Arts Walk Survey
Thank you for coming out to celebrate and engage with our incredible and talented arts community and bringing all your beautiful energy to invigorate Arts Walk. If you attended, we'd love to hear how the experience was for you - we really want to know! If you have a few minutes, please complete a short survey to share your feedback. Your responses are valuable to our team and used to help shape future Arts Walk events. If you missed it, be sure to save the dates for spring - April 24-25, 2026.
Now accepting applications for the Arts Walk 2026 Cover Artists
Each year two artists are selected and commissioned by the City to create a new, original work of art to be featured in the Arts Walk poster and other event publications. One artist is highlighted for each the fall and spring events. Artists are selected through a call for art that typically takes place in the fall for the following year.
Selected artists receive $750 to create a new work, and are featured through multiple ways, often including:
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exclusive in-studio interviews
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City's website & social media platforms
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promotion through additional event marketing and publications.
APPLY online by November 17, 2025 at 11:45pm.
Experiments In Poetry - Virtual Writing Workshop
Olympia's Poet Laureate hosts the virtual writing workshop Experiments in Poetry, a two-hour hands-on lab for language. With poets A.M. O'Malley and Grant Gerald Miller, we'll cut, collage, and re-wire words-trying constraint games, erasures, found text, and quick prompts that spark surprise. No experience needed. Bring a pen, your curiosity, and a willingness to break the poem open.
A.M. O'Malley is a poet, educator, and community arts organizer. She's the author of Tuscaloosa Grief Factory and Expecting Something Else, and her work explores memory, class, and resilience. A longtime teaching artist, she's led writing workshops in prisons, schools, and community centers across the country.
Grant Gerald Miller is a poet, editor, and photographer whose work blurs image and text to examine place, intimacy, and inheritance. His writing and photography have appeared in journals and exhibitions throughout the U.S., and he co-leads creative writing workshops focused on experimentation and collaboration.
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Saturday December 13th, 1-3pm
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ZOOM event - Register here
City Seeks to Fill Vacancies on Advisory Boards, Commissions and Committees
The City of Olympia is seeking community members interested in being appointed by the City Council to serve on City advisory committees. Advisory committees provide a way for residents to share opinions and perspectives, study issues, develop recommendations, and provide advice from the community perspective to the Olympia City Council.
The advisory committee application period is now open and runs until Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, at 5 p.m. Membership terms generally run for three years, with appointments beginning on April 1 and ending March 31. Applications are being accepted for vacancies and upcoming vacancies on the following committees serving the City of Olympia (see link for list).
Join us at Olympia Parks, Arts and Recreation for some great classes!
To register or for more information, please click the link after each class, call 360-753-8380 or stop by to see us at The Olympia Center, 222 Columbia Street NW, Olympia.
Performing Arts & Dance
Americana Ukulele, Oct 25-Dec 6
Creative Contemporary Dance, Nov 3 - Dec 9
Guitar II, Nov 6-20
Ukulele Holiday Songs, Nov 12-Dec 17
Visual Arts, & Crafts
November Writing Challenge, Oct 25
Starscapes, Nov 1
Dotting Holiday Card (Dot painting), Nov 5-12
Life Drawing, Nov 5-19
Art Sampler, Nov 6-20
Palette Knife Painting with Acrylics, Nov 8
Exploring The Creative Arts Therapies, Nov 8-22
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Upcoming Events at Olympia AHA Museum
Maritime History Walking Tours are back - for one final date!
Don't miss your chance to walk Olympia's historic working waterfront with experts in maritime history! This tour is on a flat route and explores the historic waterfront and the future site of the restored Parthia.
Historic Postcards with Dwight Moody
Dwight Moody is opening up his collection of hundreds of historic Olympia postcards for public view. Each postcard has a story! Page through his collection and you're sure to learn something new and fascinating.
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Sunday, November 2 1:00pm-4:00pm
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Free event at the Oly AHA Museum, 203 Columbia St. N
Newsletter Roundup
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News of the Week in Downtown Olympia!
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Opening Weekend is HERE! - Emerald City Music
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Lordy, lordy, Artist Trust is 40! Save the date for our biggest celebration yet
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November Adventures in Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater,and Scenic Thurston County
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Music Video, Mentor Calls & Documentary Podcast - The Bridge Music Project
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ArtsWA Grants to Arts Organizations
We are excited to open three new grant programs funded by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). We are grateful to and congratulate the NEA as it celebrates 60 years of support of artists and arts organizations.
Because funding is being made available late in the year, projects that are eligible and already in progress but are not completed may receive reimbursement for expenses already incurred. All three grants have an extended project period to August 30, 2026.
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FY26 - America 250 - Latine and Hispanic History in Washington State
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Deadline to Apply: November 17, 2025
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Grants: $1,000 - $2,000
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FY26 - America 250 - Support for Free Outdoor Music Performances
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Deadline to Apply: November 17, 2025
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Grants: $1,000 - $2,000
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FY26 - Cultivating Healthy Communities - Arts, Health, and Well-Being in Rural Communities
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Deadline to Apply: November 17, 2025
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Grants: $3,000 - $5,000
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To learn more about these and other opportunities
Join us for Communities of Practice
TAT Lab 'Office Hours' for teaching artists and educators
In an ever-evolving arts education landscape, a community of practice and peer support can hold us accountable, inspire ideas and help us navigate our personal and collective arts education work.
Teaching artists/Arts educators in WA state are invited to join TAT Lab faculty for "Communities of Practice," a series of open-ended, conversational Zoom sessions where participants can give and receive feedback about your works in progress.
Public Art Calls for Artists + October 2025
Each month we send out artist calls managed by 4Culture, as well as a selection of calls submitted to us by organizations around the world. Visit our website to see all open calls, grants, jobs, and other opportunities.
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The ARCH Digest is a summary of Arts, Culture and History happenings in the greater Olympia area, submitted by the community. Please turn in ArCH Digest listings to [email protected]. Deadline Monday morning, 8 a.m. If you know of anyone who would like to receive the City of Olympia Arts & Culture news, which includes a weekly ArCH Digest, direct them here and have them mark the Arts & Culture box. Disclaimer: Information in the Arts Digest is not vetted through the City, nor is it endorsed by the City. The reader is solely responsible for checking background on any opportunity listed above.
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Contact
Stephanie Johnson, Arts Program Manager
Olympia Parks, Arts & Recreation
360.709.2678
[email protected]
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