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Wednesday, August 27th, 2008
Posted by Soren Andersen @ 01:16:20 pm
Two members of the Seattle Sounders professional soccer team will be on hand to introduce one of the films at next month's Gig Harbor Film Festival. The picture, 2007's "Her Best Move," about a teen soccer phenom named Sara competing for a spot on the U.S. Women's National Team, will screen at 6 p.m. Sept. 12, the festival's first full night of public screenings. It and all other films in the festival will be shown at the Uptown multiplex theater, 4649 Point Fosdick Drive N.W. Festival spokewoman Paula Lillard said the Sounders members, whose names will be announced later, will be at the theater at 5 p.m. to sign autographs and talk with fans. Another celebrity attending the festival will be Lillard's son, actor Matthew Lillard. He'll be introducing two films he's starred in. Both will also be shown on the 12th. "One of Our Own," a 2007 drama about a complicated surrogate parenting situation, is scheduled to screen at 8:30 p.m., and 1994's "Serial Mom," a John Waters' comedy about a loving suburban mother who also happens to be a serial killer, will play at midnight. Kathleen Turner plays the murdering mom and Lillard plays her son. The festival, Gig Harbor's first, will run through Sept. 14. For the festival's full schedule, go to www.gigharborfilmfestival.org.
Categories: Cinema
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
Posted by Rosemary Ponnekanti @ 10:51:42 pm
 Jeremiah Maddock's work at Mineral. Image courtesy Lisa Kinoshita. It’s Luvverly: “My Fair Lady” at Encore Theater Exquisite Drawings at Mineral White River Valley Museum Weaves a Culture Last Week for TAM Bible Catch the Woolworth Windows
Categories: Critic's picks
Posted by Rosemary Ponnekanti @ 06:00:00 am
Tall Ships may be over, but there's plenty more activity going on down at the dock. The Commencement Bay Maritime Fest will celebrate all things watery on Sept. 13 and 14, and part of the fun is the annual Maritime Fest Art Show, which opened last Thursday at the Foss Waterway Seaport Building on Dock St. Local artists submitted art in any media that had a nautical theme, with local institutions from the Tacoma Art Museum to the mayor giving awards for a total of $800, jurored by Al Johnsen. Here are the winners: 1st Place: Nancy Bogni – “Workhorse”
Categories: General arts, Galleries
Monday, August 25th, 2008
Posted by Rosemary Ponnekanti @ 03:04:29 pm
 Dorothy McCuistion, "Chateau Canard #1." Image courtesy the artist. The good thing about co-op galleries that showcase every member is that you get to see small but interesting changes in artists from month to month. The bad thing is that you see mostly the same stuff time after time. The Grand Impromptu Gallery fits both of these truisms to a tee. The August show “View Points” highlights new work from printmaker Dorothy McCuistion and new member photographer Peter Serko, but not much else about it is fresh. Of course, calling a visual art exhibit “View Points” is about as discerning as calling a symphony concert “Sounds,” and that’s maybe where things could be improved at Impromptu. If a single artist is not going to set the voice for a show, at least a strong theme could streamline the constant mélange on show. Meanwhile, Impromptu’s artists seem to have had fun picking their stuff for “View Points.” In her Canard monotype series, McCuistion uses cut-out photographs of local ducks as the starting point, layering them over images of chateaux and Paris’ Musee d’Orsay. “Chateau Canard #1” (above) and its companion, double-ovals near the gallery’s window, are the most complex, layering not just images but ideas of light, movement and hiddenness, as the ducks float abstractly over etched color.  Peter Serko, "Superfund Mist." Image courtesy Impromptu Gallery. Photographer Peter Serko has just joined the Impromptu team, and his digital photos are mostly compelling. “Superfund Mist” frames the toxic Foss Waterway with an ominous overhang, wreathed in a nostalgic, fairytale cloud. “New York meadow” gives an almost sepia tint to the sky and blueish-gray to the reedy grasses. The Chihuly flowers at the Union Station courthouse, though, are bland, needing more cropping. It’s mostly the usual stuff from the gallery’s other artists. Becky Frehse’s small landscape blocks aren’t as impressive as her larger scroll shapes. Trinda Love, interpreting the ‘viewpoints’ theme through an anthropomorphic lens, offers up some welcome irony in the bulging green bottles of “Glassworks Park.” Chip van Gilder’s Tall Ships photos are crisp, and Bea Geller explores some gorgeous color fields in her sunset views of Tolmie State Park. Impromptu Gallery is open 4-9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 2-9 p.m. Saturdays, 2-6 p.m. Sundays. “View Points” runs through Aug. 30. 608 S. Fawcett St, Tacoma. 253-572-9232, www.impromptugallerytacoma.com.
