FEBRUARY 2026 ARTBEAT

ARTBEAT

FEBRUARY 2026

‘Patterns of Behavior’ by Lindsay Breidenthal pg. 3

WENATCHEE

FIRST FRIDAYS MAP INSIDE

ARTBEAT

A monthly publication of the NCW Arts Alliance

Editor: Jamie Howell

Layout & Design: Ron Evans

Contributors: Meg Sanders, Ron Evans, Carla Wilson

NCW Arts - Elevating the Arts in North Central Washington

ON THE COVER:

“Tunnel” by Lindsay Breidenthal. The painting is part of a new collection of works premiering at Gallery One in Ellensburg this month.

See story on pg. 3

NCW ARTS UPDATE FEATURED OPPORTUNITY

ADVOCATING FOR THE ARTS, ACROSS WASHINGTON

by

meg sanders

Advocacy is a core value at NCW Arts, and we are proud to once again lead our district’s participation in Arts, Heritage, and Science (AHS) Week in Olympia in February. This annual gathering brings together arts, heritage, and science leaders, along with cultural professionals from across Washington, to collectively champion the role these sectors play in vibrant, healthy communities.

AHS Week is organized by our partners at Inspire Washington, the Washington Museum Association, the Washington State Historical Society, ArtsWA, and ArtsEd Washington. Registration is now open.

Arts, Heritage, and Science Week 2026

Virtual: February 2–6, 2026

In Person (Olympia): February 4, 2026

AHS Week offers a meaningful opportunity to connect directly with state legislators and to thank them for their support, sharing local stories, and elevating the impact of arts, heritage, and science in our communities, schools, and cultural spaces statewide. Showing up matters. When advocates gather from every corner of Washington, legislators better understand who we are and why

sustained investment in these sectors is essential.

With newly elected legislators and shifts in committee leadership, 2026 is a particularly important year to participate, whether in Olympia or virtually.

2026 Arts Advocacy Priorities

From ArtsWA:

• Equitable Creative District Funding – Capital Projects: $384,000 annual capital request (not funded in the Governor’s FY27 budget)

• Equitable Creative District Funding – Certification Grants: $30,000 annual operating request (not funded in the Governor’s FY27 budget)

• Maintain CRM with System Administrator: $133,976 annual operating request (fully funded)

• Maintain Administrative and Operational Stability: $83,000 annual operating request (fully funded)

• The Governor’s proposed budget includes $600,000 in cuts to ArtsWA grant funding, which would significantly reduce support for statewide creative programs and partnerships.

From Humanities Washington:

• Prime Time Family Reading Program: A free literacy program for children ages 6–10, delivered in partnership with public libraries and elementary schools.

Request: $500,000 to maintain the program statewide.

NCW Arts is honored to advocate alongside our peers and partners. Together, our collective voices help ensure that arts continue to thrive across Washington State.

If you would like more information about specific bills that are being considered this legislative session as well as the status of previous legislation please visit: www.inspirationleague.org. While you’re there, you can also sign up for Advocacy Action Alerts which provide you with real-time information when your voice is needed the most.

WE THE ARTISTS:

Open Call for Twisp Gallery

If you speak through your art, The Confluence Gallery in Twisp wants to hear just how loudly.

“We the Artists” will be a visual arts exhibit that runs from April 14 – May

30, 2026, focusing on how artists use the power of their art to tell stories and raise awareness. Curator Merry Maxwell is seeking work that seeks to transform the world, whether by speaking to human rights issues, celebrating social and cultural issues, advocating for a different perspective - anything that you feel deeply about and try to speak to through your art. The submission deadline is Feb. 18, 2026. Artists may submit up to four pieces of original work created in the last three years and never previously shown in Okanogan County – any size, any medium. Submissions forms and further information can be found at confluencegallery. org (under the menu item, ‘Artists’). Interested in more opportunities for artists? Check out the opportunities listings at ncwARTS.org

PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR GALLERY ONE HOSTS NEW EXHIBITION BY LINDSAY BREIDENTHAL

By Ron Evans

Local painter Lindsay Breidenthal is gearing up for a new exhibition of works at Gallery One in Ellensburg titled “Patterns of Behavior.” The show features ten paintings on wood panels, many of which are pieces she has never shown before.

As striking as Breidenthal’s work is from any distance, the pieces require a closer gaze to catch the depth of her layered, intuitive technique. Her paintings seem to reveal their meaning slowly, much like the process behind creating them. Beyond texture and composition, Breidenthal has a true appreciation (and understanding) of the tones of light as a device for conveying a time, or place, or an emotion. I sat down

with the artist to learn more about this process, and to chat about this new collection of works.

Tell us about the title of this exhibition.

