Shakespeare Out of the Box

Shakespeare in the Parking Lot (SITPL) is Tacoma’s only resident Shakespeare company since 1999. This traveling troupe of performers strives, through the magic of imagination and innovative performance, to inspire and excite audiences of all ages to engage with the works of William Shakespeare. It is a noble undertaking in the age of Netflix, and a boon for those who already like their entertainment “live.”

Untitled, by John Farrell

SITPL is “taking the fear out of Shakespeare” by offering educational opportunities and staging fresh productions of the Bard’s work in non-traditional and outdoor venues in the South Sound. Under the leadership of founder and artistic director, Kristie Worthey, the theatre company has recast Shakespeare’s dramas with contemporary situations and characters (Macbeth as a presidential hopeful; Juliet as a Generation Y teen). For a production of Titus Andronicus this fall, SITPL will adopt a Surrealist approach using digital artwork by Tacoma artists and music by local composers. Spaceworks Tacoma is supporting the new production with a residency at 913 Pacific Ave., which will provide free rehearsal and performance space from September to November. During the residency, the company has tentative plans to offer one workshop with Royal Shakespeare Company vocal coach, Andrew Wade. Rehearsals are always free and open to the public.

SITPL‘s work has been recognized on the national and international levels; this year, Worthey was chosen to be a panelist at the Shakespeare Theater Association of America’s annual conference at the Globe Theatre, in London, speaking on the topic, “Shakespeare Out of the Box.” On July 29, the actors will perform at the Spaceworks Tacoma Block Party at Theater on the Square downtown (see http://www.spaceworkstacoma.com for information). On Aug. 8 and 22, the troupe will take the stage at the Tacoma Art Museum for a performance of the tragicomedy, Arcadia, by Tom Stoppard. Shakespeare in the Parking Lot, 913 Broadway, Sept. – mid-Nov. Information at http://www.sitpl.org

Sam Olsen Wants Your Ear

“I’ve lived in T-Town my whole life, I’ve been playing punk rock for 7 years, my hair is turning gray and I’m only 19 years old,” writes Sam Olsen in his Facebook profile. We believe him, and not just because we believe everything we read on the Internet. Olsen is a presence in Tacoma, a 2009 graduate of the School of the Arts who began playing in garage bands years before he got a driver’s license. At the ripe age of 15, he began recording bands and publishing a ‘zine under the Trash Town Records and Magazine label. Last month, he made his big-screen debut with a role in the locally made feature-length film, Quiet Shoes. Not only that, but his music (he heads a psychedelic punk band, Red Hex) made it onto the movie’s soundtrack, beside groups including Girl Trouble.

What’s next? Sam Olsen wants your ear. He is the recipient of a Spaceworks Tacoma Creative Enterprise award which will enable him to explore the possibilities of hosting an all-ages music venue, or individual concerts – as soon as the right space becomes available (he is on a waiting list). Olsen evangelizes, quite convincingly, about the need for an underage music club because “there are a great number of talented kids in Tacoma who have no place to show, and I want to change that.” Ideally, the venue would provide not only a showcase for upcoming musical talent, but sell local records, tapes, underground publications and art.  It would be “a place for kids to get together, hear good music and get excited about where they live and what’s going on,” he says.

A student of local music history, Olsen hopes to link to the tradition of showcases such as the legendary Community World Theatre, an underage club where Nirvana and a stream of soon-to-be-famous bands played in the ’80s.  “Tacoma has a long history with garage rock,” he says, citing early innovators the Sonics and the Wailers. “In fact, many people in that community, all over the world, consider Tacoma, Washington, to be the birthplace of garage punk….My concept is aimed at keeping the traditional music of Tacoma alive in Tacoma.”

