Pat Castaldo

Pat grew up in Massachusetts and moved to Olympia to attend The Evergreen State College in 1991, where he ate his first bean burrito. Using his technology and design skills, Pat immersed himself fully in the Olympia cultural experience. He was the managing editor of Evergreen’s student newspaper, the Cooper Point Journal, and volunteered for many years at the Olympia Film Society as a projectionist, graphic designer, programmer, and board president. He co-organized four Yoyo a Go Go music festivals at the Capitol Theater with Pat Maley, Michelle Noel, and Kento Oiwa. Pat also served on the Olympia Heritage Commission and was chair of the Olympia Planning Commission. In 1999, Pat and Aaron Tuller formed buyolympia.com, an online store offering a supportive place for independent artists to share their work. Today, Pat lives in Portland, Oregon, where he raised two children with his wife, artist and author Emily Winfield Martin. He opened buyolympia’s sister gallery/retail shop/print shop, Land Gallery, in 2009. Pat continues to run buyolympia, which turned 25 years old in the summer of 2024.