How would you change the face of Tacoma? Apply to Spaceworks and be a part of the conversation.
Spaceworks Tacoma is currently seeking applications for its three tracks: Artscapes, Creative Enterprise, and Special Projects Residencies. Artists, organizations, community groups and creative entrepreneurs are encouraged to apply. Through this application cycle, participants will be identified to fill no- and low-cost temporary vacant spaces in Tacoma through 2013. Deadline: June 10, 2013
Debbie and Tom Pitzer at Bryson Speer Salon (Federal Way, WA) in front of a 25 foot wall finish that she created using a hybridized plaster mix and a special tool she created to apply over concrete blocks. She used a metallic rust finish on the two supports to make them look like iron beams.
Spaceworks currently has about a dozen awesome projects that we are working to find vacant space for in downtown Tacoma. One of those projects is Pasticcio Design, an artistic interior design business owned by Debbie Pitzer. Pasticcio creates custom finishes for interior surfaces; walls, ceilings, floors, windows, furniture, etc.
She was recently interviewed on the “Business Matters” show on TV Tacoma. It is airing now and we invite you to check it out!
You can find it on Ch. 12 (Tacoma residents) and Channel 21 (Pierce County residents):
Mondays, 2am & 3pm
Tuesdays, Midnight, 3pm & 10pm
Wednesdays, Noon & 9pm
Thursdays, 4pm & 11pm
Fridays, 4am, Noon & 6pm
Saturdays, 4am, 9am, 3pm & 9pm
Sundays, 11am & 6pm
Or click here to video stream it anytime (click on the April 16-May 15 video).
Thanks to advice and resources she received through partners of the Spaceworks program Debbie recently launched her first website: http://www.pasticciodesign.com/
Keep up the great work Debbie!
Spaceworks’ Creative Enterprises have transformed spaces throughout downtown Tacoma, and one of those enterprises was Write @ 253. The free, nonprofit community writing center filled a vacant storefront at 1310 Martin Luthur King, Jr Way from April to October 2012 through the Spaceworks program. They transitioned into a lease for that storefront and are still there today providing resources and support to the Tacoma students who stop by.
They have three workshops and two tutoring programs happening in the near future. Maybe one of them will strike your fancy.
South Sound Magazine’s writeup of Feather & Oar
Have you been to Feather & Oar yet? If not, you should! Spaceworks alum Feather & Oar started as a Spaceworks Creative Enterprise a few blocks away at 311 S. 7th over the holiday season and in January 2013 they found a new space, dialed it in*, opened their doors January 21st, and have been going gangbusters ever since. Owners JD Elquist and Travis Pranger will make your experience in the store an enjoyable one, along with the other talents they have gathered in the mix: stylist Drew Collier, bespoke tailor MacLachlan, CFO Robert Taylor, Ricky the tailor, and leather maker Stephen Jones. Buy some cool men’s clothes, have some alterations done, pick up a pound of coffee, snag a leather iphone holder, have your hair done, or just chat with these folks and walk out feeling good! Your thoughts about fashion or the potential of Tacoma will be uplifted.
* Dialing it in included hauling over 10,000 lbs of material (layers upon layers of flooring, sheetrock, and more) out of the space to reveal the 1911 character of the building.
Feather & Oar is open six days a week, Monday – Saturday 10-6 at 759 Market Street – Tacoma, Washington 98402.
Spaceworks Tacoma is thrilled to highlight its Creative Enterprise projects that started in a vacant commercial Spaceworks space and have transitioned into being paying lease holders in the city of Tacoma! It shows that Spaceworks works!
Do you have an idea that would transform a vacant space in Tacoma? We’d love to hear about it! Applications for the next Spaceworks round will be available May 1st. Email Spaceworks Coordinator Heather Joy to get on our notification list.
Photo courtesy of Live Paint.
Okay, so there won’t be any unicorns to feed pixie dust-sprinkled carrots to, but little ones will still find plenty of fun at A Kids’ Fairy and Wizard Interactive Theater and Art Event, on May 3, 7, 10, 11, 17 and 18 at Live Paint. For a limited time, tickets are just $8 per session – that’s 50% off! – when you order online. Live Paint is a “family-friendly theatre, art and special events company,” and the brainchild of local educator and actor, Cindy Arnold.
Arnold has been throwing family-friendly creative events all winter at Live Paint’s Spaceworks residency studio on the Hilltop. She’s stepping it up a notch with this event, co-presented by LivingSocial. Check out the invitation, and sign up!
