In light of his soon-to-be-closing exhibition of oil pastels at Winston Wächter Fine Arts in South Lake Union, Seattle artist Joe Rudko will wrap it up with a talk with writer and artist Amanda Manitach at the gallery at 2 pm on Saturday.

Mostly known for his meticulously hand-cut collages, Rudko has taken “a wild departure” for this new body of work, as Manitach describes, adding, “The word refusal is what I woke up pondering about it today. It could not be further from the work for which he’s known.”

The pixellated grids that Rudko’s traditionally been known for combine found photography, painting, and drawing, with a focus on “reorganizing memories into beautiful, fractured networks,” per his artist’s statement. His new turn toward pastels, though, has resulted in arcs and tangles of thick, colorful loops, swoops, and patterns—some organized, some a little more lawless.

This is the third solo show for Rudko at Winston Wachter, following exhibitions in 2025 and 2023. The Everett-born Western Washington University grad‘s current show is titled Meditations in an Emergency, a phrase borrowed from a poetry collection by American writer Frank O’Hara, a leader of the New York School literary movement of the 1950s and ’60s.

On Instagram, Rudko posted the eponymous pastel work—a chaotic bow of earthy ribbons in red, brown, yellow, white, and gray—alongside a selected quote by O’Hara: “Now that I am quietly waiting for the catastrophe of my personality to seem beautiful again, and interesting, and modern.”

The work brings to mind an aerial view of a highway interchange. Rudko calls it an intersecting form he’s returned to several times. “Using oil pastels has become a way to simplify my practice and take complete control of my medium,” Rudko explains on Winston Wächter’s website, “without relying on the content of found or collected photographs.”

It’s a mysterious pivot, and an exciting one. “As an artist myself,” Manitach says, “it gives me the tingles to see someone take flight in such a way that seems to be throwing a middle finger up to all expectations of him and his work—particularly in the context of a commercial gallery, where those expectations can fuck with one’s artistic center of gravity. So I’m wondering how he got there (here), is this a moment of crisis or ecstasy, an emotional response or a calculated risk, and what he thinks of the work? Also, getting to the bottom of the Frank O’Hara of it all.”

Other points of interest this weekend:

–Art Love Salon is hosting a memorial for the legendary puppeteer Sid Krofft on Saturday from 6 to 10 pm. Krofft, who was scheduled to perform one last time on Saturday at Art Love Salon, passed away on April 10 at age 96. People Magazine was the first to report the news.

Dustin Curtis, executive director of the puppeteering company Socks on My Hands, organized what would have been Krofft’s last performance. He pivoted to creating a memorial service for Krofft. The memorial is open to the public. Registration is required.

People Magazine reported, ‘He “passed away peacefully in his sleep on Friday, April 10 at the home of his friend and business partner Kelly Killian,” according to a spokesman. The cause was natural.

He was best known alongside brother Marty Krofft as the creators or developers and co-producers of H.R. Pufnstuf, Land of the Lost and Donny & Marie, among other programs from the 1960s through the mid 2010s.

Land of the Lost, which the brothers initially worked on with writer David Gerrold, was also adapted into a 2009 film starring Will Ferrell; before that, there was Pufnstuf in 1970.’

Krofft became known to Seattle audiences when he performed his iconic show "Les Poupées de Paris” during the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair.

–Over 20 venues around Downtown Seattle will be featuring art this Friday from 5 to 8 pm during the Fourth Friday Downtown Seattle Art Walk. An interactive map gives guests the opportunity to explore locations as varied as the waterfront gallery Lost in Composition, to Gallery Onyx at Pacific Place, to the Sheraton Grand Hotel, to the intimate wine bar WeRise Wines.

ArtLove Salon will be featuring Alignment Crew for an evening of DJ and freestyle dance, as well as its full complement of fine art. Alignment Crew was Co-founded in 2024 by Comic, Pluto, and Aarcha Krishna. The crew represents a new generation of Seattle dancers rooted in street and club styles, including hip-hop, krump, house, tutting, and popping.

For a complete list of galleries and businesses participating click here.

–Seattle’s Lauren Iida is the featured Visiting Artist at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma in April with a residency running April 22-24. Iida, who combines traditional hand cut paper Kirigami techniques with watercolor washes and contemporary installation, transforms archival photographs, cultural artifacts, and personal stories into expansive paper installations and permanent public art. This weekend she will be applying her experience to blown glass.

The Seattle-born Japanese American Iida explores themes of memory, displacement, and resilience through the lens of her family’s incarceration during World War II.

–Taproot Theater closes the Fats Waller musical by Richard Maltby, Jr. “Ain’t Misbehavin” on Saturday night. Tickets to the 7:30 pm Saturday performance are available online and at the door.

The immersive musical revue celebrates Waller’s life on stage with joy, rhythm, and soul. Remembering his generation-defining songs and lasting impact on today’s music, this exuberant Tony Award-winning tribute to Black artistry sings, laughs, hopes, and lives out loud.

–The International Ballet Stars come to The Paramount for one night only to perform the timeless classic Sleeping Beauty set to Tchaikovsky’s score on Sunday at 7 pm at The Paramount.

The company features dancers from Moldova, Spain, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, United Kingdom, Brazil, Poland, United States, Japan, Turkey, Armenia, Tajikistan, Belarus and principal dancers from Ukraine. For more information and tickets go here.

–The Downtown Issaquah Wine & Art Walk returns on Friday from 6 to 9 pm at galleries and businesses around Downtown and Olde Town Issaquah. Tickets are $35 in advance, $45 day of.