We are stressed because we're WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic). And we have inherited and are passing that stress to the next generation. Learn how indigenous cultures handle life in ways that we can adapt to meet our modern needs. Betty Peralta will introduce you to a neuroscientific way of seeing stress and […]
Kerry James Marshall (born 1955), one of the finest painters working anywhere, turns the sites of Black American experience – the barber shop, the diner, the projects – into settings for figure paintings that combine art historical savvy with the urgency of breaking news. Wednesday, February 15 at 11:30am $20 General Admission $18 VCA Members […]
Vashon Repertory Theatre’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s musical version of an old English terror tale will showcase some of the Island’s best singing voices with Stephanie Murray in the late Angela Lansbury’s famed role as Mrs. Lovett, Miles Wingett as Perelli, Max Lopuszynski as Beadle, Arlette Moody as Lucy, and Brad Thomas as the demon […]
Early in the morning of May 15, 1970, members of the Jackson, Mississippi police and the Mississippi Highway and Safety Patrol—all white—opened fire on unarmed students at the historically-Black Jackson State College. Two young people were killed and at least twelve wounded. Though the shooting took place just a little over a week after the […]
Vashon Maury Chamber Orchestra returns to Kay White Hall for a matinée performance featuring island musicians and student soloists--as well as guest performers--in a program that will both surprise and delight audiences of all ages. The orchestra will be led by director, Danielle McCutcheon. A long-time soloist and guest performer with VMCO, Danielle takes the […]
Ladysmith Black Mambazo was assembled in the early 1960s in South Africa by Joseph Shabalala, then a young farmboy turned factory worker. The group took the name Ladysmith Black Mambazo: Ladysmith, the name of Joseph’s hometown, about three hours west of Durban and 3 hours east of Johannesburg; Black being a reference to the oxen, the […]
Everyday now we experience or can read about symptoms of climate change. The Holocene, which is the name for the stable climate of the last ~12,000 years, is reaching its end after 300 years of fossil fuel economics. We are entering a new and unprecedented geologic era. Environmental data holds histories of climate change. This […]
Join us for our annual weekend of student, professional, and community choreography performed at Vashon Center for the Arts’ Kay White Hall at 7 p.m. Friday, March 17, and Saturday, March 18 and 1pm on March 18. Launched over a decade ago by longtime faculty member Vanesa Wylie and former Dance Director Christine Juarez, Original […]
Alice Neel (1900-1984) painted portraits that are as radical in their own way as the drips of Jackson Pollock. Living and working in Spanish Harlem, she made bold and memorable renditions of the vivid characters she encountered in her search to capture what she called “the dignity and eternal importance of the human being.” Introductions […]
Concert Pianist Asiya Korepanova returns to Vashon Center for the Arts on March 25th to celebrate Sergey Rachmaninoff’s 150th anniversary. "Asiya Korepanova could caress as well as storm and she accomplished both… putting an exclamation point on a night of high-powered pianism.” - South Florida Classical Review Saturday, March 25 at 7:30pm $50 Premium $40 Reserved $37 Member Youth […]
Gray McKenna is a marine scientist, diver, artist, educator who fell in love with the Salish Sea while working aboard tallships in these waters. As the Kelp Program Specialist at Puget Sound Restoration Fund, a local nonprofit, they work on kelp forest conservation and restoration projects. Gray will introduce the wonderful world of kelp and […]
A multimedia artist of Choctaw and Cherokee descent, Gibson combines traditional Native American artistic elements with abstraction and pop culture references to create unique works that are both witty and powerful. From bold geometric paintings on rawhide to beaded punching bags, Gibson's artworks seek to create a place for his identity as both Native and […]
Ever since Eve offered Adam the apple, the femme fatale has taken the Fall in a lot of art. This includes the shadowy Hollywood style we now call "film noir," where vixens such as Barbara Stanwyck (Double Indemnity), Rita Hayworth (Gilda), and Joan Bennett (Scarlet Street) caused havoc. Let's defend these enormously entertaining noir women—they […]
MOCKERY, MAYHEM, MISINFORMATION, MURDER. OR AS WE LIKE TO CALL IT, ANOTHER NIGHT AT THE PALAZZO. With Rigoletto, Giuseppe Verdi weaves a richly illuminated tapestry around traditional themes of vanity, pride, avarice, spiritual corruption and festering recrimination. In this cautionary tale, compromised morals are the order of the day. It’s hard to predict where fate’s fickle […]
Knute “Skip” Berger is Editor-at-Large and an award-winning columnist for Crosscut.com and host of the Emmy-nominated KCTS9-TV series of Northwest history shorts, “Mossback’s Northwest.” He is the author of two books: “Pugetopolis” and “Space Needle, Spirit of Seattle”, and was previously Editor-in-Chief of Seattle Weekly. Knute will share some highlights of a few of the […]
Speaker and acclaimed UW educator Dr. Anu Taranath explores the role of the hair in our cultures. Anu poses the question, “Why is one kind of hairstyle understood as “better” than another?” Her thoughtful discussion encourages us to go deeper, to take a surprising look at beauty, bias, belonging and examine the cultural and racial […]
Aristocrat, musician and artist, Rory McEwen (1932-1982) played a major role in the British folk revival movement in his 20s. Then he dedicated his efforts to becoming a preeminent botanical painter, crafting exquisite flowers, leaves and vegetables in watercolor on vellum. He was also a minimalist sculptor, but he considered his botanical work just as […]
Bushido—the way of the warrior—is the code of ethics practiced by the samurai warriors of ancient Japan, a code which includes courage, integrity, benevolence, respect, honesty, honor, and loyalty. Through her own story of using Bushido to overcome a traumatic brain injury, Lori Tsugawa Whaley shows how the code can help people find hope, resilience, […]
