Arts
and Entertainment
The outstanding beauty of the Olympic Peninsula - and its proximity to major cultural centers in Seattle, Victoria and Vancouver - attracts a great number of people who are artistically inclined, making participation in and support for artistic activities unusually high.
- The 75-member Port Angeles Symphony has performed for more than 60 seasons and received numerous awards. In 1985, the Symphony became one of the first American community orchestras to tour and perform in the Peoples Republic of China. Summer offerings include a light opera production and a chamber music festival.
- The Port Angeles Fine Arts Center is the legacy of Esther Barrows Webster - artist, publisher and philanthropist. She married Charles Webster, scion to the founders and publishers of the Port Angeles Evening News. An acclaimed painter and creator of the cultural climate around her, she bequeathed her estate to the City of Port Angeles to establish a Fine Arts Center. Olympic quality and contemporary art are found outside and inside the venue, and the artwork and performances educate and stimulate natural creativity in visitors. A true legacy for the enjoyment and enlightenment of the community and its visitors. A must see.
- Live arts are respected and requested by Clallam County's culturally literate residents of today. Olympic Theater Arts in Sequim promises to deliver a state-of-the-art facility ready for use by 2005. The best of local theatre has grown in the last two decades in Sequim and a more sophisticated and humorous call of productions has been bringing down the house. The unique combination has attracted a three-generation audience and quite possibly has saved the theatre from extinction. Christmas-time productions are especially enjoyable for the simple pleasure of a "Norman Rockwell" moment with the family.
- Since 1952, the Port
Angeles Community Players has provided staged productions for
community enjoyment. Esther Barrows Webster gave the land on which
the theatre has been built, as a part of her support for Arts in Port
Angeles. Her dream was a Fine Arts Center and a Community Theatre
next to each other, and so they are!
In 1971, through dedicated community effort, the Port Angeles Community Playhouse became a reality. Since its beginning, it has celebrated theater by staging more than 200 musicals, comedies and dramas, involving hundreds of community members as actors, directors, set designers, stage crews, ushers, graphic designers, box office personnel and the like. - Festivals and Events celebrate arts and entertainment year round on the Peninsula and they have continued to grow as today's young parents want to share the relaxed world of creativity and nature in an extremely busy, fast-paced world.
