Icicle Arts’ After School Arts Program Is Now Enrolling

Photo by Reed Carlson

Icicle Arts announces the return of the After School Arts Program in Leavenworth and Cashmere, starting in November. Students may enroll now for fall, winter, and spring sessions at Osborn Elementary and at Cashmere United Methodist Church (walking distance from all Cashmere schools). The once-weekly multi-disciplinary arts program, taught by Andrea Locke and special guest artists, is focused on providing affordable and professional arts education and inspiring students to continue their own personal exploration and study of arts throughout their lives.

In its first program year (January-June 2010), Icicle Arts’ After School Arts Program included first-grade through twelfth-grade students by offering weekly programming in various art forms ranging from visual to performing arts to two levels of participants. Serving over 100 students in its first six months, the results of the program were tangible and positive. Participating families reported through an online survey the following benefits from the program: increased academic achievement (42.9% elementary, 87.5% middle/high school) and improved mood, motivation, ability to focus, communication skills, self-esteem, and tolerance for others (42.9% elementary, 71.5% middle/high school).

The fall mini-session of Icicle Arts’ After School Arts Program will be held from November to December and will be offered to two levels of students. Level one will be offered to third, fourth, and fifth graders at Leavenworth’s Osborn Elementary School from 2:45-4:45 PM on Tuesdays (snack will be provided). Level two will be offered in Cashmere at the United Methodist Church’s upstairs art room from 3:30-5 on Thursdays. Level two students will choose from a variety of arts topics and Icicle Arts staff will work with the students to create a custom curriculum specific to the students’ interests, including fun field trips. All sessions are subject to minimum enrollment. Students must register in advance: online at iciclearts.org or by calling (509) 548-2278. Wenatchee locations are currently under exploration, interested schools should contact Icicle Arts.

Icicle Arts Program Coordinator Andrea Locke holds a B.S. in Dance from The University of Idaho, and will create a broad curriculum including a variety of art forms. Past topics included dance and choreography with Managing Director and professional dancer/choreographer Anna James Miller, theater with guest artist Shana Pennington-Baird (Seattle), papermaking with guest artist Jan Johnston (Leavenworth), printmaking, cartooning, collage, recycled art, and ceramics.

The cost to participate in Icicle Arts’ After School Arts Program is $10/week, based on the length of the session. Fall session cost is $40 for Leavenworth and $50 for Cashmere. Students who are eligible for free/reduced lunch programs and are interested in applying for a scholarship should contact Icicle Arts. Register for both sessions now online at iciclearts.org or by calling (509) 548-2278.

This year’s After School Arts Program is made possible by a $5,000 gift from Fred Johnson in support of the Cashmere program and by individual community member contributions. To support the program and help local children experience hands-on arts activities please contact Icicle Arts.

Call to Artists: Icicle Prize in Recycled Art!

Icicle Arts is pleased to announce the 2011 Icicle Arts Festival, featuring the Icicle Prize in Recycled Art, sponsored by the Icicle Fund. This juried exhibition will be installed by Icicle Arts on the grounds of Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort and Barn Beach Reserve in Leavenworth, Washington. Eligible artwork must be made entirely or mostly of materials from the trash. Eligible artists must live in Chelan, Douglas, Grant or Okanogan County.

Entry forms are available at iciclearts.org or by calling (509) 548-2278. Artists of all ages may submit artwork in the following categories: 2-dimensional (grand prize $250, second prize $100), 3-dimensional (grand prize $250, second prize $100), installation (grand prize $250), wearable (grand prize $250, second prize$100, third prize $50), senior student: age 11-18 (grand prize$50, second prize $25), junior student: age 10 and under (grand prize$50, second prize $25). Guest judges are regional professional artists who use recycled materials as their primary art medium, not residing in the four counties. Confirmed judges include Marita Dingus (represented by the Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle), Maria Ruano (of Bedrock Industries Seattle), and Diane Kurzyna aka Ruby Re-Usable (Olympia), and Ross Palmer Beecher. Other judges will be announced soon. The deadline to enter artwork is August 15; artwork will be installed August 26 and 27 and remain on display through the month of September.

Icicle Arts is also inviting portfolio submissions from photographers residing in the four counties who are interested in photographing the exhibit for a $500 stipend. Photographs will be published in a full-color exhibit book, available for purchase at the festival, and on print/web media, with credit to the photographer. Application materials are available at iciclearts.org or by calling (509) 548-2278 and applications will be accepted until August 15.

Icicle Arts Festival dates are September 2-11, 2011 and events include a special exhibit of guest judge artwork at Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center with an opening on September 2 during Wenatchee First Friday, an art walk and reception at Sleeping Lady on Friday, September 9, workshops by guest judges at Barn Beach Reserve in Leavenworth on Saturday, September 10, a Songwriters’ Showcase performance featuring 2010 Icicle Prize grand prize winner Beth Whitney along with Icicle Prize second and third place winners Brian McMahon and Sandy Vaughn on Saturday, September 10 at Icicle Creek Music Center’s Canyon Wren Recital Hall at 7PM, and the Main Stage Event: “Trash to Fash” Runway & Awards Show at Icicle Creek Music Center’s Canyon Wren Recital Hall on Sunday, September 11, at 4pm.

