Frost Park: What Have We Accomplished?

I've been having a lot of fun at Frost Park these last couple months. It's a great chance to just get outdoors, especially as the weather gets nicer, and put some faces with all the names and blogs we see. I've heard a lot of interesting discussion about all the issues that people are writing on, seen new friends made, and seen the group grow and grow.

But the fact is that we started doing this with a purpose, and a hope of accomplishing something positive beyond just a networking opportunity. So have we? Well, first off, it all sprung out of word that a fence was to be erected around the area. So if we simply measure our success in terms of that, it's worth noting that the fence project has, in fact, been canceled. Not only was the county money set aside for the project pulled back, but it was actually repurposed directly to the Downtown Merchant's Group to offset potential losses during various upcoming street construction projects.

Does this really count as success, though? From what I gather, this move has little to do with our get-togethers, and much more to do with the county getting tired of waiting for the city to use requisitioned funds (similar action is pending on a couple other projects that have just been rolling over in the county's annual budget waiting for the city to get its act together). I'll grant the possibility that knowing there was a group out there that was against the fence may have contributed to either the city's never-ending discussion on the project or the county's eventual decision to repurpose the money, but I agree with what Councilman Farrel said, both in his first spiel at us and in our conversation a couple weeks ago: as far as "Taking back the park" and avoiding something like the fence altogether, it will take more than one lunch a week. It doesn't matter how many people we get down there any given Friday, if it's all focused then and doesn't spread to other days/times.

To me, the biggest thing we've achieved is along a different line altogether; not in the occupation of the park but in the new life that has sprung from it: the chalk-offs. Yeah, some people will still call that graffiti, and no, we're not combating crime or feeding the homeless or anything, but there is still a positive step being taken. Andrea summed it up best for me:

I'm not from around here, and I've spent most of my time hunkered down in my cave. It's encouraging to find out just how committed this community is to creative expression.

It really is awesome to see this outpouring of support for spontaneous community art. Better and better artists have taken up arms, in turn bringing out the best in the others (RR's work, for example, has stepped up drastically from his first piece to the most recent one, as he realized that there was actual competition). People who are convinced that they can't draw are doing so anyway. Even little kids are scribbling around. It's great, and it's the kind of cultural phenomenon that this city could use a lot more of. We've clearly got the right kind of people to be an art culture, we just need to start getting them in the same places more.

I know that, as the person who says "we need more of this" I become assigned to cause it. And I will if I think of something. But everyone else ought to, as well.

(P.S. wasn't able to whip it out today, but pending weather next week there will probably start being live music, too)

Deborah Page == Wow

(The above statement evaluates to boolean true)

I spent the evening out at ArtWalk tonight. Started off at The Helm for the opening of their Children of Nature show. I generally fail at art criticism, largely because I just walk through, experience the art, and leave, without really absorbing artists, titles, etc. So let me just tell you that I really liked some of the pieces, and was rather unimpressed with others. But I heartily recommend you go, because the stuff that was good was really good.

Next up: UWT Art Gallery for... some guy! (real helpful, ain't I?) I think his name was Nate something. Unfortunately the gallery does not appear to have any real online presence, so I cannot discern the details for you at this time. I really enjoyed the paintings, though. Very frenetic and flowing, more motion than form.

After snagging a new Almond Roca cupcake at Hello, Cupcake (fairly unimpressive... still tasted good, but did not capture the essence of Roca in the manner that I had hoped) I popped over to the Tacoma Art Museum to scope out the Chuck Close/Bob Holman exhibit (the only thing at the TAM that wasn't there last month). There was some extremely cool stuff here. The variety of things Close is able to do with a single photograph (including machine-weaving them into giant digitally plotted tapestries) are mind-boggling. The most impressive thing about the accompanying poems, to me, is how Holman managed to craft the poems into visual art. Each poem went beyond its words into a highly aesthetic layout and construction. Cool stuff.

