Northern, Olympia’s premier all ages venue and art space, was burglarized Friday night.

All of their equipment, including two main Mackie speakers, two Mackie monitors, a mixing board, the snake, eleven microphones, direct inputs, and power strips were taken from Northern’s storage space.

“We had a show Friday night that wrapped up around midnight and when someone came back to open up for Saturday’s show, they noticed that one of the windows had been smashed and all the equipment had been stolen,” said Mariella Luz, executive director of Northern.

Luz estimates that it will cost $3,000 to replace the stolen equipment.

Luz’s theory was that the criminals couldn’t have been on foot because there was too much equipment, and it had to be at night, because they took the time to get the main speakers that were hanging from the ceiling, and took time to unscrew everything from the racks.

“We did call the cops and they dusted for fingerprints, so hopefully that will lead to something,” said an optimistic Luz, “Thankfully the artwork wasn’t taken and the building wasn’t vandalized.”

Northern’s facebook page asks for help, “Please help spread the word, particularly to people who work in music stores or buy musical equipment. Thanks so much for the support, everyone!”

Another way to support Northern is to attend their first-ever silent auction.

The opening reception will be held during the annual fall Artswalk, Friday, October 5, 5-10 p.m., and Saturday, October 6, 12-5 p.m. With over 50 artists participating, there are original artworks available for every budget. Donated work includes paintings, mixed media works, drawings, prints, watercolors, photographs, wearable crafts, sculptures, ceramics and even a professionally engineered remix for an original song. All proceeds of the silent auction will directly contribute to Northern’s operational expenses and support their continued commitment to Olympia’s musical and artistic community.

Interested parties may bid on items during the opening and throughout the month. The gallery will be hosting weekend hours throughout October to facilitate bidding.

Some of the participating artists include: Chelsea Baker, Joe Batt, Judith Baumann, Aimee Biggerstaff, Sara Calland, Nikki McClure and Christopher Ross.

http://www.olympiaallages.org/