I made it up on the spot because we artists usually have to make up something, so I went with that. [LAUGHS]

But, I use patterns in a lot of my work, and when you gather a bunch of pieces together that you’ve done over a long period of time, you get to see these things repeated. Even if you’re all over the place stylistically, the themes come back. That repeated idea of pattern came into it. And while I’ve done a lot of pattern work, it’s really not in this show much. There are two pattern pieces, and that’s it. So the

double meaning of patterns plays here a little bit.

Is the repetitive pattern work about cycles, texture, or something else?

It started as a way to get past being frozen. Sometimes I just need to put something down, get the brush moving. Doing something repetitive helped. Then I started using it in layers, painting over it. Some of it still comes through, and eventually the pattern imagery started to play a role in what the painting meant. It wove itself in there, but it started as an exercise.

It seems like you’d have a clear plan when you start. Do you use photo references in your work?

I have used photos for reference, but not

directly. I’m trying to get away from looking at photographs too closely, practicing being able to replicate light and essence without staring at the reference. It starts messy and abstract, then it calms itself down as I go.

Do you sketch things out?

Yeah, but only part of that ever makes it to the finished piece. I never start with a sketch and end with it. It changes or gets obliterated. My sketchbooks are mostly shit. [LAUGHS] I once showed a sketchbook to a guy on a bus and he was not impressed.

He was probably hoping for something out of Titanic. How do you approach layering and glazing? That process seems risky to me.

MAC Gallery “middlelife ii: train songs,” 2. Numerica PAC Follies 2026 Show.

Visit Wenatchee Tasting Elaine Eagle, live music. 4. Lemolo Café & Deli Kristi Lee, mixed media artist.

5. Two Rivers Art Gallery The late Walter Graham artist. Mike Bills, guitarist. Local wines. live music. Beverages and hors d’oeuvres by donation.

Estates Winery

DRINK

1. Horan Estates Winery 3-7 PM $2 off glass pours.

2. Crayelle Cellars 3-6 PM $2 off glass pours.

3. Visit Wenatchee Tasting Room 4-7 PM Happy hour special: $5 flights of cider or beer.

6. Steam Panda 4-9 PM Buy one noodle soup, get 2nd noodle soup $5 off when you mention First Fridays. Dine in only

4. Stones Gastropub 3-9 PM $10 specialty cocktail.

EAT & DRINK

7. Cave Noire 4-10 PM Enjoy a complimentary glass after any wine tasting flight.

5. Watermill Winery On The Ave 3-8 PM Wine specials.

FIRST FRIDAYS FEATURED EVENT

6. Steam Panda 4-9 PM Buy one noodle soup, get 2nd noodle soup $5 off when you mention First Fridays. Dine in only

7. Cave Noire 4-10 PM Enjoy a complimentary glass after any wine tasting flight.

8. South @ Pybus 5-9 PM

Maria’s Dream cocktail special, inspired by the trailblazing Mexican artist Maria Izquierdo.

8. South @ Pybus 5-9 PM

1. Horan Estates Winery

Dream cocktail

$2 off glass pours.

2. Crayelle Cellars 3-6 PM $2 off glass pours.

3. Stones Gastropub

American Shoe Shop

Extended hours Mercantile Day day pass for First Fridays.

5. Steam Panda 12-9 PM

Buy one noodle soup, get 2nd noodle soup $5 off. Dine in only when you mention First Friday.

6. Cave Noire 4-10 PM

1. American Shoe Shop 5–7 PM Extended hours

$10 specialty cocktail.

4. Watermill Winery on the Ave 5-8 PM Wine specials.

4. Woody’s Classic Man 3-8 PM Happy Hour pricing on all beers and ciders. Extended hours.

2. Mercantile All Day $10 day pass for First Fridays.

Enjoy a complimentary glass after any wine tasting flight.

4. Woody’s Classic Man 3-8 PM

Happy Hour pricing on all beers and ciders. Extended hours.

7. South @ Pybus 11 AM -9 PM

3. The Original Children’s Shop 3-5 PM 10% discount on all merch when you mention First Fridays.

Original Children’s Shop 3-5 PM discount on all merch when you mention First Fridays.

SHOP DOWNTOWN

5. Time Capsule 3-7 PM Roll a D20 and get up to 20% off your entire purchase. 30% off Funko Pop figures.

1. Inspirations Ceramic & Art Cafe 6-8 PM

Ladies Night pottery painting class. Free with pre-registration. Pottery sold separately.

2. American Shoe Shop 5-7 PM Extended hours.

3. Mercantile All-day $10 day pass for First Fridays.

4. The Original Children’s Shop 10 AM-5 PM

5. Time Capsule 3-7 PM Roll a D20 and get up to 20% off your entire purchase. 30% off Funko Pop figures.

Cocktail special: Alquimia Gris, a cocktail inspired by the painting, La Creacion de las Aves by Mexican surrealist, Remedios Varo.

10% discount on all merch when you mention First Fridays.

