Come to our Fall Concert and Art Series

Come and join us for an evening of Art and Music!

Our Fall Concert and Art Series starts, Friday Sept. 30th at 7pm. All events are being held in the Civic/Library Atrium at 3609 Market Square. Admission is Free. Here is a quick schedule of events.

Sept. 30th
UP String Quartet
Artist Barry Crust

Oct. 28th
Edgar Allan Poe: The Poet's Journey
Artists Helen Hein and Anne Doumit Sparks

Nov. 18
Guitarist Andrew Sherbrooke
Artists Stacy Annon and Sally Favors

Dec. 9th
Duck the Halls Caroling Contest

See our blog for more information on the performing and visual artists.

Also Thank you to our sponsor: Skelley Piano
http://www.skelleypiano.com/

Meet the Artists - UP String Quartet

Meet the UP String Quartet performing on September 30th at 7pm in the atrium of the new Civic Building.

Rebecca Gehring, violin, teaches private violin, viola, and cello lessons in University Place. She also taught beginning strings in University Place Schools 4th grade enrichment program. She enjoys playing for weddings and other events in the community, and arranging string ensembles for her students and their friends.

Paula Westgaard has taught in the music program in the Puyallup School District for many years. She teaches in elementary school and has a junior high orchestra and an advanced high school orchestra. She is a graduate of the music program at Pacific Lutheran University.

Joel Westgaard ahs taught junior and senior high school orchestras at Curtis Jr. and Sr. for many years. His groups have traveled to many venues and have won many competitions. He has inspired many former students to follow in his footsteps in the music field.

Margaret Thorndill, cello, directs public events and University of Puget Sound. Margaret grew up in Tacoma and University Place, paying in Tacoma Youth Symphony. She graduated from Curtis High School, received her Bachelor of Music degree from Washington State University and completed her Master of Fine Arts degree in cello at California Institute of the Arts. She plays in Tacoma Symphony, is a member of Seattle String Quartet, and South Sound Trio.

Meet our artist: Helen Hein and Anne Doumit Sparks

NORTHWEST HEIRLOOMS: FOLKLORE IN FIBER

Growing up on a large cattle ranch in southwest, Washington, from one of the region’s pioneer families, Anne Doumit Sparks, M.S., M.Ed., and Helen Hein, M.A. embraced both Pacific Northwest traditions and changes. Inspired by the time-honored practice of quilting and fiber arts, nature’s themes are explored and interpreted using a multitude of fabric. By infusing the rich, gorgeous colors of native natural resources, a new fine art collection is created— “Northwest Heirlooms: Folklore in Fiber.”

View their work October 28th 7pm in the atrium of the Civic Building.

Meet our Artist

Meet our musical guest for the evening of November 18, 2011. Andrew Sherbrooke's improvisational guitar style has evolved from over 30 years of jazz and rock training and live performance. Andrew lives in University Place and composes and records music for games and media projects, and also performs locally. Music starts at 7pm in the atrium of the Civic Building.

Visit his website at: http://www.andrewsherbrooke.com/

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.