Cascadia Art Museum reopening to public with new exhibits

After months of closure due to COVID-19, Cascadia Art Museum is opening its doors next week with three new exhibits — Dreaming Forms: The Art of Leo Kenney, Stolen Moments: The Photography of Shedrich Williames, and Gifts and Promised Gifts — in addition to the museum’s permanent collections. The first two days of the exhibit, Sept. 17-18, will be for members only, with general admission starting Sept. 19. All three exhibits run through Jan. 10, 2021.

Dreaming Forms: The Art of Leo Kenney highlights Kenney (1925-2001), a highly celebrated regional artist of the mid-20th century. Kenney’s style combined Surrealism with his own unique interpretations of Northwest iconography, working with oil- and water-based mediums such as gouache and tempera.

Stolen Moments: The Photography of Shedrich Williames is the first solo exhibition of Shedrich Williames (b.1934). Williames photography reflects his personal quest to document the light that animates people, landscapes and still-lifes.

The third exhibit, Gifts and Promised Gifts to the Museum’s Permanent Collection, showcases several important donations that have been entrusted to the museum. A few examples are works by Edmonds’ own Guy Anderson (1906-1998), Evert Sodergen’s iconic Sculptured Chair, 1953, and John Matsudaira’s masterpiece Quiet Motion and Blue, one of the featured paintings at the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962.

The staff and volunteers at the museum have been anticipating this opening since closing down in March. The experience will be a little different due to current COVID-19 restrictions. Only 20 visitors will be permitted into the galleries and it will be first-come, first-served. All galleries and the museum store will be open and face coverings are required. In addition, one-way directional paths have been added to observe social distancing.

To learn more about the new regulations, museum hours and events, visit the website.

Still time to submit greeting cards for Edmonds!

Even though the official deadline has passed for the Dear Edmonds Greeting Card Campaign, you can still submit artwork to help reach the goal of 1,000 greeting cards. With only 24 more cards to reach the goal, Create Next Steps is asking for more submissions.

The greeting card design needs to be 5” x 7” and can be a folded card or a flat postcard. The inside and back of card should be blank. Mixed media and any or all materials are welcome, unique designs are encouraged. There will be awards for different categories.

Cards can be submitted to the red mailbox on Main Street, just east of 6th. Provide contact information in your artwork submission if you would like to hear more information about the gallery that will show the 1,000 cards. Learn more here.

Sno-Isle Libraries presents author J.A. Jance

Best-selling author J.A. Jance discusses her latest book, Credible Threat, in a Zoom presentation Thursday, Sept. 17. Jance has over 21 million copies of her books in print and was honored with the Strand Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 as “one of the finest practitioners of the suspenseful thriller.” The event begins at 6:30 p.m. and requires a valid email address to register. Learn more here.

 Light the Way – Edmonds Center for the Arts Virtual Gala & Auction

All are invited to the ECA’s Light the Way Virtual Gala & Auction on Friday, Sept. 25. Through this event, ECA is celebrating the power of the performing arts to transform lives and light the way for the arts in Edmonds and beyond. There will be a happy hour with live music, an online auction, a live-streamed program and more. There is no admission to attend but RSVP is required to participate in the happy hour and online auctions and to watch the live-streamed events.

You can RSVP here.

— By Rachel Gardner

Rachel Gardner has a heartfelt appreciation for art in all forms and believes everyone is an artist, some just don’t know it yet. A dedicated and involved Edmonds resident, she can often be spotted onstage cracking jokes between sets or in the audience enjoying local live performances. She enjoys being playful with her art and finding unique ways of expression, like forming a boho-grunge-folk ukulele trio with local Edmonds moms.