5. Woody’s Classic Man 10 AM-8 PM

Happy Hour pricing on all beers and ciders. 15% off store merchandise. Extended hours.

6. The Time Capsule 11 AM-7 PM

Roll a D20 and get up to 20% off your entire purchase. 30% off Funko Pop figures.

TWO RIVERS CELEBRATES THE WORKS OF WALTER GRAHAM

Walter Graham (1903–2000) was a celebrated Wenatchee Valley artist whose Western landscapes, wildlife scenes, murals, and commercial art captured the history and spirit of the American West. His work was widely exhibited, including shows at the Larson Gallery, and earned recognition from the Seattle Art Directors Society, Palette & Chisel Academy, and Allied Arts Council of North Central Washington. In 1999,

he received the Washington State Governor’s Art Award. Graham’s enduring legacy continues to honor the cultural and natural heritage of the Pacific Northwest.

For the month of February, Two Rivers Art Gallery will feature Graham’s work. There will be an opening reception on Feb. 6, from 5 to 8 p.m., featuring live music by guitarist Mike Bills and local wine selections.

continued from page 3

Oh...I fuck it up all the time. I’ll start with a loose idea, spend hours on it, then it changes. Sometimes I set a piece aside for a month. When I come back, it might only need one or two sessions. I like having a lot of paintings in that in-between stage.

Do you only work with oils?

I usually start with acrylics because they’re cheaper and dry faster, then move to oils. Oils dry slowly, though. I use very thin layers, so they dry fairly quickly. As the painting progresses, the layers get thicker, especially with whites and yellows, and that’s when drying slows down.

This glazing techniques create a really unique effect, I don’t see a lot of artists utilizing it the way you do.

I add a little paint to a lot of medium, like linseed oil, creating a thin film. It changes the light and the emotion. It creates this dreamy, familiar-but-strange quality. You know the place, but something’s off. I think it has to do with memory—light memory. I have to work it for a while before it hits that memory trigger. Once it does, I know. It’s about light passing through layers and bouncing back. And it can be the sun as its setting, or a stormy sky or the yellow curtains in the room, all of that creates these

powerful hues and can trigger emotion all by itself.

How do you feel about titling work?

Many artists hate that part. I like titles. I don’t love “Untitled No.

1.” Sometimes titles come while I’m painting, sometimes at the last minute. They can change the piece.

When people ask what a particular piece means, do you always answer? Do you always even have an answer?

It depends who’s asking and how they ask. Sometimes I know. Sometimes something just happens. I often go down so many different roads as I work that even if I had something in mind when I started, it may be something completely different when I’m finished. I really don’t have much of a roadmap when I start.

That surprises me. Your pieces seem so perfectly thought out and composed. There’s certainly movement to them, but in spite of the surreal nature of your paintings they are grounded in a real world sort of way — you’d never know you were getting loosey-goosey with it.

It’s totally loosey-goosey. Until it isn’t. There’s a painting that I put my dog in and as I worked on it, it gave me a strange and

heavy feeling. It’s just my dog, but being a German Shepherd it suddenly was bringing up all these feelings — political things, dogs being let loose on the public. That was not my intent at all. That sort of thing can happen though, especially if you are not locked into sticking with one solid concept. You can experiment along the way. And if you try too hard sometimes you can actually get in your own way.

Pricing is a big question artists ask when they are starting to sell their pieces. Do you have any set way of doing that?

For commissions, I definitely have set prices for certain sizes. I’m constantly told that I should be charging more, so I try and keep that in mind when I’m pricing things. So it’s something that I still haven’t quite nailed down myself, if I’m being honest. Scott Bailey (Director of the MAC Gallery and Wenatchee Valley College) has a good understanding of that so he’s been helpful. He also came over to the house to kind of help me hone down what I was going to take to Gallery One.

He’s really good at helping you see things differently and even just the layout of the show.

Absolutely, I value his opinion and his knowledge for sure.

Do you sell prints of your work?

Yes, I get high-quality prints done through Blind Renaissance. I can sell those at a price that’s much more doable for casual art fans still looking for a quality piece, and I also do cheaper prints for certain events like fairs and markets. It’s good to have options for people.

Do you often go back and mess with older works that have sat around the studio for a while?

Not really. But going back through older pieces has been interesting. I would even say it’s almost like therapy. Whether you want it or not. [LAUGHS]

The trick is always knowing when to stop. A lot of artists tell me they struggle knowing when to stop. When a piece is truly done. Ultimately, if I feel like I’m just painting to paint, I should probably be done. Sometimes it’s more clear though. Like... that one little highlight on the doorknob. There, it’s finished.