From LivingSocial: “Your little fairy prince or princess has spent afternoons in the garden searching for gnomes and nymphs, but all he or she’s found have been squirrels and spiders. With today’s deal from Live Paint, you can give your darling an enchanted evening, and you don’t even need to search under toadstools. Pay $8 [limited-time only!] for a ticket to a fairy and wizard spring interactive theater and art event for kids (regularly $16). A fun-filled family event geared toward children ages 3 to 8, the spring show shares tales of magical fairies and wizards. Incorporating theater, story, and art, this show takes kids on a journey through a magical forest in need of help. Kids will create a craft project to use as a prop to help save the day, and then take it home. Shows will be held May 3, 7, 10, 11, 17, and 18 at 5:30 p.m. at the colorful studio located on MLK Way. Attending is a great Mother’s Day activity, since even pixies aren’t as magical as bonding with your baby.” Live Paint, 1314 MLK Way in Tacoma. Individual sessions May 3, 7, 10, 11, 17 and 18; info at 206/732-0224 or 253/756-2169.
Tools of the trade. Photo: Mark Monson
While skimming through the index of a website that gathers pithy quotes about the act of writing, we found that the headings could be shaped, trimmed and rearranged into a fairly decent poem about the subject:
Writing is Heaven.
Writing is Hell.
Writing is Work.
Writing is Money.
Writing is Truth…and Fiction (see above).
Writing is Character.
Writing is Drama.
Writing is all these things and more. But to begin with, clear writing is a necessary tool for achieving goals in life, and this is the idea that the instructors at Write@253, Tacoma’s new writing center for students ages 6-18, will impart through an innovative program that offers one-on-one tutoring, free workshops, a drop-in writing room and creative publishing opportunities. Spaceworks Tacoma is proud to award Write@253 a six-month Creative Enterprise Residency in the Hilltop neighborhood where a staff of about 20 volunteers, including college-level instructors and staff, will begin tutoring in April. Continue reading
Tuesday was a hot night for Fabitat, Fab-5‘s super-tight creative lab on the Hilltop – and for Spaceworks Tacoma. The event was an exceptionally cheery fundraiser: hard to believe, but Fab-5 has been at it for 12 years mentoring local youth in the creative arts, and this was their first call for support, ever. Not only that, but the busy studio at 1316 Martin Luther King Way, which they occupied via a Spaceworks residency in 2011 and recently signed the lease for, is the team’s first-ever homebase. The Five’s dedication and leadership in igniting young minds through the visual and performing arts is the stuff urban dreams are made of. Attendees at Tuesday night’s event jostled to pledge support (you can make a donation here), and to sign the group’s door, graffiti-style.
Musician Nate Dybevik is an expert in piano restoration. Photo courtesy of Nate Dybevik.
At Spaceworks, such win-win situations (free space for creative entrepreneurs = potential paying tenants for landlords) are always cause for celebration. Fab-5 is but one of several Hilltop artists-in-residence who in the past year have activated a once dormant commercial zone and seeded the area around the Fulcrum Gallery with fresh life. Nate Dybevik also recently signed the dotted line and gained a permanent address for his “piano museum” (he is a musician who rebuilds pianos) and music studio. During its tenure, Toy Boat Theatre performed a miraculous facelift on a sterile office space, drew new audiences to the neighborhood with six months of high-caliber drama, and left an indelible mark before moving on.
We thought it was time to catch up with these Spaceworks alums and hear about their experiences in their own words.
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The transformation of the 1300 block of “Hilltopia” in 2011 wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity of the Marie Thorp Wilson Trust, owners of the Thorp Building (where two of the four original. rent-free residency spaces are now leased by Fab-5 and Dybevik). According to Thorp family member Jeanette Sorenson, while the Trust’s intention has been to sell the Thorp Building, “It has been a blessing to have [it] occupied, especially by groups that appreciate the opportunity to try their wings at a business venture….By opening the building to the Spaceworks program, [it] has changed from a vacant, cold building to a lively, warm building that shows its true character.”
