Join the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts for Soulful Jazz at the Summer Jazz Weekend

A double header of soulful tunes will greet viewers July 12-13 for the Summer Jazz Weekend at the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts (WICA).

The two nights of jazz will open on July 12 with the 7:30 p.m. performance by the Thomas Marriott Quartet. Called “one of the best trumpet players in the world” by JazzTimes Magazine, trumpeter, composer, and producer Thomas Marriott is a force for jazz on the West Coast.

A chameleon of musical styles, Marriott’s horn has been in demand with bands like the Grammy-Award winning Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Captain Black Big Band, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstafunk, hip-hop pioneer Deltron 3030, and vocalists Kurt Elling, Ernestine Anderson, Michael Feinstein and Rosemary Clooney. Marriott has 14 albums to his credit and is the youngest inductee into the Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame. In 2024 he was named a “Jazz Hero” by the Jazz Journalists Association of America.

On July 13, the 7:30 p.m. performance, Come Away With Me…Cool Tunes for Hot Summer Nights, will offer patrons an evening of musical enchantment by Whidbey Island icons Ada Rose Faith-Feyma, Troy Chapman, and Sheila Weidendorf. All three performers are no strangers to the WICA mainstage and will bring to the performance their exceptional skill and creativity.

The talented Faith-Feyma, who has been performing at WICA since age seven, will be on vocals, with the masterful Chapman strumming the guitar, and the amazing Weidendorf on piano. This trio of exceptional artists will leave viewers wanting more.

To learn more about the artists and these events, please visit www.wicaonline.org/summerjazzweekend.

The Cake | Auditions

AUDITION FOR THIS PLAY

Roles

Della: Female presenting Caucasian woman, 40-50.

Tim: Male presenting man, 40-50.

Jen: Female presenting woman, early to mid twenties.

Macy: Female presenting woman, early to mid twenties. Preference will be for a BIPOC actress, although the playwright allows the role of Macy to be played by any ethnicity. 

From the Director: 

This play means so much to me! I feel my own life experience has prepared me to direct this show and I’m beyond thrilled to have the opportunity to bring it to life at WICA. Della and Tim are a middle-aged, conservative and religious couple who love each other but haven’t really connected for years. They are comfortable living each day pretty much the same, but their love for each other gives them the strength to try new things.  

Jen and Macy live and love in the present. Macy could care less about a wedding or a cake but she knows how much it means to Jen. Jen is torn between her conservative upbringing and the life she is now living.

This play is about love and growth and the willingness to step out of ones’ comfort zone to learn and understand. There is no villain in this play, just four people who have strong beliefs, biases and feelings. Della loves Jen. Tim loves Della. Macy loves Jen and Jen loves Della AND Jen and is split in two trying to be the little girl Della knew as well as the adult woman Macy fell in love with.

Here’s what the publisher says about the play:

Della makes cakes, not judgment calls – those she leaves to her husband, Tim. But when the girl she helped raise comes back home to North Carolina to get married, and the fiancé is actually a fiancée, Della’s life gets turned upside down. She can’t really make a cake for such a wedding, can she? For the first time in her life, Della has to think for herself.

Local Auditions 6:30-8pm on July 23/24

1 to 1.5 minute contemporary monolouge. Either serious or comic. Video submission accepted as well.

reach out to Deana Duncan to sign up for an audition or with any questions.

Callbacks on July 25th.

Play runs: OCTOBER 10 - 26 

Also accepting video auditions.

Script available upon request.

Reach out to deana.duncan@wicaonline.org for specific audition information.

Rehearsals begin the 2nd week of September and the show opens October 10th. 

Lasher Gallery Artist Profile: Daniel Imburgia

Through August, artist Daniel Imburgia will be showing works at the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts (WICA) Lasher Gallery. To learn more about Imburgia’s creative process, inspiration, and much more, check out the following Q&A with the artist.

WICA: When did you first become interested in this art form?

Imburgia: “After I encountered my first Van Gogh in the 6th grade I became interested in what paint could do. I was raised Roman Catholic by my Sicilian grandparents so I was also influenced by ecclesial iconography/icons; which I also later went on to “Write” (as they say in Eastern Orthodoxy), but constructing images/meaning with paint has been my main focus—with constructing images/meaning with language a close second.”

WICA: How do you determine the subject matter?

Imburgia: “Many/All ways. For example, the “Horse Slaughter Camp” painting was first conceived more than 50 years ago when I worked on the Yakama Indian Reservation and learned of the horrific slaughter of 900 Indian ponies near Spokane in 1859. Over the next 5 decades I made some sketches, wrote some poetry and songs, read Sherman Alexie’s short story about the massacre, attempted several paintings, and then at the beginning of Covid lockdown I (with the help of artist friends) constructed the mural now installed here at WICA. After that I encountered a science magazine that described “gynandgomorphism” and after doing some research I was so taken with the beauty of these amazing beings that I began painting gynandromorph butterflies. The painting titled “The Inventions of Eve” was inspired by a trip to the Sistine chapel and Vatican museum where I first began reimagining alternative creation stories that might challenge the patriarchichal narratives that have dominated Western cultures.”

