With more than 40 events packed into five days, the UW鈥檚 Summer Arts Festival continues to be perhaps the most ambitious display of the arts on campus.
But Hannah Wiley, director of the festival that鈥檚 now in its third year, is noticing something different this time. The arts festival is growing up.
鈥淲e鈥檙e definitely feeling a momentum that we haven鈥檛 felt in the past two years,鈥� she said. 鈥淧eople are running out of brochures. The phone is constantly ringing. Faculty and students have begun approaching us to be part of the event rather than our having to recruit. So we鈥檝e definitely turned a corner. People are realizing this has worked and it鈥檚 going to stay.鈥�
The festival, billed as a celebration of beat, begins Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Meany Hall with Mysterio Simpatico 鈥� a concert by guitarist Bill Frisell that will be complemented by the illustrations of artist Jim Woodring. The festival continues with a variety of performances, exhibitions and lectures. Many of the events are free and each of them, Wiley says, somehow fits into the concept of beat.
鈥淥ne of the challenges to finding a theme is coming up with something that works for all art forms,鈥� she said. 鈥淏eat seemed like a natural. There are obvious connections in music, the rhythm of poetry, the rhythm of dance and painting. It also opened up an opportunity to look at the beat generation. That gives us a historical perspective. It seemed like a rich guiding concept.鈥�
Frisell and Woodring won鈥檛 be the only interesting collaboration at the festival. The Seattle Creative Orchestra will be working with the Museum of Glass for a 4:15 p.m. performance Saturday, July 20 in the HUB Auditorium. The School of Drama, the Dance Program and the School of Music will have daily productions of Eurhythmic Voices, a free performance in Grieg Garden. And opera singer Julian Patrick is performing show tunes with jazz pianist Marc Seales, Friday, July 19 at 4:15 p.m. in the HUB Auditorium.
Tickets for festival events are available by calling 206-543-4880. A complete schedule of events is available on the Web at . For additional information contact the festival office by e-mail at artsfest@u.washington.edu or by calling 206-685-6696.