All that is fairly irrelevant, though. On my way home I went to Sanford & Son to check out the Bad Girls & Bold Boys show at The Lark Gallery, a collection of 24 artists who randomly drew Brothers Grimm fairy tales to turn into art. I had also heard that some woman named Deborah Page would be playing music, so I thought I'd stop in and catch a song or two. I like music, after all, so it seemed the sensible move.

I actually got very lucky that she was tuning up when I walked into the building, or I may never have made my way into the performance space. That place is a frickin' labyrinth. Anyway, I followed my ears in and learned that she was just getting ready for her second set. Pretty small audience. Four people up front, a couple other folk in and out, and a couple that clearly knew the musicians.

The first song sucked me in largely because it reminded me of some of the solo work of one of my favorite artists, Seattleite and Goodness front-person Carrie Akre. But that comparison really only lasted one song. Halfway through the second song I was completely hooked.

The performance was Deborah on vocals and, some of the time, a twelve-string guitar, accompanied by Paul Uhl on guitar and bass (he is much better at guitar than bass, by the by) and a laptop with the backing beat and synthesizers pre-recorded.

Among other things, I was very impressed by her ability to perform extraordinarily touching and sweet songs with bizarre techno-esque beats. I attribute this largely to a soft touch on the guitar and and extraordinary, dynamic, soaring voice. She's one of those people that you just love to watch sing and play, not because she's a garish or "out there" performer, but because she is so obviously passionate about the songs she's singing.

I know some people feel that a live show is the one and only true testament to a band's worth, and I can't agree with that. I love a good live show, certainly, but I also love a good, well-crafted album. Something I can absorb in my natural state (hermitude). So of course on my way out I picked up a copy of her new CD, For. I got it home and, despite my first inclination to just listen straight through, I couldn't help but start jamming along, largely to work on my E-Bow technique. I tell you what... it's as fun to play along to as it is to listen to. I had to make myself stop just so I could actually listen to the music and the lyrics (which are also awesome, by the by).

Anyway, that love-fest aside... I did eventually make it down to the Lark. There were some great pieces there, but really it just reminded me why I shouldn't go to art openings. 1) I don't generally talk to artists (or musicians) about their art, preferring to absorb it on my own terms and craft my own meaning; and 2) I don't schmooze. Even if I wanted to, I don't think I could. So given that it is a small space to begin with, and given that it is showcasing TWENTY-FOUR different artists... it was a little cramped. Which would have been fine if I was in one of the conversation clusters, rather than being forced to standing conspicuously in the middle of them to get a look at the art itself. I may have to go back another time, just so I can get a better look at a few things.

So what's on the docket for next ArtWalk? Well, another Deborah Page show, for one. And possibly the one at Jazzbones the night before... Plus I'm crafting some plans for a possible artage of my own that evening. More on that later.

Corporate Art, Izenmania Style

I don't generally consider myself an artist, at least not in the conventional sense (by conventional I mean visual... I participate The Arts, primarily as a musician). I'm a mediocre sketcher at best, and I rarely draw anymore, with occasional exceptions. I certainly don't paint or sculpt or anything. But heck... sometimes an idea just sort of strikes you, and you run with it.

So SiteCrafting, where I work, is getting new business cards. This, combined with the fact that I never ever give out business cards, means I have a whole crapload (probably in excess of 500) of outdated cards. It seems a mighty waste to throw them all out. So I grabbed a stack (about 105) and brought them home, and here's what happened...

Izenmania: Now With More ART!

This fine piece of Tacoma cartoon commentary (originally seen here) is now a permanent fixture in my home:



It looks down at me from above my computer/blogging station/recording studio to inspire my own personal blogger uprising.

The Tacomic birthday party at the Helm was, like so many of these little gatherings, a joyous cluster of the Tacoma blogland community... everyone from TacomaChickadee to TacomaMama to Girlfriend In Tacoma, plus of course Clan Freitas, the Urbanist, and His Nachoness himself. And many others that I am leaving out because I only feel like making so many links per entry.

