Poets at the Postmark
Wednesday, August 6, 2025 | 6:30-8:00PM
All Ages | FREE
@ Postmark Center for the Arts.
Come to our monthly Postmark Poetry Nights! Doors open at 6:00PM, poetry starts at 6:30PM.
Arrive early to peruse artwork by local artists, bring a poem to share during the open mic, and bring a poetry book to swap for a poetry book at our book exchange!
This month's featured poet will be Bill Hollands! Read his bio:
|
Bill Hollands is the author of Mangrove (ELJ Editions, 2025). His poetry has been featured on The Slowdown podcast and in such journals as The Southern Review, DIAGRAM, The Adroit Journal, The Greensboro Review, New Ohio Review, Poetry Northwest, Rattle, and Plume. He is a 2025 Jack Straw Writing Fellow. He lives in Seattle with his husband and their son.
Featured Poet’s website: https://billhollandspoetry.com/
|
|
 |
 |
Postmark Second Saturdays
Saturday, August 9, 2025 | 12-4PM
All Ages | FREE
@ Postmark Center for the Arts.
Visit Postmark Center for the Arts gallery, open to the public each Second Saturday from 12-4PM! Each month features FREE, all ages performances, crafts, and events!
1-3PM
Insight Books with Wendy Wahman
What is an ‘Insight Book,’ and why make one? An Insight Book is a 6 page-book of art, writing and mixed media. You don’t have to be an artist to make one, all you need are opposable thumbs and a willingness to explore lines as they spark ideas. Insight Books exercise the associative muscles of our minds, promoting creativity and problem solving. As you work on your book, you naturally move into a meditative, creative space of inspiration and expression. Making an Insight Book is often therapeutic, tapping into feelings, issues, memories, hopes, and dreams. When you’re done, you hold a book in your hands. Your Insight Book.
Basic supplies will be provided, visitors are encouraged to bring collage materials and your favorite art supplies!
|
12-4PM
Cyanotype Sun Printing
What is cyanotype? It’s one of the oldest photographic printing processes in which paper, coated with light-sensitive chemicals, reacts to UV rays and creates a deep blue hue. As a result, it’s become popular with printmakers and is used to create one-of-a-kind photograms by laying an array of items onto the paper.
Come by Postmark for the chance to make art out in the summer sunshine! Using florals and other objects, you’ll be able to produce your very own unique set of sun prints to take home!
|
Made possible by the Kiwanis Club of Auburn!
|
Kiwanis Speaker Series
All Ages | FREE
@ Postmark Center for the Arts
The Kiwanis Club of Auburn will be hosting a speaker series here at Postmark Center for the Arts! Each month will feature a different speaker associated with Kiwanis, including local leaders and representatives of local organizations.
|
Made possible by 4Culture!
|
Postmark Center for the Arts Gallery
20 Auburn Ave
& White River Valley Museum
918 H St SE, Auburn, WA 98002
Unprecedented: The Inaugural Postmark Biennial
Exhibition dates: July 23 - October 9, 2025
Vote for your favorite! Visit Postmark Center for the Arts to elect an artwork for the People's Choice Award presented at the end of this exhibition.
Postmark Center for the Arts and the White River Valley Museum are hosting a competitive juried biennial art exhibition, titled Unprecedented: The Inaugural Postmark Biennial.
How is art informed by the exceptional moment in which we are living? Curated by two esteemed jurors, Ellen Ito and Jabari Owens-Bailey, this exhibition includes eighteen artists living and working in Washington state. Unprecedented is interested in highlighting creative explorations in all media created from 2020 to the present.
This exhibition is held in two places, Postmark Center for the Arts and White River Valley Museum.
|
|
Art on Main Gallery
East Main St between N Division St and Auburn Ave
Windowfront viewable streetside 24/7
Lauren Boilini
Exhibition Dates: July 19 - October 5, 2025
We are excited to host a new artist at the Art on Main Gallery, Lauren Boilini!
Artist Statement: “This new installation relates to a body of work inspired by time I spent living with a partner on the Kitsap Peninsula, specifically through the height of the pandemic. He had a large group of peafowl, also known as a muster, an ostentation or a pride, living on his property. What had started as a peacock and peahen pair who had wandered from their original home on Bainbridge Island and found their way to Kingston, expanded into a family of ten or so who had set up shop on his 2.5 acres. They are particularly territorial birds, very noisy and aggressive, with a disturbingly human screech and they drove us mildly crazy during lockdown. I would wake every morning to a peacock at each of the glass doors, standing on the deck and porches, glaring indignantly at their own reflections, opening their massive plumage and shaking their feathers. These daily rituals and their loud calls became the soundtrack for our time together in the pandemic.
