Arts Walk and Procession of the Species are off, but ‘Arts Watch’ and other fun go on

This weekend was to be Olympia’s big spring celebration, the time when Arts Walk and Procession of the Species draw thousands of locals downtown.

It’s all been called off, of course, as part of efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, but the spirit of the twin events hasn’t been extinguished.

The weekend brings several opportunities to celebrate artists, make art and even watch a procession. (OK, it will be a rerun of last year’s procession, but at least you won’t have to worry about whether it’s going to rain.)

So fix a few street-food-style snacks, pull out the chalk so the kids can decorate the sidewalk, maybe even put on a costume and get ready to celebrate Olympia’s do-it-yourself spirit.

‘Arts Watch’

• 5:30 p.m. Friday, 8 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday on Thurston Community Media broadcast channels and at http://www.tcmedia.org

Thurston Community Media’s “Arts Watch,” debuting Friday night, will showcase Chris Maynard, Nikki McClure, Debra Van Tuinen, Ayda Rose, and other artists and musicians who were to participate in Arts Walk.

“I know how vibrant and exciting the downtown is during the Arts Walk weekend,” said Deborah Vinsel, TCMedia’s CEO. “There’s a lot of energy. It’s a wonderful community event. … We wanted to provide our community with at least a flavor of what Arts Walk would have been.”

The program, which will run throughout the month and be available on demand, will include images of visual art, studio tours and musical performances by Waking Bear and PC&J.

Childhood’s End Gallery has taken the Arts Watch idea one step further, installing a window exhibition of feather shadowboxes by Maynard, papercuts by McClure and oil paintings by Carla Paine.

Gallery owner Richenda Richardson wanted to put the original art on view in addition to showcasing it through photographs on the gallery’s website and as part of “Arts Watch.”

“With the understandable cancellations of arts events, virtual exhibitions are an important way to continue to showcase new work,” said gallery director Jonathan Happ. “However, nothing compares to seeing the physical materials and the traces left by the hands of the artists who made them — some of which will never come across in photographs.”

The window exhibition in the gallery at 222 Fourth Ave. W., Olympia, will be lit day and night, Happ told The Olympian. It will be on view through the end of May.

“It is important to show people that art has not gone away during the pandemic and that Olympia’s cultural identity is still present,” he said.

East Side Arts Walk

• 2-11:30 p.m. Saturday on Olympia’s east side, with maps to be posted in the neighborhood and on the Facebook event page

Ruth Kodish-Eskind of Olympia is organizing the neighborhood-based walk, inviting neighbors to share their talents while staying at home.

At least 10 homes in the area around Roosevelt Elementary School, 1417 San Francisco Ave NE, Olympia, are participating, she told The Olympian.

“There will be singer-songwriters, aerialists and top-notch kid dancers,” she said.

Procession of the Species 2019

• 7 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday on Thurston Community Media broadcast channels and at http://www.tcmedia.org

In addition to showing “Arts Watch,” Thurston Community Media will air reruns of last year’s Procession of the Species, which featured several of puppeteer Jerry Berebitsky’s large-scale creations along with penguins, wild cats, sea creatures and plenty of frogs.

The Chrysalis Project

• 10-11:30 a.m. Saturday online, with registration needed through Eventbrite

Artist Carrie Ziegler, whose creations are frequently seen during Arts Walk and in the Procession of the Species, will lead a workshop focused on taking action on climate change, including making art and writing letters.

The workshop, offered in conjunction with the Thurston Climate Action Team, will use the life cycle of a butterfly as a metaphor for humanity’s present and future, Ziegler told The Olympian.

It is aimed at adults and youths ages 12 and older, though younger children are welcome to participate.

Poetry Anyway

• 3-4:30 p.m. Saturday online; to register, email Sady Sparks at poetlaureate@ci.olympia.wa.us no later than noon Saturday.

Olympia Poet Laureate Sady Sparks, who has offered interactive poetry activities at past Arts Walks, is hosting an online reading and poetry workshop suitable for all ages.

“A lot of poets are alone writing,” Sparks told The Olympian last year, when she began her term as laureate. “The power of poetry comes when we engage other people with this craft.”

This story was originally published April 23, 2020 at 5:45 AM.