Sept. 12, 2013

Help a local winery harvest grapes, take in a gallery or two, celebrate the beauty of boats, cultivate your ear for Shakespeare, taste a bit of local wine and listen to some great jazz music. All this and more is happening on Whidbey this weekend. Here’s a handy list to help you navigate it all. Enjoy the sun!

(Click on the links for details.)

• Island Shakespeare Festival presents its final performances of “Much Ado About Nothing,” in the tent behind Langley Middle School at 5 p.m. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Sept. 13 to 15.

• Short Story Smash is at 7:30 to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13 at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts’ Zech Hall. Call 360.221.8268 for more info or see the Facebook page.

• Coupeville celebrates the Art of the Boat from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14 in downtown Coupeville. See the WLM spotlight to find out all about it.

• An evening of readings, improv, comedy and high drama with Dave and Tom Churchill, plus one special guest performer, in a benefit for Friends of Friends Medical Support Fund at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13 at Baby Island Saratoga Club at 3616 Saratoga Road in Langley.

• Siri and Steve “do that cello and guitar thang” at the cabaret from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday at Ott & Murphy’s Winery Tasting Room in downtown Langley.

• Don’t miss the MossyBacks along with the Vancouver Morris Men dancers Saturday, Sept. 14 at 10:30 a.m. in Coupeville; at noon at the Bayview Farmers Market; and at 3 p.m. in downtown Langley.

• Pick grapes at Whidbey Island Winery in Langley at its “Help us Harvest” event from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Sept. 14 and Saturday, Sept. 21. RSVP is mandatory, so call the winery if you are interested in joining the vino extravaganza. A celebration lunch will follow! Call (360)221-2040 for info.

• Sketching landscapes with Faye Castle from 9 a.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday Sept. 13 to 15.

Let local artist Faye Castle be your guide on a weekend tour of “Sketching Landscapes” around Whidbey Island. Above is Castle’s “Greenbank Farm Walking Trails.” (Courtesy of the artist)

• Ted Brancato & Friends Quintet perform in concert from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Freeland. Local youth jazz group opens for them.

Ted Brancato & Friends Quintet is at Trinity Lutheran in Freeland at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15.

• Sunday Live Music Series has singer-songwriter (and WLM Play That Song Again blogger) Erik Christensen Blooms Taste for Wine at Bayview Corner from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15.

GALLERY SHOWS THROUGH SEPTEMBER

• Rob Schouten Gallery at Greenbank Farm new work by Kathleen Frugé-Brown and sculptor Lloyd Whannell through Oct. 1.
• Artworks Gallery at Greenbank Farm features photography of Marie Plakos and John Olsen through September.
• Inspired Arts Gallery in Freeland features the work of more than 30 artists and artisans all the time.
• Studio 106 in downtown Langley features “Whidbey Animal Stars” by painter Barbara Barry in September along with the work of artists Phyllis Ray and Faye Castle.
• Penn Cove Gallery in Coupeville features stained glass artist Sandy Dubpernell through September.
• Brackenwood Gallery in downtown Langley presents its fourth annual print show with Francy Blumhagen, Buffy Cribbs, Briony Morrow Cribbs, Diane Divelbess, Bridget Fischer and Bruce Morrow through Sept. 30.
• Museo Gallery in downtown Langley shows mixed-media works by Meredith MacLeod and lampwork glass by Janis Miltenberger through Sept. 29.
• Whidbey Art Gallery in downtown Langley features Native American carvings of Arlo Morganweck and the photographs of Craig Sullivan through September.
• Arlon Rosenoff Gallery in downtown Langley shows Rosenoff’s work. He demonstrates on Sundays.
• Garry Oak Gallery in downtown Oak Harbor features watercolor painter Randy Emmons through September.

LOCAL FARMERS MARKETS

• Langley Second Street Market from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays.
• Coupeville Farmers Market from 10 a.mid. to 2 p.m. Saturdays.
• Bayview Farmers Market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays.
• The South Whidbey Tilth Market from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays.

CHECK OUT THESE LOCAL SCHOOLS FOR MORE ART AND PERFORMANCE CLASSES

• Whidbey Island Fine Art Studio 
• Pacific Northwest Art School 
• Sweetwater Creek Farm Studio
• Art Center@WICEC
• Classes and auditions at Whidbey Children’s Theater
• Whidbey Island Center for the Arts volunteer opportunites and workshops

Summer is almost over, but here’s a tip to keep your life sunny: To make these regular Whidbey Life Magazine lists, become a member and start posting your events to member news and the syndicated calendar!

(Pictured at top, “Much Ado About Nothing” under Henry the Tent in Langley.)