Literature and music also provide enormous influence on me while I am painting, so at that time I also read Flannery O’Connor’s essay Living with a Peacock written in 1961. This insight into her life and personal passion for peacocks provided a thoughtful contrast to my surreal experience. That initial inspiration led me to find all kinds of creatures who mimic or are named after peacocks: peacock moths, peacock jumping spiders, peacock pheasants, etc. I am fascinated by the ways that animals deter predators through disguise, sometimes with large designs that imitate eyes." -Lauren Boilini
|
|
Auburn Community and Event Center Gallery
910 Ninth St. SE
Hae Chon Lee
Exhibition Dates: July 10 - September 4, 2025
We are happy to introduce Hae Chon Lee as our new Community Center Gallery Artist!
Artist statement: “Despite the apparent severance of human relationships due to the constraints of time and space, humans are eternally connected across time and space. Furthermore, the past, wrapped in love, can be invited into the present time and space. A specific figure from the past, like an ancestor, is not a disconnected person from us but someone who lives with us in the present. The love and interest we have for people from the past play a crucial role in bringing the past into the present. This attention and love for past figures allow us to feel that they are living and breathing with us in the present. Therefore, our lives are not limited to a short span but extend like history, giving us a sense of living a longer life. The past, present, and future coexist, meaning our existence transcends into eternity and is never forgotten. This way, we gain a deeper sense of eternal life.” -Hae Chon Lee
|
|
Cheryl Sallee Gallery
Auburn Senior Center
808 Ninth St. SE
Ari Hoskinson
Exhibition Dates: July 11 - September 3, 2025
We are happy to introduce artist Ari Hoskinson at the Cheryl Sallee Gallery!
Artist statement: “I was a writer before I was ever a visual artist. I can’t remember a second of my life before I fell in love with stories. It’s almost like my existence began not from birth, but from the moment I could hold a pen. Somewhere along the way, I began telling my stories through drawings rather than words. My work has a narrative quality that allows the viewer to get lost in the setting and characters. There’s something very strange and beautiful about capturing an entire story in a singular moment. I am always thinking about communication when I draw. I am painfully aware that every decision I make as the artist communicates something to the viewer. When the pen is in my hand, I’m the one deciding what that something is. Even the medium I’m using contributes to the message I am trying to get across. Black fineliner pens and ink give everything I draw a darker nature, I have to be conscious of that. This is something I choose to use to my advantage. Every scene I draw is laced with a hint.” -Ari Hoskinson
|
|
 2024-25 Downtown Sculpture Gallery
Main Street, Auburn Downtown
On Display: Through September 2025
The City of Auburn's Downtown Sculpture Gallery showcases outdoor sculptures of various sizes, types and mediums. Primarily located along Main Street, the sculpture gallery changes annually providing different artwork for Auburn residents to experience and enjoy.
Take a walk downtown or view the Downtown Sculpture Gallery webpage to tour the newly installed sculptures!
Holiday Artisan Market
DEADLINE: August 26, 2025 at 10:59PM
Stay tuned for an announcement on our 2025 Holiday Artisan Market call for vendors, applications open soon!
|
|
2026 Galleries in City of Auburn
DEADLINE: September 4, 2025 at 10:59PM
The City of Auburn is seeking artists and/or artist groups working in two-dimensional or small three-dimensional media to exhibit their work at City of Auburn gallery spaces in 2026. Galleries are within City operated buildings including the Auburn Senior Center (Cheryl Sallee Gallery) and the Community & Event Center.
Artists and/or artists groups of diverse mediums are encouraged to apply, including but not limited to: printmaking, painting, drawing, mixed media, textiles, mosaic, glass, recycled materials, photography, calligraphy, collage, fiber art, ceramics, jewelry, metal sculptures, etc.
Eligibility: Established and emerging artists and/or artist groups working in two-dimensional or three-dimensional media will be considered.
To apply or view, please view the online application.
|
|
2026 Site-Specific Arts Galleries
DEADLINE: September 4, 2025 at 10:59PM
The City of Auburn, Washington, seeks applications from regional artists to install 3-dimensional or multi-media art installations in two site-specific gallery spaces in downtown Auburn: the Art on Main Gallery and the Vault Gallery. Both spaces provide a $1,000 artist stipend to support the creation of new work and site-specific projects, or the installation of existing work.
