It’s a long one this week. Grab your coffee and buckle up for one of the most event-filled columns yet.

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Cascade Symphony Orchestra to present its annual Children’s Concert

Rising Star recipients Anya Anand and William Green

3 p.m, Saturday, Feb. 3, Edmonds Center for the Arts, 410 4th Avenue North, Edmonds

The Cascade Symphony Orchestra (CSO) will present its annual Children’s Concert. The show is suitable for kids of all ages but is created especially for youth ages 5-12, according to Ruth McFadden, president of the orchestra’s board of directors. This year’s event’s theme is Mother Goose.

The program will include a performance by the Cascade Percussion Ensemble, led by Ian Alvarez.

The orchestra, led by Music Director Michael Miropolsky, will present the Mother Goose Suite, written in 1908 by French composer Maurice Ravel, as a duet for two young piano students who were the children of friends of his. It tells the story of a real – or fictional – woman who entertained her grandchildren with rhymes.

The Cascade Symphony’s performance of Mother Goose Suite will be accompanied by a narration about the Mother Goose story by longtime Seattle radio personality Dave Dolacky.

“Our outstanding Percussion Ensemble has prepared a few exciting pieces,” Miropolsky said. “Then we will hear two amazing young players: violist Anya Anand and double bassist William Green – winners of our orchestra’s (2023-24) Rising Star Competition.”

Anand is 15 years old and a resident of Issaquah who has been playing viola for seven years. She has been a member of the Evergreen Philharmonic Honors Orchestra, as well as the Seattle Youth Symphony Junior Orchestra. Along with her classical viola studies, Anand enjoys playing and learning carnatic violin.

Green began playing the double bass at the age of 5, and by the age of 7 was the first double bass soloist at the Japan-Seattle Suzuki Summer Festival Music Camp. After moving to Mountlake Terrace in 2015, he began playing with the Cascade Youth Symphony Orchestra program. Green is currently the principal bass of the SYSO Junior Symphony.

Admission to the concert is $15 for adults and $5 for childre 12 and younger. The concert is open seating, so be sure to arrive early. Get tickets here.

The Edmonds-based Cascade Symphony Orchestra has been promoting young musicians and encouraging music education in the schools for many years, according to Holly Sullivan, longtime orchestra member and chair of its Rising Star program. The competition is for pianists and violinists 12 years of age and younger on the day of the concert, and musicians 15 and younger of other symphonic instruments.

Further information and updates about the Cascade Symphony Orchestra can be found online.

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Diamond Knot Brewing partners with the world’s largest graffiti art collection for a new hazy IPA series

Release party 3-6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, Diamond Knot Brewpub Brewpub @ MLT, 5602 232nd Street Southwest, Mountlake Terrace

Last summer, the APEX Art & Culture Center team reached out to Diamond Knot for a beer it could brand for their first annual Preserve the Kulture Jam event in Everett. DK’s Blonde Ale was canned and wrapped in graffiti art, produced by artist Miles. Named APE-Tastic Ale, the beer can art — although not fully embraced at canning — started the brewery sales team thinking about collaborating on can label design.

“Graffiti and urban art is popular today and we thought it would be a great idea to not only brand a new beer series, but also to learn more about the art form and its artists, while also benefiting the community,” said Todd Owsley, Diamond Knot’s sales manager. “Using urban art for design is a fresh idea, and so is the crafting of six new Hazy IPAs.”

Owsley approached APEX, specifically the Carswell family, about partnering on the six-beer Hazy IPA series. The Carswells have been curating original graffiti art on canvas for more than two decades and amassed the world’s largest collection.

The collection, known as The DogTown Collection, consists of historically relevant pieces of art painted by some of graffiti’s most renowned artists dating back to the 1970s. Created as a way to preserve this American art form, The DogTown Collection found its home in Everett in the APEX Art & Culture Center, founded by John Carswell.

In February, Diamond Knot is launching the first of six Hazy IPAs in The DogTown Collection Series. The first can is wrapped with art from Seattle graffiti artist Charms.

Diamond Knot is hosting a release party at the Brewpub @ MLT.  During the event, Charms will create an original canvas using only aerosol paint. The canvas will be auctioned through an online platform for the following five days and proceeds from the auction will benefit Mary’s Place in Seattle, an organization chosen by Charms.

The event is not only an opportunity to taste the new Hazy IPA but also a chance to meet Charms and the Carswells, and learn more about this often misunderstood art form.

“We are looking forward to this partnership with Diamond Knot,” said Baby G, curator for The DogTown Collection. “This is an opportunity to showcase artists and educate the public about graffiti and urban art. We didn’t see beer can labels as a marketing opportunity a year ago, so this project is exciting for us.”

Canvases from The DogTown Collection are on display in the American Graffiti & Urban Art Conservation Project (AMGRAF) museum, located inside the APEX Art & Culture Center in downtown Everett (1611 Everett Avenue). The exhibits are rotated twice each year and are currently available for viewing by appointment.

AMGRAF is still seeking funding to operate the museum with a full-time staff. The can art canvas painted by Charms will be on display at AMGRAF beginning in February. Art from the other five cans in the Series will also be on display throughout the year.

Prints of the can art are available online.

