RSSTieton Summer Solstice -- In the 'Ozone'
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TIETON -- In an old fruit warehouse in this tiny Central Washington town, an igloo has formed.
Here, in a former cold storage room, icebergs are floating on a rolling sea. A starry night sky gives way to glimpses of the northern lights.
This arcticscape is part of an eerie, exciting, electrifying installation/performance art piece created by Seattle artist Allan Packer. Titled "The Ozone Room," it fills this immense, echoey space.
"I thought the irony of building an igloo in here was ideal," says the 51-year-old Packer. He has spent the past two weeks building "The Ozone Room" with the help of Stephan "Buck," who's been involved in the theater and special events business for 40 years.
"The Ozone Room" will debut this weekend as part of Tieton Summer Solstice -- Arts Unbound, a celebration that includes art displays and book arts demonstrations, as well as an evening dinner and concert to benefit the Artist Trust and the Yakima Symphony Orchestra.
Without giving too much away about "The Ozone Room" -- which is part of the evening fundraiser -- it includes "Corvus Corvax," the igloo sculpture made of cast urethane that Packer created in 2005 at the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada. The piece was derived from Packer's experiences living in 1980 in the high arctic community of Cape Dorset, known as the "capital of Inuit art."
Rising up from the igloo is a Tesla coil -- to make the Aurora Borealis -- rows of black lights and a time machine, an art piece Packer created in 2006. During the 10-minute performance, there will be live narration, actors that look like stick figures and a soundtrack taken from deep space.
"The Ozone Room," explains Packer, addresses a number of contemporary problems such as global warming and cross-racial issues, as well as questions like "what's out there," he says. The actual performance features "a sequence of events that are abstract but that tell a story," says Packer.
"This has really grown," he says of the installation. "It's taken five years to come to this place."
Packer first got the idea after visiting the warehouse during a similar event last year, which served as the major coming out party for Mighty Tieton, the name given to Seattle art book publisher Ed Marquand's vision for this former bustling fruit hub that sits roughly 20 miles outside Yakima.
Marquand's hope is to establish the foundation for a community of artisan businesses and hospitality enterprises -- think furniture design, gift lines, concrete casting, catering companies, even a distillery.
"Some things are moving slower. I wish we had the cafe and tavern open," says the 54-year-old Marquand.
"But, financially, we need to catch our breath," he adds.
So far, Marquand has renovated the old town pharmacy into the Book Arts Studio -- a place for his employees to get away from computers and get back to book-arts basics. He's also purchased a number of storefronts, a former church-turned-community-events center called Harvest Hall and two fruit warehouses.
One warehouse has been -- almost unbelievably -- transformed into 14 airy live/work lofts.
The other, the Mighty Tieton Warehouse, houses a letterpress print shop and artist studios, including a workspace occupied by Trimpin, a Seattle-based multi-media artist and recipient of a 1997 MacArthur Foundation "genius grant." (You know that electronic, funnel-shaped sculpture of guitars at the center of the Experience Music Project in Seattle? Trimpin made that.)
Next to Trimpin's space is where Packer has been working. The large, cold storage room has been a place to experiment and develop ideas, he says.
"It's a very nurturing place," says Packer, who also loves the geography of the area and the stories from the Tieton old-timers who've come by to see what he's doing.
"Here, it's come and make art," he says.
Although Packer's piece will be under wraps during the day Saturday, visitors can check out the Mighty Tieton Warehouse, where works from a broad array of Northwest artists will be on display. Admission is $5 and benefits Tieton Arts & Humanities, a nonprofit corporation formed to produce educational events in conjunction with Mighty Tieton. Children with adults are admitted free, as are ticket holders to that night's fundraiser.
Also on Saturday, just down Wisconsin Avenue in Galeria Dos -- one of those storefront's Marquand bought up -- the young and adventurous artists from Seattle's PUNCH Gallery will host an art and book swap and rummage sale.
And in the Book Arts Studio, there will be an exhibition and sale of artists' books, prints and books about artists, plus a medieval bookbinding demonstration by bookbinder, toolmaker and conservator Jim Croft of northern Idaho. Croft builds books completely by hand without any electric machines or tools.
If you get hungry, the Tieton Lions Club will be firing up the grills in the town square.
Saturday evening, the Mighty Tieton Warehouse will be the site of the multifaceted fundraiser for the YSO and Artist Trust, the Seattle-based, not-for-
profit organization that provides direct funding to Washington artists and serves as a professional information resource. There will be art installation/performance pieces by Packer, Trimpin and Thomas Matthiesen during the reception hour.
Dinner follows with a chamber music performance, with oration, of "Façade," featuring music by William Walton and poems by Dame Edith Sitwell.
The festivities wrap up Sunday morning at Harvest Hall with a light breakfast and conversation led by Brooke Creswell, conductor for the YSO. Creswell, along with Washington state Poet Laureate Sam Green, and artist, activist and creative community builder Karen Guzak will discuss "Creative Communities in Collaboration." Admission to the breakfast is $15 at the door.
If you go
WHAT: Tieton Summer Solstice -- Arts Unbound.
WHO: Presented by Artist Trust, Mighty Tieton, Tieton Arts & Humanities and the Yakima Symphony Orchestra.
WHEN & WHERE: Saturday and Sunday throughout Tieton.
SCHEDULE:
* 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday -- Barbecue in the town square. Proceeds benefit the Tieton Lions Club
* Noon-5 p.m. Saturday -- Art and exhibits in the Mighty Tieton Warehouse. Admission is $5. (Free for that night's benefit dinner and performance ticket holders.) Proceeds benefit Tieton Arts & Humanities
* Noon-5 p.m. Saturday -- Art exhibits, demonstrations and bookstore in the Book Arts Studio. Admission is free.
* Noon-5 p.m. Saturday -- Seattle's PUNCH Gallery hosts an art and book swap and rummage sale in Galeria Dos.
* 5-10 p.m. Saturday -- Tieton Solstice benefit dinner and performance in the Mighty Tieton Warehouse. Tickets cost $100 through www.brownpapertickets.com.
* 10 a.m.-noon Sunday -- Light breakfast and conversation at Harvest Hall. Topic is "Creative Communities in Collaboration." Admission is $15 at the door.
INFO: For complete event and ticket information, visit www.mightytieton.com or www.artisttrust.org.
