Articles on PR for People

Although it is tucked into an industrial park that’s situated directly under the flight path into SeaTac International Airport, d’Aigle Autoharps almost seems like a throwback to a pre-jet-setting era. Out in the parking lot, jets with their landing gear already down scream overhead every minute or so, but step inside the door of this cozy folk instrument store and you’ll find not just autoharps, but a generous array of guitars, banjos, mandolins, sitars, Celtic harps and dulcimers, hearkening back to simpler times and pleasures.

 A neighborhood called “Pacific Ridge” might conjure up visions of estate homes with saltwater views, but nothing could be further from the truth in Des Moines, Washington. This small town, situated midway between Seattle and Tacoma and founded by Midwestern pioneers, was for decades home to small businesses and a beachfront Bible camp. But it began to see substantial change in the 1960s, when Interstate 5 punched through the area and suburban sprawl followed, with the paving-over of the waterfront to make room for a marina, the selling-off of small farms, and the building of high-density housing in their place.

Holly Ballard Martz has always been an artist, but she didn’t start out creating work with any specific political agenda. That all changed seven years ago, when a family member suffered through a debilitating bout of depression and anxiety, and encountered numerous obstacles in her quest to get the help she needed. That’s when Martz’s work took a significant turn.

Anita Corby believes that everyone is born with an innate sense of beauty and an intuitive sense for shape and color. But she thinks the entertainment industry wields too much influence in dictating styles and setting trends.