Allied Arts: A Community Treasure

The Yakima Valley is blessed with a number of arts groups that add energy, character, and spice to our regional lifestyle.  Allied Arts is a central player within the local arts scene and they do a great job of organizing and promoting art opportunities.  The organization was formed nearly 50 years ago as the umbrella organization for 15 arts groups.  Over the years, Allied Arts has successfully grown to support community theatre, arts education in local classrooms, and a wide variety of other art-related pursuits. 

Yakima Valley residents now enjoy the fruits of Allied Arts work in the form of Mad Science projects, the Summer Kids ArtsVan, art exhibits, and other shows, as well as great cultural film festivals. Allied Arts also organizes the Fresh Hop Ale Festival in the Fall, which according to the Los Angeles Times is one of the top beer festivals in the Western United States.

Allied Arts is now working on the Yakima Light Project. This ongoing project will feature and celebrate the region’s abundance of light, both natural and man-made, with much of the art being created by local artists. Included in the project will be the ‘Bins of Light’ installation in Yakima. The Bins are inspired by fruit bins that Valley orchards use when picking fruit for market and will be lit with art chosen by the community. Thanks Allied Arts – you make life special in the Yakima Valley.