Give local 2024!
This November, people in our community will show their support of local non-profits by donating through Give Local 2024. We hope you will support your passion for South Sound arts, cultures & heritage by giving to AHA. Your donation will support AHA’s efforts to open a museum in downtown Olympia. And, it will be multiplied, thanks to the Give Local’s Bonus Fund, money which is distributed among participating non profits. Give today!
Historic Home Tour
Sponsored by the Olympic Historical Society and the Bigelow House Museum, the annual Historic Home Tour features five houses in the South Capitol Neighborhood Historic District. Sunday, December 8, 12:00 - 4:00pm. Tickets are now on sale!. Email for more information.
Faces of Olympia
AHA is excited to sponsor Faces of Olympia. Our history and culture are best told through individual stories from the people who make up, and have made up, our diverse city. As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary in 2026, AHA wants to emphasize that it is “We the People” that we celebrate! We are now reviewing submissions received and look forward to sharing this great project with the community. Watch for project installation in the windows of the 1912 Fire Hall building in downtown Olympia - and on the AHA website.
Questions or comments? Contact us: info@olyaha.org.
Olympia Arts + Heritage Alliance - a museum for arts, cultures and heritage!
Olympia Arts + Heritage Alliance has submitted our proposal to transform the historic City-owned building at 108 State Ave NW. We propose establishing a museum for arts, cultures and heritage - an active center bringing together a coalition of organizations and offering a range of activities for the broader community.
Read the submitted proposal attached here. And the addenda here.
We are excited about this step, and appreciate your continued support as evidenced by your letters, conversations and enthusiasm. The City’s approval and support are essential for moving our proposal forward and we may soon be asking you to show up and speak up.
Next steps:
Proposals will be reviewed by City staff and an external review team
City staff presentation to City Council
Selection of Preferred Leasing Partner
Negotiation
Please keep in touch by signing up at the bottom of this page. And BIG THANKS for your help and support!
Harbor House Interpretive Panels
Two new interpretive panels at Harbor House on Percival Landing reference Olympia history. Produced by Olympia Arts + Heritage Alliance (AHA) working with the City of Olympia, Squaxin Island Tribe and other partners, the panels are located at the east end of the building at 217 Thurston Ave NW.
Olympia Harbor Days
exhibition of logos
An exhibition of logos used by Olympia Harbor Days is now installed in the windows of the historic 1912 Fire Hall/ City Hall at 108 State Avenue. Harbor Days was established in 1974 with a small gathering of tugboats and other historic vessels. The first tugboat race was held in 1975. In 1978 downtown merchants, artists and musicians organized to start a companion shoreside HarborFair. By 1983 both events were combined into one festival with the logo, designed by Karla and Chuck Fowler, to have a dual purpose as identity for the festival and as recognition and a coveted award for the attending Puget Sound vintage tugs and skippers. The tugboat in the logo changes annually. To become a “Logo Boat” the tugboat had to have been the oldest tug in attendance the prior year that had not previously been awarded the title. The logo is displayed on publicity materials, shirts and hats, and other festival merchandise. Many of the tugs in the subsequent years were illustrated by Karla. Some have been illustrated by other designers.
This exhibition was sponsored by the South Sound Maritime Heritage Association (SSMHA) and Olympia Arts & Heritage Alliance.
our town
One of eight paintings that inspired AHA’s exhibition, Our Town. All of the paintings are part of Lynn Erickson's project, Sylvester's Window, and were painted by Robert Chamberlain. This painting depicts Saturday, April 21, 2001.
Our Town was on display at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts in the Spring of 2023. The exhibition focused on a set of eight paintings, conceived of by Lynn Erickson and painted by Robert Chamberlain. Entitled Sylvester’s Windows, the paintings depict what downtown Olympia looked like during specific years in its history. The will included large reproductions of each of the eight paintings. Eight additional panels with images and text provided more information about the history and arts of the people who have lived in Olympia during the years featured in the Sylvester’s Windows project, 1841 – 2001.
