BEST SOON-TO-BE-FAMOUS OLY ARTIST

Becky Knold

Becky Knold is an up-and-coming artist who is on fire. She took up painting late in life, after retiring from teaching, and only in the past year has she started showing in galleries. Knold was in about six shows last year and already has about that many lined up for 2012, including a show at Flow next month and a four-person invitational at Pierce College in the fall. Knold makes very simple and beautiful abstract paintings with a wonderful touch for space, texture and subtle color variations. - Alec Clayton

MOST IMPROVED DRAMA CAMPER

Capital Playhouse

If all Capital Playhouse had going for it was a solid rebuilding year, that wouldn't have been enough for me to bestow this award upon it. Shows like Scrooge and the 2011 Carvy award-winner for best production, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, weren't simply better than previous efforts; they were unconditionally great. Capital Playhouse expanded its roster of directors, pushed its regular staff to new heights, and delivered on its mission to train and inspire young theater talent. So who's the real winner? Oly's theatergoing public, that's who. My expectations for 2012 are sky-high. - Christian Carvajal

[Capital Playhouse, 612 Fourth Ave. E, Olympia, 360.943.2744, capitalplayhouse.com]

BEST ROCK OF GIBRALTAR IN OLY

Childhood's End Gallery

Like the famous rock at the entrance to the Mediterranean, Childhood's End Gallery has withstood the test of time. The gallery just celebrated its 40th anniversary. Bill and Richenda Richardson opened the business right after they graduated from college - childhood was over, time to get to work, thus the name. The business near the bridge at the foot of Fourth Avenue features a large gift shop with unique items from fine artisans. The gallery, which has revolving shows of local and area artists, is in a room adjacent to the gift shop. Over 40 years of existence Childhood's End has  shown works by almost every well-known artist ever to emerge from Olympia. I hope they can continue that tradition for the next 40 years. - AC

[Childhood's End Gallery, 222 Fourth Ave. W, Olympia, 360.943.3724, childhoods-end-gallery.com]

GURU-IEST FILMMAKER

Hirsh Diamant

To the folks out there who believe the classic truism, "Those who can't do, teach" - prepare to get schooled. Hirsh Diamant's current position as an arts instructor at Olympia's Evergreen State College comes after a lifetime of traveling the world and finding beauty everywhere. Diamant's cosmopolitan background informs courses like "Visual Literacy," in which he trains students to work in photography, animation and film. But Diamant knows the value of putting theory into practice - his art has shown at the Olympia Film Festival, and he's an active member of Developing Artists Olympia (DAO). This guru definitely walks his own talk. - Christopher Wood

OLYMPIA'S RISING FILMMAKER

Jeff Stillwell

Olympia has a quadruple talent in its midst. You may know Jeff Stillwell already through the music of his solo act, Deer City. But 2011 saw Stillwell's crossover into filmmaking, where he began to show promise in acting, writing and directing. While the Tacoma-produced short Dessert and Suicide (in which Stillwell stars) bops to festivals around the country, Stillwell crisscrosses Western Washington, shooting scenes for his first feature-length script and directorial debut. A trippy tale about religious cults and fallen heroes, Henryk is the vision of one audacious artist. Follow the film at henrykmovie.weebly.com. - CW

BEST THEATRICAL TEAM PLAYERS

Patrick Wigren & Casi Wilkerson

Ensemble cast members stole the proverbial show in 2011. Not that there weren't fine lead performances, mind you, often from kids or other newbies. It's exciting when talents like Sam Cori and Ryan Holmberg break out of the pack, whether as leads or supporting players. But to stage a truly outstanding production, there can be no weak links. Patrick Wigren's attention to physical detail is damn near Grotowskian (hey, there, theater nerds!), while Casi Wilkerson's approach is more vocal. Meanwhile, David Wright was unforgettable in Unexpected Tenderness, bested only by Wigren's full season. To be honest, this year's list of Best Supporting Actor nominees could have run to 20 names. - CC

BEST "WHY DON'T WE SEE MORE OF HER?" ARTIST

Marilyn Frasca

It seems like the only time I see paintings by Marilyn Frasca is when she's in a group show at Childhood's End Gallery. Why don't we see more of Frasca's art? She's outstanding. Her work verges on the surrealistic with powerful images and wonderful textures. Frasca is a longtime art professor at The Evergreen State College and has lots of fans, so she really ought to be seen much more. Frasca is an excellent artist. If you can't find her in any area galleries at least check out her website at marilynfrasca.com. - AC

BEST LOVE CHILD OF SALVADOR DALI & JAN VAN EYCK

Lisa Sweet

Lisa Sweet, another one of those strange Evergreen professors, is an inventive painter whose style and imagery is a cross between Jan Van Eyck and Salvador Dali. Is she Catholic? I don't know, but there seems to be a lot of conflicted Catholicism in her paintings, not to mention a lot of torturous images that could give the Spanish Inquisition ideas. Sweet's paintings are skillfully executed and filled with strange and baffling images, and quite a bit of clever and dark humor. - AC

BEST BLIND ARTIST

Jeff Freels

Jeff Freels might be Olympia's only blind visual artist, actually, but that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve recognition. His highly detailed illustrations can be seen in cartoons, ads, role-playing games, the Capitol Theater Coloring Book and even on the cover of this very issue of the Weekly Volcano. "His work is jaw-dropping," says theater manager Audrey Henley. Just to clarify, Freels is legally blind, which means he walks with a white cane. But he can see enough to draw, using magnifying lenses and working with his eyes very close to the drawing surface. Find more about Jeff Freels' work at jeffwerx.com. - Molly Gilmore

