🎭 The A-List Encore 03/20/26

About two years ago, CDN launched one of my favorite ongoing endeavors, Made in Cascadia. The multimedia series — usually a team effort between me and videographer Finn Wendt — began as a way to highlight local artisans and makers.

As a professionally nosy person, I’ve loved the excuse to learn nitty-gritty details about trades I’d otherwise never study. I can correctly use niche printmaking and ceramics terminology in a sentence, or walk you through the steps necessary to build a guitar. (Just don’t ask me to do it myself.) If you’re the kind of person who wants to know exactly how your cheese gets made, or what inspires your favorite local designer, Made in Cascadia might be up your alley.

In a recent example, potter Ayla Mullen has a background in environmental justice. Now she uses her intricate, botanical-inspired pottery to raise money for organizations she cares about. I learned about Mullen’s work two years ago at a Christmas party, when the host poured my healthy serving of mulled wine into the most beautiful mug I’d ever seen. My friend told me its maker is local to Bellingham; I wrote down Mullen’s name, and resolved to interview her someday.

Mullen’s attention to detail is striking, to the degree that her designs are reminiscent of rustic china. The inlay technique she uses, called Mishima, entails etching drawings into clay by hand. The result is similar to portraiture; as Mullen put it, fostering empathy with plants, animals and landscapes “hopefully will create more connection between people and the places that we inhabit.”

Mullen’s installment of Made in Cascadia (as with many others) reflects what this region values as a culture. Having grown up in a very different part of the country, I sometimes wonder if Pacific Northwesterners understand how special our culture can be. I’m under no impression that Bellingham is perfect; after all, I work in local news. But, I do think the collective focus on creativity, craftsmanship, environmentalism and diversity — even when imperfect — is something worth celebrating.

Luckily, there are more than enough local artisans to keep this culture alive and growing. Have a suggestion for my next Made in Cascadia subject? Shoot me an email at [email protected].

This weekend is the Springtime Scandal, a collaboration between the Bellingham Circus Guild and Hot Damn Scandal. Audiences are invited to “emerge from your woolen slump and join the revelry with your favorite live music and circus combo.” The show takes place Saturday, March 21, and tickets are $22 when purchased online.

Want to keep the party rolling into next weekend? Chuckanut Bay Distillery is hosting a Roaring ’20s Absinthe Party on March 28 in its historic ballroom. Partygoers can purchase a full cocktail menu (which, obviously, includes absinthe), and period attire is encouraged — “sequins, suspenders, silk gloves, sharp tailoring and all.”

Additional highlights include the return of the Bellingham Children’s Film Festival (March 28–29) at the Pickford Film Center, and Miles 4 Memories Walkathon (March 28) benefiting Dementia Support Northwest at Bellis Fair Mall. Whatcom Conservation District’s Native Plant Sale and Celebration also happens this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Ferndale’s Pioneer Park.

Looking into April, the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival begins in earnest very soon. RoozenGaarde is open year-round and expects to have fields full of color by the end of this month. Tulip Valley and Garden Rosalyn open April 1, whereas Tulip Town opens even earlier (March 28). Check the festival’s website for an updated bloom status.

Other big April events include First Friday (April 3), April Brews Day (April 18) and the Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival (April 30–May 3). The latter stars Francois Arnaud of “Heated Rivalry” fame.

Last but not least, don’t forget that Easter is on April 5 (and check back next week for my usual roundup of egg hunts, brunches and bunny photo ops).

Editor Jaya Flanary is watching Apple TV’s new shows, “Shrinking,” and “Palm Royale,” both of which make her “laugh out loud wherever I am.”

Reporter Annie Todd is enjoying “Paradise,” a post-apocalyptic thriller involving a former president’s murder. The second season just started, and Todd is “locked in.”

On the subject of political thrillers, Santiago Ochoa enjoyed “The Secret Agent,” which follows a former professor’s political troubles during the Brazilian military dictatorship.

Reporter Sophia Gates loves “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie,” a kooky Canadian mockumentary based on a web series.

As far as books go, Reporter Owen Racer recommends “Paper Girl” by Beth Macy. The memoir traces the decline of Macy’s working-class Ohio hometown.

In preparation to visit my own family in Florida, I recently read Edgar Gomez’s “Alligator Tears.” Per his website, the memoir covers “the scam of the American Dream and doing whatever it takes to survive in the Sunshine State.”