Categories: Galleries
Posted by Rosemary Ponnekanti @ 11:03:20 am
 Bronze moose at Northwest Trek, by Jeff Oens. Image courtesy Northwest Trek. If you like this life-sized bronze moose out the front at Northwest Trek wildlife park, you might like to see more nature-themed art this fall. On September 27 and 28 the Trek will hold a juried art show featuring 15 Oregon and Washington artists, demonstrations, a silent auction and a visit by the moose's sculptor, Jeff Oens. The show is organized by Karen Lucas of Lucas Art, The Gallery on the Hill, in Graham, and focuses on Northwest wildlife. Featured artists include: · Chris Gunter, painter Says Lucas: "I'm really excited. The variety of artists this year is really big." Lecturers and demonstrators in the Forest Theater will include: There's also an Audience Choice award of $100, voted for by visitors. The theme this year is elk: each artist has included a work featuring that animal.
Categories: General arts, Outdoor
Friday, August 22nd, 2008
Posted by Soren Andersen @ 03:01:40 pm
The animation bug bit Jerry Seinfeld awhile back, and the result was "Bee Movie," the star's first foray into a realm we'll call 'Toon World. He gives voice of a talkative honey bee named Barry who falls for Renee Zellweger and sues humanity for honey theft. It's a cheery picture, though one with a slightly sharper edge to it than most family-orientated animated offerings, thanks to It was a decent-sized hit when it opened last November, and now it's coming to Tacoma's South End Recreation Area (SERA), 6002 S. Adams, at sunset Saturday. It's the latest offering in Metro Parks' Summer Sounds and Comcast Cinema series that's been going on for weeks now on Saturdays in the city's parks. Singer-songwriter Jonathan Harris will open the evening's entertainment with a pre-screening concert at 6:30 p.m. As always with this series, the music and the movie are free.
Categories: Cinema
Posted by Rosemary Ponnekanti @ 01:58:36 pm
 Martin Blank, left, works with Evan Schauss to create one of several hundred hand-sculpted elements that will comprise "Fluent Steps" in the Museum of Glass's hotshop last April.(Drew Perine/The News Tribune) There's a huge glass sea-serpent inside the warehouse at 309 Puyallup Ave, but it won't be there for long. It's Martin Blank's glass installation "Fluent Steps," intended to go up in the Museum of Glass' main plaza pool this fall. Made of mounding hills of 135 crinkly clear glass shapes on supports--looking rather like the humpy back of a sea-serpent--the work is only half-made, says Blank, and won't be in place until next spring. Blank, a Seattle-based glass artist, has been blowing the pieces in the MoG Hot Shop since May, assembling it for measurement in a Puyallup Ave studio rented from artists Rick Semple and Jori Adkins, who own the set of buildings including Mineral art jewelry space and the former Barefoot Studios. As well as needing to blow more pieces in the Hot Shop (what he's made currently only fills half the pool), Blank says the support structure also needs work. Rather than install the work in lousy weather in a few months' time, MoG has decided to wait til next spring for the long-awaited installation, says MoG's Susan Newsom. Meanwhile, Semple and Adkins have a new tenant for Blank's studio space--a bicycle shop. (Very handy for all those cyclists heading up the waterway over the new D St. overpass!) So Blank has to disassemble the sculpture piece by piece, label it, and store it in the basement downstairs. Even squeezed into a warehouse, "Fluent Steps" is already pretty stunning. You can see it through the street windows--but only until next weekend. After that, the sea-serpent will be hiding in the basement til 2009. Here's a shot of Blank and team assembling a part of the serpent...  Martin Blank and "Fluent Steps." Image courtesy Museum of Glass.
