By KELSEY KENNEDY
There’s no reason to be bored on San Juan Island this weekend. The summer season officially begins with four popular events: the Artists’ Studio Tour, the Horticultural Society Garden Tour, Jazz at the Labs, and the Barbershop Bonanza. The weekend will be packed with art, flowers, music and islanders brimming with enthusiasm over their artistic endeavors.
So what exactly is in store?
The Artists’ Studio Tour embarks on its 18th year with more artists and a greater variety than ever before. Seventeen studios — up from 12 last year — will be featured on the tour and will showcase the work of 39 artists.
The variety and creativity of these artists is immense. Stewart Luckman will present sculpture done in marble, using materials he brought back from Italy. Mary Sly will unveil her newest hand-painted silk garments. Keith Keyser will display his unique handcrafted furniture. The list goes on.
Laurie Burns, a local glass artist and second-year contributor to the tour, is excited to open the doors of her studio to the community.
“A different appreciation comes with seeing artwork in the studio, where the work is created,” she said.
For Burns, the Artists’ Studio Tour is a labor of love. “The amount of work that goes into preparing for the tour is Herculean,” she said. The artists have spent months preparing pieces specifically for the weekend and take the time to put special touches on the experience for tour goers at their individual studios.
Dan Wyatt, a founding member of the Artists’ Studio Tour, shares Burns’ excitement for the event. “It’s a fun thing to do,” he said. “And it doesn’t cost anything.”
Added incentives include refreshments provided by the various artists and a raffle for an art piece at every studio.
The Artists’ Studio Tour runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The tour is self-guided and maps may be picked up in several restaurants and stores around town or viewed online at www.sanjuanislandartists.com. The tour is free of charge.
Prepare for sensory overload on the annual San Juan Horticultural Society Garden Tour.
Four gardens will be featured on the tour, demonstrating the breadth and creativity of our green-thumbed neighbors and friends. In one garden, tour-goers will enter a Zen-like oasis. A grotto and Mediterranean stacked walls add to the atmosphere. Another gardener created a campground complete with a fire pit and benches, surrounding it with a variety of foliage (with rhododendrons reaching 20 feet tall) and paths lined with fallen tree trunks.
Tour-goers are encouraged to ask questions of the docents stationed at the various gardens, who are all accredited through the Master Gardener program at Washington State University.
The tour is also an important fund-raiser for three separate causes. Funds will be divided between the Master Gardeners Experimental Garden (with vegetables produced going to the local Food Bank), a landscaping project at the former gravel pit, and county fair premiums.
The garden tour will take place on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets may be purchased for $12 at Browne’s Home Center or Robin’s Nest. The tour is self-guided and a map of the various locations is printed on the back of the ticket.
Seattle’s highly acclaimed Jazz Coalescence — led by Chris Amemiya and Jay Thomas — will be back on the island Saturday night for Jazz at the Labs, alongside the island’s San Juan Jazz Quintet. In its eighth year, Jazz at the Labs remains a popular fund-raising event, bringing the community together for a night of rhythm and blues.
Jill Urbach, singing with the San Juan Jazz Quintet, attributes the success of Jazz at the Labs to it being “a fun event. A good venue and a good cause.”
The cause, as in years past, is the Labs’ K-12 Science Outreach Program, which encourages local students to apply their science knowledge in the field and learn from the expertise of researchers at the Labs.
“The band is happy to help with that goal,” said Dennis Willows, drummer for the quintet and former Labs director. Willows also hopes Jazz at the Labs will encourage those who like what they hear to come and listen to the quintet at Pazzo Vivo on Friday nights from 6-9.
Jazz at the Labs is from 6-9:30 p.m. on Saturday at the U.W. Friday Harbor Labs. For reservations, call 378-2165, ext. 0.
The Barbershop Bonanza is back for another year with a program that features music from the turn of the century to present.
“People walk away happy,” Dick Saylor said of his a capella group’s annual show at the San Juan Community Theatre.
Featured groups include the Island Chordsmen Plus, Lane Four, and the all-female barbershop chorus, Sound Vibrations. New this year is the highly acclaimed Sincerely Yours, a chorus from Langley, B.C.
Although the musical style is a throwback to an earlier time, Saylor emphasized the relevance of barbershop today. “Barbershop brings satisfaction and joy to those who get involved,” he said. “You find people who have been exposed to it everywhere.”
The Barbershop Bonanza begins at 2 p.m. on Sunday at the San Juan Community Theatre. Tickets are $16 and may be purchased at the theater box office or by calling 378-3222.