Many thanks to our donors for this exhibition possible: Olympia Federal Savings and Sandy DiBernardo, Nisqually Indian Tribe, Marsha Tadano Long and Shirley Battan.
It Happened Here
It Happened Here, installed in the historic 1912 City Hall/Fire Station.
It Happened Here is an installation of images that document the various people and groups who used the land and buildings located at State Avenue and Capitol Way, downtown Olympia. It is located in the windows of the 1912 City Hall/ Fire Station that face State Avenue. The project was initiated by the Olympia Arts & Heritage Alliance and funded, in part, by the Olympia Downtown Alliance. Click here to read about events that took place on this site throughout history.
Howard point marker
Howard Point marker. Photo courtesy of Olympia Public Works.
Olympia Arts & Heritage Alliance installed a marker to commemorate Black pioneers Alexander and Rebecca Howard. The marker honors the Howard Family and Howard Point, a geographical feature along East Bay Drive that is visible from the marker. The Howard Point marker was funded by a Thurston County Heritage Grant and is a project of AHA in partnership with the City of Olympia. Read more about the Howard family’s legacy here.
Dr. Carolei Tervera Bryan MD speaking at the unveiling for the Howard Point marker.
Listen to Frank Howard’s descendants speaking at the unveiling for the Howard Point monument.
Dr. Terrall Bryan (part 1)
Dr. Terrall Bryan (part 2)
Storm Bryan-Williamson
Dr. Carolei Tervera Bryan MD
Listen to more of the speakers here.
IT’S THE WATER
It’s the Water! was a curated collection of 48 images, including historic photographs, contemporary art, and maps, explores the importance that water has played in the lives, businesses, cultures and recreation of South Sound residents. The exhibit included images of oyster farming, shipbuilding, maritime fleets, the Olympia Fire Department, Lake Fair, beer brewing, Capital Lake, rain fall, sea level rise, tribal fishing and trade routes, little Hollywood, and the Port. Online resources, including background information, stories, and links to additional information enrich the exhibit.
It’s the Water was installed in the windows of the 1912 city-owned building that housed Olympia’s first Fire Department, City Hall and City Library, located at State Street and Capitol Way in downtown Olympia.
Then: Percival's Dock and the Great Northern Express Co, ca.1890. A sign shows the schedule for Steamer Nisqually and Steamer SG Simpson, ca. 1890. John C. Percival stands in the foreground. An older man stands in the office doorway. Percival worked on Olympia’s waterfront for 65 years. Photographer: Robert Esterly, State Library Photograph Collection, 1851-1990, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov.
Now: “The Kiss,” Richard S. Beyer, 1990. This polished metal sculpture, cast in aluminum, stands before the vista of Percival Landing and south Puget Sound. As the legend goes, “The Kiss” was created for, and placed at Percival Landing because of its romantic setting. Photographer: Alex Kistler.
Then: Located on the southernmost point of Puget Sound, the peninsula known as Olympia was Steh-Chass to the Coastal Salish who occupied the site for many generations before the American settlement was established. The end of what is now known as Budd Inlet was a favorite shellfish gathering site for many Coastal Salish tribes, including the Nisqually, Duwamish and Squaxin. Potlatches, the Northwest tribal custom in which tribal leaders shared their wealth with neighboring tribal groups, were held both east and west of the Inlet near Olympia.
Now: The annual Tribal Canoe Journey has grown to become the largest gathering of Native Americans in the western Washington State region. In 2012 the Squaxin Island Tribe hosted the journey, welcoming more than 10,000 people and 98 canoes, with canoes traveling from as far away as northern California, Peru, and Florida. Following the landing on July 29th in Olympia, Washington, the tribe hosted a week-long Potlatch Protocol Celebration in which participants donned regalia, performed traditional dances and songs, and celebrated their culture in tribal fellowship. Photo courtesy of Thurston Talk.