An Artist-Led Collective
Ali Marcus
Songwriter
Bio: Ali is the owner of Happy Time Studio on Front Street and the founder of the Issaquah Open Studio Tour. She came of age as a songwriter during George W. Bush’s administration, and she found her voice writing and performing topical songs, in the spirit of Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan–an approach as relevant today as it was nearly 100 years ago. In 2024, she came together with local artists to establish the nonprofit Art Commons to continue producing the tour and create innovative programming to bring the arts community together year-round.
On strangers: “My favorite part of the tour last year is how it created community. Artists who started out as strangers are now collaborators. The Art Commons board largely met and got to know each other as a result of the 2024 studio tour. Just imagine what will happen this year?”
On open doors: “Three hundred people joined us for the tour in our first year, and everybody called out a sense of hospitality. It felt very personal being welcomed into home studios, and artists will spend months preparing again this year.”
On thanks: “None of this would be possible without the City of Issaquah understanding that little things like this matter in big ways. You don’t have to have a big reach to have a big impact. In fact, sometimes the opposite is true.”
On being face to face: “The world does not need more Zoom anything. It matters a lot to look at someone’s face and hear the tone of their voice and respond with inflections and mannerisms and body language. All of that is part of having a real connection with people. Art gives us a common humanity.”
On career: Ali has a double degree in Music and 20th Century Art from the University of Virginia, and a rich understanding of the music industry, from sharing the stage with Tom Paxton and Dar Williams, to various roles working with the Dave Matthews Band, to writing, recording, and engineering eight albums of her original music.
On voice: “I really believe that songwriting can change the world.”
Hometown: Oakton, Virginia
Her favorite place near Issaquah: “Happy Lemon. One Jasmine green tea with boba and no sugar please. Let me also give a shoutout to Bobae. Holy smokes, it’s decadent over there.”
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