Passport to the Arts comes to Marysville Opera House

The Marysville Opera House was filled with displays from local artists during the first ever Passport to the Arts event on Sept. 17.

The event provided locals the opportunity to view art created by regional artists, participate in learning art techniques if they wanted, and enjoy some live music.

“If you want to get your feet wet you can go down to the basement and do that, if you just want to drink some wine and enjoy some music you can do that, if you want to take in some traditional art upstairs you can do that,” said Chris Taylor, cultural arts supervisor with the city’s Parks, Culture and Recreation Department.

He said the first event was going well.

“For a first ever, pilot event, I’m really happy with how it’s going,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun. I’m so happy with how aesthetically things look and that’s because of everyone in the Parks, Culture and Recreation Department stepping in."

Quilt-makers from the All In Stitches quilt guild, sculptors and painters came out to the event to display their work.

“Marysville invited us to show some of our work,” said local quilter Grace Hawley. “I think what they did here is amazing."

Residents said they were enjoying the night.

“It’s a fun idea,” said local Michael Forkey.

“We didn’t really know what to expect,” said Suzanne Forkey. “The quilts are beautiful and there’s a lot of learning here from all the different styles."

She said she hopes to share it with people she knows.

“Now that I know that it will be here next month I can share it with my co-workers,” she said.

City officials hope the Passport to the Arts will become a regular event for the Marysville Opera House, and have already scheduled an Oct. 21 return of the event.

“Our goal is to go three times a year in the fall and three times a year in the spring,” said Taylor.

The event was started as a way to bring different types of events to the opera house.

“What aesthetically is going to start turning Marysville into a cultural hub?” said Taylor. “We hope that the inclusion of an art night would really help jump start that."

The event was the first time that the upper floor of the Marysville Opera House was available as well, which is another floor above the facility's second floor deck.

“For as long as I can remember that area was inaccessible, it was sealed off,” said Taylor. “The city facilities team got up there, tore up the carpet and installed track lighting."

Taylor said that lots of people helped put together the event.

“Thank you to Rietta Costa and the Costa Real Estate team who sponsored the event. And thanks to the facilities team for making the Opera House look beautiful and thanks to the Parks Department for all their help,” he said.