Olsen notes that an all-ages club would “bring in people from out of town. Confirm a music scene for young people. Give kids something to do downtown. Bring in acts from out of town that people actually want to see, in a space that kids – the real music fans – could actually attend.” Legally. He easily envisions “spending the time to be the promoter-booker-soundman myself, and make [the club] the best I can. Really, it’s all about knowing what line-ups would draw a crowd and having the connections to book said groups. I can deliver that.“ We believe him. Trash Town Records & Magazine, http://www.myspace.com/trashtownempire

A Thread of Mystery

Cholla (detail), by Meghan Lancaster

Fiber and textile artist Meghan Lancaster is making a map of Tacoma. But don’t expect to find familiar landmarks on it. It’s an expressionistic map, one that will introduce itself first in a cartoon drawn on the window of her Maggie D Studios at 1114 Pacific Ave., and later, in a rich, three-dimensional rendering built up piece by piece with a variety of textile techniques, that will be displayed in the window through mid-September. “My ideas are still evolving and will continue to do so throughout the process,” she says. The three-month project, supported by Spaceworks Tacoma, will offer passersby the unique opportunity of seeing how a site-specific installation develops from an idea into a complex work of art. The “map” will include “certain iconic locations and structures that particularly appeal to me. Some I see daily, [while others] are unfamiliar and idealized.”

Circle, by Meghan Lancaster

Design and construction of the mixed-media, fiber art piece will involve multiple sewing and assemblage processes, and a fascinating array of raw materials. Lancaster will create portions of the work in her “fishbowl window,” allowing a close-up look at the piece’s intricate open and closed structures, surface texture and relief. The artist achieves her sensuous, topographical landscapes through skills including “machine knitting and sewing, large-scale bobbin or pillow lace, tapestry and weaving. I may dye or print some of the textile structures.” The cartoon blueprint drawn directly on the window is an idea adapted from tapestry weaving, and intended to show how the piece will grow over the course of time.

Grove and Shrine, by Meghan Lancaster

Lancaster received her MFA from the University of California at Davis, and taught design at a community college in northern Arizona for four years; she has been a Tacoma resident for one year. “I think I’d like to stay in Tacoma. I like the ambiance – the echo of grittiness that reminds me of the East Coast cities of my youth, the vibrant art scene, UWT. I love how small it is physically, compared to Seattle, and yet how diverse the neighborhoods are.” Follow the thread of the artist’s exploration of T-town at Maggie D Studios. And check out more of her work at Tacoma Art Place. Maggie D Studios, 1114 Pacific Ave., through mid-Sept., 2010; http://www.maggiedstudios.com

The Warehouse: Making a Scene

Scenesters Adam Ydstie, Doug Stoeckicht and Katie Lowery form the front line of The Warehouse, de facto headquarters for Tacoma’s underground music scene. Only at the moment, The Warehouse lacks an actual physical location to call its own, so the music promoters are booking shows and carrying on business on the fly while awaiting a new space where they can set down their gear. “Our mission is to create a home for the arts. Provide a place for local musicians and artists to grow. We hope to forge a space that nurtures and sustains the arts within Tacoma,” says the entrepreneurs’ vision statement. Their efforts were touted in a cover story in the February issue of City Arts Magazine which credits them, as well as Warehouse predecessors Daniel Blue, Rob Anderson and Cody Jones, with raising Tacoma’s profile as a nascent indie music mecca. But, just as their efforts were bearing fruit, they lost their lease later the same month.

R.I.P: the original Warehouse closed in February

Spaceworks Tacoma is supporting The Warehouse‘s mission of fostering a vital music and arts scene with a Creative Enterprise award that translates to three months free occupancy of a downtown performance space, the location yet to be determined. The funding comes at a critical juncture: “We could easily do a few shows at various places but we are in the midst of trying to start up the business and would love a place to start to create a community of people.

Photo: J. Neuerburg

“We believe that people of all ages…should be able to be exposed to good, high quality art.” The threesome hopes to create a sustainable forum for local artists while inviting out-of-town talent to come and perform onstage. On July 29, The Warehouse will provide musical programming at the Spaceworks Tacoma Block Party including Hail, Luke Stevens and Travis Barker of Black Sails. On Aug. 6, they’re bringing in three bands from Denver and Minneapolis for a show at the Peabody Waldorf Gallery: “Tacoma is going to be blessed with some amazing music that night.” Watch a 2009 performance at The [original] Warehouse on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGOcTjQs3ow. For more about The Warehouse, visit http://www.facebook.com/thewarehousetacoma?ref=ts.

Joshua Everson’s Talking Pictures

Photographer Joshua Everson takes a restless interest in Tacoma and Tacomans: His eye ceaselessly roves the shifting topography of people and places he sees through the lens of his camera, awaiting the exact instant in which to take a picture. He describes this style of shooting as “dynamic portraiture,” a technique that “frees the one moment of time” from an open-ended sequence, capturing the frame destined to become a riveting image.

