A growing enclave for the arts, 30 miles from Seattle
The City of Destiny was not destined to be Puget Sound's cultural capital. It is a small star. But the arts scene in Tacoma has managed to shine.
Tacoma has a long-standing rivalry with its well-endowed sister city to the north, or perhaps it's an inferiority complex. During the three years I lived in Tacoma, I heard a lot of talk about what Tacoma could do to be more like Seattle (or better than Seattle), or to attract more Seattleites (especially artists) to defect to Tacoma, or at least patronize it. This is due to the historical rivalry between the two cities, the seeds of which were sown when Washington was still the Wild West but continue to germinate resentment to this day.
Tacoma successfully swiped the Northern Pacific Railroad out from under Seattle in 1873, putting Tacoma, and not Seattle, on the path to world-class recognition. But Seattle far surpassed Tacoma regardless, benefiting from a succession of economic booms – a Gold Rush, aerospace, info tech – while Tacoma stagnated for decades. Tacoma never fully recovered from this "could have been" history; living there, you feel as if your city thinks it is an undiscovered genius, like Basquiat looking for an Andy Warhol to recognize him.
Historical grudges aside, modern-day comparisons between the two cities' cultural offerings are neither fair nor relevant. Seattle's in-city population in the 2000 Census was 563,375; Tacoma's was 193,177, a number much closer to that of Spokane, at 196,143.
In this respect, Tacoma's cultural efforts are highly commendable. People who have lived in Tacoma all their lives express amazement at how the waterfront and downtown have already been transformed into a welcoming arts district. There are two major museums devoted to the arts — the much-touted Glass Museum, Dale Chihuly's gift to his hometown, and the Tacoma Art Museum, which deserves more praise than it receives, as curators not only make a point to support and showcase local artists but develop cutting-edge shows, such as the recent installation by Trimpin.
There are several strong art galleries in Tacoma, from notable heavyweight William Traver to the homegrown start-ups, Art on Center and Brick and Mortar. Two exciting efforts are Tollbooth, the "World's Smallest Gallery Dedicated Exclusively to Experimental Video and Wheat-Pasted Paper Fine Arts," and Woolworth Windows, where artists are invited to create installations for 100 feet of window display space.
The Kittredge Gallery at the University of Puget Sound is now hosting a show organized by Seattle Print Arts (SPA) and Sarah Suzuki, assistant curator for the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York. Sally Schuh, president of SPA, said of the event: "We want our membership to reach beyond Seattle." When the show opened, quite a few Seattleites were in attendance, despite a propane explosion that shut down Highway 16, wreaking havoc on traffic near the university.
I spoke with Catherine Swanson, owner of Art on Center (AOC) Gallery, as she prepared for an opening on the same Saturday afternoon as the Kittredge's. She and partner David Goldberg had just moved AOC from its original Center Street location in the Nalley Valley industrial area to a prime spot adjacent Tacoma's art-house theater, Grand Cinema. When they opened the Center Street gallery a few years ago, their primary need was studio space for their own art and for Swanson's work as an art instructor. The gallery space downstairs simply came with the deal. "But the gallery became a thing of its own," Swanson explained. "We wished we were in a better location." She is cautiously hopeful about how well the new locale will promote business. "Here we pay the same amount of rent but have less space," she said.
The couple has moved their studio space into a house they own, which is one of the reasons they moved to Tacoma in the first place. They had lived in Seattle in the 1990s, moved to New York in 1997, and then returned to the Northwest in 2000. "We wanted to live in Seattle, but we couldn't find a place [we could afford] to buy," she said.
Swanson, who grew up in Tacoma, says she enjoys the working-class feel of her hometown. "People don't put on airs here," she said. She also credits the city for fulfilling its promise as far as the arts are concerned. "So much has changed; it's really living up to their marketing," she said.
Still, Swanson expressed frustration about some Tacomans' lack of interest in the arts. "In Seattle, there's a younger, more-flush buying crowd. Regular people know about art." Are there any art collectors living in Tacoma? Swanson says yes. "But they go to Seattle to buy art." And Seattleites aren't flocking to Tacoma for art bargains either, in her estimation. "The freeway only goes one way for Seattleites," she said.