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Dazzling debuts from Olympic Ballet Theatre

Ria Adachi and Alberto Gaspar in a preview of Eva Stone’s “Keep Me in Mind” at the 2023 Autumn Auction & Dinner

7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17 and 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 18, Edmonds Center for the Arts, 410 4th Avenue North, Edmonds

If you attended OBT’s Autumn Auction & Dinner in November, you were lucky enough to see an excerpt preview of Eva Stone’s wildly entertaining new piece set to music by Peggy Lee. Keep Me in Mind premieres in the February production of Debuts, along with Luna by award-winning Juilliard alumnus and choreographer Norbert De La Cruz III (with music by Nathan Prillaman).

Tickets are on sale and range from $24-$45 (varies by age and seating location).

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Alumnus Kodi Sershon’s exhibition, Cut One’s Teeth, will be featured at the Edmonds College Art Gallery

Through Mar. 15, reception from 2:30-4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23, Lynnwood Hall, 20000 68th Avenue West, Lynnwood

The Edmonds College Art Gallery’s winter exhibition, Cut One’s Teeth, is an homage to Kodi Sershon’s journey as an artist and graphic designer from student to successful professional. The exhibition will be displayed at Lynnwood Hall until March 15.

Cut One’s Teeth is on display on the third floor. The gallery is open 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 8 a.m.-2 p.m. on Friday. A reception celebrating the exhibition will be held at the gallery 2:30-4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23. For more information, visit here.

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Vintage travel bars from the Happy Travelers

noon-7 p.m. Saturday, Mar. 9, Carnival of Cocktails Fisher Pavilion Center Ring, 305 Harrison Street, Seattle

Kim Parsley, who has been an active part of the Edmonds art scene with her encaustic artwork, has combined her passions for finding a new life for old things, elevating great design, and renewing the enjoyment of creating cocktails into her vintage travel bars, affectionately named The Happy Travelers.

Parsley will have a collection of vintage travel bars for sale at this year’s Carnival of Cocktails. This year, these vintage travel bars are the only non-food or non-liquid offering at the Carnival of Cocktails again.

Each Happy Traveler is set up based on a specific spirit-free or spirit-forward cocktail and includes all the bottles, bar tools, and glassware needed to create and enjoy that cocktail.

Parsley sources all vintage or second-hand items when possible unless she’s collaborating with her sisters to create glass stirrers or custom-designed bar towels. Second-hand items allow Parsley to bring renewed purpose to items that would otherwise sit on a shelf or in a landfill. A recipe and a bit of the history of these unique and vintage barware items accompany each travel bar.

The Portable Pubs or Trav-L-Bars were popular in the 1950s and ’60s as a way for men to carry liquor, possibly on a business trip or discreetly to a state still practicing prohibition. After collecting a few of these cases, Parsley became curious about what other cases would make suitable travel bars — camera bags, thermos carriers, train cases.

It was then that she discovered the wonderful wicker picnic baskets from England. If they were suitable for a picnic set-up for four, she could certainly curate these for cocktails as well. And so she did.

The Happy Travelers are an excellent way to bring your favorite cocktail to a party, on a boat, in a camper, or to that special house rental with friends. Many appreciate the vintage travel bars as a one-of-a-kind gift, tailored specifically to the recipient. To learn more about The Happy Travelers, click here.

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MTHS Performs at Hot Java Cool Jazz

7 p.m. Friday, March 29

Mountlake Terrace High School Jazz Ensemble 1 is making a return visit to the Paramount Theater stage, where the group will be performing at the annual Hot Java Cool Jazz event at 7 p.m. Friday, March 29. Boosters will soon have tickets available for purchase for $25 each.

In the past, when purchased through the boosters, a portion of the proceeds were donated to the school music program. This also allows guests to avoid additional fees assessed online. To estimate how many tickets to request, consider sharing your contact information at this link and spectators will be contacted once they are available. Payment options will be shared when the tickets arrive.

Come on out and support the students at this amazingly fun popular event … it sells out every year.

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Sketcher Fest Edmonds announces international lineup of travel sketchbook artists

July 19-21

A stellar roster of 19 artists will lead sketching activities in downtown Edmonds and present their sketchbooks at the Edmonds Waterfront Center during the second edition of Sketcher Fest. The art festival lineup includes renowned painters, professional illustrators, architects and urban sketchers from the Seattle area, California, Europe and South America.

Graphite Arts Center will be the hub for the activities July 19-20, when most of the invited artists will be teaching workshops and leading discussions about drawing techniques and other subjects.

The Edmonds Waterfront Center will host the event’s signature Sketchbook Fair and Art Market on Sunday, July 21.

“Sketcher Fest participants are in for a treat,” says Portuguese guest artist and drawing professor Mário Linhares, who serves as the event programming director. “This is a fantastic opportunity for everyone who loves art and travel to meet, greet and learn from some of the best travel sketchbook artists in the world.”

The schedule and programming will be announced in February. Tickets for the different workshops and activities will go on sale in March.

For more details and a list of guest artists, see the website here. To stay in the know on Sketcher Fest, sign up for the mailing list. 

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Just a reminder, the Edmonds Bookshop is alive and well

There have been some confused patrons who thought the bookstore was closing. Perhaps a mix-up between the Neverending Bookshop in Perrinville, which did unfortunately close, and the Edmonds Bookshop on Main. Hope this clarifies!

— By Elizabeth Murray

Elizabeth Murray is a freelance writer thankful to call Edmonds home. When she’s not busy wrangling her two kids (and husband), you can find her playing ukulele.