Everson's "dynamic portraiture"

For his Spaceworks Tacoma residency, Everson is taking dynamic portraits of Tacomans on location around the South Sound. Then, over the course of the three-month term, he will release these images into the window of his downtown studio at 1114 Pacific Ave. From the individual portraits a collage will form, until an even larger, over-arching idea begins to emerge from the whole. He envisions the transforming installation as being interactive with passersby: “There’s something a little funky about it, something you’re not quite getting.” His ultimate goal: “A collage of portraits that speaks to Tacoma” and reflects the unique personality of the city and of local culture.

Frozen moment: fashion on ice

Everson shoots with digital cameras as well as vintage models including a German-made Ansco Speedex Special “R”, and a Mamiya C3. He has taught photography for six years at Curtis Junior High, and will offer photography workshops to the public at his portrait studio through mid-Sept. Though digital lens work has its allure, he describes film photography as a skill that “incorporates the understanding and manipulation of physics, chemistry, language, aesthetics, and math.” He is also a fine painter, and currently involved in a city-wide mural project supported by the Chamber of Commerce aimed at stopping graffiti vandalism by commissioning artists to paint the walls of designated buildings. Joshua Everson Photography, 1114 Pacific Ave., through mid-Sept., 2010; http://www.josheverson.com

Lust. Greed. Religious hypocrisy. Midget.

Shooting has begun in Tacoma on Jesus 4 Less, a feature-length film by writer/director Aaron Flett and produced by Entertain U. The movie is a satire about two twentysomething atheists who work at a downtown Tacoma Christian bookstore, Jesus 4 Less, that is in competition with a cross-town Bible bookstore. A Jimmy Swaggart-type anti-hero as well as a midget figure in this parable, which is about (among other things) the evils of religious hypocrisy. The two young men (also romantic rivals) navigate the deep waters of “fundamentalism, love, lust, greed, and marijuana” in a dark comedy sure to spur conversation.

Flett received a Spaceworks Tacoma Creative Enterprise award which enables the film project to shoot for three months in a downtown storefront at 906 Broadway, for free. A nationally recognized stand-up comic, he began writing the story in February during a downtick in the local comedy scene, and soon came up with a finished script. We caught up with him as he was going into the movie’s first week of filming:

Spaceworks Tacoma: How did you learn to make a film?
Aaron Flett: I don’t think I ever learned to make a film, I’m just doing it. I watch a lot of DVD extras [commentaries]. I also have friends that either make films or went to film school, so I use them as much as possible.

Actors Adam Boyd and Sean Anderson

ST: Why is Tacoma a good location for this film?
AF: I was a big fan of Renton until I moved to Tacoma. I love it here. It has re-shaped my life. I used to be scared to come to Tacoma. When I started doing stand-up comedy in 2004, I learned Tacoma is a beautiful city full of great people….Most of the people we cast for the movie are from here and I want to show what Tacoma has to offer.

ST: Is there anything about the film
making process that will provide fodder for your comedy?
AF: I’m sure there is, but I’ve been too busy to write anything so far. I think it would make an interesting story, though. Some people find it funny that I live in a house that is owned by a church. I find it funny that a church owns rental properties.

Vanessa Cobbs on the set

ST: Jesus 4 Less is a satire about religious fundamentalism. Does it include any non-parody Christian characters or plot lines?
AF: It does, but most of them fly under the radar. Quite a few of the people involved with the production are [from] some form of Christian faith; they get the jokes, and why they are funny. We don’t really talk about people’s faith in general, in the film. We don’t care what your beliefs are as long as you don’t care what ours are. The religious characters that get spotlighted are the “Do as I say, not as I do” Ted Haggard-, Jimmy Swaggart-, Jim- and Tammy Faye Baker-types.

ST: What would you say to those who are offended by the film without seeing it?
AF: If you are offended without seeing it you will probably be very offended by seeing it. Chances are you are the type of person we make fun of in the film. I will say this, though: They are just jokes. Some may not be funny, some may be in bad taste, but none of them cause physical harm. I wrote a comedy, not a Bible. If you need a Bible, go to Dightman’s Bible Store on 38th…I stopped in there, [and] I must say, they make Christianity look awesome. The kid behind the counter was probably one of the happiest and nicest people I’ve ever met in retail.

