Tacoma Art Museum is excited to share the launch of our first ever virtual luncheon! During this seven day event, join us on TAM’s website where we’ll be sharing interviews and exciting updates. The luncheon culminates in a live event on June 2 at noon where we’ll hear from David Setford, TAM’s Executive Director, as … Continue reading TAM is going Virtual: Launching the 2020 Spring Luncheon
Portraits have a long history with examples in a variety of mediums and cultures across time. More than just a record of someone’s appearance, portraits are often used to show the power, importance, beauty, wealth, education, taste and other qualities of the sitter. Self-portraits, a subgroup within the genre, can often be reflective or revelatory. … Continue reading Object of the Week – Self Portrait Drawing
Tacoma Art Museum was founded in 1935 but it was not until 2003 that it moved into a building designed specifically as an art museum. For 68 years the organization adapted to a variety of different settings as its mission and collection grew. In the early days TAM was known as the Tacoma Art Association … Continue reading All About TAM: Buildings over Time
This week, we hear from TAM docent Cathy Wiggins, who reflects on a favorite piece from the museum’s collection, Minidoka No. 5 (442nd) by Roger Shimomura. This large painting dominates the room anytime it is on view at the museum. It is a highlight of my tours whenever it is up. It is described in … Continue reading Object of the Week: Minidoka No. 5 (442nd)
Keep Calm and Carry On. This phrase, coined on the eve of World War II to boost the morale of an anxious nation, has been much on my mind lately. As we fumble to navigate this difficult circumstance, what are we doing to try and infuse the directive of this slogan into our lives during … Continue reading Deceptive Simplicity, or Night Bird Toast
Inspired by the natural landscape, diverse visual histories, and everyday surroundings, Charlene Liu creates mixed media works through an amalgam of printmaking, painting, and papermaking processes, alongside multimedia projects in video and installation. By combining imagery drawn from cultural and natural references and deliberate choices in color and artistic technique, Liu creates work that pulses … Continue reading Object of the Week -Swoops and Cyclone
I have been an exhibiting artist for over 15 years. Since 2018, I have been part of the Tacoma Art Museum’s education staff as a Museum Educator, Teaching Artist. I work with local youth directly through a before and after school Sketch Club program where we focus on using artistic skills and habits as tools … Continue reading Sharing Art Beyond Our Walls
Misty clouds in shades of gray obscure a complete view of the snow dusted southwest corner of Washington’s tallest peak, Mount Rainier. The clouds, each one unique in color, shape, and density, frame various aspects of the mountainside, drawing the viewers eyes up toward a peak completely obscured by darkness. Texture and shades of gray … Continue reading Object of the Week – Above Paradise, Mount Rainier
Zama Vanessa Helder’s work is often identified with a style known as precisionism for the sharp, linear edges used to define objects. Precisionist images celebrate America’s then-fledgling industrial and urban age and the crisp geometry of its factories, skyscrapers, bridges, and other architectural wonders. Helder took this style to new heights by working in watercolor, … Continue reading Object of the Week – Water Tower
Virna Haffer experimented with and mastered a variety of photographic styles and techniques throughout her career, creating images that can be categorized as pictorialist, surrealist, documentary, straight, or modernist. She further manipulated her images in the darkroom by altering and combining negatives and using equipment such as her enlarger to create striking new works. In … Continue reading Object of the Week – Rattlesnake Grass