Tickets to the Showcase and Main Stage shows are available through iciclearts.org and are $15 in advance and $18 at the door. There is a special $10 rate for students and seniors 65 and over (in advance and at the door). Seating is limited at the venue, and advance purchase is recommended. For more information on Icicle Arts Festival visit iciclearts.org or call (509) 548-2278.

Lance Dooley featured at Icicle Arts Gallery next!

Icicle Arts Gallery presents “Hand, Heart, and Head,” featuring figurative sculptures and drawings by East Wenatchee artist and Wenatchee Valley College faculty member Lance Dooley. The show opens on July 19 and will be on display until August 22. A “Meet the Artist” reception will be held on Friday, July 22, from 5PM to 7PM with free admission, refreshments, and local wines. The gallery is located at Barn Beach Reserve - 347 Division Street in downtown Leavenworth. Gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday, 11AM to 4PM and by appointment.

Lance was born in 1968 to a family of traveling Americans in Thailand. His family then spent 7 years in Tehran before returning to the father's hometown in Oroville, Washington and then moving to East Wenatchee, WA where he graduated from High School with the “Artist of the Year” award. Lance served for four years in the United States Army, mostly in Wurzburg, Germany where he enjoyed touring the countryside and central Europe in his old beat-up 1979 Mazda and learned to speak German. After finishing military service in 1990, he attended and graduated from Wenatchee Valley College where he was awarded the President’s medal. He continued his education at Washington State University and graduated Cum Laude from the Electrical Engineering program. Lance then worked in Seattle for a number of years, while pursuing his artistic studies. When he bought his first house in 1999, he finally had his own art studio and began participating in regional art shows and embracing serious training in the visual arts. The rich infusion of cultures from different countries imprinted Lance and he always dreamed of going to the best art school in the world and developing the necessary skills to visually articulate facets of the society he lived in and other wanderlust adventures and experiences yet to come. That dream came true when he went to The Florence Academy of Art in the renaissance city of Florence, Italy and graduated in 2008 from the sculpting program directed by Robert Bodem. 

Lance is a student of nature and strives to represent that which is in front of him in a naturalistic way by drawing upon his classical training. His subject is the human form and he works extensively from live models. Lance minimizes projecting himself onto his work and attempts to capture the forms and emotions that emanate from each model he works with. Each person carries a lifetime of unique experiences and Lance’s goal is to illuminate this to the viewer. His mediums are charcoal on paper and sculpted clay that is molded and then cast into plaster or bronze. Each project is started with a series of drawings and charcoal studies in order to grasp the character of the model. When a pose and theme is selected, the project transitions into the sculptural phase, which entails creating a metallic armature that mimics the pose and gesture of the model. Clay is applied to the armature in a way to maximize the gesture and rhythms of the forms of the body. Surfacing of the clay varies from smooth to rough and textural, depending upon the feeling to be conveyed. The end result of the project is a representation of the model that often has lifelike qualities of its own, encouraging a high level of connectivity between the sculpture and the viewer. The sculptures fall into several themes such as; historical figures, religious/spiritual figures, fantasy subjects and commissioned pieces. In particular, a lifelong project is the study and investigation of entities known as angels, demons or fairies and how they may be one and the same entity that carries different names or labels in different societies.

Icicle Arts is accepting applications from artists interested in exhibiting their work in 2012. For more details and application information visit iciclearts.org or call (509) 548-2278. Icicle Arts Gallery is a program of Icicle Arts, North Central Washington’s arts alliance since 2004. To learn more, join as a member, and support the arts in North Central Washington, visit iciclearts.org or call (509) 548-2278.

Artwork by Seattle Artist April Richardson Next at Icicle Arts Gallery

Icicle Arts Gallery presents “From Weeds to Wildflowers,” featuring mixed media monotype prints by Seattle artist April Richardson. The exhibit opens on June 7 and will be on display until July 16, 2011.  A reception for the artist will be held on Friday, June 10, from 5PM to 7PM with free admission, refreshments, and local wines by donation. The gallery is located at Barn Beach Reserve - 347 Division Street in downtown Leavenworth. Gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday, 11AM to 5PM and by appointment.    

As an artist, Richardson is intrigued by “life and death and everything in between. Continuity, repetition, adaptation to circumstance. Memory. What happens when light is limited or space is restricted, or there's too much of a good thing. What was here yesterday? What will be here tomorrow?” Her creative process starts with a drawing from life, and combines painting, printmaking, and collage to make mixed media monotypes; unique prints. Lush color, flowing lines and sensual curves and edges create a world within each piece. She applies thin layers of ink and paper and then scrapes or tears them away, rebuilding layer after layer to achieve depth and rich textures.  Paint and other surface treatments transform a print to a complex and evocative work of art.

