In Issaquah, a new festival celebrates circus and airborne arts

Wildfire season is upon us, and between the devastating blazes east of the mountains and the subsequent smoke polluting western Washington, all eyes are on the skies. Meteorologists say our summer blue is due back soon, and it suddenly feels essential to appreciate the clear days. 

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All the more reason to consider the Aire Craft Festival (Aug. 13-16). This entirely new festival will take place in Issaquah — both downtown and in the airspace above it.

Organizers (including Issaquah-based arts nonprofit Culture Tug and longtime local clown Mick Holsbeke) promise to “blur the lines between street and sky” with high-flying circus acts, outdoor cinema, cement-roller printing and free-flight aviation displays courtesy of Northwest Paragliding. 

The paragliding part is what first caught my attention. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a general-interest street festival that also showcases the sport. And this particular take on unpowered aviation combines the aerodynamics of paragliding with the endearingly goofball costumes of clowning. To wit: paragliders flying on a giant rubber duckie, or a paper maché pigeon, or encased in a painted-cardboard “biplane” (the latter created by Issaquah artist Kim Mitchell). 

Aire Craft was inspired by the Coupe Icare (Icarus Cup) festival in the French Alps, which has been celebrating costumed paragliding, hot air ballooning, kite flying, falconry and acrobatics since 1974. Jetsetters can pop over to experience this year’s event Sept. 15-20.

Among the aerial activities in Issaquah, you can fly through the air with the greatest of ease, thanks to the Seattle-based School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts (SANCA), which will be both performing and offering pay-per-flight sessions. In my case that sounds like the greatest of unease, but braver souls should give it a whirl! 

And the alt-circus offerings are top-notch, including a circus cabaret by the esteemed Acrobatic Conundrum (Aug. 14-16, times vary), and local touring outfit UP UP UP (Aug. 15 at 3 p.m. and Aug. at 1:30), which suspends aerialists, musicians and artful clowns from a flatbed crane truck. 

See also: brass bands, paper-airplane design and testing, immersive outdoor dance courtesy of Kinesis Dance Project and a “Free Bird Parade” (BYO beaks?). Overall it looks like a very good time. I’m charmed by both the airborne approach and the full-on commitment to silly summer fun. 

It’s once again First Thursday in Pioneer Square (tonight! Aug. 6), and with my mind still on smoky skies I have a few recommendations for the many shows on view. 

You’ll find more horizons that look slightly off in Ingrid Weyland’s Topographies of Fragility at Foster/White Gallery (Aug. 6-22). The Argentinian photographer takes pictures of empty landscapes, then overlays the print with a duplicate that she has intentionally crumpled. The result is a collection of surreal vistas that appear to have been folded, twisted or crushed by some larger force. It’s an effective nod to the role human hands play in environmental destruction. 

I’m also seeing smoke at Chatwin Arts, which is hosting a retrospective of work by Seattle painter and former Seattle Arts Commissioner James Leong (1929-2011). From Abstraction to Landscape (through Aug. 29) includes atmospheric works that bloom with blood-red, mysterious clouds dipped in green haze and one piece (“Re-entry”) that looks like an astronaut’s view of Earth on fire. 

Maybe that’s sounding a bit dark for late summer. Don’t worry, there is lightness and humor to be had in Pioneer Square as well. See Vashon ceramic sculptor Ariana Heinzman’s new show Red Tree in Bright Memory (through Aug. 26 at J. Rinehart Gallery), which features playful figures in buzzy hues reminiscent of 1960s children’s books. The color play here feels actually electric, and brought to my mind a recent New Yorker article about the development of a new color, “olo,” that can never be printed, photographed or pigmented (fascinating!). 

And for a blend of comedy and craft (a la circus arts), stop by Gallery 4Culture to see Reilly Jensen’s Eldermaxxing (through Aug. 14). The Seattle artist explores aging via large-scale, soft sculptures she makes from miscellaneous fabric and found objects. The works are surprising and funny, reflecting both her self-proclaimed “GET OFF MY LAWN stage of life,” as well as nostalgia and deep appreciation for domestic arts. 

P.S.: If you didn’t make it to the multi-floor exhibit at Railspur during Seattle Art Fair weekend, you have one more chance (tonight) to see a couple of the shows. I strongly recommend Growing Forward: The Neddy Award at 30 (Level 2), featuring work by 22 past nominees and recipients including Lead Pencil Studio’s wire window with black cloud edges, Dana Blume’s creatures that billow like smoke and April Surgent’s misty glass etching of an evergreen bent by wind. 

Then dash up to the fifth floor to catch the last night of Grand Gesture, featuring artists from the expansive SeaTac Airport collection. It’s here that you may find you’re able to breathe better, with exquisitely airy cut-paper pieces by Barbara Earl Thomas, bright and bubbling fruits by Jennifer Steinkamp and Soo Sunny Park’s crackling “Sequin Curtains,” which feel like an iridescent antidote to smoky skies. 

Art by Northwest is (almost) back!

After interviewing visual artists across the Northwest, collecting fabulous film footage and making painful edits for time — so painful — we’re about to launch Season 3 of our television series Art by Northwest. (For those new to the series: I’m the host and writer!)

To celebrate the occasion, we’re holding a free kickoff event at Cascade PBS (Aug. 19 at 7 p.m.). The evening will include a preview of Season 3 Episode 1, which profiles clay sculptor Aisha Harrison, as well as an on-stage conversation with carver Jennifer Angaiak Wood, painter Cable Griffith and photographer Melinda Hurst Frye — all featured in Art by Northwest.

If you can join us for the discussion of how geography shapes visual art, please RSVP here. I look forward to seeing you there! And if you can’t make it to the kickoff, watch for new episodes to release on broadcast and online every week from Aug. 20 – Oct. 8. Thanks for watching!