Out and about: Celebrate Juneteenth, pause to take in art or enjoy live music

Juneteenth jubilees

Local celebrations of Juneteenth offer food and fun along with the opportunity to honor the deep historical significance of the end of legal slavery in the United States. Seattle duo The Black Tones, who have opened for Death Cab for Cutie and Mavis Staples and wowed the crowd at Love Oly Fest in 2021, will perform Sunday, June 19, at Olympia’s second annual Juneteenth Celebration, produced by the Women of Color in Leadership Movement and Media Island International in collaboration with the city. Also featured at the festival: Shady B, Awodi Drumming, Olympia Poet Laureate Ashly McBunch and Seattle’s Buffalo Soldiers, a group that celebrates the Black soldiers who served during the settling of the West. The free event happens from 1 to 5 p.m. at Rebecca Howard Park, 311 Ninth Ave. SE, Olympia. In Lacey, a barbecue is the centerpiece of the Fred U. Harris Masonic Lodge’s 41st annual Juneteenth Celebration. The celebration, held in partnership with the cities of Lacey and Tumwater, happens from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 18, at the Regional Athletic Complex, 8345 Steilacoom Road SE.

‘A Place to Pause’

The losses and stresses of the pandemic inspired Olympia artist Kathy Gore-Fuss to transform everyday spaces into flower-bedecked places that invite reflection and contemplation. Now, Gore-Fuss has built one of her places out of time in an art gallery. “A Place to Pause,” which combines masses of flowers with seating, a journal and a poem by Olympia Poet Laureate Ashly McBunch, opens Friday, June 17, at Childhood’s End Gallery, 222 Fourth Ave. W., Olympia. The installation, constructed with help from other local artists, is part of a show called “Bloom,” on view through July 31.

Kick back with jazz or show tunes

Jazzed about jazz? Seattle scat-singing star Greta Matassa returns to Olympia on Friday, June 17. Matassa, who’s been named Earshot’s best jazz vocalist in the Northwest many times, will perform as part of a quintet at 7 p.m. at New Traditions Fair Trade Café, 300 Fifth Ave. SW, Olympia. Tickets are $18-$25, and reservations are a must for those who’d like to dine while they listen. Call 360-705-2819. If show tunes are more your style, head for Port Plaza, where the Olympia Musical Theatre Singers — founded by Troy Arnold Fisher — will be covering songs from such classics as “My Fair Lady” and “Camelot” as part of “I Could Have Danced All Night: A Celebration of the Music of Lerner & Loewe,” happening at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 18, at the plaza, 701 Columbia St. NW, Olympia. There’s a second performance at 7 p.m. Sunday, June 26, at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1925 Boulevard Road SE, Olympia. The concerts are free with donations gratefully accepted.

Freelance writer Molly Gilmore talks about what’s happening in Olympia and beyond with 95.3 KGY-FM’s Michael Stein from 3 to 4 p.m. Fridays.

This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 5:00 AM.