BY KRISTIE WORTHEY for WEEKLY VOLCANO | 8/7/2026
On Sunday morning, Tacoma’s Sixth Avenue will just be ramping up. Musicians will roll amplifiers down the sidewalk and tune guitars beneath neighborhood trees. Dancers will stretch before taking the stage, and aerialists’ silks will hang motionless, waiting for the first performer to leave the ground. Nothing will have happened yet.
By noon on August 9, though, Sixth will be transformed into a collective living artwork. For the twenty-fifth consecutive summer, Art on the Ave will again animate the Sixth Avenue Arts District with live bands, muralists, dancers, and other types of artists who will invite the public into their creative processes.
Among the artists bringing Art on the Ave to life is muralist Devin Jansa. Art on the Ave will mark his first festival mural in a year that’s seen “a lot of firsts,” as his artistic career has begun to take off after building a portfolio through volunteer community projects.
“I’m nervous and excited,” Jansa admitted.
Visitors can watch the mural unfold next to the main stage on Pine Street, in front of E9. By then, Jansa will have already completed much of the creative work for the mural digitally. He said that the challenge isn’t actually painting the mural on the wall; it’s discovering the vision and then translating it.
Like Jansa, many of the other artists at Art on the Ave will invite festivalgoers to experience their creativity in real time, as their artworks develop. For Ethereal Arts Northwest founder Katie Lynch, that process begins several feet above the ground. At the dance and movement stage, long swaths of silk will be rigged overhead for aerial performers to climb, twist, and descend in carefully choreographed routines that combine strength and artistry.
Just three months after opening a new Tacoma location, Ethereal Arts Northwest is introducing many visitors to aerial arts for the first time. Lynch says, “My hope is that they see it, that they’re in awe. But instead of thinking, ‘Oh, this looks amazing but impossible,’ they’re asking, ‘How do I become a part of this?’”
Visitors can gather beneath the aerial rig, ask questions, and meet the performers, who range from young children to adults in their seventies. Ideally, this close-up experience will make aerial arts feel like more of a possibility for curious spectators. For those inspired to take the next step, Ethereal Arts Northwest offers classes for children and adults at every skill level.
“A lot of times, you’ll think back to ‘Oh gosh, I saw this person fall from the sky yesterday,’” Lynch said, meaning the act of descending via aerial silk. “For kids, it’s making that dream of flying a reality.”
On the same stage where aerial artists encourage audiences to imagine themselves in flight, dancers will also carry traditions across generations. Founded by refugee families from Cambodia who resettled in the Pacific Northwest in the early 1980s, Cambodian Classical and Folk Dance of the Northwest preserves both royal classical Khmer dances and vibrant folk dances for modern audiences.
That same commitment to preserving culture continues through the Hawaiian traditions shared by Kanoelani Galiza. Born and raised in Honolulu, Galiza has spent nearly 30 years teaching hula at the Asia Pacific Cultural Center.
“For me, hula is more than just a dance,” she said. “It is a living history, a prayer, a celebration, and a deep expression of spirit.”
Together, the Khmer and Hawaiian performances invite festivalgoers to discover that dance can do more than entertain. It can preserve history, strengthen community, and carry culture from one generation to the next.
Music provides another kind of creative connection at Art on the Ave. For Sons of Ferdinand, music is a family affair. The band features brothers Reylan and Lino Fernandez and Reylan’s son, Royce. Sons of Ferdinand performs original songs rooted in ’90s alternative and indie rock, and Reylan Fernandez says one of the festival’s greatest strengths is reaching listeners who might otherwise never hear the band.
“You could be playing to somebody who’s 10, or you could be playing to people in their eighties,” he said. “It’s an eclectic group of people, which is always nice because your music reaches people who normally wouldn’t hear it.”
For him, those generations aren’t just in the audience. “We are a family band,” he said. “Not too many dads get to play music with their son, and he wants to! That’s kind of a cool thing. I think that’s one of the best things about making music this way.”
Also taking the E9 stage is Tacoma indie rock band Dunce, which has been making music together since 2013.
“It’s extremely rare that we ever get asked to do any kind of interview,” drummer Max Mayer said with a laugh. “So, this is fun.”
Lead singer and guitarist Brendan Dickerson describes Tacoma’s creative community as deeply collaborative.
“All of us kind of share space with all kinds of different creators around Tacoma and have worked together,” he said. “We’ve reached out to folks like 2D artists, 3D artists for work for our albums and stuff. People who we know from the area.”
Art on the Ave offers a different experience from the typical club show, the band points out.
“You get people kind of fading in and fading out of the crowd,” Dickerson said. “You get a lot more exposure, I guess. It’s fun. It’s different playing at 6 p.m. as opposed to 11 on a weeknight.”
“We’re doing the very best that we can,” Mayer said. “We hope that they enjoy it, and if they don’t, it’s understandable, and we’re sorry. That’s quite a disclaimer!”
Mayer’s response really captures the spirit of Art on the Ave. Whether painting a mural, preserving a cultural tradition, sharing a family stage, or debuting a new album, the artists invite visitors to discover and interact with what they’ve created. That same invitation continues through something we call The Newspaper Box Challenge where artists transform ordinary Weekly Volcano newspaper boxes into colorful public works of art that will be placed on the newspaper’s distribution route inside trusted local businesses long after the festival ends.
Angela Jossy, publisher of Weekly Volcano, thinks the project reflects exactly what Art on the Ave has always celebrated.
“Weekly Volcano has been the heartbeat of Tacoma’s art scene since the early 2000s. Nothing would be more on brand for Weekly Volcano than having art on the boxes, rather than one plain color,” Jossy said.
Festivalgoers can admire the newspaper boxes, or they can vote for a favorite box via donations that support both the artists and the newspaper. Half of the net proceeds go to the artist who painted each box, while the remainder helps sustain the publication and the project for another year.
For now, Jossy and her team at Weekly Volcano are excited for Tacoma’s biggest arts festival to finally bloom this weekend. “People from all over the area look forward to Art on the Ave,” she said. “Not only is it a great party, but it’s a huge economic driver for both independent art makers and all kinds of small businesses in the neighborhood. We’re just thrilled with all the brilliant artists who’ve participated in the Volcano’s Newspaper Box Challenge, and with the opportunity to support Art on the Ave in its 25th year and, hopefully, in years to come. There’s nothing else like it.”
