The Space Between - Sou’wester Arts Week 2026

Even before the artists arrive, you can feel the Sou’wester leaning toward possibility, anticipating Arts Week, with public events taking place March 13-15. This year’s theme, The Space Between, feels less like a concept and more like a truth. Creativity doesn’t happen on command; it's in the pause and the moments we almost overlook. Sou’wester Arts knows this.

Sou’wester Arts, the nonprofit beneath it all, has long believed that artists of all mediums, genres, and backgrounds need room to experiment, or to follow a thread without knowing where it leads. This shows up year‑round in residencies, workshops, kids’ programs, live music, the micro‑cinema, and the gallery. But every March, the lodge becomes a living, breathing studio when artists move in for a week. This year, they are welcoming over 60 artists to participate in what is now known as Arts Week.

The creative current of Arts Week stretches beyond the Sou’wester’s borders. For the first evening, Friday March 13, there will be a ceramic showcase by Laura Hoppenjans (who makes eye catching ceramics like a bright blue rope-cord-inspired vase and ceramic lamps that are bright in form and function), Mychelle Moritz (think mystical ceramic sculptures that feel thoughfully connected to the earth or made into a tangible memory), Jordi Cord (playful figurative and cartoon like ceramics) and Hannah Walker (candleabras that feel like they were a creation of Alex Mack in an array of shapes and vibrant carnival inspired mugs) are at Ilwaco Artworks (5-7 p.m.). Later in the evening, performances by False Hemlock (folky strings and sweet three-part harmonies by KM Van Petten, Nat Meek, Connor Colbert from Seattle), Babes In Canyon (a Washington husband and wife duo Nathan and Sophia Hamer sharing synthy electro pop folk songs) and Elizabeth Byrd / The Healing Cello (the reverberating tonals sounds that should put audiences at ease) happening at Ilwaco Cider Co. (7-10 p.m.)

Arts Week invites the wider community into the fold, creating new points of connection along the Long Beach Peninsula. It’s a reminder that the “space between” isn’t just metaphorical—it’s geographic, relational, communal. It can be the place where something new can take root. Saturday, March 14, offers a series of timed events. At the beach (starting at 11 a.m., going to 3:30 p.m.) Haley Lauw will demonstrate a collaborative pewter sand-casting; Lucien Spect & Frances Why of Collective Dot Dot Dot will present a Butoh-style dance; and Salavarez will project game projects onto the sand. The Lodge Living Room will host several performances: Shelby Natasha, Doll Specimen, alongside poetry readings by Clare Lilliston, Ana Any & Jose Lobo. In one of the Lodge rooms, Malia Peoples will do an artist talk on Hawaiian history and Kapa Making.

There will also be installations on view from (11 a.m. - 5 p.m.) from many artists taking part in the residency. Marcus Estes at the Lodge, Sara Silva and Joey Frostad at Art Gallery Trailer, Trey Nava at the Pavilion. The Cabin Carports will all feature interactive installations by Anna Rogers and Logan Britt, Emily Newton, Jay Nunez and Emily Rose, and Gabriel “Jax” Mercogliano. Claire Rose, Raven Black, along with the crew that makes up LINE TIME, will present throughout the grounds. However, installations extend beyond the grounds. In the woods, three installations by Taylor Wallau, David Worthington, and Megan Chin will be on view, with a performance every 2 hours from 12-4 p.m. At the beach, two installations will be on view; one by Haley Lauw, and another by Luz Blumenfeld, which presents an interactive sound piece.

Studio tours will also be happening throughout the day, so be sure to drop by Haute After Dark and Lane Bestold to see work in progress and several artists presenting installations or performances.

When you need a moment to sit down and relax, the Red Bus Theater will have showings by several artists, including Sanford & Gosti, Rachel Blumberg, Erin Aquarian, and Kathryn Kucera. Saturday evening (7-11 p.m.) will feature a live podcast recording, zine and poetry readings, and a comedic performance, culminating in a DJ Maxx Bass dance party in the last hour.

On the last day, Sunday, March 15 (11 a.m. - 1 p.m), a handful of Arts Week artists will present their collaborative projects with Wave Preschool students, rounding out a weekend of community-focused art efforts.

There's magic in experiencing Arts Week at the Sou’wester! Check out the artists participating in Arts Week, loosely organized by genre.

