Jesus’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.
Sculpture 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/
A wonderful mural appeared on the side of the commercial building at 5441 South Sheridan this year. The lead artists were Kenji Stoll and Chris Jordan and the artist team included David Long, Yvette Simone, Chelsea O’Sullivan and Natalie Oswald. Sir-Amicks is the name of the ceramics business that occupies most of the building. The building was constructed in 1940 as a Safeway.
http://www.tacomaculture.org/arts/MuralsComplete.asp
I really love the FlowerHouse at 618 South 15th Street (and South ‘G’ Street)! It is a temporary photographic art instillation by Duncan Price and funded through a grant from the Tacoma Artists Initiative Program (TAIP). Each window in this 1907, three story house (apartments?) has a full paned photography of a flower which is back-lighted.
http://tacomaarts.wordpress.com/2012/12/02/botanicals-are-ablaze-in-flowerhouse-on-the-hilltop/
http://www.duncanpricephotography.com/
I wandered out on this rainy, rainy night to take a photo of Tacoma’s McDonald’s at 802 Tacoma Avenue South, which has a hanging Dale Chihuly glass art piece. I’m not finding much information about this piece and the restaurant was busy enough that I didn’t want to bother the servers.
Dale Chihuly is a Tacoma native and I have seen him about town at art functions on occasion. He was born here in 1941 and attended Wilson High School and the University of Washington. His website can be found here http://www.chihuly.com/
Update: It ends up its not Chihuly art! Just very similar looking.
This interesting statue is located at 765 Court C in Tacoma and represents Sarah Bernhardt, the famous French actress. The most interesting thing that I learned about Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) is that as an adult she often slept in a coffin! Also she performed at our very own Pantages theater and visited Wright Park. What little information I can find said the statue’s artist is unknown.
On Veteran’s Day it seemed appropriate to stop at the The Veteran’s of Foreign Wars (VFW) and Ladies Auxiliary, Eric G. Sandstrom, Post 969 (3510 McKinley Avenue East Tacoma, Washington 98404). There is a splendid mural on the building featuring a multicultural selection of men and women that have served in the US military.
A brief moment of sunshine allowed me to snap this photo of the murals at 3823 North 26th Street. The heron is fairly recent, installed in 2010 and the original salmon part was created in 2007. The artist is Alexis St. John and her website is here http://alexisstjohn.blogspot.com
To continue art month, I took advantage of Tacoma’s Art at Work Studio Tour. The F.S. Building at 2926 S. Steele St. had three open studios.
The large warehouse building was constructed in 1908 as the Willamette Casket Co. with Frederick Heath as the architect. It was then the Gregory Furniture Manufacturing Co. In 1944 there was a significant fire and in 1945 the plant sold to the F.S. Harmon Manufacturing Co. In 1953 and 1955 there were two fires.
This is my seventh building that was designed by Frederick Heath. The others are:
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).