Patterns of Behavior runs January 16 through February 28 at Gallery One, 408 North Pearl Street, Ellensburg. First Friday Opening Reception February 6, 5 – 7PM

FAST, PLAYFUL, AND PURPOSEFUL: ROGUE ASSEMBLY BRINGS HOLMES

Rogue Assembly didn’t begin as a formal company so much as a realization. After years of working separately in various performance spaces — devised theater on one side, site-specific dance on the other — its founders Phil Lacey and McKenzie Baird recognized a shared creative restlessness. Both were drawn to bold, high-energy work that lives outside conventional stages and carries something meaningful beneath the spectacle.

Those early conversations made one thing clear: if this kind of work was going to exist consistently in the Wenatchee Valley, they would have to build the framework for it themselves. Rogue Assembly became that framework — a flexible, collaborative home for performance that values risk, experimentation, and connection.

“While we aren’t necessarily looking to do exclusively adult material, we do feel like there’s more room for that kind

of performance here. We would love to include elements of burlesque at some point as well. We also hope to work with other local companies like The Radar Dames on something like a cabaret, burlesque theater show.

“We hope to do all sorts of things — prop-based shows with audience participation ARE fun and something we’d like to see more of; even choose-your-ownadventure-style shows.” says Baird.

At its core, Rogue Assembly is about creating space — for artists to explore what excites them, and for the community to experience creative work that feels alive, immediate, and deeply connected to place.

ArtBeat chatted with Baird about Rogue Assembly and their upcoming production, Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson Apt. 2B.

What made you choose this play for your new performance?

Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson Apt. 2B is written by Kate Hamill. It’s very feminist leaning. She’s really fun and quirky. All of her structures for plays are rewrites or reworks on things, and she really brings these two characters to life. And let me say that … as someone who is neurospicy, I really related to the Holmes character in this. I’m not saying she’s on the spectrum but…[LAUGHS]

I just really relate. This play is kinda like a runaway freight train. It’s a really fast-moving comedy with some truly emotional moments that hit pretty hard. It felt like a great production for us. It has a very unique take on life. We have such an amazing cast. There are four local actors that play sixteen roles! Tess Davis, Carolin Rensel, Grace Camp and Andy Meyers are turning in some incredible performances for the show.

Are you interested in producing local plays?

I’ve always wanted someone to do more of that. People seem afraid of doing that because they want a big bankable name, but locally written work is super exciting and would be more interesting now than maybe it was twenty or thirty years ago. People are into homegrown things more than they used to be. And you know … things don’t always have to be shiny. Local stuff has grit and heart. It’s authentic and it hits home really hard because it’s real. So yes, even doing things like live stage readings — it’s all part of what we are looking forward to.

AND WATSON

Are you looking for people to get involved with Rogue Assembly beyond acting?

I think we’re always interested in folks that are excited about a new idea. So much of the arts is passion and time. It’s easy to plan and dream, but getting people to show up ... [LAUGHS] it’s not always so easy. But we would love for people to reach out if they’d like to be involved or to support the group in any way.

We are operating on a project by project basis right now. Icicle Creek Center for the Arts has very kindly decided to partner with us for the first show. We’re looking for partnerships for creative things. Folks that want to create theater or want to build sets. This group isn’t attached to just one singular venue in terms of putting on shows. So we will always be looking for interesting and special places to put on a performance.

TO THE STAGE

What’s the best way for people to reach out?

We have a website that will be live by the time this goes somewhere, which is rogueassemblytheater.org. I bought the domain yesterday! It’s all so new and exciting. That’s where I’d steer people who want to reach out, and to keep up on what we have going on.

Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson - Apt 2B Snowy Owl Theater in Leavenworth

Friday, February 13, at 7:30PM

Saturday, February 14, at 7:30PM

Sunday, February 15, at 2PM

Thursday, February 19, at 7:30PM

Friday, February 20, at 7:30PM

Saturday, February 21, at 2PM

Saturday, February 21, at 7:30PM

Sunday February 22, at 2PM

Tickets now available at icicle.org or rogueassembly.org

FEATURED EVENT

Beginning with a First Fridays Arts Walk reception on Feb. 6, Watercore Taproom will host the work of Malachi Castillote, a gifted young artist who has dabbled in several art styles but is most well known for his remarkable graffiti-style canvases.

Malachi was given a terminal diagnosis of Batten’s Disease CLN2 but has not stopped creating striking and compelling works of art. Through aerosol expressionism Malachi has achieved meaningful success with art displayed and sold in the Seattle Children’s Institute and

Black Lab/Bar Gallery in Everett. February is Rare Disease Month and so it is fitting to show Malachi’s work throughout the month.

Malachi will be at Watercore from 6 to 8 p.m. to connect with people interested in his works. Live music will be provided by DJs Sutl and Crooked Fingers for a chill, relaxed vibe. Food and drinks are available for purchase all evening. Free admission.

Malachi Castilote artist reception, Feb. 6, 6-8 p.m. at Watercore Taproom located at 19A N. Wenatchee Avenue.