View the Arts Week Programming

🎶 Music, Sound & Performance

Ana Anu & José Lobo — Poet/musician duo blending multilingual songwriting and ecofeminist poetics.
Babes In Canyon — Synth‑folk, moody pop, and beat‑driven songwriting.
Elizabeth Byrd / The Healing Cello — Cello‑centered sound art with modular synthesis and field recordings.
Earworm (Heather Hankins & Jeffrey Kriksciun) — Ambient drone soundscapes using a prepared ladder and video assemblage.
False Hemlock (Nat Meek, Connor Cash Colbert, K. Van Petten) — Field‑recording‑based folk and collaborative sound performance.
Shelby Natasha — Alt‑folk, Guzheng, RnB‑infused Chinese‑folk soundscapes.
Rachel Blumberg / Arch Cape — Experimental percussion, composition, and film.
Beni Erms — Performance reading rooted in screenwriting.
Emily June Newton — Satirical performance exploring cult aesthetics.
Doll Specimen (Scary Hasseries) — Drag performance.
Trey Nava — Circuit‑bent electronic sound performance.

🎨 Visual Art

AshaAung Helmstetter — Oil painting and community‑based mixed media.
Dinah J — Large‑scale nude portraiture and trompe l’oeil painting.
Clare Lilliston — Poetic text‑based visual work (contrapuntal poems).
Liz Talley — Symbolic illustration and community‑driven drawing.
Anna Rogers & Logan Britt — Drawing‑based collaborative installations.
Claire Rose / Haute After Dark — Upcycled fashion as visual art.
Taylor Wallau / Practice Rebellion — Text‑based printmaking and experimental typography.
Jessica Keaveny — Portraiture and documentary photography focused on presence and emotional truth.

🧵 Textile, Fiber, Puppetry & Craft

Lane Bestold — Textile and mixed‑media work exploring softness and queer identity.
Gabriel Jax — Textile and puppetry integrated with film.
Mychelle Moritz — Ceramic‑textile hybrid installations woven with participant stories.
Charlie Wilcox & Morgan Rice — Embroidery‑based landscapes and textile animation.
Malia Peoples — Kapa (Hawaiian barkcloth) revival and cultural textile practice.

🏺 Ceramics & Sculpture

Jodie Cord / Mother of Cups Pottery — Whimsical, humorous ceramics with social themes.
Laura Hoppenjans — Terracotta crate sculptures exploring liminality.
Haley Lauw — Metal casting and site‑responsive sculpture shaped by natural forces.
Hannah Walker / Rubbish Goods — Ceramic vessels used in ritual‑based installations.
Emily Pacheco / Emily Poprocks — Sculptural assemblage and tabletop theater.

🧩 Installation, Social Practice & Interactive Work

Raven Black — Ritualistic cave‑inspired immersive environments.
Luz Blumenfeld — Deep‑listening installation with coastal waters.
Megan Chin — Land‑based installation and collective deep listening.
Jessica Keaveny — Evolving photographic installation documenting the week.
Oscar Hasseries — Cat Drawing Club interactive installation.
Trey Nava — Circuit‑bending interactive sound experiments.
SANDFORD&GOSTI — Color‑geometry installations using clothing as sculptural form.
Sonic Switchyard (Sara Silva & Joey Frostad) — Participatory sound installation using analog telecom systems.
Collective Dot Dot Dot (Lucien Spect & Frances Why) — Butoh‑based durational installation with hand‑built doorways.
David Worthington — Interactive portals exploring love, fear, and the sacred.
LINE TIME (Jason Powers, Breesa Culver, Lettie Jane Rennekamp, Sanae Yamada) — Interactive drawing rituals and ambient audiovisual environments.

📚 Writing, Storytelling & Literary Arts

Ana Anu — Ecofeminist poet and interdisciplinary writer.
Clare Lilliston — Poet exploring language, relationship, and betweenness.
V Lane Hoy — Writer working with architecture, psychogeography, and spatial theory.
Future Prairie (Liam Whitworth) — Fiction exploring queer labor and survival.
Beni Erms — Screenwriting and narrative performance.

🎥 Film, Video & New Media

Erin Aquarian & Kathryn Vision / FemmeTV — Experimental feminist filmmaking and collaborative video.
Gabriel Jax — Puppetry, film, and archival storytelling; nonlinear video narratives.
Marcus Estes — Neural media installation exploring machine communication.
Salvarez — New‑media video game projections and digital assemblage.
Rachel Blumberg / Arch Cape — Stop‑motion and collaged film integrated with music.