Now, the City is demolishing the current building (demolition began on February 28) and selling the property to Urban Olympia, a local development firm headed by Walker John, for $50,000. In exchange, the community gains 20 years of guaranteed additional affordable housing and the removal of the blight that has tarnished this section of 4th Avenue for 17 years.

On Tuesday, the Olympia City Council acted to designate February as Black History Month 2022 and urged Olympians to seek opportunities to learn more about local area Black leaders, history and events.

The City event is joined by additional cultural and educational opportunities available to the public throughout the month, such as exploring the Olympia Society and Bigelow House Museum Diverse Voices collection, reading the City’s Olympia Area Black Pioneers brochure; and watching the “Omo Africa” Juneteenth celebration by the Women of Color in Leadership Movement, Hawk Foundation, and Media Island International developed in partnership with the City of Olympia. For outdoor opportunities, individuals can take a self-guided walking tour of Downtown banners celebrating diverse community leaders, or attend a 1 p.m. Feb. 26, 2022, Howard Point celebration of a City-sponsored historic site marker.  

Recently, the Olympia Downtown Alliance welcomed four new board members to its Board of Directors and installed new officers. The Olympia Downtown Alliance Board is comprised of locally owned small businesses, property owners, non-profits and downtown champions.

In late 2021, Olympia Family Theater (OFT) received the news that we had been selected by the CDC Foundation as one of 30 organizations being funded to create innovative community art projects that harness the power of the arts to engage audiences and participants of all ages in overcoming COVID-19 and influenza vaccine hesitancy. Read the CDC Foundation’s full press release here.

Shawna Hawk has noticed a trend. Whenever any tragedy involving people of color attracts national attention, images and artwork will appear - for a time. But once the public focus has moved on, those representations disappear. Often, they are rooted in black trauma and pain rather than a celebration of excellence.