Art Beat: Ballet Folklórico, Seattle Camera Club, Mountlake Terrace jazz, more

Edmonds artist finds self-discovery and community through weaving

Kelly Shannon shows a woven piece in the group exhibition 36 x Fixed by Dimension at The Gallery at Graphite. She said she was first drawn to fiber art after a visit to the Seattle Art Museum, where she saw a retrospective of artist Joyce J. Scott. 

This experience led her to take a weaving class and she now works on Saori looms, which allow for unconventional items such as plastic, newspaper and mixed fibers — an approach she said aligns with what she wants to continue to explore artistically. 

Shannon added that she also brings in elements from her professional gardening background, incorporating natural hanging materials, such as red twig dogwood, yellow twig dogwood and black bamboo.

Shannon has additional pieces on display at Crow.

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Ballet Folklórico Xochiquetzal, a multicultural celebration

Holy Rosary School hosted its first Multicultural Celebration on Thursday, May 21, featuring a performance by Ballet Folklórico Xochiquetzal.

“The collaboration, diversity and culture represented by our students and families were truly beautiful to witness,” said Xochitl Palacios, director of Ballet Folklórico Xochiquetzal. “This event reminded us of the importance of uplifting our communities, honoring our differences and celebrating the many cultures that make us stronger together.”

Before performing, Palacios said they were able to honor Indigenous peoples and traditions, which made the experience even “more meaningful.”

“It is always a privilege to have tribal members present and to recognize the first peoples of this land with respect and gratitude,” Palacios said. “Thank you to everyone who helped make this event possible and to the families who proudly shared their heritage, language, traditions and love with the community,” she said.

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New picture book by Edmonds author

Edmonds author Whitney Popa has published a new children’s book, Mama Lifts, which celebrates fitness, strength and the mother-daughter bond.

Published by Our West Press, Mama Lifts is a picture book for elementary-age children told through the eyes of a young girl watching her mother balance the physical and emotional demands of parenthood.

“I spent four years straight growing, birthing and feeding babies,” Popa said. “When my kids were toddlers, I decided to take my body back for me, and to treat it really well. Strong moms are everywhere, but you don’t see them in children’s books very often.”

“I love that the mom’s favorite thing to lift in the book is the little girl,” said Bianca Popa, 7. “Because the little girl is based on me.”

Upcoming Art Happenings

Calling all pet owners!

Saturday, May 30, noon to 3 p.m.

Cole Gallery, 107 5th Ave. S., Edmonds

What to bring: Your pet

Cole Gallery and Pam Ingalls present a new portrait project, Pets & Their People, a series of 35 paintings celebrating the connection between pets and their people.

Participants are invited to bring their four-legged, two-legged, feathered or furry companion to Cole Gallery, where they’ll spend a few minutes with the artist and her video camera. From this brief encounter, Ingalls will create a one-of-a-kind painted portrait.

Participation includes a complimentary 8 × 10 printed portrait, along with the first opportunity to purchase the original painting at a 10% discount (purchase is optional).

Selected works will be featured in the Pets & Their People exhibition in August 2026 at Cole Gallery.

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Evergreen Ensemble premieres To Look West

Saturday, May 30, 7 p.m. at Trinity Parish Episcopal Church, Seattle; Sunday, May 31, 3 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, Lynnwood

Tickets required 

Evergreen Ensemble presents the world premiere of To Look West, a new multi-movement choral work by composer Connor Koppin inspired by Pacific Northwest voices.

Written for choir, string quartet and piano, To Look West explores the relationship between landscape and human memory, drawing on texts from early Northwest voices, including David Douglas, David Thompson and Ella Rhoads Higginson. 

Through journals, scientific writings and poetry, the work reflects on the experience of returning to familiar places that have changed over time.

“These are texts written about landscapes we know – places that, in some cases, are just down the road. That connection makes the piece feel especially close to home,” said Artistic Director David Hendrix.

Musically, To Look West unfolds across the arc of a single day, moving from dawn through twilight and tracing the shifting interplay between memory and the physical world. 

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Mountlake Terrace High School Jazz Ensembles to play at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley

Tuesday, June 9, 7 p.m. (doors open at 6 p.m.)

Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley, 2033 6th Ave., Seattle

Cost: $22 (plus a $12 handling fee)

Tickets

Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley welcomes the Mountlake Terrace High School Jazz Ensembles for a special evening of jazz music. 

The concert will feature Jazz Ensemble 1, directed by  Mountlake Terrace High School Band Director Darin Faul; Jazz Ensemble 2, directed by Steve Korn; the Mountlake Terrace High School Alumni Band, featuring area jazz professionals; and the Brier Terrace Middle School Jazz Band, directed by Andrew Sumabat.

Jazz Ensemble 1 has performed in the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival 11 times since 2000, including this year’s competition against 19 of the nation’s top high school jazz bands. The Ensemble has also appeared in nearly every Hot Java Cool Jazz concert at the Paramount Theatre.

Both Jazz Ensembles 1 and 2 regularly earn honors at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival and the Newport Jazz Festival. Students also have received top solo and group honors at regional and national competitions and have been featured in All-State and All-Northwest music groups.

This year, Luca Manzo, a junior and drummer in Jazz Ensemble 1, was selected for the 2026 Washington All-State Jazz Band. Sophie Ionitsa, a sophomore pianist in Jazz Ensemble 1, was selected to perform in the Next Generation Women in Jazz Combo, featuring top high school female jazz musicians who will perform at the Monterey Jazz Festival in September.

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Edmonds Arts Festival VIP celebration

Wednesday, June 17

First Look VIP Experience: 6-7 p.m.