ST: What would you say are the redemptive qualities of life, from the point of view of the film?
AF: It shows that no matter what your religious views are, you can be a good or bad person. Religion shouldn’t define your morals. I guess I’d say Jesus 4 Less is a story of “what goes around comes around.” And that isn’t always a bad thing. “Do unto others…” I think the Bible got that one right.

The Jesus 4 Less film set at 906 Broadway will be partially open to visitors at the Spaceworks Tacoma Block Party, July 29, 5-8p.m. Drop by for a look at how a feature-length movie is made – and meet-and-greet other Tacoma artists throughout the neighborhood at this free event! Find out more about the movie at http://www.Jesus4Less.com.

Tiffanie Peters’ “Undone glamour”

Peters, sporting jewels of her own design

Tiffanie Peters is living proof of Nietzche’s adage that “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” The fledgling fashion designer has been pulling all-nighters while preparing her new boutique, Chiffon, for its opening on July 29 during Spaceworks Tacoma’s Block Party. The new space, at 915 Pacific Ave., is cavernous – big enough to test the crew of Extreme Makeover. Fortunately, Peters only needs to paint the front portion, her display and sales area. Unfortunately, the color hasn’t been coming out the way it looked at Home Depot, and only now, after four laborious coats of paint and multiple trips to the hardware store, is it approaching the dreamy mix of greens she was after.

And yet, she wears a broad smile. “My vision for Chiffon is to set it up kind of like a gallery space where the [clothing] will be displayed like works of art,” she says, sweeping a hand in front of a blank, sage-colored wall. Given her unique talent for both clothing and jewelry design – and, her superhuman endurance – Peters seems destined to fill an aching void in the downtown shopping area.

Silver raindrops necklace, by Tiffanie Peters

Chiffon is the designer’s’ first retail venture, supported by six months free rent from Colliers International donated through Spaceworks Tacoma. Peters describes her debut collection as one of “undone glamour,” strongly influenced by 1970′s style. Current favorite pieces include a high-waisted pencil skirt that she makes in a summer-weight woven blend, and a silken georgette cardigan that drapes in soft tiers down the back. She will also offer a delectable selection of vintage accessories, including Gucci and Fendi handbags. Price range for clothing, jewelry and accessories is $20-$300.

Peters’ jewelry combines sterling silver and gold-tone metals with unique gems: “The stones I choose are not perfect, which to me makes them more interesting.” Standout pieces include graceful, drop-shaped silver earrings cast in silver with an abstract botanical pattern, and a silver-bib necklace inspired by cherry blossom branches. Both her jewelry and fashions can be made-to-order in custom colors and materials.

Silver botanical earrings, by Tiffanie Peters

Peters brings to Chiffon 10 years of experience in the California fashion industry, including five years at Juicy Couture, where she was an office manager in the international division. Her solid industry background will firmly buttress her creative endeavor in Tacoma. She plans to introduce other indie designers at the boutique and encourages local stylistas to contact her. “I like a little bit of everything,” she says of her merchandising style. “It’s eclectic.” Then she returns to the tasks at hand: “I want to turn this into my day job,” she smiles. Chiffon, 915 Pacific Ave., through mid-Dec. Hours: Thurs.-Sun. 11-6, and by appointment; http://www.tiffaniepeters.com

Pop Art on the Plaza

Profile: Joanne, by Janet Marcavage

Janet Marcavage is a Tacoma artist whose work has been exhibited nationally and all over the world: China, England, Ireland, Italy and Portugal. She is a master printmaker, and an Associate Professor of Art at the University of Puget Sound. Her work may be described as introspective and intellectually engaging: for instance, in a series called Profile, she takes the color code used to represent nucleotides in DNA testing, and deconstructs it to create the basis for a new pointillist palette, of sorts. She uses this new, information-rich technique – represented in the medium of an exquisitely precise, dot-print paper that she prints by hand – to create portrait silhouettes of her own family.

For Artscapes, Marcavage is creating a completely different type of work, to be installed at Tollefson Plaza (S. 17th & Pacific Ave.) on July 29. She is applying her printmaking skills to the design of big, bold Pop Art flowers that will find a home strung along the plaza’s railings. “This project is more playful and brighter than my previous work,” she says, “a chance for me to utilize printmaking on a larger scale than usual.” The brilliant mega-flora printed on weather-resistant Tyvek require a 4′ screen and a 40” squeegee to make – and an extra hand to print: “It took two of us to pull the squeegee. I haven’t done that before.”