Richardson’s work has been shown at numerous galleries around the Pacific Northwest and have been selected for collections at Swedish Medical Center, Oregon Health Sciences University, and Harborview Medical Center. She frequently participates in local area art festivals and activities at art museums such as Bellevue Arts Museum and Wing Luke Asian Museum. Richardson enjoys teaching classes and workshops to children and adults. She was recently a finalist for the Heritage Park Public Art Project and a Juror for the 57^th Annual American Association of University Women Art Competition.

Icicle Arts Gallery is a program of Icicle Arts, North Central Washington’s arts alliance since 2004. To learn more, join as a member, and support the arts in North Central Washington, visit iciclearts.org or call (509) 548-2278. View Richardson’s artwork online at aprilrichardsonartist.com and Icicle Arts Gallery online at iciclearts.org/gallery.

Artwork by Gretchen Daiber at Icicle Arts Gallery

Icicle Arts Gallery presents “Ocean to Altitude - Animal Studies in Stone and Bronze,” featuring original artworks by Leavenworth artist Gretchen Daiber.  The show opened on March 11 and will be on display until May 8.  A “Meet the Artist” reception will be held on Friday, March 18, from 5PM to 7PM with free admission, refreshments, and local wines from Cascadia Winery, Vin du Lac, Icicle Ridge Winery, and Wedge Mountain. The gallery is located at Barn Beach Reserve - 347 Division Street in downtown Leavenworth. Gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday, 11AM to 4PM and by appointment.

Working as a fine artist for over 35 years takes dedication, determination and a true love of the process, and that is what Gretchen Daiber has done. Her focus has never deviated from her keen interest in representing her personal Pacific Northwest experience. As the daughter of Mountaineering legend and Seattle Mountain Rescue founder, Ome Daiber, Gretchen has always been totally at home in the outdoors. A keen student of all living things, her work reflects a deep connection to nature and the living creatures that inhabit her world. Interested in printmaking at the University of Washington, she later apprenticed with sculptor Tony Angell, and made a career change to sculpture in the 1980s. Much like her mentor, subject matter includes birds, animals, lizards, and seals - which Gretchen has studied first-hand and in great detail during her travels. The past 15 years have been spent wrestling with huge chunks of Icicle Valley granite, battling jack hammers and diamond blades, dust and heat, to produce dozens of gorgeous sculptures of native species including bears, salmon, river otters, weasels, wolves and ravens, some of which inhabit the grounds of Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort in Leavenworth. Moving and installing the finished commission is the ultimate challenge!

A passionate supporter of conservation efforts on behalf of the snow leopard since her residency at the Woodland Park Zoo in 1977, Gretchen was commissioned by the International Snow Leopard Trust in 2006 to honor its founder, Helen Freeman. The resulting life-size bronze sculpture in now installed at the Snow Leopard Exhibit in Seattle. Additional public sculptures are part of permanent collections in Wenatchee, Moses Lake, and Puyallup. A great supporter of the arts locally, Gretchen has given her time and talents to the Icicle Creek Music Center since its inception in 1996. A hard-working advocate for the appreciation of original fine art, she has helped organize several local artist groups, and attends receptions and gallery openings in support of her artist friends. In 1999 the Watershed Art Project was initiated by Gretchen, along with her mentor, Tony Angell, and two local artists, Cynthia Neely and Gretchen Rohde. The project introduced the general public to fifteen internationally renowned nature artists who visited and recorded the Wenatchee River Watershed during 2001.  Their finished work returned to two local galleries in 2002, with a portion of the Watershed Art collection being purchased and gifted to the Washington Audubon Society in 2003. As representational art goes in and out of style, Gretchen has remained true to her inner voice and determined to work with the forces of granite and bronze to produce a body of work that is both inspirational and heartwarming.

Icicle Arts Gallery is a program of Icicle Arts, North Central Washington’s arts alliance since 2004. To learn more, join as a member, and support the arts in North Central Washington, visit iciclearts.org or call (509) 548-2278.

"Outdoor Inspirations," Photographs by Marc Dilley

Icicle Arts Gallery presents “Outdoor Inspirations,” featuring photographs by Leavenworth photographer Marc Dilley. The show opened on January 14 and will be on display until March 6.

About the Artist
Marc Dilley was born in Los Angeles in 1951 and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. He received a B.S. degree in Botany from Cal State Stanislaus and an M.S. in Plant Pathology from WSU. After working for the WSU Tree Fruit Research & Extension Center for 30 years and retiring in 2008 he now lives in Leavenworth with his wife Margareta. Dilley’s artistic influences include Jean Elaine Dilley, Ansel Adams, Marc Adamus, Tony Kuyper, Mark Metternich, and the music of Beethoven. Dilley’s photographs invoke a thoughtful reverence for nature. His interpretation of the traditional landscape is colorful, expressive, and awe inspiring.

