This scenic mural is located at 3265 South Union just north of Center Street in Tacoma. It is painted on a retaining wall and features Mt. Rainier and lovely madrona trees. The artist is unknown and I also couldn’t readily find any information about the date of the art.
The City of Tacoma has a wealth of wonderful murals, many of them recent. This one is located at 38th Street & Portland Ave (3804 Portland Avenue) and the lead artist is Chris Sharp. Participating artists include Shanna Duncan, Asia Tail and Patricia Vazquez Gomez.
And interview with Chris Sharp can be found here:
http://www.exit133.com/5139/a-conversation-with-chris-sharp
and more info is here
http://thetelephoneroom.blogspot.com/2010/08/chris-sharp-i-dont-hate-anyone_02.html
More information about the Tacoma Mural Project is here:
http://www.tacomaculture.org/arts/murals.asp
As I was taking some photos of the mural, two young men came up to me and asked me to take their photo!
Originally uploaded by Gexydaf
Today I checked in at one of Tacoma’s new murals, the one located at the M. Street underpass at South 34th Street. M. Street goes under I-5 just north of here. The mural itself is divided into sections, with each section featuring a goat. I really like it! Although I checked in here today for the first time, I did take the photos a week or two earlier when it wasn’t pouring rain!
The Whitman Area Neighbors sponsored the mural and it was designed by Joni Joachims. Why goats? Per the Tacoma News Tribune because “a local hill was recently cleared of blackberries by a goat herd”, To read more about this mural and others go to
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/09/05/1328964/painted-revival.html
Also, you might take a look here
http://www.weeklyvolcano.com/entertainment/arts-feature/2010/11/Blight-fight-tacoma-based-mural-program-wall-painting/
This is an older photo (when it wasn’t raining) of today’s new place. The mural of a stage with famous characters and scenes is on the side of the Tacoma Little Theatre Building. The property is at 210 N. I Street in the Stadium District and had originally been an auto repair shop. It was sold to the Tacoma Drama League in 1940 and became a theater.
Per information from Tacoma Public Library the Tacoma Little Theatre is one of the oldest community theaters in existence in the United States. A photo of the building from 1960 can be found here.
Information about the theater is at http://www.tacomalittletheatre.com/
The mural was created by Mary Mann, who also did the mural on Stadium Thriftway. Check out her website, she does lovely work!
http://www.marycmann.com/about.html
The website for Alliant Continuum Care is here http://www.alliantcare.com/ , but I went to the property to see the mural. Part of my effort to see new places with art as part of Tacoma Arts Month.
http://www.tacomaculture.org/arts/resource/ArtAtWorkTacoma/web/Default.htm
Today I stopped at one of Tacoma’s newest installations of public art, the 60 foot long Hilltop-McCarver Mural at 2143 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Since this mural was dedicated recently on October 16th, I had seen a couple of photos. The mural itself is bold, whimsical and very well done. But I guess I had been assuming that it was the background for a park or public space and it is really just the background for a vacant lot that was pretty muddy when I took the photo. So lingering isn’t encouraged, which is a shame because there is so much detail to examine. The building that provides the wall space for the mural is vacant.
For two great sites that discuss the mural, go here:
http://marlinpeterson.com/mural-unveiling-in-tacoma/
http://spaceworkstacoma.wordpress.com/2010/10/15/hilltop-mural-unveiling-saturday-october-16-at-4pm/
Originally uploaded by Gexydaf
I was thinking that since November is Tacoma Art Month, that I’d try to do most of my new place of the days with an art theme. First up is the mural in Peoples Park at 924 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. I cleverly took this photo yesterday when it wasn’t raining and then drove past again today so that I could say I’d been there! I love this mural which depicts the area as it use to be including a trolley and a farmer’s market. At first I thought the trees were in the way of the mural, but now I think they add to the photo 🙂
For more information on Art Month, check out the Art at Work site http://www.tacomaculture.org/arts/resource/ArtAtWorkTacoma/web/Default.htm
And for a great overview of art in Tacoma go to http://wspdsmap.ci.tacoma.wa.us/website/art/splash2.htm
For more info on People’s Park, go here http://www.metroparkstacoma.org/page.php?id=620
She was married at 12 (yes, 12!) to an awful man who was eventually killed.
Her two sons planned to avenge their father’s murder, but Rita knew that murder was wrong, so she prayed for her sons to die instead. They did.
While praying to suffer like Jesus, a thorn from a crucifixion figure fell from the crown of thorns and left a deep wound in her forehead. This wound never healed.
Originally she was wanted to enter the monastery, but she was denied because of her husband’s deserved reputation. She was transported into the convent (though locked doors) by her three patron saints, including John the Baptist. At that point she was allowed to stay.
The church itself is simple and lovely. I was particularly impressed with the steeple and the mural over the entry door. The address is 1403 South Ainsworth, Tacoma. The building was constructed in 1922 and is on the historic register.
The website Places of Worship states “A number of Jesuit parishes began as ministries to distinct ethnic communities. A good example is St. Rita of Cascia in Tacoma, Washington. Founded in 1922 to serve specifically the area’s Italian immigrants, it became a geographical parish in 1979. While the congregation is still predominantly Italian-American, it has welcomed a number of Vietnamese families. With 283 registered households, affording a real chance for members of the community to get to know one another, St. Rita has a genuine sense of a family.” http://www.companymagazine.org/v222/placesofworship.htm
The website includes more information about services and mission. http://www.stritatacoma.org/index.php
Note: The picture of Rita is not from the church.