There were also quite a few people walking by, presumably leaving Barber of Seville, who peered inside and then scampered off, clearly not brave enough to join us (probably because by the time they got out the show was winding down. I do wonder, however, if maybe a sign on the street that said "ART SHOW: More then 100% free!" or something to that effect might have drawn strangers into what may have looked like kind of a private party (what with everyone talking to everyone as if they knew each other)

Freedom Of Art In Tacoma

A couple different diatribes have come up recently in the Tacoma blogland, and they've got me thinking a bit (as I am wont to do, from time to time).

The first is a Matt Driscoll interview with Girl Trouble's Bon Von Wheelie over at Spew. The main focus of the interview is on the world of pay-to-play, and the battle against it. This is something I know a bit about. This Shirt Is Pants played a few shows for Big Time Entertainment, one at Studio 7 and three at Hell's Kitchen. We, I think, had an advantage over some bands, in that we knew exactly what we were in for. A couple of the guys had worked with them before, and so we were under no illusions. But we were also one of the older bands on the bills (in our early 20s)... I saw a lot of junior high and high school kids desperate for a chance to play on a stage. It's likely that they ended up there the same way we did: we could get a show at a decent club with no resume, no demo. That's the attraction, even if the end result is an empty pocket and a sour taste.

Honestly, in those shows, the worst part was not Big Time themselves. The worst part was the treatment from venue staff, particularly at Hell's Kitchen. The sound techs were well aware what kind of show they were doing, and it showed. They clearly didn't give even the slightest crap about the quality of the show. The lease was paid, and it was their job to watch and make sure nothing exploded. And I really think they were missing out on a great opportunity. Yeah, there were some crap bands. But there were also some remarkably talented kids. And how many of these kids were discouraged by poor treatment from venues? This is the biggest harm that I saw come out of pay-to-play.

The second blog that caught my eye was a rant about the lack of genuine art in Tacoma from Voronoff the GhostCritic (also known as Aaron Trotter). Growing out of the aftermath of Steve Craig's passing, Trotter's vision is of a Tacoma where artists nurture each other, where art happens spontaneously at the true whim of the artist, rather than living on conventional gallery walls.

I went out and did ArtWalk Thursday night. I had (embarrasingly) not once set foot in the new Tacoma Art Museum or the Museum of Glass, after a childhood of going to the TAM three or four times a year. So I finally went to both. I started out with a lap around, and they are pretty cool buildings. But upon entering, I found myself utterly unimpressed. I am by no means an art critic, or a visual artist, so maybe I was missing something, but I've seen a decent amount of art. I've seen art that made me think, made me wonder, genuinely grabbed me by the [insert anatomical bit of your choice] and made me feel. And this weren't it. Oh sure, there was a lot that was pretty, that held some level of aesthetic, but that, to me, does not make art worth my time.

The only work that I saw that genuinely gripped me in any way was one large piece by Mary Mann at the UWT Art Gallery. It wasn't visceral or anything, but at least it caught my eye and my interest.

The fact is that both of these articles speak to the same issue, the same need. For any artistic community to flourish, be it visual, musical, theatrical, anything, it needs both artists and patrons. Artists can come together and work, draw and paint, play and sing, encourage and inspire each other, but all that creates is art for artists, and that's simply pointless. Art is a means of communication. Artists can talk all they want about not caring what people think of their art because it's personal expression, but the fact is that they wouldn't be expressing at all if there wasn't something they wanted to get out there. And if they are limiting their audience to simply other artists, then they are, frankly, useless. The best thing a song can do is reach the heart of a non-musician. The greatest goal of a painting should be to grip the soul of a passer-by who has never once laid brush to canvas.

Unfortunately, to do this there must be an outlet. This is why musicians need concert venues, and why making these places utterly uninviting to the unknown band can utterly kill a local scene; why artists need galleries, and why restricting them to a few contracted and conventional painters rips the soul away from an art community. What Tacoma lacks is any other option, though. A place where unknown artists can walk in the room and slap something on the wall. A place where a few friends can get their bands together and put on a free show for the rest of their friends. A place where we aren't restricted by ticket fees for all but a few brief moments. People people shouldn't be appreciating art in two-hour-a-month increments, but in every moment that they have available. Musicians should be living music, whether they are sitting at work programming computers or sitting at home blogging nonsensically. And artists should be living art. But more importantly, everyone else should, too.

