joseph Bologne might draw a blank. However, a new movie dramatizes the fascinating life of this multi-talented, eighteenth-century figure. Continue Reading Joseph Bologne Gets His Due: “Chevalier” Creators Introduce A Compelling Character

Arianne True named new Poet Laureate of Washington
April is National Poetry Month and today/Wednesday, the Washington State Arts Commission announced that Arianne True will serve as the state’s new poet laureate beginning in May. Lauren Gallup spoke with the Tacoma-based writer and educator. Continue Reading Arianne True named new Poet Laureate of Washington

Vote For Your Favorite Music In NWPB’s Classical Countdown
What is your favorite symphonic movie score? Your favorite aria or overture? Whether it’s a well-known composition by Bach or Beethoven, or a hidden gem by a lesser-known composer, NWPB wants to know what pieces resonate with you. Continue Reading Vote For Your Favorite Music In NWPB’s Classical Countdown

Tacoma Method Opera tells history from a new perspective
That history tends to repeat itself, especially when people don’t learn lessons from the past, is the guiding sentiment for Teresa Pan-Hosley in her work as the president of the Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation. This organization is solely dedicated to reconciling the dark history of the Chinese expulsion from Tacoma in 1885. Continue Reading Tacoma Method Opera tells history from a new perspective

‘The Farewell Tour’ brings readers back in time to Tacoma’s honky-tonk history
While the West Coast is known for grunge and surf rock, Stephanie Clifford’s latest novel, a piece of historical fiction, reminds readers of the roots country music has here, especially Tacoma.
Tacoma, a burgeoning port city on Commencement Bay in the 1940s and 50s, plays a central role in The Farewell Tour. The book is an American West tale of coming home, with a few forks in the road, that takes readers back in time over the protagonist’s life as she makes her way as a musician on the West Coast. Continue Reading ‘The Farewell Tour’ brings readers back in time to Tacoma’s honky-tonk history

Women’s History Music Moment: Bach’s Daughters
You’ve heard so much about the sons of Johann Sebastian Bach, but there were daughters, too.
Bach was 23, and his wife Maria Barbara was 24, when the first of their children was born. They named her Catherina Dorothea. CD grew into a singer, and helped out in her father’s music work. Fifteen years passed, her mother died, her father remarried, and finally, CD Bach acquired a sister: Cristina Sophia Henrietta, daughter of Johann Sebastian and Anna Magdalena Bach. CSH died at the age of three, just as another sister, Elizabeth Juliana Frederica, was born. EJF Bach would grow up to marry one of her father’s students. Continue Reading Women’s History Music Moment: Bach’s Daughters

Camille Patha trades bright, bold colors for dark, evocative journey into black
Two days before Camille Patha’s exhibit, “Passion Pleasure Power,” opened at the Tacoma Art Museum, the artist walked around the gallery, a space filled with some of her new works from the past three years. Continue Reading Camille Patha trades bright, bold colors for dark, evocative journey into black