Allied Arts of Whatcom County and the Bellingham Chinese Cultural Festival will present "Masters of Chinese Art" through Feb. 23, opening with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1, at Allied Arts Gallery, 1418 Cornwall Ave.
The exhibit features three well-known artists from China: Benxing Wang specializes in seal cutting, with works currently on exhibit at the United Nations presented by the Chinese government; Lipeng Wang is a contemporary painter with studios in China, New York and Canada; and Zhensheng Liu is a prominent calligrapher.
Details: alliedarts.org, 360-676-8548, ext. 5, or katy@alliedarts.org.
FESTIVAL OF MUSIC SEASON TICKETS ON SALE
Season tickets for the 2013 Bellingham Festival of Music are now on sale, and individual tickets go on sale Tuesday, Feb. 5.
All orchestral concerts will be held at Western Washington University's Performing Arts Center Concert Hall. Guest artists are Joshua Roman on July 5; Ray Chen and Joseph Robinson on July 9; Garrick Ohlsson on July 13; and Pepe Romero on July 17.
A concert with sopranos Heidi Grant Murphy, Frederica Von Stade and Katie Van Kotten will be July 21 at Mount Baker Theatre.
The Chamber Music by the Bay concert will be in the Bellingham Cruise Terminal atrium July 14.
All tickets are available through the WWU box office, in person, at 360-650-6146, and online at tickets.wwu.edu.
To order tickets by mail, make checks payable to WWU and mail to: WWU Box Office, Western Washington University, 516 High St., Bellingham, WA 98225-9107.
Tickets for the July 21 concert are also available in person at Mount Baker Theatre and at 360-734-6080 and mountbakertheatre.com.
A limited number of tickets for all of the performances will be available at Village Books and at downtown Community Food Co-op.
Visa and MasterCard are accepted. Patrons must present their picture ID when picking up tickets charged by mail or phone. No refunds or exchanges.
UKES, MUSIC STANDS WANTED FOR JUVENILE DETENTION SCHOOL
Staff members at the Whatcom County Juvenile Detention School want to bring music into the classroom and need community support acquiring 10 ukuleles, five music stands and two tuners.
The school will accept cash donations, new and used ukuleles, and any ideas on how to obtain ukuleles. To help, call Melody Ghirardini at 360-319-8969 or 676-6780, ext. 50758.
POETRY WORKSHOP ENCOURAGES BOYNTON CONTEST ENTRIES
Submissions to the Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest don't open until March 1, but if you're thinking about sending in a poem, or even if you're not thinking about it yet, the contest committee is offering a little encouragement: a free workshop from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, in the Fireplace Room at Fairhaven Public Library.
The workshop, "Writing Boynton Contest Poems," will be taught by Bellingham poet Rachel Mehl, who taught poetry for two years at the University of Oregon. Her poems have been published in Alaska Quarterly Review, Portland Review, Poet Lore and Willow Springs.
Her poem "Bellingham" was a 2011 Boynton Walk Award winner. She's a member of the Boynton contest committee but is not a contest judge and has no influence over judges' decisions about winning poems.
Mehl will use examples from previous contests and other poems to inspire and encourage submissions to this year's contest, and to help people understand the contest guidelines. The workshop is open to people of all ages and ability, and will focus on writing short free-verse poems. Participants will come away with a working draft of a poem.
While the workshop is free (donations are welcome), advance registration is strongly encouraged to ensure adequate space and materials for all participants. To register, send an e-mail to boyntonpoetrycontest@hotmail.com and include your name and a phone number in case of last-minute changes. Please bring writing materials to the workshop.
LA CONNER CHAMBER HOSTS WINTER-BIRD PHOTO CONTEST
The La Conner Chamber of Commerce's first La Conner Photo Contest was such a success last year that there's going to be another one this year. The subject matter is nature's winter residents - snow geese, trumpeter swans and eagles.
The contest is open to everyone, amateurs and professionals alike. The prize is a $50 certificate to La Conner's always-raved-about Nell Thorn Restaurant. The contest runs through Feb. 28.
Submit your entries online at http://www.lovelaconner.com/submit-your-photos, where you'll find the photo contest submission form, rules, details and photo-upload directions.
Note that the chamber will retain the right to use all photo entries at its sole discretion, during the contest and beyond, in both print and online marketing.
Reach Margaret Bikman at 360-715-2273 or margaret.bikman@bellinghamherald.com. Follow Bellingham Entertainment on Facebook or @bhamentertainme on Twitter.
