Art shows, puppet theater performances and a Dia de los Muertos event highlight weekend entertainment options on the North Olympic Peninsula.
• The RainShadow Chorale will present “England’s Green and Pleasant Land” at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at First Presbyterian Church, 1111 Franklin St., Port Townsend.
Admission is by a suggested donation of $20 person, $10 for students.
For more information, call Bev Schaaf at 360-379-3458 or email rainshadow chorale@gmail.com.
• The second Functional Art of Quimper will be open to view from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday in the Cotton Building, 607 Water St., Port Townsend.
The annual show will highlight the work of local artisans John McCormack, Gunter Reimnitz and Steve Leggett.
McCormack often brings his sense of humor and whimsy into his highly functional designs. Reimnitz, a metalsmith, was born and raised on Kodiak Island, where he spent his childhood fishing for salmon with his family. Leggett, who ran the mill and joinery shop at Timbercraft Homes, is a sculptor, machinist and luthier.
Musicians Tex Armstrong, Bete Grise and Aaron Spieldenner will perform at 6 p.m. Saturday.
• “Night at the Grand Opera,” a production of the Olympia-based String and Shadow Puppet Theater, will be onstage at 6:30 p.m. tonight and Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Quilcene Lantern, 7360 Center Road, Quilcene.
Tickets are $30 per person, $15 for children. Those small enough to sit on an adult’s lap will be admitted for free.
The play will be performed inside, but the barn is unheated and uninsulated, so warm clothing is recommended.
“Night at the Grand Opera” is set in an old European opera house during the golden age of Grand Opera. It is a frenzied romp through a candlelit night at the theater.
Elaborate cardboard sets create a Rococo extravagance that collapses and unfolds to reveal the many great dramas of the opera house, not all of which happen on stage.
The story includes love triangles, revolutionary plots, art-loving flies and disaffected vermin brought to life with cardboard and paper mache.
For more information, visit www.stringandshadow.com.
• A reception for the opening of the “Ten By Ten” exhibit will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at Blue Whole Gallery, 129 W. Washington St., Sequim.
The exhibit will feature 130 pieces of hanging art from more than 70 local or regional artists.
“When I proposed the idea of a Ten by Ten exhibition, I had no idea it would be this large,” Julie Hembree said. “I’m so excited on all levels. I can’t wait to see the art and meet all of these wonderful artists. I’m sure it’s going to be a fun event for all of us.”
Entry into the show was open to all artists in all media as long as the piece measured 10 inches by 10 inches, can be hung by an attached wire and is for sale.
The exhibit will be on display at Blue Whole Gallery from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays throughout November.
For more information, visit www.bluewholegallery.com.
• The Quilters Only Sale will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Elks Lodge #2642, 143 Port Williams Road, Sequim.
The sale will feature patterns, tables, machines, linens and books.
• Steve Koehler will present “Home as Habitat” at 10 a.m. Saturday in Rainshadow Hall at the Dungeness River Nature Center, 1943 W. Hendrickson Road.
Koehler will discuss ways to improve backyard habitats to attract birds throughout the winter.
The presentation is part of the Backyard Birding series sponsored by the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society.
Admission is by $5 donation. Proceeds will support the society’s education and bird conservation programs.
For more information, visit www.olympic peninsulaaudubon.org.
• Rocky Wisniewski will present a program on drop spindles at 10 a.m. Saturday during a meeting of the North Olympic Shuttle and Spindle Guild at the Olympic Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 1033 N. Barr Road, Port Angeles.
The public is welcome to attend the free meeting.
For more information, email n.o.shuttleand spindleguild@gmail.com or visit www.nossg.org.
• The North Olympic Library System will observe Dia de los Muertos (“Day of the Dead”) on Saturday.
The Port Angeles Main Library, 2210 S. Peabody St., Port Angeles, will set up an ofrenda, a place to honor those who have died.
From 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., participants will be able to make a papel picado to place in the ofrenda or to take home. A papel picado is a brightly colored paper banner with cutout details traditionally used to decorate for Día de los Muertos.
The Forks Branch Library, 171 S. Forks Ave., Forks, will host a special storytime at 11 a.m., and attendees will learn to make paper marigold flowers. Chocolate abuelita (hot chocolate) and pan de muerto (sweet bread) will be served.
For more information, call the library at 360-374-6402, email discover@nols.org or visit www.nols.org.
• Ian Miller will discuss his research on the erosion of the coastal bluffs at Kalaloch at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Forks Branch Library, 171 S. Forks Ave., Forks.
Miller will provide an overview of how shoreline erosion at Kalaloch places buildings and recreational infrastructure at risk and will outline some of the management problems that creates.
Miller also will discuss some of the methods that have been used to monitor and understand the erosion patterns of Kalaloch’s bluffs such as the ground surveys with global navigation satellite systems that have been conducted at least twice a year since 2013.
Miller, a coastal hazards specialist for Washington Sea Grant, works with coastal communities and public agencies to plan for the management of coastal hazards, including tsunamis, chronic erosion and coastal flooding.
For more information, call the library at 360-374-6402, email discover@nols.org or visit www.nols.org.
• Carlos Sevilla will call a contra dance at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Black Diamond Community Hall, 1942 Black Diamond Road, Port Angeles.
Music will be provided by Odd Sock, composed of Kathy Brown on fiddle, Michael Arslanian on guitar, Henry Plewa on fiddle and Billy Simmons on piano.
Sevilla will teach a free lesson at 7 p.m. to those who have paid admission.
The requested donation is $10 to $20 per person. Requested donations for youths younger than 18 are half price.
