“Winter—Under the Salish Sea” Exhibition, Nov./Dec. 2022
From left to right, “Dancing in the Salish Sea”, Fine Arts Club at South Sound Dance with Cyrra Robinson, "Jelly Town" Madison Elementary/ Graeme Smith, "The Courage of the Salmon" Ali Carras / Olympia Waldorf School and "Winter Under the Salish Sea" Hansen Elementary / Lindsey Johnstone.
Olympia Artspace Alliance invites the community to the latest Art in Olympia Storefronts project, created by students from Fine Arts Club at South Sound Dance, Hansen Elementary School, Olympia Waldorf School and Madison Elementary in the windows of The Goldberg Building. Art will be installed November 28-29, and remain in place through February 2023.
The windows hold the following displays:
"Jelly Town" Madison Elementary / Graeme Smith
"Winter Under the Salish Sea" Hansen Elementary / Lindsey Johnstone
"Dancing in the Salish Sea" Fine Arts Club at South Sound Dance / Cyrra Robinson
"The Courage of the Salmon" Ali Carras / Olympia Waldorf School
The community is invited to attend an opening event on Sunday, December 4, from 11:30 am—12:30 pm. Learn about the exhibit, enjoy musical performances by students, hot cider and more! Location: Goldberg Building at 4th and Capitol.
Approximately 280 students worked under the guidance of art teachers Cyrra Robinson from Fine Arts Club at South Sound Dance, Lindsey Johnstone from Hansen Elementary School, Ali Carras from Olympia Waldorf School and Graeme Smith, from Madison Elementary, with the help of several families.
Art in Olympia Storefronts is a project of Olympia Artspace Alliance. The project was established in 2019 to place original artwork by local artists in vacant windows in downtown Olympia and is supported by the City of Olympia, Olympia Downtown Alliance, ArtsWA and Olympia Federal Savings.
Who: Olympia Artspace Alliance
What: WinterFest 2022 Art in Storefronts
Where: Windows of the Goldberg Building, 403 Capitol Way S, Olympia
When: Exhibit Open for Viewing November 27 through February 2023. The community is invited to attend a community event on Sunday, December 4, at 2 pm.
“Jelly Town”
Teacher: Graeme Smith
School: Madison Elementary
The jellyfish is a mysterious and charming creature that can be found gliding through the depths of the Salish Sea. Our art installation represents the three main jellyfish we see in our water. The Moon Jellyfish is translucent with four clover-like circles in the center of its umbrella. It is not a strong swimmer and mainly drifts with the current as it feeds on plankton and mollusks. The Lion’s Mane Jellyfish is one of the largest jellyfish in the world and is known to eat fish, sea creatures and even other jellyfish. As its name implies, the Lion’ Mane Jellyfish has a large mane of colorful tentacles that eerily trail behind it. The third jellyfish, called the Fried Egg Jellyfish, looks exactly like a fried egg. This art installation was created by students at Madison Elementary School using the sunburst tie-dye technique.
How many different types of jellyfish do you see?
“Winter Under the Salish Sea”
Teacher: Lindsey Johnstone
School: Hansen Elementary
Being an art educator at Hansen Elementary for the past four years has given me a newfound excitement and passion for the arts. I strive to allow my students to experience every type of art in an experimental way. In my classroom, students explore printmaking, painting, drawing, clay, paper mache and more. This exhibit, “Winter Under the Salish Sea,” will show the community the many different types of art my students experience. Every grade level will complete a different project to represent the theme and fill the exhibit. This exhibit will have a large and lasting impact on the Hansen community for the following reasons:
Students will experience viewing their artwork outside the school
Viewing the exhibit will bring the Hansen community together
Show students that the work they do is important and worthy
Students will experience that working together makes something beautiful
"Dancing in the Salish Sea"
Teacher: Cyrra Robinson
School: Fine Arts Club at South Sound Dance
In Fine Arts Club, we often dance like creatures that live in the ocean or sing about animals in the sea, so naturally, we decided to create an installation filled with sea creatures joyfully dancing together in South Puget Sound. Each student worked on individual projects where they painted and experimented with various repurposed materials to bring hand-cut cardboard fish to life. They sculpted colorful jellyfish using paper mache and streamers while older students created a sea animal that inspired them. Everything else in the installation, including the large sea creatures on the floor, were designed and constructed collaboratively between Miss Cyrra and each class of preschoolers. This project instigated meaningful conversations about why these majestic creatures are so important to our planet. Each class discussed what made their chosen sea creature unique, how their diverse characteristics benefited the individual animals, and how they helped the larger ecosystem function as a whole. A jellyfish gracefully sways effortlessly in the Salish sea, a pod of orca whales work together to choreograph a collective charge on their prey, and a school of fish synchronistically swim to survive. This installation serves as a celebratory dance honoring self-expression, biodiversity, and communal belonging.
"The Courage of the Salmon"
Teacher: Ali Carras
School: Olympia Waldorf School
"The Courage of the Salmon - Waldorf's Underwater Wonders" is an underwater representation of our students and their developmental stages. The barnacles symbolize the young early childhood students who are still tightly attached to their grown-ups. The jellyfish represent the amorphous kindergartners who are figuring out their bodies while under an immense amount of growth and change. The sea stars symbolize those who are starting to stretch their minds and independence. The swimming salmon are growing stronger and more courageous as they begin to experience the journey and challenges of life ahead. And the plant life keeps everything in the water alive and healthy. Detail, intentionality and magic are all tightly woven into our classes at OWS. Look for the little ways that our Salish Sea creatures are celebrating the holidays underwater!