So what do we do? Does a property owner downtown step up and offer his space, as Voronoff suggests? Do established local artists who needn't worry about their ability to get shows like Von Wheelie carry on crusading against pay-to-play? Or do all the people who suffer most, the people who are being fought for, step up on their own?

I don't really know what I'm suggesting. I'm more fishing for ideas than anything. There is always talk of co-op galleries, musician-run venues, but they all suffer from a lack of groundswell and group organization. A co-op can only survive with a large number of people to spread the load. Likewise, regardless of intentions, two or three local musicians starting a venue often fail because two or three people who just want to play music are rarely capable of managing an operation like that. But we need something on all fronts. Something to maintain the creative fire that keeps starting, sputtering and dying. There are sparks where there ought to be continuous flame.

Anyway, I think I'm done for now. I fear that if I go back and read this I will discover that it actually makes no sense whatsoever. (I also fear that I may have only written it as an excuse to speak academically and seriously about people called Voronoff and Von Wheelie). So I shall defeat my fears by NOT going back and re-reading it. If it is nonsensical then so be it. I spend much of my life trying to confuse people anyway, so it's all good.

Art Your Little Heart Out, Tacoma

Like art? Movies? Music? Theatre? Then Tacoma's the place for you this weekend. There seem to be a remarkable number of different events all converging on these next few days. I'll do the highlights, and let you look into particulars yourself (lunch break isn't THAT long, after all)

Art

What's today? Thursday. Which one? The third one, of course! That means it's ArtWalk time in downtown T-town. Per usual, all the museums, galleries, etc from one end of downtown to the other are free to all. Highlight this time around? I'd say the Renoir as Printmaker exhibit at the TAM. It opened on the third Thursday of January, but I was on my way to Toronto, so I missed out.

Music

Everyone's blogging about it. It happens every year. If you don't know about it, you probably just aren't paying attention. Wintergrass!

One of the largest bluegrass festivals in the country, this marks the first year for the festival in the Hotel Murano. Which means very little, because it's been in the same building (the former Sheraton) for years. Mostly just means that there will be much more glass surrounding everyone. Already this morning I could see people hopping on the Link or walking up the hill carrying guitars, fiddles, mandolins and what-have-you.

My act of choice for the weekend? Pearl Django. I've heard these guys' spin on the hot jazz genre a few times before, and they are beyond solid. They'll be at the Marriot at 5:50 on Saturday, and the Varsity Grill stage at 7:45.

Theatre

The Northwest Playwright's Alliance are having their first fully-staged festival over the next two weeks at Theatre On The Square. I spent four summers volunteering at the now defunct Pierce County/South Sound Playwright's Festival, and it's great to see something step in and fill the void. This year's festival features three full-length plays and a number of shorter pieces. And fortunately for those of you distracted by other art forms this weekend, everything is running again next weekend, as well.

My play of choice (if I only go one night): Brent Hartinger's Geography Club. Hartinger's novel of the same name achieved 1) a lot of critical acclaim and 2) a place on a number of school banned book lists for "promoting the unsafe activity of meeting people on the internet to young people" (translates roughtly to "Crap, if we say we don't like it because it's about gay kids, they'll jump all over us. What other excuse can we whip out?").

Movies

To top it all off, the Grand Cinema is hosting their annual Oscar Party at the Rialto on Sunday. Anything make this more special than previous years? Well, for one thing, four of the five best picture nominees have been at the Grand in the past year (heck, three of them still are). But more on that later.

Also running at the Grand is the opening of animated film Persepolis. A French language film about the revolution in Iran, it promises to be very interesting fare.



That's all I've got for now. I'll come back later and turn more of these things into links.