Meet our Artist

Join us for evening of Edgar Allen Poe, October 28th 7pm in the Atrium of the Civic Building.

Featuring Tim Hoban

Edgar Allan Poe: The Poet’s Journey

By Bryan Willis

The only thing more intriguing than Edgar Allan Poe’s work was his life. Spend an hour with the master poet, critic and renowned author as he tours and tries to woo subscribers for a new magazine he is desperately trying to get started, The Stylus. A publisher has promised to launch the magazine if Poe can guarantee 1000 readers. Set in an 1849 literary salon, Poe alternates from intimate conversations with his audience to lectures on the state of American literature and the philosophy of composition, to diatribes on his most hated contemporaries, Longfellow and Emerson. And, of course, recites from some of his well-known works. Little does Poe know but in a matter of months, he will be dead.

Tim Hoban transfixes the audience as Edgar Allan Poe, pacing the aisles and reciting from his works. Tim has been performing Poe around the Pacific Northwest for the past year. Tim has performed Poe at schools, and has also toured several other shows in the Puget Sound area. He has been a member of a number of improv groups as well as a sketch comedy group, and can be seen on local television on The Spud Goodman Show. He has numerous industrial videos to his credit and has appeared in a few independent films. But the stage is where he wants to be. He has credits from all the Tacoma theaters, plus Seattle to the north and Olympia to the south. He is very grateful to his family for their patience in his absence; to Bryan Willis for writing this Poe piece; to David Wright for directing it; and to Poe for leaving such a monumental body of work in such a short amount of time.

Edgar Allan Poe: The Poet’s Journey was written by Pacific Northwest playwright Bryan Willis, and premiered in 1998 in the small Northwest town of McCleary, Washington. Bryan is remembered for his critically acclaimed play Sophie, which premiered at the Festival Fringe in 2002. Sophie has since been performed at numerous Washington State locations, and was recently presented on BBC Radio this past spring, as well as in New York as a staged reading. Bryan has studied playwriting in London, New York, and Ohio. His work has been seen in Seattle, Chicago, New York, as well as in numerous locations around the Pacific Northwest.

Meet our Artist

Meet Stacy Annon and Sally Favors, artist who will be showing their work at our Fall Concert series on Nov. 18, 2011 in the Civic Building Atrium.

Artist Stacy Annon:


Artist Statement: I am Stacy Annon who happens to be a gourd artist (self taught) living in University Place. My interest in art began with a camera, gravitated to watercolors until I read about gourds while visiting my mother-in-law. I thought "I can do that!" and tried it out. I discovered that working with gourds is not as easy as it looks and so much more fun than it appears. By day I am a civil servant; evenings and weekends I try and balance family with my creative side. I also happen to be the President of the Washington State Gourd Society who sponsors the Northwest Gourd Festival. My work uses ink dyes, pyrography, chip carving, power carving and sculpting. I can be reached at emeraldpools@hotmail.com.


Artist Sally Favors:


Artist Statement: About six years ago, I bought a decorative painting book called “Gourd Gathering,” became intrigued with the idea of using gourds, and started hunting for gourds on eBay. For a couple of months at least every three days the mailman brought a box of gourds I had bought. Pretty soon, I probably had over 300 gourds to paint. At first I only used book patterns but now I am much more adventurous and design my own gourd art. While I enjoy creating gourd painted animals, holiday items, hot air balloons, and baby mobiles (jungle, fish, and barnyard animals), probably my favorite is doing gourd purses. Some that I’ve done have included designs of shelties, chili peppers, flowers and swinging girl, music notes, hot air balloons, roses, and a Santa with reindeer. People stop me wherever I go to ask about my gourd purse since most have never seen one.
Visit her website: http://www.wagourdsociety.org/Favors.htm

Meet our Artist

Meet Barry Crust local artist showing Sept 30 in the Atrium as part of our Fall Concert and Art Series.

Artist Barry Crust:


Artist Statement:
Beyond the Beach began as an extension of my fascination with driftwood and other gems of the beach. After retiring from teaching and coaching in the Clover Park School District for 43 years, I discovered an equally rewarding passion in beachcombing and prying the hidden beauty from beneath the decaying exterior of driftwood. I added the ancient art of Pyrograghy (woodburning designs) to enhance the natural forms. This has been a self-taught process of trial and error. Every piece of driftwood I find and woodburned design I create is an adventure in self-fulfillment and appreciation of decaying wood. There is LIFE after LIFE in Nature. I have access to a fantastic beach on Hood Canal (Dabob Bay) and spend as much time as possible there gathering its treasures and utilizing Nature's artistry. I hope you enjoy my attempt to recycle what I find and Nature creates.

Artist website: www.beyondthebeach.biz

Fall Concert Series

Stay tuned for more information regarding the featured artists participating in our free fall Concert Series starting in September. Complete schedule is listed on our website. www.upforart.org

Celebrating 10 years!

Click on the image to enlarge invitation.

The Duck is Here

Thanks to everyone who worked hard and participated in our unveiling. The day couldn't have been more beautiful. Gorgeous sunshine and great turn out and of course the statue of honor didn't disappoint. Visit our website to view press about the event.

The molding process on the duck has started

Georgia has been kind enough to take pictures of the duck as it goes through the process.

This first photo shows the “flashing” stage – segmenting the piece into
the individual casting sections.

Then the the creation of the mold begins.