“I am a photographer for one reason: to record the beauty of nature and interpret my feelings about it,” says Dilley, “This is what I attempt to achieve in my images: not merely to depict but to illuminate.  As a hiker, backpacker and climber for nearly 40 years, my experiences in the natural world have been my primary artistic influence. If I could not be in wilderness, I would not photograph; if I could not photograph, I would still be in wilderness. My challenge as a photographer/artist is to record as precise and accurate an image in the field as possible and then imbue that "raw" camera image with my personal impressions back in the studio. To give my images the emotional impact that I seek, each promising shot is subjected to the tool of the serious photographer - camera image software - to achieve my pre-visualized goal. With the exception of sensor dust, noise removal and some minor cloning, my adjustments are limited to luminosity and color.“

About the Gallery

The gallery is located at Barn Beach Reserve - 347 Division Street in downtown Leavenworth. Gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday, 11AM to 4PM and by appointment. 
Icicle Arts Gallery presents six solo shows per year and two special exhibits. For more information on the gallery, or to submit a show application visit iciclearts.org/gallery or call 509-548-2278.

Films in the Barn: “Who Does She Think She Is” - Jan 15, 7pm

Icicle Arts and Barn Beach Reserve continue their new “Films in the Barn” series on Saturday, January 15 at 7pm with “Who Does She Think She Is.” This riveting documentary by Academy Award-winning producer Pamela Tanner Boll features five bold women who navigate some of the most problematic intersections of our time: parenting and creativity, partnering and independence, economics and art. Through their lives Tanner Boll explores what it means to nurture children and family, and keep the creative fire burning within. “Can women follow their artistic instincts and still function as wives and mothers? Pamela Tanner Boll’s articulate documentary answers that question with a qualified “Yes.” -V.A. MUSETTO, The New York Post.

The screening will take place in “the barn” at Barn Beach Reserve - 347 Division Street in downtown Leavenworth.   Refreshments and local wines by Columbia Winery, Vin du Lac, Icicle Ridge Winery, and Wedge Mountain will be available. Tickets are by donation and are $5 for Icicle Arts and Barn Beach Reserve members and $7 for non-members - available by calling 509-548-2278 or reserve online now! Memberships are available at the door. All ticket proceeds benefit Icicle Arts and Barn Beach Reserve.
 
 

"Journey to Creativity" at Icicle Arts Gallery

 

Icicle Arts Gallery presents “Journey to Creativity,” featuring original artwork by Wenatchee artist and art instructor Castilia Cava. The show opened on November 19 and will be on display until mid January. A “Meet the Artist” reception will be held on Friday, December 3, from 5PM to 7PM with free admission, refreshments, and local wines from Cascadia Winery, Vin du Lac, Icicle Ridge Winery, and Wedge Mountain. The gallery is located at Barn Beach Reserve - 347 Division Street in downtown Leavenworth. Gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday, 11AM to 4PM and by appointment.

About the Artist
Castilia Cava holds a B.A. in Visual Arts Education from Central Washington University and a B.A. from the School of Hospitality Business Management at Washington State University. Cava’s work was most recent included in group gallery shows at Gallery ’76 and the Wenatchee Museum and Cultural Center, in Wenatchee, and at Gallery 1 in Ellensburg. “Journey to Creativity” is her first ever solo show. “I love seeing the faces and hearing feedback from my family and friends as I am creating my works of art.  They are my encouragement and the reason I continue to create.”

Castilia Cava’s artwork explores a range of mediums and movements from painting and drawing to her use of the classic sculpture mediums of plaster and wood. She has canvases which are influenced by Cubism and the Post Impressionists work of Gauguin. It is through this exploration that the artist continues to experiment in line, color, texture and form. Cava is developing a strong personal narrative that provides the viewer with insight in the artist’s own creativity and what she has called her “journey of experimentation with media, texture, and color.” It is within this journey that the viewer is given space and time to explore and to find their own meaning and a new perspective in these unexpected and joyful artworks.

About the Gallery
Icicle Arts Gallery is a program of Icicle Arts, North Central Washington’s arts alliance since 2004. To learn more, join as a member, and support the arts in the Wenatchee River Valley, visit iciclearts.org or call (509) 548-2278. Iicle Arts Gallery presents six solo shows per year and two special exhibits. For more information on the gallery, to submit a show application, and to view e-shows currently online visit iciclearts.org/gallery or call (509) 548-2278.

First "Film in the Barn" - Nov. 20, 7pm

This 90-minute film documents and explores the artwork of Scottish artist Andy Goldsworthy and his use of natural materials to create stunning temporary outdoor installations. Praised as "a sculpture of sea and prairie, of water, fire and stone" by Ann Wilson Lloyd of New York Times Arts; Leisure, Rivers and Tides is the first of our new "Films in the Barn" series (co-presented by Barn Beach Reserve). Tickets are $5 for members and $10 for non-members. Call 548-2278 to reserve in advance, or purchase at the door. 