Eligibility:
- Any individual artist or collaborative artist team in the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon, Idaho) may apply.
- Past participants of Art on Main are welcome to reapply.
For more information or to apply, please view the online application.
|
|
Postmark Arts & Cultural Programming Grant
DEADLINE: September 30, 2025
This program provides funding support for artists, arts or cultural organizations, or community members proposing ideas for free arts and cultural programs serving residents and visitors at the new Postmark Center for the Arts. We are excited about bringing local artist and community members together in a space that aims to provide opportunities for growth, creative participation, inspiration, and understanding through dynamic and multi-faceted programming.
Eligibility: Individuals, groups of people, neighborhood or business organizations seeking funding for an art program or cultural event at the Postmark Center for the Arts.
Project Budget: Grants are typically awarded from $500 to $2,000 per project.
Application Resources:
For more information or to apply, please view the online application form.
|
|
Artist Project Support Grant
DEADLINE: September 30, 2025
The goal of this program is to provide support to arts-related projects and programs within the City of Auburn to encourage the growth, innovation, excellence, and accessibility of the arts. This is an opportunity for artists to create art projects or programs that have free public benefit for Auburn residents and visitors.
Eligibility: This is a call to artists residing in the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon and Idaho).
Project Budget: Funding is typically awarded for $500 to $1,000.
Application Resources:
For more information or to apply, please view the online application form.
|
|
 |
Make & Mingle
Every Wednesday, 10AM - 12PM
Ages: Suggested 18+ | FREE
@ Postmark Center for the Arts.
Stop by for our Artist Open Studio! Come join us for a cup of coffee with whatever art project you might be working on! This is a free, no-pressure environment for artists and creatives to gather. You can talk with other artists, ask for feedback or critique from on-site staff if available, bring your sketchbook to work out ideas, or just quietly draw in the gallery or work on your art! All are welcome. No need to sign up or register, just drop in!
|
|
Sit & Stitch
Every Wednesday, 10AM - 12PM
Ages: Suggested 18+ | FREE
@ Postmark Center for the Arts.
Come by Postmark Center for the Arts with your current sewing, knitting, crochet, or any other project fiber-arts related! Occasionally visited by fiber artist Christy Caravaglio, take time every Wednesday morning to sip coffee or tea, chat with other artists, and work on your project in a casual, no-pressure environment. Beginners to advanced welcome, stay for the whole two hours or only 10 minutes! No need to sign up or register, just drop in!
|
|
Drop-in Drawing
Every Friday, 10AM - 12PM
Ages: Suggested 18+ | FREE
@ Postmark Center for the Arts.
Come stop by for our new Drop-In Drawing sessions at the Postmark! A free, no-pressure environment for artists and creatives to drop-in. Draw from a still life or the gallery, stay for whole two hours or only 10 minutes! Bring tools to either shade or color with, and your own sketchbook or drawing pad. On-site help for critique/questions/advice. All are welcome. No need to sign up or register, just drop in!
|
Drop-in Painting with Amy Sie
Every Friday, 10AM - 12PM
Ages: Suggested 18+ | FREE
Instructor: Amy Sie
@ Postmark Center for the Arts.
Amy Sie is offering Drop-In Gongbi Painting sessions at the Postmark! A free, no-pressure environment for you to start a new painting or work on an old one. Please bring your own tools and materials. On-site help for critique/questions/advice. All are welcome. No need to sign up or register, just drop in!
|
|
 |
ROAD CLOSURE NOTICE
As part of the ongoing Downtown Infrastructure Improvements Project, full road closures began on Monday, June 2, impacting the following areas:
-
East Main Street between Auburn Avenue and B Street NE
-
Auburn Avenue between East Main Street and 1st Street NE
These closures are expected to last through the end of August 2025.
For ongoing updates, detour maps, and project timelines, visit our project webpage.
Postmark Center for the Arts is OPEN normal hours during construction.
Wednesdays 12-4PM
Thursdays 12-6PM
Fridays 12-4PM
Second Saturdays 12-4PM
|
POSTMARK CENTER FOR THE ARTS
20 Auburn Avenue, Auburn, WA 98002
Gallery and Gift Shop Hours:
Wednesdays 12-4PM
Thursdays 12-6PM
Fridays 12-4PM
Second Saturdays 12-4PM
Stay Connected!
Click the images below and follow us on our Facebook and Arts Instagram to keep up on announcements, events, and classes!
Auburn Parks, Arts & Recreation
253-931-3043 | www.auburnwa.gov/arts
|