BEST THEATER TREND

Shorter curtain speeches

I admit there are two equally valid mindsets on the issue of curtain speeches. Some theater patrons enjoy the personal welcome; there's no denying it increases donations. A case could be made for putting faces to administrative names. But for my money, curtain speeches are best when they're brief and knitted into the world of the play. Why go to all the trouble of handpicking house music and setting up lobby displays, only to yank the audience out of that milieu only moments before curtain? Worse yet, why panhandle patrons who've already coughed up 30 hard-earned dollars? We know to turn off our cell phones, and we're pretty sure you could use a few more bucks. There's room in the program to ask for donations and thank all the sponsors. Now, just tell us a wonderful story. - CC

BEST REDHEADED GALLERY OWNER

Jo Gallaugher

Jo Gallaugher took a huge chance opening Matter Gallery in Olympia. Well hell, opening any gallery anywhere is a huge risk, but no gallery has ever survived in Olympia without being attached to a related business such as a frame shop or a gift shop. For all Olympia's weirdness and wonderfulness, it has never supported art. But Gallaugher has managed to make Matter Gallery survive (although business has taken a hit lately), and she's done it without catering to popular taste but by sticking to what she considers quality art with an emphasis on art from recycled materials. - AC

[Matter gallery, 113 Fifth Ave. SW, Olympia, 360.943.1760, matteroly.com]

BEST VISION

Olympia as a theater destination

I'm ashamed to say it, but summer 2011 marked my first visit to Ashland's Oregon Shakespeare Festival. It blew my mind, not because the shows were so polished - I expected nothing less - but because Interstate-5 was choked with luggage-laden RVs and SUVs, all on a quest to see theater. Times Square isn't the only square mile in which Americans crave live entertainment. Thanks to three very strong homegrown companies (plus Animal Fire, the Washington Center, and a handful of hit-or-miss lesser troupes), we have a real shot at building Ashland North in Olympia. I've heard rumblings to that effect from folks all over town. Find Olympia Family Theater a permanent space, work Capital Playhouse out of debt - and a decade from now, that stream of hungry tourists could be headed our way. - CC

BEST SHORT FILM OF 2011

Pacifica: The Biggest Stick

Created by Olympia's Mutually Assured Productions, Pacifica: The Biggest Stick has a vibe all its own. Pulling off a dystopia that looks convincing ain't easy, especially without a Blade Runner-sized budget. But writer-director Charles Chadwick and cinematographer Ken Carlson suck you in with deep shadows and a hypnotic score. The film's core takes place in an alley where a military official begs his kidnappers for life. What he says before the perhaps inevitable end may have you rethinking what freedom and revolution mean. Pacifica's message isn't that society's collapse will come someday; it's already arrived. - CW

BEST THEATER BITCH SESSION

Facebook

When a young actor was released from an Olympia Little Theater drama for missing a dress rehearsal, he could have simply admitted his mistakes and hunkered down to rebuild his reputation. When one of Olympia's best-known theater talents parted ways with his previous company, he could've noted its immediate and obvious improvement and kept that simmering beef to himself. For that matter, we could put on suits and ties and get office jobs, but where's the fun in that? We're theater people, damnit! Temper tantrums are in our blood! TO THE FACEBOOK! Ah, Facebook, turning dignified social networks into multiple-exclamation-pointed melees since 2004. - CC

BEST SHOWS YOU DIDN'T SEE

Bunnicula & Oleanna

I was in the latter show, so I'm biased. I admit that up front. But if you'd seen how worked up our few audience members got, you'd understand why I still pimp Oleanna months after the fact. Director John Munn turned two actors, a desk, two chairs and a wall into a perfect storm of ideological conflict. I abhor Mamet's script, but I wish I could've seen this production from another perspective. (Added business subverted the text to shape a crescendo that left people breathless.) As for Bunnicula, its attendance fell way below Olympia Family Theater's reasonable projections. Was its title too strange? Did parents worry it was scarier than it was? Peter Kappler helmed a show as well acted, imaginatively designed, and entertaining as any "grown-up" production last year. - CC

BEST FILM FEST

Olympia Film Festival

Where else but the Olympia Film Festival will you find teens going ape over the near century-old antics of Buster Keaton? What other fest culminates in a horror film frenzy, bathing itself in B-movie blood with a show called All Freakin' Night? Housed in the spacious Capitol Theater, the Olympia Film Festival works hard in bringing the magic of yesterday's cinema to today's audience, while supporting the latest and greatest from talented moviemakers both locally and abroad. 3-D can't touch this spectacle. As OFF pushes 30 (2011 marked its 28th birthday), the event just seems to get better with age. Find the Olympia Film Festival online at olympiafilmfestival.org.  - CW

BEST NEW FILM FEST

Olympia Awesome Film Festival

It takes cajones to add the word "awesome" to the name of your first-ever festival. That word carries no small amount of responsibility; something called the Olympia Awesome Film Festival better be ready to deliver the goods. But the small group known as Mutually Assured Productions knew they needed to astound the masses. Thus OAFF came unto the earth May 14, 2011, at the Olympian Hotel. Its mission: screen films made for the simple joy of entertaining our eyeballs. In a festival-choked world where prestige and pretension seem to reign, OAFF scores an A for "A good time." - CW