Category Archives: Art — there is art here!

DeYoung Park, Woodinville

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Continuing my art month, I made a point to find art while visiting Woodinville today. The .62 acre DeYoung Park is located in Woodinville’s Town Center across the street from Molbak’s. It is known for hosting public events and features picnic tables under what is undoubtedly lovely in the spring wisteria.

The park’s statue which features a woman gardening with a dog by her side is titled Gardener. It was created by Georgia Gerber and installed in 2005. Ms. Gerber has an amazing portfolio of statues including the famous Rachel the Pig at Pike Place Market in Seattle. http://www.georgiagerber.com/

Grant Center for the Expressive Arts

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November is Art at Work Month in Tacoma and I try to focus on places somehow connected with art. http://www.tacomaculture.org/arts/resource/ArtAtWorkTacoma/web/Overview.htm

My first place is Grant Center for the Expressive Arts at 1018 North Prospect Street in Tacoma. Their website states “At Grant, we use the expressive arts to promote excellence in all areas of academics. Students experience learning math, literacy, science and social studies through the visual arts, dance, drama and music.” The powered coated steel statue shown above was created by Mick Newham.It features four children involved with art (painting, ballet, acting and music).

It’s Halloween

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To celebrate Halloween I snapped a couple of photos of neighborhood decorations at an undisclosed house (not mine!). I kind of admire the folks that go all out with seasonal decorations and this house feature a giant pumpkin with three ghosts and a skeleton coachman driving a pumpkin full of skulls.

43rd Street Bridge

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The 43rd Street Bridge at 401 E 43rd St Tacoma Washington is very lovely. My family members actually found this bridge and pointed it out to me. I’ve been waiting for the trees to have some color before using it as my new place of the day. The bridge goes over a railroad track. The lead artists for lovely foliage mural are Chris Sharp and Kelda Martensen.

 

 

Goddess of Commerce

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The Goddess of Commerce Statue at the corner of Sixth and St. Helens in Tacoma has been in place since August 31, 2011. While it is by no means a replica, it is based on a 10′ tall, copper, 1886 statue with the same name. That statue was melted for its copper in the 1940s. The hope is that the creation of this statue will turn the tide of economic downturn for Downtown Tacoma, which I guess means it is a giant good luck charm! Last April Fool’s Day there was a rumor going around that the Goddess had been snatched by thieves to be melted down for her copper! Luckily the rumor was an April Food’s prank.

The piece was created former art teacher Marilyn Mahoney whose other statue is a bronze mermaid on Salmon Beach. The Goddess stands about 7′ tall on a 4′ tall granite base.

Per the link below “The Goddess sculpture symbolizes our rich heritage in many ways. Her face is that of a Native American woman; her dress that of a pioneer. She holds a model of several iconic Tacoma buildings [Old City Hall, the Tacoma Dome, St. Joseph Hospital, the Bostwick Building, Waddell Building, a Pierce Transit bus and the Hot Shop at the Glass Museum]. The model freighter in her left hand signifies maritime commerce; and crane earrings epitomize Tacoma’s identity as a major port. Salmon streaming down her back honors the fishing industry”.

http://tacomahistory.org/SpecialProjects/Goddess_of_Commerce.html

Trilogy at Wright’s Park

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Wright’s Park is very lovely this time of year with all of the fall colors, though it was breezy and rather cool. Today I took a stroll through the park and stopped to admire the 1978 bronze sculpture titled Trilogy by artist Larry Anderson. It is located on an island in a duck pond. Larry Anderson graduated from Tacoma’s Lincoln High School.

Western Washington State Fair, Our Body The Universe Within

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When dear daughter and I went to the Western Washington State Fair last weekend we simply forgot to see the Our Body, The Universe Within exhibit and afterward that made me sad. But, on the last day of the fair, we decided to go again. Yes, there were scones involved.

I had decided not to take photos in the exhibit because it just didn’t feel respectful. Just as well since photography was not permitted, nor were cell phones. Really good photos can be found on the exhibit’s website http://www.ourbodytheuniversewithin.net/. It was a very interesting exhibit and I learned a few things. The part that captivated me the most was that they took one body and sliced it into 12 pieces sideways. So the two end pieces each had an ear and in between we saw muscle, bone, organs, etc. The individual organs were also fascinating. The stomach was smaller than I thought and the thyroid was larger. There was a brain that had been damaged by a stroke and lungs that had been ruined by smoking. The exhibit made dear daughter a tad queasy.

Art Bus

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I’ve been wanting to try the Art Bus for ages and Thursday was the day. Dear daughter and I were delighted to be able to hop on the sold out bus. The Art Bus runs every third Thursday and each time there are different venues.The website to get in on this exciting opportunity is http://www.theangelajossy.com/artbus.htm or here http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tacoma-ART-BUS/151270941559625

For our September Art Bus we went to Job Carr Cabin Museum (the log cabin), 253 Collective (birds and turds),Tacoma Glass Blowing Studio (the glass pumpkin), Hotel Murano’s new gift shop (the glowing canoe), Brick House Gallery (the neon sign) , Rampart / Brownie Morrison (the manikin) and Catwalk (the showroom). At Catwalk dear daughter purchase a groovy retro tie that she was enthused about. And we were treated to pizza from Puget Sound Pizza (yum!).

Western Washington State Fair, Hobby Hall

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I love the exhibits at the Hobby Hall at the Western Washington State Fair! The people that create the exhibits are my people — interesting, smart, quirky, and a bit obsessive. The Hobby Hall is one of the fair places we always go along with the scone stand, the hot tub display (where we dip our hands), and the building with the photos and quilts and such (good bathroom on the second floor!). The exhibit building was constructed in 1939.

While we were there we talked to the ham radio folks and the astronomy guy and we saw wonderful collections (Titanic, holiday ornaments, sheep, smiley faces, Sailor Moon, Starbucks, Coke, Whiskey, hand puppets, nutcrackers, kimonos, dollhouses and many more).

 

Great Umbrella Mural at the Storage Box

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The Storage Box at 216 Puyallup Ave Tacoma, Washington is getting a splendid new mural by Chris Sharp. http://chrissharp3000.blogspot.com/2012/07/tacoma-murals-program-collaboration.html. Mr. Sharp also did the mural on McKinley Avenue and that write up can be found here http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=2578

The property began its existence as the George H. Russell Horse Market / Star Stables in 1906. It was also the Lauritzen Tonic Co., John W. Brady Horse Market, Depot Saloon, Efaw Livery, Ingle Garage (which burned in 1923), Square Deal Transfer Co.
(Garford Truck Co.), a storage plant and in 1962 it was approved as a fallout shelter. I went into the building in the 1990s when it was being converted into mini storage and remember the owner saying that it has been used as a house of ill repute. Apparently it was a popular place with the sailors who had shore leave in Tacoma.