Benefit Concert and Silent Auction Nov. 6

Grammy Award-winning cellist and member of the Paul Winter Consort Eugene Friesen will perform "Soul of the Cello," a benefit concert for Icicle Arts, on Saturday, November 6 at 7PM in "The Barn" at Barn Beach Reserve. Local wines and complimentary refreshments will be served and a silent auction will take place throughout the evening.Reserve tickets online through Brown Paper Tickets or call (509) 548-2278 to reserve (no fees for phone reservervations!) Tickets are $15 in advance, $12 for students and seniors over 60 (with valid ID), and $18 at the door. Learn More

3 McConnells at Icicle Arts Gallery

Icicle Arts Gallery presents their first ever group show “3 McConnells,” featuring original artwork by Cashmere artist Dan McConnell and his son and daughter, Aaron and Bryn. The show opened September 24 and will be on display until mid-November. The gallery is open Thursday through Sunday, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., or by appointment. The gallery is located along with Barn Beach Reserve and the Upper Valley Museum at 347 Division Street in downtown Leavenworth.

“3 McConnells” provides a unique opportunity for viewers to trace the artistic development of members of the same family who have shared the experience of making art while finding their individual voices and mediums of expression. The development of an artist is constantly in flux. The pieces on display tell the story of three different paths traveled by three individuals. As paths often do, they converge and separate. The works have been selected to highlight those points of intersection as well as the differences.

Meet the Artist - This Saturday!
Icicle Arts will host a "Meet the Artist" reception at the gallery this Saturday, October 9, from 5PM to 7PM with refreshments and local wines by Wedge Mountain Winery, Cascadia Winery, Icicle Ridge Winery, and Vin du Lac Winery. Admission is free and all ages are welcome to attend.

About the Artists
Dan McConnell started developing his passion for art early in life. By age four he was drawing cartoon dioramas of Cowboys and Indians waging wars with bullets, arrows and tomahawks flying through the air. He has pursued a wide variety of styles and mediums since those early days - Dan’s work includes oil painting, acrylics, watercolors, soapstone sculpture, Sculpey clay sculptures, pen and ink/brush and ink drawings, and computer graphics. His formal art education at Wenatchee Valley College, Western Washington University and Central Washington University culminated with a Broad Area Art degree and a provisional teaching certificate. The education focus helped him instill his passion for art into others, including his children Aaron and Bryn. “We drew as a family almost every day; it was an integral part of our lives. We drew in pencil and crayon and painted in watercolors. When they were older I introduced them to watercolors and oil painting.”

Some of Aaron McConnell’s first drawings were three panel comic strips obviously influenced by his Dad's semi-autobiographical weekly cartoon strip "Apple Andy" that ran in the Cashmere Valley Record for 20 years. His father painted the characters from his strip in a scenic mural on the bedroom Aaron and his sister Bryn shared, and the characters felt like members of the family. Aaron is sure that this vivid immersion into the comic strip medium shaped his own interest in comics. In high school (CHS) Aaron drew cartoons for the school newspaper and drew his first comic book pages in an after-school comic book class taught by his father. Aaron attended CWU, like his dad, and then went on to pursue a BA with an emphasis in painting and drawing. Painting was his passion at that time and he convinced his young family to relocate to Providence, RI to attend the graduate painting program at The Rhode Island School of Design. As fate would have it, the school offered a course on Comic Book Storytelling and that was all it took to bring him back to the medium of comics. Aaron has an extensive list of reasons he loves comics, but from a creative standpoint, the feeling of composing and arranging little boxes of drawings that build something larger as a whole is an exhilarating process (and endlessly challenging). Working in comics has given him the opportunity to collaborate with other talented writers and artists and has awakened a deep, previously unrealized interest in history. “I look forward to the daily exercise of working at a drawing board not only to develop the technical craft of drawing comics, but because I know that I'm guaranteed to learn something new about the subject that I'm building a story from."

Bryn McConnell first pursued painting at Western Washington University, and then transferred to Pratt Institute in New York where she earned her BFA. Her final semester at Pratt allowed her to study in Venice, Italy. Upon graduation she lived in the Czech Republic, then Belgium where she continued to work as a full-time artist. While abroad she studied as an exchange student, participated in residencies and exhibited her work in several locations throughout Europe. In 2008 she returned to New York City to study at the School of Visual Arts and earned her MFA. Bryn’s most recent exhibition took place at Greenberg Van Doren Gallery in New York where she received much attention through reviews in both the New Yorker and Time Out New York magazines. Bryn paints images of women in an expressionistic style, seeking to display an internal spiritual force through the materialistic artifice of fashion. Her interest lies in representing the intangible spirit by utilizing contemporary definitions of identity, not particularly as cages of confinement but as tools of playful self-reinvention.   