General admission: 7-10 p.m.

Frances Anderson Center Plaza, 700 Main St., Edmonds

Ages: 21+

First Look VIP Experience: $135


General admission: $85

The Edmonds Arts Festival will host an evening of art, music, food and community to kick off Festival weekend.

The First Look VIP Experience includes early gallery access, a welcome drink served in a commemorative glass and a preview of Festival artwork before general admission begins.

General admission includes gourmet appetizers and cocktails, live music from The Dogtones and a collaborative art experience with artist Jesse Reno, presented by Art Walk Edmonds.

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Between Water and Sky: Works on Paper from the Garvey Family collection

Exhibition: June 17 to Sept. 13, 2026

Cascadia Art Museum, 190 Sunset Ave. #E, Edmonds

Cascadia Art Museum presents the third exhibition derived from early Northwest masterworks from the Garvey Family Collection.

This body of work features rare and historically significant pieces that have remained largely unseen by the public until now.

This iteration will feature works on paper that depict the variations in the Northwest landscape of the 19th and early 20th centuries. 

The exhibition consists mostly of watercolors that display qualities that can only be achieved through this medium. Using subtle washes of transparent colors, the artists conveyed the region’s misty, atmospheric beauty created before the encroachment of industrialization. Shimmering, opalescent water reflections stand in contrast to the solid forms of mountainous landscapes and intimate glimpses of Indigenous encampments.

Of special interest is the pastel, Haida Nation Village, 1882, by Jules Tavernier (1844-1889). This Luminist artwork depicts Xaayda Gwaay.yaay, Haida Gwaii, located off the Northwest coast of British Columbia.

Artists include a selection of rare works by Cleveland Rockwell (1837-1907) as well as Sydney Laurence (1865-1940), Theodore Richardson (1855-1914) and Edmond James Fitzgerald (1912-1989).

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Shadows of a Fleeting World: Pictorial Photography and the Seattle Camera Club

Exhibition: June 17 to Sept. 13, 2026

Cascadia Art Museum, 190 Sunset Ave. #E, Edmonds

In commemoration of the second printing of the seminal 2011 publication Shadows of a Fleeting World: Pictorial Photography and the Seattle Camera Club, Cascadia Art Museum presents an accompanying exhibition to celebrate the new edition in cooperation with the University of Washington Press.

As the main author, Cascadia Art Museum’s curator David F. Martin has assembled over seventy rare, original photographs from various sources.

The Seattle Camera Club (SCC) was the first internationally known artists group from Washington State. Formed in 1924, the 39-charter members were Issei, first-generation Japanese immigrants. The group was celebrated for their excellence in pictorialism, the emerging use of photography as a fine arts medium.

Dr. Kyo Koike (1878-1947), co-founder and driving force behind the organization, wrote a national introduction to the SCC that was published in Photo-Era Magazine in 1925: “We waited patiently for a long time, thinking that some Americans might organize a society for the friends of photography, but no light appeared on the dark sea. At last, we Japanese [are] determined to establish one by ourselves, and the result is the Seattle Camera Club. I cannot anticipate what the future of our organization will be; that is a puzzle which time will solve.…The purpose of the SCC is to promote, foster and advance by every honorable means, Photographic Art.”

Besides Koike, some key members of the SCC included Virna Haffer (1899-1974), Hiromu Kira (1898-1991), Frank Asakichi Kunishige (1878-1960), Yukio Morinaga (1888-1968) and Ella E. McBride (1862-1965).

In its heyday, SCC members were among the most exhibited pictorialist photographers in the world. The organization came to an end in 1930 when the economic crash that initiated the Great Depression took its toll on the membership. 

Further hardships arose in 1942, when Executive Order 9066 directed that all people of Japanese origin on the West Coast be remanded to detention centers and eventually to concentration camps, where many remained throughout the war years. The devastating effects that this had on Issei SCC members not only affected their lives but caused the loss of most of their art.

Thanks to the 2011 publication of Shadows of a Fleeting World and the continuing advocacy of a small group of photographic art historians, members of the SCC are once again acknowledged as some of the leading photographers in the U.S. during their lifetime.

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Art Walk Edmonds launches free summer mural tours 

AWE will offer a free series of guided mural tours throughout June, July and August, giving the community an opportunity to explore downtown Edmonds through public art.

The tours will take place during each Third Thursday Art Walk evening and begin at 5:30 p.m. in the courtyard at Main Street Commons. Each tour will highlight a different theme connected to Edmonds’ growing collection of murals.

June 18: The tour will focus on Edmonds history and will feature 11 murals tracing the community’s story from its origins as a temporary fishing camp of the Salish Sea tribes to the present day. The tour will travel down Main Street to 2nd Avenue before returning to Main Street Commons.

July 16: The tour will focus on life along the Salish Sea, featuring 10 murals celebrating Indigenous wildlife, maritime culture and Edmonds’ connection to the water. The route will remain primarily along upper Main Street and 5th Avenue.

Aug. 20: The tour, The Art of the Mural, will explore mural styles and how artists adapt their work to complement building architecture. Guests will visit murals throughout upper Main Street and 5th Avenue, including a new mural expected to be installed this summer.

Funding for the murals, tours and community art experiences comes primarily from Art Walk Edmonds’ Summer Wine Walks, along with support from donors, grants and local business sponsors. Donations to support future public art projects can be made through the organization.

*If you would like your event included in future Art Beat listings, email Nahline Gouin at [email protected].

Based in Edmonds, Nahline Gouin is a freelance writer, ceramicist and arts advocate with experience in art museums and performing arts centers. She continues to create with clay, homeschool her son and write as a creative practice.