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.
Another hidden art treasure in Tacoma is the mural at Bergerson Terrace Apartments at 5305 South Orchard. The mural was installed in 2011 and the lead artists were Rachael Dotson, Joni Joachims and Jeremy Gregory.
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
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.
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.
The space at 3829 Sixth Avenue, which had previously been occupied by Gruv and before that Hell’s Kitche, is available for lease ($13/square foot) or sale ($660,000). Dear daughter has told me several times that I need to write it up as a new place because chances are that once it is leased or sold, the mural will be painted over. I like the mural which features a unicorn with 253 on its neck, the Tacoma Dome, a city skyline and a rainbow. The unicorn looks a little grumpy, but maybe that’s just macho.
The building was constructed in 1926 and has been Marshall & Kirkman Needle Work, Fowell’s Market, Snack-n-Tap, Purky’s Tavern, Spot Lite Tavern, Tuddi’s Restaurant (where it had a fatal fire because of a safecracker’s torch), Proctor Inn Restaurant, Kay’s Mexican-American Restaurant, Prosito Italian Restaurant. the Central Tavern, the
Sixth & Proctor Bar & Grill, Hell’s Kitchen Nightclub and Gruv.
The Tacoma Musical Playhouse at 7116 Sixth Avenue, Tacoma has a great exterior wall showing a variety of customers waiting in a cheerful line for their admissions. Their website is here tmp.org/
My World Childcare at 5915 Orchard Street is closed, but their wonderful mural remains! I didn’t find much about the business except that their motto was “Helping your child discover their world”. But really the story here is the vivid mural featuring children playing, reading and working. I hope whoever leases the building next appreciates the artwork and lets it remain.
Childhood’s End at 222 4th Avenue West in Olympia is one of my very favorite galleries. They feature Northwest and national artists and have a delightful combination of unusual and lovely decorative and functional items. Today I bought a pair of earrings that feature a tree design.The exterior wall of the store has this dramatic mural.
http://www.childhoods-end-gallery.com/
There is an apparently vacant building at 1214 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, Tacoma, WA. Or maybe it is being used for storage. The public record indicates that a meat store (or facility) was or is in place. There are two murals on the storefront of animals eating spaghetti.