About the Gallery
Icicle Arts Gallery is a program of Icicle Arts, North Central Washington’s arts alliance since 2004. To learn more, join as a member, and support the arts in the Wenatchee River Valley, visit iciclearts.org or call (509) 548-2278. Iicle Arts Gallery presents six solo shows per year and two special exhibits. For more information on the gallery, to submit a show application, and to view e-shows currently online visit iciclearts.org/gallery or call (509) 548-2278.

Icicle Prize in Songwriting Winners Announced

Beth Whitney, taken by Reed Carlson

Icicle Arts Festival 2010 featuring the Icicle Prize in Songwriting (sponsored by the Icicle Fund) took place September 10-12 in Leavenworth. 46 student and adult residents of Chelan, Douglas, Okanagon, and Grant counties submitted their original songs for the chance to win cash prizes and a performance opportunity.

Guest judges Andre Feriante (internationally-acclaimed flamenco guitar player / songwriter from Seattle), Dan Maher (host of NWPR’s “Inland Folk” from Pullman), Aimee Mell (choral director and Tacoma Arts Commissioner from Seattle), Andrew T. Miller (Sony Masterworks; Steinway artist from Milton), Linda Waterfall (music faculty at Cornish College of the Arts from Seattle), and Wes Weddell (host of Tumbleweed Music Festival from Seattle) gave feedback to performers throughout the live Main Stage performance which was attended by over 100 people from all over the state.

Judges rated each original song on originality, musicality, and style. Scores were added up at the conclusion to determine the winners: Beth Whitney of Leavenworth (first place), Brian McMahon of Leavenworth (second place), and Sandy Vaughn of Tonasket (third place). The audience cast their votes for an “Audience Choice” award, which went to Margee Peterson of Leavenworth.

Student winners were selected by a local panel of judges including Don Fox (Technical Director of the Performing Arts Center of Wenatchee and Music Director of the Wenatchee Valley Appleaires from Wenatchee), Cindy Reitveldt (director of Leavenworth Community Coffeehouse from Peshastin), Chuck Egner (owner of Hi-Strung Music and director of the Wenatchee River Bluegrass Festival from Leavenworth), Anna Percival (Managing Director of Icicle Arts from Cashmere), and Dan Jackson (former director of Wenatchee High School choral’s program and Icicle Prize 2009 committee member from Leavenworth), and performed their songs at the conclusion of the event. Student winners were Chloe Grace Caemmerer of Leavenworth (first place), Marija Bosnar of Ephrata (second place), and Claire Seaman of Leavenworth (third place).

Icicle Arts Festival was made possible by a sponsorship from Icicle Fund and by member contributions. Visit iciclearts.org or call (509) 548-2278 to learn more or support the arts in North Central Washington by joining as a member.

Announcing Gallery E-Shows!

Icicle Arts Gallery is excited to present artwork online through MyArtSpace.com.  So far the current shows include local and regional artists Christopher Banks, Leonardo Lanzolla, Gretchen Rohde, Bryan S. Miller, Melissa Madsen, and Jennifer Hutzel.  The artwork is available to view and purchase online through Icicle Arts Gallery.  If you are an artist interested in showing your work, e-mail info@iciclearts.org to learn more or visit iciclearts.org to join!

Grasping at Shadows - paintings by Christopher Banks

Icicle Arts Gallery presents Grasping at Shadows featuring original paintings by Plain artist Christopher Banks. On display Thursday, July 22 through Sunday, September 5, the gallery is open Thursday through Sunday, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., or by appointment Monday through Wednesday, 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. The gallery is located at Barn Beach Reserve (347 Division Street in Leavenworth), also home to the Upper Valley Museum. Christopher Banks' bold landscape paintings offer the viewer a strong contrast in color and value. His paintings, while based on "real" landscapes, offer up landscapes that are balanced with reality and fantasy. 

About the Artist
Artist Christopher Banks has spent much of his life steeped in a world of printed words. He has been a writer, poet, musician, graphic designer, publisher, a student of English literature, and a teacher of art and reading. A lifelong admirer and collector of art, Banks began to paint in 1999, with concentration on drawing and dry pastel painting and has studied with Washington-based artists Terry Furchgott, John Nolan, Drake Deknatel, and Susan Bennerstrom, among others. In 2003, Banks began to focus primarily on acrylic painting on canvas, and in recent years favors wood panels for their unique surface qualities. In 1994 Banks built a home on the river in Plain, and was, for 15 years, a weekender from Seattle. In 2009 he and his wife Sarah became year-round residents. “We appreciate the unspoiled, wild beauty of this area, and spend as much time as possible in exploration of it via foot, ski, and snowshoe,” says Banks, “it is a source of great inspiration to me, spiritually as well as artistically.”
To learn more about Christopher Banks and view his work, visit his online profile. 

