April 2013 ART BUS Tour

In April we visited lots of neat places with our celebrity tour guide Ryan Mello of Tacoma City Council. Here are some photos of the tour along with information about each place.

253 Collective artists are celebrating Spring. Starting April 18 the 253C artists will feature a group exhibit on flowers. The Gallery is doing some spring cleaning and will add lots of color to our walls. The Pacific Northwest can be a little gray and gloomy this time of year but our show will correct that problem. The Collective is always looking for local artists to be part of the Collective. For more information visit their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-253-Collective/170640212986930?fref=ts

Another stop on the April ART BUS tour was Fablab Tacoma! It's a membership-based, do-it-yourself workshop and fabrication studio providing access to a vibrant community of highly creative people and a multitude of high quality machines, tools and software. FabLab offers meet-ups, classes, workshops and instruction for people of all ages and skill levels.

Sometimes referred to as the "YMCA for nerds" this community workshop caters to artists, entrepreneurs, craftsmen, students, makers, and city-folk that don't have their own workshop. The FabLab features laser cutting and 3D printing and other computer controlled machinery as well as conventional shop equipment such as bands saws, table saws, welding and plasma cutting equipment. This week we are featuring wooden lamps and boxes intricately carved using the laser cutter.








Embellish Multispace Salon: This hair salon/ art gallery featured the work of Sophie Story. This is actually the 3rd time young Sophie has had an art show here. The first time was when she was 9 years old, then she had another at age 13, and now at 16 1/2 she is quite the accomplished artist. She draws all the figures, scans them into her computer and then digitally adds the color and texture. She loves old rock and roll, and has been a great client of Embellish since she was a little girl.

Crescent Moon Gifts features art from several prominent Northwest fantasy artists such as David Delamare, Jody Bergsma and Amy Brown; as well as museum replica statuary of Egyptian, Norse, and Greco Roman mythology. Art on display this month will include paintings created by Angela, the owner. Crescent Moon also carries handmade jewelry, and crafts from local artisans. They carry a selection of many one of a kind items, for all of your gift giving needs.

Proctor Art Gallery, opened in 2009 by Carolyn Burt and husband, Chuck Gourley, has been named “Best Art Gallery in Tacoma” by the Tacoma Weekly readers three years in a row, “2012 Best Art Gallery in South Sound” by South Sound Magazine, and came in 5th place in the King 5 Best of Western Washington 2012 (first place- Seattle Art Museum, second-Museum of Glass, third-Tacoma Art Museum, fourth- Frye Art Museum).

The gallery is home to 16 local artists and prides itself on quality and diversity. One may find watercolors, oils, acrylics, mixed media, colored pencil, chalk pastels, fiber arts, jewelry, wood working, fused glass, pottery, scratchboard engraving, prints, cards and more. Styles range from abstract, whimsical, impressionistic, to classical realism. Work at the gallery is switched out and rearranged the first Tuesday every month always producing a new look.

The gallery is a new concept; it is not a co-op, and not a consignment gallery. The owners have individual contracts with each artist and allow associate artists to participate in many decisions in the gallery. You will meet different artists staffing the gallery each time you visit.

This month features our fiber artists, Helen Hein and Anne Doumit Sparks, a sister team who create in fabric with embellishments. They will be demonstrating how they work together to produce rich, patterned, and textured pieces.

Proctor Art Gallery has a special exhibit in conjunction to the Society of American Mosaic Artists annual conference showing the exquisite work of Woodinville artist, Patty Franklin. Using real musical instruments as the foundation, Patty creates mosaic instruments. She also has a new series, called “Into the Woods”, of whimsical trees.

Proctor Art Gallery is open daily Monday- Saturday from 10a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Throwing Mud Gallery is a contemporary crafts gallery and pottery studio owned by Mark & Eileen Hudak. Pottery classes in wheel throwing and hand building techniques are taught by Mark, who has been a full-time studio potter for almost 30 years. The gallery is dedicated to fine handcrafted art and honors the creative energy of about 75 artists, mostly from the Pacific Northwest area. In celebration of their 2nd anniversary, everything in the gallery this evening through Saturday is on sale.

The featured artist is Sacha Van De Zande. Sacha (Say-sha) is a new artist to the Tacoma area. Working as a goldsmith she specializes in handmade & one of a kind Jewelry. Her stunning creations feature 14k gold in many colors, mixed metal techniques, precious & semi-precious gemstones and organically found materials. All of her metal materials have been refined from 100% reclaimed (recycled) materials.

Catwalk has been a popup fashion boutique/art gallery since last June and unfortunately closed at the end of April so we got to see its very last exhibit. Catwalk's last day open was April 27th. So long Catwalk, may you rise again somewhere else for 8 more lives!



To stay up to date on upcoming tours, visit our website: http://www.duchessofdowntowntours.com


For updates about our monthly Tacoma ART BUS tour, connect with us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tacoma-ART-BUS/151270941559625?fref=ts



Here is a link to a gallery of snapshots I took along the way:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151376565122724.1073741840.717572723&type=3


XOXO,
Duchess of Downtown Tacoma