PLU’s annual One Act Festival

Three one-act plays combine education and entertainment at Pacific Lutheran University’s annual APO One Act Festival “Loss…and Found,” beginning next Wednesday night. PLU’s chapter of Alpha Psi Omega, the national theater honor society, produces the festival; plays include “Recklessness” by Eugene O’Neill, “Otter Pops” by Alex Eddy and “Poor Little Doggy” by Myia Johnson. 7:30 p.m. Jan. 25, 26, 27 and 28. $5/$3 students. Eastvold Mainstage, Pacific Lutheran University, Park Avenue South and 123^rd Street South, Tacoma. 253-535-7325, www.plu.edu

UPS folk-inspired cello concert

Prize-winning cellist and University of Puget Sound artist-in-residence David Requiro performs a recital of cello works inspired by folk music tonight, along with violinist Maria Sampen and pianist Tanya Stambuk. On the Eastern-European program is music by Janácek, Tsintsadze, Kodály and Bartók, including his “Rumanian Folk Dances.” 7:30 p.m. tonight. $12.50/$8.50 seniors, students, military and UPS faculty and staff/free for UPS students. Schneebeck Concert Hall, University of Puget Sound, 1500 N. Warner St., Tacoma. 253-879-3419, tickets.pugetsound.edu Read more »

Black aviator history at the Washington State History Museum

“Black Wings,” new at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma, explores the history of African American aviators past and present in a Smithsonian exhibit of stories, photographs and artifacts. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. third Thursdays through Jan. 16, 2012. $8/$7/$6/free for under-six, and free for all military, veterans and families on Veterans’ Day. 1911 Pacific Ave., Tacoma. 888-BE-THERE, www.washingtonhistory.org

“Artistry of Quilts” in Gig Harbor

Just opened, “The Artistry of Quilts” at the Harbor History Museum showcases both historic and contemporary examples of …

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When I visited Kopachuck State Park over summer, I noticed an odd thing as I walked back up from the beach: an artist. Sitting on a stool, she was painting a little trail winding down through the forest, along with another family’s kids. The artist was Myrna Binion, and it turns out she wasn’t just painting a pretty scene but a scene that won’t look the same again for a long time. Firs and hemlocks are being knocked down at Kopachuck this fall because of root rot, but they’ll live forever thanks to artists like Binion who have captured …

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The Harbor History Museum in Gig Harbor, closed since 2008 while awaiting the construction of a new 15,000 square foot facility on the downtown waterfront, has just received a naming gift of $1.5 million. The gift is from the Sehmel family, and will enable the museum to open on September 18 this year as the Sehmel Family Harbor History Museum.

“We are proud that the new museum will bear the name of the Sehmel family, whose long history on the Peninsula is one of hard work, community involvement and generosity,” said Walt Smith, board president.

The gift reduces the …

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Tacoma Concert Band mixes Russian and American

Seattle soprano Heidi Vanderford is the soloist in the Tacoma Concert Band’s final show of the season, “A Russian-American Potpourri,” including works by Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Gershwin and Bernstein, plus student solo winner flutist Candy Chang. 7:30 p.m. May 1. $15-$30. Pantages Theater, 901 Broadway, Tacoma. 253-591-5894, www.broadwaycenter.org, www.tacomaconcertband.org

“Flow” at Mineral

Calligraphic art from locals Andrea Erickson and Maureen McHugh – the one sumi-character-based, the other modernist – is up now at Mineral. Noon-5 p.m. Tue, Thur and Sat and by appointment. Free. 301 Puyallup Ave. Ste. A, Tacoma. 253-250-7745, www.lisakinoshita.com

Outsider …

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