About the Gallery
Icicle Arts Gallery presents six solo shows per year and two special exhibits. For more information on the gallery, or to submit a show application visit iciclearts.org/gallery.org or call (509) 548-2278. Icicle Arts programs are made possible by support from members like you. Members receive the monthly e-newsletter featuring local arts events, exclusive invitations to members-only events, and many other great benefits! Visit iciclearts.org or call (509) 548-2278 to learn more or join.

Call for Entries: The Icicle Prize in Songwriting

All of us at Icicle Arts are excited for our upcoming festival featuring the Icicle Prize in Songwriting (sponsored by the Icicle Fund), which takes place September 10-12.  Students and working musicians in Chelan, Douglas, Grant, and Okanagan Counties are invited to submit one original song of any style by the August 16 deadline. The student category includes students up to age 18 and offers the chance to win up to $300, plus a performance slot at the main stage event. The working musician category includes prizes starting at $100 and a grand prize of $1,000!  Ten finalists from this category will also perform at the main stage event in Leavenworth, Washington on Sunday, September 12 at 2:00PM at Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort's Chapel Theater.  Audience members can cast their vote for their favorite performer in the "Audience Choice" award!  Tickets are $12 in advance ($14 at the door) and can be reserved now online or by calling (509) 548-2278.  Songwriters interested in entering may download an entry form.

Throughout the festival weekend there will be numerous music-related events taking place around Leavenworth.  On Friday, September 10, internationally acclaimed solo flamenco guitarist and Leavenworth favorite Andre Feriante will perform at Icicle Creek Music Center’s Canyon Wren Recital Hall. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door, which you can reserve now online or by calling (509) 548-2278.

Additionally, a free “open mic” event, sponsored by Leavenworth Community Coffeehouse, will take place on Saturday, September 11, in downtown Leavenworth.  There will also be film screenings by 2009 Icicle Prize winners, and workshops in a variety of styles.

To learn more about the Icicle Arts Festival, please visit us at iciclearts.org, e-mail info@iciclearts.org, or call us at (509) 548-2278.  And remember - all of our programs are made possible by support from community members like you.  Please help us connect arts and community by joining as a member today!

-Jennifer Hutzel

Presenting Creative Mythologies by Leonardo Lanzolla

Icicle Arts Gallery presents Creative Mythologies, paintings by Seattle-based Italian artist Leonardo Lanzolla. On display now though July 18, the gallery is open Thursday through Sunday, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., or by appointment Monday through Wednesday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The gallery is located along with Barn Beach Reserve and the Upper Valley Museum.

Meet the Artist - This Friday!
Icicle Arts will host a free "Meet the Artist" reception at the gallery on Friday, June 4, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m with refreshments and local wines by Wedge Mountain Winery, Cascadia Winery, Icicle Ridge Winery, and Vin du Lac Winery. Admission is free and all ages are welcome to attend. 

About the Artist
In 1958 Lanzolla was born in Torino, Italy and in 1977 received his diploma in communications from the Sommeiller Institute in Torino. He also studied theater at Torino University and frequented the Academy of Drama in Torino, receiving his diploma as a dramatic actor after three years.  In 1979 Lanzolla spent a year in army service before moving to Rome where he began to professionally act and paint as well.  He held his first fine art exhibit in Rome at “La Lucciola Gallery.”  For the next five years Lanzolla had several art shows in Italy and France.  Then, in 1985, he decided to move to the United States and exhibited his artwork in Los Angeles for a year.  Lanzolla then moved to Billings, Montana where he continued his art practice before settling in his current residence of Seattle with his wife Renee and their daughter Lucia.

Lanzolla describes his show at Icicle Arts as "a poetical visual navigation of my senses, using the energy of my experiences to explore life in a creative way in what I consider …my expressive visual perceptions…a core of suspended mythological dialogues with human heritage, civilization, nature, animals and religion; giving through colors, shaped forms and my painterly carving, a perception of passage through time, using as inner medium the 'nectar of my feelings.'" His process is derived from an Italian Renaissance technique called “Sgraffito” (paint carved on plaster)” but Lanzolla uses clay board instead. He uses tools, knives, and Asian or pottery bushes most often. Lanzolla is intrigued by human spiritual and physical changes through experience over time and has a desire to create visual overtures of artistic impact.

About the Gallery
Icicle Arts Gallery presents six solo shows per year and two special exhibits. For more information on the gallery, or to submit a show application visit iciclearts.org/gallery or call (509) 548-2278. Icicle Arts programs are made possible by support from members like you. Members receive the monthly e-newsletter featuring local arts events, exclusive invitations to members-only events, and many other great benefits! Visit iciclearts.org or call (509) 548-2278 to learn more or join.

