Category Archives: Art — there is art here!

American Library Association@Seattle

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ALA

The Theme of the ALA Midwinter is “The conversation starts here”. ALA takes place this weekend in the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. I went up for the day to visit the zillion vendors (more or less) The first person I ran into was somebody that I know! Really there were a bunch of friends there and one long time Facebook, AAUW friend that I got to meet face to face 🙂 And while there were a plethora of phones and tablets, there was also a great deal of discussion. And the vendors were friendly and had excellent freebies! I was particularly interested in learning that Gaylord was promoting Little Free Libraries “Libraries Big & Small We <3 Them All!” I put my name in to win a premade little library structure. While there I also snapped a photo of some of the art, the view and the ALA poster that my daughter (via phone) insisted I purchase.

 

Xipe Totec and Sun Mask-Kwakiutl by Granum, Doug

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The Xipe Totec and Sun Mask-Kwakiutl Masks by Doug Granum are located on the exterior wall of the Rialto Theater in Tacoma.

The Xipe Totec Mask is from the Mexican culture and represents the god of spring and growing seed.  The Sun Mask image is from the Native American-Kwakiuti culture from Vancouver Island.

Hat ‘n Boots, Georgetown

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The way cool Hat ‘n Boots Roadside American Art is located in Oxbow Park in the Georgetown Neighborhood of Seattle. Oxbow Park was created in 2003 and at the end of that month, Hat ‘n Boots were installed there. The art was fully installed by the middle of 2005. The art was originally part of a cowboy themed gas station, “Premium Tex”, that was built in 1954. The hat was over the gas station office and the boots were the restrooms (black for the guys and blue for the girls). The station closed in 1988 and fell into disrepair.

The park also includes a community garden, a children’s play area, some nice artistic touches and grassy picnic areas. It was pretty busy on this cold and foggy Saturday.

georgetownUpdate 2/13 there is a model of the Hat ‘N Boots at Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry. Hat & Boots

Pretty Blue Glow on the Sounder Overpass

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8369573766_80947d9e5a_b(1)I’ve often admired the nice blue LED light glow on the Sounder Overpass and tonight on the way back from a meeting I stopped at a red light and snapped a photo. The ribbon cutting for the Tacoma Dome Station to the Lakewood Station was on October 8th, 2012.

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A flying saucer at Tacoma’s School of the Arts Building

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18181818 Tacoma Avenue had been one of Tacoma School of the Art locations for years, but they have left it in favor of the downtown post office building. The best thing about the building is the planters with student art work. I thought my photo was a tad dull so I added a frame and a flying saucer! A not edited (i.e. boring) photo is below, as is a close up of one of the planters.

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Mural on South 14th & South ‘G’

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8348273446_30b03401aa_z(2)Coming home I made a quick stop to snap this photo of the mural at the corner of South 14th Street and South G. Street. I was going to take the mural along South G Street in the same area, but there was a car that made me nervous so I decided to wait until another day. Safety first. The mural says St. Ignatius Immersion 2012.

LeRoy Jewelers and Happy New Year

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Happy New Year. Dear daughter, her friend and I went downtown to First Night to ring in 2013. The theme is the Year of the Snake and the unofficial mascot seems to be Quetzalcoatl, which is cool since I had just checked out Tacoma’s Quetzalcoatl art in November. http://blog.firsttries.com/quetzalcoatl-mask/

LeRoy Jewelers had a wonderful Quetzalcoatl Mask in their store window. at 940 Broadway and they were welcoming people in from the cold for First Night. Besides wonderful jewelry, they offer arts and crafts in their Art Shop. It is always a pleasure to see their wares.

http://ljewelers.com/

The site for the building had originally been occupied the Far West Lodging House, which was demolished. By 1928 the Metropolitan Chain Stores, Inc. was in place and then in 1961 it was the Lundquist Lilly Men’s Wear, which closed in 1968. LeRoy Jewelers moved into the building in 1970 and the clock on the sidewalk was installed in 1988. LeRoy means king in french.

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Jesus’s Custom Muffler and Dual Exhaust Shop

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8300939791_68642fd04c_oJesus’s Custom Muffler and Dual Exhaust Shop at 4003 McKinley Avenue is a cheerful yellow with red trim and has some great muffler art! The property started it life in 1925 as Mac’s Super Service Station and there was an addition in 1949.

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Ole 99, South Tacoma

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8295763482_c9c83b13e9_oSculpture Fritz Church created Ole 99, a life sized metal horse that was installed at the corner of South 47th Street and South Tacoma in 2011. The horse looks like he is patiently waiting for a Pierce Transit bus. The piece’s name reflects that fact that South Tacoma Way use to be part of Highway 99, the original thoroughfare that ran from Canada to Mexico. I love that the sculpture is tied to an ring on a spike that had originally been used for real work horses.

http://www.tacomaweekly.com/citylife/view/south-tacomas-ole-99/

 

 

 

The Holiday Dragon on 56th Street

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8275752693_95ce2ce9cf_cEach and every holiday this wonderful hedge dragon lights up to share the joy! It is across the street from the Moore Branch of the Tacoma Public Library (215 S 56th Ave  Tacoma, WA 98408). I truly admire folks that go all out for the holidays! This holiday ledge dragon even has a Rudolph red nose! 🙂

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