Calling teen poets! Whatcom County teens are encouraged to enter original poems in the second Forest of Words Teen Poetry Contest, sponsored by Whatcom County Library System.
Winning poets will have their poem published in the "Forest of Words 2012 Poetry Anthology." Each winner will receive a copy of the anthology and will be invited to a poetry workshop with award-winning local poet James Bertolino.
Submit poems online before Feb. 15 at wcls.org/teens. For more information, call Katrina Carabba, 360-592-2422.
FERNDALE MARKET ONLINE FOR 2012 SEASON
The Ferndale Public Market website is up and running again for the 2012 season. If you're interested in being a vendor, call 360-410-7747, or go to the market's Facebook page or ferndalepublicmarket.org for more information.
REDLIGHT BAR CONTINUES INTRO-TO-MUSIC SERIES
The Redlight Wine Bar & Coffee Roasters at 1017 N. State St. hosts what's called an "Intro to Contemporary Music Styles" - described as "a beginner's level survey of the rich, musical landscape that surrounds our everyday lives, including rock, folk, jazz, hip-hop and more," with DJ PhD (Spencer Wilhoft, of Cherry Blossom Family Delivery) - during the monthly Downtown Art Walk from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3.
Featured artists this month are Aaron Brick and Kelly Hoekema. Music begins at 9 p.m.
On Wednesdays, the Redlight offers a free ARTbar, with artist and Redlight co-owner Rebecca Ogden, for crafting, art-making, knitting, painting, stitching, gluing, drawing, networking, snacking, and drinking.
Currently, the Redlight is open 4 p.m. to midnight Monday through Saturday, with happy hour 4 to 6:30 p.m. Starting in March, Redlight Coffee Roasters will begin production and its hours will change with an early-morning start for coffee drinkers.
START THINKING GREEN FOR MARCH 17 PARADE
It's time to start thinking about your float and costume ideas for the Bellingham St Patrick's Day Parade, sponsored by Boundary Bay Brewery. This year's parade will be March 17.
Anyone can be in the parade, and it's free. Grand marshal will be Bellingham Mayor Kelli Linville.
People can go to stpatsbham.com to sign up to be in the parade, and can stay updated on parade planning, participants and parade-related events on the Facebook page, at facebook.com/stpatsbham and on Twitter at twitter.com/stpatsbham.
ANACORTES FESTIVAL SEEKS ART ENTRIES
The Anacortes Arts Festival is calling for fine artists to participate in the 2012 Annual Juried Competition, Aug. 3-5. Exhibiting artists will be eligible for awards of $10,500.
Deadline for submissions is March 29. Barbara Matilsky, curator of art at Whatcom Museum, will jury the exhibition.
Artists should submit online digital images from which bodies of work will be selected. About 35 artists will be selected.
For applications and details, see AnacortesArtsFestival.com.
PAUL GAUGUIN AND POLYNESIAN ART
Tickets are going fast for the upcoming “Gauguin & Polynesia: An Elusive Paradise” exhibit at the downtown Seattle Art Museum, showing Feb. 9 through April 29.
SAM is the only U.S. venue for this internationally traveling exhibition, which features about 50 works by Gauguin and 60 works of Polynesian art.
There are numerous special events taking place through the run of the exhibit, including “Forever Young,” a film series dedicated to French writer-director François Truffaut, running Thursday nights through March 1.
For details, go to seattleartmuseum.org/gauguin.
ABOUT BEHIND THE SCENES
Behind the Scenes focuses on the people who make the arts and entertainment world of Whatcom County happen. It appears in Take Five, The Bellingham Herald's entertainment section, each Thursday. Margaret Bikman is the Entertainment News Coordinator at The Bellingham Herald.