Leavenworth Spring Bird Fest, May 13-16

Leavenworth's annual Spring Bird Fest starts this week, with many different arts and science activities and performances to choose from.  Below are the Icicle Arts related events happening throughout the festival:
*  Thursday, May 13, Float and Draw with Lori Aylesworth, sign up through leavenworthspringbirdfest.com

* Music, Magic, & Masterpieces on Friday, May 14 at 7:00 p.m. at Barn Beach Reserve in Leavenworth. This spectacular showcase features After School Arts Program students, Cascade High School’s Dance Team, Steinway and Sony Masterworks artist Andrew T. Miller with Seattle-area musical theater artists Sandy Fedasch, Roy Wilson, John B. Cooper, Holly Chase, Emily Dale, and Haley Rathburn, and award-winning Seattle-area magician Bruce Meyers. Tickets are $10 general admission, and are available online or by calling (509) 548-2278. Proceeds benefit Icicle Arts’ After School Arts Program.  Support your kids' arts education - reserve your tickets now!

* May 7 to 28, Birds Take Flight – A Student Art Exhibit at Icicle Arts Gallery, gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday, 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. or by appointment.

Saturday, May 15:
* Free performances at the Gazebo, Noon to 3pm, featuring the Academy of Dance and Performing Arts, Mission Improv, The Magic of Bruce Meyers, and Edelweiss Dance Acadamie
* A Create Your Own Bird Whistle Workshop: This family-friendly workshop takes place at Barn Beach Reserve from Noon to 4pm in the sun room. $10 per person includes supplies. Maximum enrollment 30 people. Register now by calling (509) 548-2278 or e-mail info@iciclearts.org

* Sunday, May 16, Songbird Music & Dance Concert at Icicle Creek Music Center’s Canyon Wren Recital Hall at 2pm, featuring the Icicle Creek Piano Trio, Marlin Handbell Ringers, and local guest dancers. Tickets are $10 in advance – (509) 548-2278 or online, and $12 at the door, benefiting Bird Fest.

To learn more about Leavenworth Spring Bird Fest, visit iciclearts.org and leavenworthspringbirdfest.com

Icicle Arts programs are made possible by support from members like you. Members receive the monthly e-newsletter featuring local arts events, exclusive invitations to members-only events, and many other great benefits. Visit iciclearts.org or call (509) 548-2278 to learn more or join.

Cherry Orchard Recap

Jan Johnston's production of The Cherry Orchard took a lot of hard work and time, but thanks to all the dedicated actors and crew, the show turned out great!  The play was funny at times and sad at others, but had a memorable impact on audiences.  It especially related well to the fruit orchard country we live in, even though Chekhov's play was written over 100 years ago and took place in Russia, where I didn't even realize they grew cherries!  Overall, the acting was exceptionally well done and the set design and costumes were very professional and realistic.  We appreciate everyone who attended and helped out during the course of the two weekends!  Here's the press from the Wenatchee World.
-Jennifer Hutzel

Earth Day Fair 2010

Thanks to everyone who came out for the Leavenworth Community Earth Day Fair! There was a huge turnout and I think everyone had a great time.  Here are some pictures from yesterday's fun:

This Weekend: The Cherry Orchard

Inside The Cherry Orchard

Upcoming production The Cherry Orchard, presented by the Wenatchee Valley College Drama Department and Icicle Arts, premiers Friday, April 16.  This was the last play written by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov and originally premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre on January 17, 1904, just seven months before he passed away due to illness.

The Cherry Orchard, directed by Leavenworth resident and WVC drama faculty Jan Johnston, includes local college students and members of the community alike. Featured actor and Leavenworth resident Jeanine Salter, who has been extensively involved with Leavenworth Summer Theater (acting and directing) since 1997, will play Madame Ranevsky. Salter’s directing credits include Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Showboat, The Sound of Music, Kiss Me Kate, A Christmas Carol, and most recently, The Pirates of Penzance.  A few of her stand-out performance roles with LST include: Golde (the Momma) in Fiddler on the Roof, Gretchen in The Student Prince, and the Ghost of Christmas Present in A Christmas Carol. Jeanine has also been active in other theaters here in the Upper Valley, performing in Apple Blossom Musicals as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes, Jack’s mom in Into the Woods, and most recently, Penny Sycamore in You Cant Take it With You with Music Theater of Wenatchee. Jeanine achieved her BFA in the professional actors training studio at the University of Illinois and performed in Chicago and Sacramento before making the Pacific Northwest her home.

Another Leavenworth resident, David Brameld, who also has experience in many Leavenworth Summer Theater productions including Kiss Me Kate and A Christmas Carol, will portray Leonid Gayef, the sister of Madame Ranevsky. These two characters are joint owners of the Ranevsky country estate and cherry orchard in Russia, which is the setting for the play.

Icicle Arts and WVC Drama Department present The Cherry Orchard, on April 23 and 24 at 8:00 p.m. at the Campus Theater at Wenatchee Valley College, 1300 Fifth Street. Tickets are $5 for students and seniors, and $10 for adults, available only at the door.   
-Jennifer Hutzel