Tacoma bassoon student Benjamin Roidl-Ward, a rising senior at Stadium High School, has been named one of 45 recipients of the Emerson scholarship to attend Interlochen Arts Camp this summer. Interlochen, in northwest Michigan, is among the world’s premier summer arts programs for young musicians, and attracts hundreds of participants from 40 countries. Emerson scholars are selected from among the top applicants to the competitive summer arts program.  

Roidl-Ward will study the bassoon and perform with Interlochen Arts Camp’s renowned youth ensembles. Recently chosen to perform a concerto with the Seattle Symphony under prodigy conductor Alexander Prior, …

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Tired of seeing gang graffiti on the bridge at South 112^th Street and Portland Avenue, local graffiti artists have painted over the area to create a mural measuring 50 by 34 feet. The mural was completed last Friday afternoon, and artists say that so far the community response has been positive.

“There was already a painting there by Franklin-Pierce High School students, and a bunch of kids wrote bad stuff over it,” says artist Chris Williamson, one of the 12 artists who spent three days last week on the new mural. “So we did both sides as a mural.” …

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Olympia artist Leah Schrager has a solo show of photo-poems (phoems) at Ballard’s CoCa gallery, opening July 8. Schrager’s work in “PRETTY/WHATEVER” is inspired by her job as a model and dancer, and take on contemporary technology and aesthetics over topics such as beauty, city, country, sex, poetry, pornography, travel, and art. The phoems, in which a short burst of text is overlaid on a photograph, will be on walls, on mirrors, as Facebook guest lists, and in other locations not yet announced.

Schrager grew up in Olympia and graduated from the University of Washington with degrees in biology and …

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The Speakeasy Arts Cooperative, a 16-member artist-run collective in downtown Tacoma, has announced that it is lacking $500 to pay a $600 utility deposit. If it can’t pay, it will have its power turned off tomorrow.

The deposit was required as a result of a six-month trial period after the Speakeasy’s November opening, in which Tacoma Public Utilities assesses commercial properties for their risk of bill default. Since the Speakeasy had paid several late bills, its risk was high and a $900 deposit required. Speakeasy founder Angela Jossy says she got the deposit notice in the mail a …

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The Broadway Center for Performing Arts has announced the prizewinners of its Dream Home Raffle, an awareness-raiser for the organization that manages Tacoma’s downtown theaters. The raffle, the first of its kind in Washington state, has been ongoing since early this year, and has already seen two early draws on February 14 and April 15.

The winners of the final draw, announced Saturday evening, were Sandra Kennewick of Bellevue (Grand Prize, $25,000), Carol Simatic of Tacoma (1^st Prize, $7,500), Sue Larson of Dupont (2^nd Prize, $5,000 or 10-day cruise), Lindsay Helser of Tacoma (3^rd Prize, $1,500 or seven-night vacation in …

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Hallelujah – Cirque du Soleil fans can rejoice. The world-famous Canadian circus company is finally coming to Tacoma, performing their show “Alegria” at the Tacoma Dome from September 15-19. Tickets have just gone on sale.

Although Cirque prices are reflective of the stunning production values and international talent that goes into their touring shows, a Tacoma performance means cheaper parking for South Sounders (or none, if you take public transport), a much shorter drive and less hassle than for the company’s usual performances at Marymoor Park in Redmond.

“Alegria” will play for eight performances at the Dome. Named for …

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Spring and Bjorklund at the Handforth

New this week at the Tacoma Public Library’s Handforth Gallery is “Works of Light,” a duo show by two Tacoma artists. Photographer Victoria Bjorklund explores midnight streets in “Blue Midnight,” while printmaker Jessica Spring takes on artificial light in “Unnatural Light.” 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon.-Thur., 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Fri.-Sat. through Aug.9. Free. TPL main branch, 1102 Tacoma Ave. S., Tacoma. 253-591-5666, www.tacomapubliclibrary.org

Urban Art Fest

It’s back, Tacoma’s downtown all-day arts festival, now six years old. This year the Urban Art Fest moves to the Hilltop, and aims to make art more accessible to …

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Here’s one for your diary next week. Vashon-based harpist Leslie McMichael is ushering in a four-day national harp conference, held in Tacoma July 2-5, with a concert of her own: a free, family-friendly screening of the 1924 silent flick “Peter Pan,” accompanied by her own three-harp score at the Tacoma Public Library.

McMichael was commissioned to write this score four years ago by the Northwest Film Forum, and has since toured it to great success.

“Leslie’s score, though traditional in many ways and entirely faithful to the film, is filled with razzle-dazzle and a sly mischief

…

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