WICA: What do you love most about what you do?

Imburgia: “Creativity.”

WICA: What is it like for you to show your pieces at WICA?

Imburgia: “This will be my first show at WICA, and so far I greatly appreciate all the enthusiastic support for my work and the amazing opportunity this place/people offer to so many different types of art/artists. Much obliged.”

To view the art pieces, please visit WICA’s Lasher Gallery during regular business hours or by appointment.

Whidbey Telecom Summer Nights Series Returns to Whidbey Island Center for the Arts

Once again, music will be heard along Camano Avenue in Langley with the start of the Whidbey Telecom Summer Nights Series at the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts (WICA). A musical tradition born out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the series features community and concerts under the big tent as well as concerts and theatre on the WICA mainstage.

“Summer Nights began during the COVID shutdown to provide entertainment and good company,” says WICA Executive Artistic Director Deana Duncan. “That first night, with the sounds of a piano filling the air, bringing us all together, we knew the power of the arts could and would help us heal. And so, Summer Nights was born.”

Now in its fourth year, the Summer Night Series is a summer-long community celebration of the arts—iconic with its large white tent that takes up residence outside of Zech Hall through the warmer Pacific Northwest months. Happy Hour Under the Tent will begin on June 21, and will continue throughout August on every Friday and Saturday evening, 5:00-7:00 p.m. Happy Hours do not have a cover charge or a minimum purchase for attendees.

The Summer Night Series will officially start on July 5, with a Summer Kick-Off Party featuring Rubatano Marimba. Back by popular demand, this outdoor music event brought laughter, dancing, and community connection to the tent last year, and is sure to be another wonderful experience.

With summer just around the corner, be sure to check out all of the wonderful programming available at YOUR community arts center. Click here to learn more about the Summer Nights Series programming and updates on the series schedule.

The Hundred Acre Wood Comes to Whidbey Island

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN

The 2024 Summer Conservatory is back at the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts (WICA) with registration now open for youth ages 8-13. In collaboration with the Whidbey Institute, the Youth Summer Theatre Camp will take place August 5-16, with time split among the WICA and the Whidbey Institute campuses.

“We are excited to welcome the Summer Conservatory back to WICA with the Whidbey Institute,” says WICA Executive Artistic Director Deana Duncan. “Our community is an important part of our mission, and supporting youth as they explore the arts brings me so much joy. We must nurture our youth in following creative endeavors, which have the power to touch their lives in profound ways. This camp is a wonderful opportunity to do that.”

The camp is taught by Whidbey Children’s Theatre teacher Katie Kammerer, who holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre Arts with an emphasis in stage management from Southern Oregon University.

“This camp provides the unique opportunity of getting to learn and create both in a professional theatre and exploring the great outdoors on a beautiful stage. The setting is idyllic for both this play and this age group,” says Kammerer. “My belief is that theatre and the arts are about more than just a creative outlet. Theatre helps to teach empathy and kindness, two traits that cannot be learned too early or too often. I am never happier than when teaching children and watching them grow their skills in the way they treat each other as they discover new things in the world around them.”

This year’s play takes youth on a journey through the Hundred Acre Wood, or to be more precise, 106 acres of the Whidbey Institute. With a special Winnie-the-Pooh screenplay by playwright Lindsay Price, participants will enjoy a two-week adventure camp filled with magic, acting, and the great outdoors.

“The arts can give our youth community self-confidence, it can provide a place where there's a moment of release and levity,” says Price. “The arts build so many important skills that students will use for the rest of their life. It gives me a lot of pride to play a small part in that experience.”

The first week of the camp will be spent at WICA, with students learning about lightning, sound, costuming and sets as they build their own show on the WICA mainstage. The second week will take place on the outdoor StoryHouse Stage at the Whidbey Institute, where attendees will rehearse the play and enjoy the natural surroundings of this transformational learning center. The camp will conclude with a weekend of performances by the students.

“I am so excited for this collaboration with Whidbey Island Center for the Arts,” says Rose Woods, co-executive director for the Whidbey Institute. “Nothing gives my heart more joy than bringing back some theatrical magic to the enchanted StoryHouse amphitheatre with Winnie-the-Pooh with young theatre artists, directed by Katie Kammerer! This collaboration is a dream come true for me!”

With registration now open, the camp’s 16 spots are filling up. The fee for the two-week camp is $500, with some scholarship funding available. For those interested in learning more and participating in the camp, please visit the 2024 Summer Conservatory website for registration details.