Fantastic flora by Janet Marcavage

So how did she make the leap from investigating the genetic code to mining Summer of Love symbology? “My two-year-old daughter really inspired the flowers. Flowers are decorative icons found on almost everything marketed to girls. I’ve found from previous installations that going a little bigger and [more] colorful was more effective for public spaces. Some viewers may experience the work from a car, [and] if it is too subtle in this sort of setting, it won’t be noticed. I think that it brings some beauty to the plaza; when I have been testing out some of the flowers on the site, people walked by and smiled.” Untitled, Tollefson Plaza, S. 17th & Pacific Ave., July 31-Sept.15, 2010; http://www.janetmarcavage.com

Hard-boiled Tacoma

Tacoma is the scene of the crime in Isaac Olsen‘s hardboiled, film noir comedy, Quiet Shoes. Set in the smoke-and-mirrors world of a private dick named Rick Savage, Olsen’s first full-length feature premiered in June at the Rialto Theater. Quiet Shoes took the Tacoma native more than four years to make, and the naked city never looked so good: “In fashioning this world, Olsen brilliantly utilizes downtown and industrial Tacoma. Around every corner an alleyway looms, and on every horizon great plumes of smoke lurk. It’s a thrill to see Tacoma finally used to all its gritty potential,” raved the Weekly Volcano. “The film is much funnier and far more bizarre than your Maltese Falcon types.”

Spaceworks Tacoma has awarded Olsen’s company, Schnelluloid Film, Inc., a three-month residency at 1114 Pacific Ave. that will allow him to complete post-production work on a new feature film, I Hunger, “about a boyish creature who lives in the German forest.” I Hunger is “a German Expressionist art film [shot] last year in Flint, Michigan,” he explains. He will also continue work-in-progress on various animated and live-action shorts.

A scene from I Hunger, a film by Isaac Olsen

Olsen welcomes those who have never been inside a post-production studio to come take a look at where he shoots in-camera visual effects. A cool array of Schnelluloid merchandise is available for purchase: DVDs, tees, posters and more. Be sure to check out Quiet Shoes – the film stars local actors including Dale Phillips and Kurt Kendall of the legendary garage band, Girl Trouble; with a score by Kendall, Sam Olsen of Red Hex and Dick Rossetti of Twink the Wonder Kid. Schnelluloid Film, Inc., 1114 Pacific Ave., through mid-Sept., 2010; www.schnelluloid.com

“Can I Buy a Vowel?”

On July 31, at 11:30a.m., artist James Grayson Sinding will drive a dump truck into Tollefson Plaza (S. 17th & Pacific Ave.) and drop thousands of 12” wooden letters – 5 sq. yards of alphabet, to be exact – that make up his Artscapes installation, Letters. Sinding will then invite the public to get involved – and get writing.

James Sinding's larger-than-life message board

Sinding’s inspiration for the art work came from the magnetic alphabets people stick on their refrigerators – magnified to the 10th power.  “This project I hope will be Tacoma’s refrigerator,” he says, a place where citizens and visitors can come to compose their thoughts, write a poem, leave a message, or even vent steam (he plans to monitor the site daily): “There are no real ground rules for the project, besides read and write.” The open-air installation will be hard to ignore, or resist. Sinding hopes it will draw people into Tollefson Plaza, a large, open space in the heart of downtown.

Sinding, a 2010 graduate of the University of Washington with a B.A. degree in Arts Media & Culture, says he usually creates art that is more introspective in nature. Letters represents a reversal, in that it is “a public forum. A place for people to actually write their own thoughts down. It can be personal to them.” He is preparing the wooden letters by painting them in bright colors. “Thousands,” he says. “A lot….My goal is to have enough letters in the beginning, so that I won’t have to replenish.” And what will his first message be? “Tough saying, I don’t know what my thoughts are going to be that day. We will see.” For Tacomans, Letters promises F-U-N, writ large. Letters, Tollefson Plaza, S. 17th & Pacific Ave., through Aug. 30, 2010; http://www.jamesgraysonsinding.blogspot.com