MLK Before and After

In June 2011, Spaceworks Tacoma temporarily placed three fledgling arts groups into a previously vacant building in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood. This video documents the incredible transformation Fab-5, N. Dybevik Piano Co., and Toy Boat Theatre created in a matter of weeks. Special thanks to the Marie T. Wilson Trust for making these projects happen!

Two Artists Create a Diorama – of Themselves

The many-faceted world of McCleary and Rothlisberger.

According to artists Lauren McCleary and Mary Rothlisberger, “The world we walk through mirrors the world we build within ourselves.” Now others can peer into that world through The Atlas of Here & There: Making This Day Out of Many, a new installation commissioned by Spaceworks Tacoma. The Atlas, at 912 Broadway, is literally a window into the artists’ internal landscape, a playful yet intricate vision of the things that make their world tick. This teeming work explores ideas of abiding friendship, memory, transience, place, shelter, and environmental sustainability. Packed with visual information, it invites viewers to imagine their own stories about the permeable world embedded within layers and layers of unlikely, yet subtly connected, objects that animate the work.

Visual clues to a passage where ideas bloom.

Rothlisberger and McCleary are frequent collaborators who hail from the Palouse country of eastern Washington. Their art and writing reflect the influence of the wide open, gold-flecked landscape of wheat country: “We believe in intersections where human experiences collide to make mountain ranges that stretch across the spaces between us. The imaginary cartography of everyday interactions makes an atlas out of everyone,” says their artist statement.

Of Art and Facial Hair

Ready for a makeover? Then visit the Mustache Gallery, Brian Hutcheson‘s whimsical installation that allows Tacomans to “test-drive their future facial hair” by trying on mustaches through the device of strategically placed mirrors and a variety of ‘staches painted on windows.

Now, we know that extravagantly bristly and bewhiskered men saw favor in Brooklyn a few seasons ago – and  in our own fashion-driven region long before that (say, back in the 1850′s). What man hasn’t toyed with the idea of having mutton chops, a thick walrus brush, or a pencil mustache to twirl? “There are few things in life that can cause admiration, envy, laughter and disgust as [readily] as facial hair can,” says Hutcheson. Visitors to the gallery in the Woolworth Building (11th and Broadway) can contemplate a new, more masculine appearance by aligning their face with the little swishes of hair painted on the glass, and peering into one of the multitude of mirrors hung at different heights so the clean-shaven of all ages may participate in trying on hirsute accessories. In addition to being an artist, Hutcheson is an instructor of art and design at Charles Wright Academy, where he is also the gallery coordinator. His skill at creating and hanging shows, shows.

He asserts that as male citizens of Tacoma “wake from their winter slumber and venture outdoors, the Mustache Gallery will allow them to consider the multitude of ways they can sculpt their current full-featured beard into something more hip and weather appropriate [for spring].” The fun isn’t limited to males, either: “The Mustache Gallery [will] empower the women of our city to break down gender barriers and assimilate a symbol of power that men have dominated for centuries.”

Ghost Prairie by Thoughtbarn

Artists Lucy Begg and Robert Gay (Thoughtbarn) created this temporary public art installation in Tacoma that was on display from Nov 12 -30 at the University of Washington-Tacoma. This great stop-action video documents their work.

Season’s Finale at Toy Boat Theatre!

From left: Olivia Seward, Marilyn Bennett, Peter Pendras, Meleesa Wyatt, Matt Shimkus, Trevor Pendras, Aaron Jacobs.

Toy Boat Theatre is presenting That Delicate Light, a special winter solstice event celebrating the season, and the conclusion of their madly successful Spaceworks residency on MLK Way. Directed by Suzy Willhoft, with stage design by Scott Campbell, That Delicate Light features superb local actors Aaron Jacobs, Matt Shimkus, Olivia Seward, Meleesa Wyatt and Marilyn Bennett (Artistic Director of TBT). Guitarists Peter Pendras (“Malibu Manouche”) and Trevor Pendras (“Country Lips”) will offer a collection of poetry, scenes, music and reflections on the season, in an original work that expresses TBT’s credo: “Good acting in a humble house”. Family-friendly fun for children 10 and up. Please be a part of “this special farewell to 2011, and a welcome to all things growing and changing in 2012.”

Dates: December 15 & 16, 8pm; December 17, 2pm and 8pm. Tickets: $10 adults, $5 children 12 and under. http://www.brownpapertickets.com. Toy Boat Theatre is at 1314 M L King Way, in the Hilltop neighborhood. Contact: marilyn.bennett60@gmail.com