EVERETT — On Friday evening at a party at Scuttlebutt Brewing’s Taproom, the Everett Music Initiative folks will announce the lineup for the fourth annual Fisherman’s Village Music Festival, set for March 31 and April 1 and 2 in downtown Everett.
The festival in 2016 attracted about 6,000 people, most of them from out of town and some even from out of state, said Ryan Crowther, head of Everett Music Initiative and a founder of the festival.
“EMI is celebrating five years in existence,” Crowther said. “This is a big year for us.”
Part of the reason it’s a big year for Crowther is that on Thursday evening he will be among those receiving a Mayor’s Arts Award from the Everett Cultural Arts Commission.
“For me to receive an arts award is funny because I would never think of myself as an artist,” Crowther said. “But EMI has contributed a lot to Everett, and the city has been supportive of what we’ve done. So to receive this award from the mayor for all of us is great.”
Officially, Crowther and Everett Music Initiative are being honored as the Organization Making an Impact, “for cultivating a vibrant music scene in Everett.”
The 24th annual Wendt and Mayor’s Arts Awards also will honor Elizabeth Person, also known as “The Everett Sketcher.”
The award is for the Artist in the Community, recognizing her “artistic excellence and contributions to Everett’s cultural vitality.”
“I was thrilled to hear that I would receive the award,” Person said. “It’s a huge honor. I have enjoyed getting to know the arts community and being involved with the arts commission. It’s so fun.”
Person’s work, much of it sketch and watercolor scenes of Everett, is shown locally at Citrine Health Gallery, Black Lab Gallery, the Independent Beer Bar, Ace Hardware on Evergreen Way and at Metzger’s Maps in Lynnwood. Her work also has been featured in The Herald and Washington North Coast Magazine, a supplement of the newspaper.
Other Mayor’s Arts Awards are going to:
All Aboard for the Art Changing Lives award. The nonprofit organization All Aboard works with adults with special needs “to enrich their lives through the arts.”
The Arts Educator award is going to Erica Weir (now general manager of the Everett Performing Arts Center) “for her achievements and contributions to arts education” through the Imagine Children’s Museum and Village Theatre’s KidStage.
Weir is a natural-born arts education advocate, said Kati Nickerson, director of youth education for Village. “Her bright spirit and special approach made her a popular KidStage teacher to thousands of kids.”
The late Bob Henry is being posthumously recognized with the Legacy of Honor award “for positively transforming the lives of Everett High School students through theater, from 1958 through 1979.”
After he retired, Henry was the inspiration for a community theater group called Reunion Theatre Group, for which he directed or played parts in for many years. Henry died July 17, 2016. The Everett High School little theater is named in his honor.
Si Newland is the recipient of the Richard Wendt Award of Excellence for his “extraordinary commitment to Everett’s arts community.”
Newland served on the city’s Cultural Arts Commission in its formative years, and then went on to serve for 12 years on the board of the Arts Council of Snohomish County as it transitioned to the Schack Arts Center.
The Wendt Award is given annually to a person who has demonstrated outstanding support of the arts throughout his or her lifetime. The award is named for Dr. Richard Wendt, who died in 2007. Wendt was a long-time promoter of the arts in Everett and helped found the city’s Cultural Arts Commission and the 1 Percent for the Arts program.
If you go
The recipients of the 24th annual Richard Wendt Award of Excellence and the Mayor’s Arts Awards will be honored by Mayor Ray Stephanson during a free, public celebration on Thursday, Feb. 9, at the Everett Performing Arts Center, 2710 Wetmore Ave. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the program begins at 7 p.m. For more information, contact Carol Thomas, city cultural arts manager, at cthomas@everettwa.gov, or visit everettwa.gov/mayorsarts.
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