Try Tacoma

I was recently invited by Shunpike to participate in both their "Business Clinic" at their new office space in Tacoma and "Spik'd," a social hour for networking with artists and administrators alike. I'm from the area so I'm relatively familiar with the changes that have happened in Tacoma over the last 30 years, but you forget if you don't visit. I mean, we all know about:

• The Museum of Glass (who at this moment has shows up by Cappy Thompson and recent GAP Recipient Preston Singletary), and;
• The Tacoma Museum of Art, that was just host to the Neddy Awards. For the fifth year, Tacoma Art Museum presented an exhibition of work by nominees for the Neddy Artist Fellowship. The nominees for painting are Timothy Cross, Eric Elliott, Gary Faigin, and Lynda Lowe; the nominees for glass are Joey Kirkpatrick and Flora Mace, Sabrina Knowles and Jenny Pohlman, Benjamin Moore, and April Surgent. Eric Elliott was awarded the Fellowship for painting and April Surgent was awarded the Fellowship for glass. TAM also hosts the Northwest Biennial.

But there's still more. At Shunpike's SPIK'D, I met Katy Evans from TaCO (Tacoma Contemporary). If you don't know about TaCO, you should. They do two great things for artists, and not just artists from Pierce County and arts lovers, and not just arts lovers from Pierce County:

• The Woolworth Windows! Currently exhibiting through November 8: Gregory Euclide,
  Michelle Forsyth, Nicholas Meisel and Io Palmer;
• The Tollbooth Gallery. It's a tiny kiosk they just inherited from the City of Tacoma.

The spaces are located in the heart of downtown Tacoma and receive extensive pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The window at 11th and Commerce Street is adjacent to both the bus and light rail lines. The 11th and Broadway windows and the Tollbooth Gallery are exposed to 10,000 Farmer's Market visitors each Thursday from May through September.

Katy told me about the upcoming CALL FOR ARTISTS that they have always posted on Artist Trust's Resources page. Visit: http://www.tacomacontemporary.org/cta.htm directly for the call.

Amy McBride from the City of Tacoma's Arts Program (brought to you by the Community and Economic Development Department) and Tacoma's art maven angel was also at the Tempest (the cool bar we met at). Amy is one of the key players in Tacoma's commitment to artists. For example, The City of Tacoma hosts Art at Work: Tacoma Arts Month for area artists. The goal of Art at Work, taking place each November, is to illustrate the collective talent in our city and get people involved in the arts. The month is not just for artists -- it is an opportunity for all community members to be an active part of Tacoma's cultural life. Tacoma is ripe with activity and offers a multitude of events. There really is something for everyone. It's a MONTH-LONG CELEBRATION OF ART! and includes a two-day Arts Symposium for artists for FREE November 14 and 15. Visit http://www.tacomaculture.org/arts/AWsymposium.asp for the full schedule. Heather Dwyer from 4Culture and I will be there co-presenting a workshop on Sunday and Artist Trust Artist Resources Manager Miguel Guillen will be presenting a workshop on Sunday.

The turnout on Wednesday for the Business Clinic I'll admit was disappointing. Ellen Whitlock and I were there from 2-5pm to help artists, but only a few brave souls surfaced. The networking event was a bit more packed: Pierce county artist and Fellowship recipient Nicholas Nyland, GAP recipient Elise Richman and a few others were there to meet each other and us. When I left, two artists were discussing creating a curriculum for workshops.

There are also a cornucopia of galleries such as:

• Traver Gallery (by the way, is run by new Artist Trust board member Sarah Traver)
• Freighthouse Art Gallery
• Brick & Mortar Gallery

And Artist Trust is proud to support WA State artists in the county through our Grants (check out the Pierce County recipient in our newest Fellowship Profiles) and our Professional Resources. Not only will we be in Tacoma the weekend of November 14-15 for Art at Work, but we'll be back in the spring for I Am An Artist! (check workshop listings).

My point is: Try Tacoma!

Monica Miller
Director of Programs
monica@artisttrust.org