Sorenson admits to initial hesitation about the venture. But “after interviewing Rebecca [Solverson] and Amy [McBride, City of Tacoma Arts Administrator], it became clear that this would be a good way to occupy the trust building along with helping the K Street community grow in a positive way.” Sorenson’s family ties to Tacoma run deep: as a young man her grandfather, Theodore Martin Thorp, followed his cousin, Thea Foss, from Wisconsin to Tacoma. In 1967, her father, Bud (“Blind Man”) Thorp, “built the Thorp Building on property he had purchased when he was discharged from the Army Air Corps, a decorated airman.” Spaceworks is grateful to help usher in a new wave of activity at the Thorp Building.
No cookie-cutter furnishings at the Modern Cottage. Photos courtesy of Alison Bryan
We believe some scuffed but much-loved furniture deserves a second chance at life. Like a certain “vintage” (code for “outdated”) set of drawers that’s been collecting dust at home. With this in mind, we slapped on a sassy coat of tangerine paint looking to infuse some shabby chic into our decorating scheme. Wrong! Instead of looking “retro,” those drawers now look like, well, a “mistake.”
Next time we’re shooting for shabby chic we’re heading straight over to the Modern Cottage at 311 S. 7th St. next to Puget Sound Pizza. Owner and decorating whiz, Alison Bryan, has the artist’s touch when it comes to refreshing old school pieces so they look just right for today. Her newly opened Spaceworks Tacoma showroom is full of great finds at a fraction of the price of new, factory-made furniture.
Dowdy chairs "before" their makeover.
The same chairs "after" Modern Cottage comes to the rescue!
“Hot sellers are chalkboard canvases, dressers, end tables, and mirrors,” she reports. Price point is $50 to $350, and the goods are getting snapped up fast: on her first weekend of business she sold out one-third of her inventory. We love recycled and repurposed objects – we just can’t always do the job ourselves. Luckily, Bryan also does custom restoration: check out the fab before-and-after pics, left and below. There’s hope for that dear tangerine chest of drawers, yet. Welcome to the neighborhood, Modern Cottage! 311 S. 7th St.; 253.241.6877.Open Sat. 12-4pm, and by appointment.
Feeling pent up? Then act out at 1314 Martin Luther King Way at a free theatre workshop hosted by Live Paint! Theatre veteran Cindy Arnold invites visitors to drop in for improv, readings, to share works in progress, or to kick back and enjoy as an audience member. This is an adult acting workshop, but all ages are invited to attend and check out Live Paint’s awesome performance space on the Hilltop!
Questions? Call Cindy Arnold at 253/756-2169; cell 206/732-0224.
Cindy Arnold works a young audience at a cooperative preschool in Seattle. Photo courtesy of Live Paint
When Live Paint founder Cindy Arnold held her first open-theater workshop on the Hilltop last weekend, she knew she’d chosen the right place for a creative homebase. The informal session not only attracted college students, performers, writers and artists who showed up to talk about their projects and trade feedback, but, “A man who came in, said he was retiring and had always thought about taking up acting.” It was the kind of neighborhood response Arnold was looking for as she undertakes a Spaceworks residency at 1314 Martin Luther King, Jr., Way.
Cindy Arnold at work. Photo courtesy of Live Paint
Starting Feb. 25, Live Paint will offer theater workshops for adults every Sat., 1-3pm, free of charge. Arnold promises a relaxed environment for actors wanting to read for an audience or to perform improv, dancers looking to bounce around ideas, and writers seeking feedback on scripts in progress. As for the soon-to-retire planning engineer who expressed a desire to take the stage, he received information on how to produce and perform a monologue. “We are very committed to it being free,” says Arnold.
Live Space’s founder has combined her twin passions of acting and education (“Everyone in my family is a teacher”) for about 15 years. Following a teaching stint in New York City she traveled to Southeast Asia to explore the emerging field of multiculturalism; working with children in Vietnam and Thailand, “I saw similarities in the human experience.” Teaching, acting, music and travel inform her work in the theater.
“It’s a big step to have a performance space,” she says, and a place “to connect with the community.” Live Paint occupies a building recently vacated by Toy Boat Theatre – a local acting group led by Marilyn Bennett who completely transformed the large property on MLK Way from dead commercial space into a vibrant theater house that successfully staged numerous plays and readings. Arnold, who has organized events at the Tacoma Public Library and will be participating in a live event at KBTC studios in April, is planning a variety of family-friendly activities for the Spaceworks space including a Winter Festival event on Mar. 10, “fairy classes” the week of April 23, and a Spring Festival in May (exact times and dates to be announced). “It’s really an organic experience,” she says of the programming. Live Paint, 1314 Martin Luther King, Way, 253-756-2169.