Even so, Swanson pointed to Tacoma's new City Arts publication for helping to promote the local scene. She's also fueling her own networking, which she says is the key determining factor in any arts enterprise, whether gallery or individual artist. "No matter where you are, it's who you know," she said.
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Comments:
Posted Mon, Oct 15, 8:45 a.m. inappropriate
Tacoma Folks: The biggest cohort of people that concern me in Tacoma are the people that prey upon the military and the poor - not to mention the social service worker rejects from Seattle.
By and large though the people down here are one a lot more 'real' than the politically correct, passive agressive types you find in King County.
It's not universal, but in many respects the true NW lives on here much stronger than it does in Seattle, or Bellevue.
Posted Mon, Oct 15, 9:21 a.m. inappropriate
I Love This City: We've got an amazing arts scene for such a small population. Wages are low, though. I think that's the single biggest thing holding the arts scene back. I have some hope that with the new office spaces going in in University Place and some sign of movement on parking restrictions downtown there will be more high paying jobs here in the future.
Posted Mon, Oct 15, 11:04 a.m. inappropriate
Seriously..: Tacoma?
And re politically correct King County-- tsk-tsk. Careful, honey--your stereotypes are showing.
Posted Mon, Oct 15, 11:08 a.m. inappropriate
Be careful what you wish for...: Take it from your neighbors up north. When wages rise, so do living costs--especially housing. You can never get ahead, really. They gentrify, using higher wage jobs as bait, then raise the cost of living so high that the people who live there can no longer afford to. The jobs, of course, will go to the already connected.
Posted Mon, Oct 15, 11:13 a.m. inappropriate
And while ticking off the city's various arts attractions, let's not forget Tacoma Opera. This spunky company has been around 40 years, an achievement in itself for a performing arts organization in a small market. Performances typically sell out and with good reason. The restored Rialto and Pantages theaters are intimate with good sight lines and fine acoustics. Tickets are affordable, at least in opera terms. Fifty bucks buys a primo seat in the orchestra, not in a high-altitude tier. The casts are good to excellent, drawn principally from the wealth of young opera talent on the West Coast.
A typical season has one slightly adventurous offering in the fall (Berlioz' Beatrice and Benedict last year; Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld this November), followed by some fine old chestnut in the spring (Carmen, Tosca, Barber of Seville). A treat for any opera lover. Bravo Tacoma!
Posted Mon, Oct 15, 8:26 p.m. inappropriate
Don't forget the Helm!: A new downtown Tacoma gallery called the Helm is an important new addition to the Tacoma art scene that the article didn't mention. It's one of a growing number of places (galleries, boutiques, coffee shops, bars, etc.) in town that don't seem to feel like they have to cater to the taste of North Tacoma housewives who think they're "artsy." A good sign, as any city on the upswing needs a recolonizing hipster element. Fortunately, Tacoma's coolness is growing at a pace that doesn't threaten to overgentrify and become Wallingford/Fremont/Ballard-style soft (in rough order of softness) anytime soon.
Posted Tue, Oct 16, 11:15 a.m. inappropriate
RE: Seriously..: MaryW, I suspect you may be part of the Seattle mafia portrayed in the short film South 5.
Posted Wed, Oct 17, 5:50 p.m. inappropriate
Tacoma Cartoonists vs. Seattle Cartoonists: Arts yeah, Cartoonists? Hmm. Seattle has many Cartoonists... Tacoma sadly only one, but at least that one's hands aren't sticky with honey or saliva. For Shore.
Real Underground Tacoma Political Cartoons
Posted Sat, Oct 20, 9:40 a.m. inappropriate
"A growing enclave for the arts, 30 miles from Seattle": I think it's fantastic that Crosscut is offering high school journalists the opportunity to showcase their work. I assume that's what this is.
If not, then here are some other sad beyond-the-bridges "story" ideas:
Bellevue, a Growing Enclave for Shopping
Microsoft, a Growing Enclave for Software
Starbucks, a Growing Enclave for Overpriced Coffee
These are just notions, mind you, they would need to be fleshed out with a thick layer of deadly platitudes delivered by someone who has a firm - or pretty good, anyway - grasp of the obvious.