Categories: Museums
Thursday, August 21st, 2008
Posted by Rosemary Ponnekanti @ 10:23:37 pm
Sculptured Sand in the City MoG’s Last Day for Lino Glassroots Festival Celebrates Art Slice of Paint at Fulcrum Gallery Helm Gallery’s Fresh Photo Salad
Categories: Critic's picks
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008
Posted by Craig Sailor @ 07:15:17 pm
 Grand Cinema director Philip Cowan has had some angst filled days recently, trying to pick one winner out of the 50 great designs submitted in a competition to design a poster for their Tacoma Film Festival in October. The winner: Laurie Davenport. Cowan says choosing just one entry wasn't easy. "It was extraordinarily tough. Literally every day I had a different poster leading in my mind (and through feedback of others)." The design had to include the words "The Grand Cinema presents the 3rd Annual Tacoma Film Festival, Oct 2-9, 2008". Tuesday, August 19th, 2008
Posted by Rosemary Ponnekanti @ 09:32:45 pm
There’s plenty on for ArtWalk this Thursday: I’m going to try and make it to see TNT illustrator Fred Matamoros’ work at Gallery Madera, painter Mindy Barker at Fulcrum, some UWT work at the UWT Gallery and The Helm Gallery’s first photography show.  Suzanne Moore in her Vashon Island studio But if you’ve seen The Saint John’s Bible at Tacoma Art Museum, or even if you’ve been delaying it, this Thursday’s the time to go. Not only will it be free, but the only local illustrator for the entire UK-based project, Suzanne Moore, will be there to talk about her part in the first hand-written Bible in 500 years. Moore lives on Vashon Island, and I profiled her back in July. She’s an excellent painter, letterer and book artist in her own right, and the tales she tells about the 10-plus-year project are fascinating. Moore’s speaking at 7 p.m. But get there early to beat the Bible lines, and you can also hear the Divine Providence Choir from Bethlehem Baptist Church, Tacoma, sing at 6:30 p.m., or try your own hand at calligraphy in the studio. TAM is located at 1701 Pacific Ave, Tacoma. It’s open this Thursday from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. and is free all day. 253-272-4258, www.tacomaartmuseum.org
Categories: Museums
Posted by Rosemary Ponnekanti @ 08:29:23 am
 Ceramic bowls, Anne Riley. Need pottery? Eight local potters are getting together this Friday and Saturday for a house-sale of high-fired and mid-fired wares. Susan Thompson is the host, and her house, deck and (weather permitting) garden in the Stadium district will be filled with pots, bowls and other functional items. Potters include Ann Meersman, Anne Riley, Charan Sacher, Jill Rohrbaugh, Janet Rudolph, Kazumi Divens-Cogez, Rowena Forde and Thompson herself. You may have seen several of these display work at the local farmers’ markets. I have some of Anne Riley’s gorgeous double-colored bowls (see above.) “Everybody’s stuff is quite different,” says Thompson, who got the group together for the first time last year for a successful sale. “We end up shopping among ourselves, also!” Thompson mentioned the seconds table for deal-hunters. Thompson’s house is at 717 North D St, Tacoma, and the sale runs 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday Aug. 22 and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday Aug. 23. For more information, call Susan Thompson at 253-678-9184.
Categories: General arts
Monday, August 18th, 2008
Posted by Craig Sailor @ 07:17:28 pm
I had a chat with Tacoma Little Theatre’s interim artistic director Doug Kerr last week. The theater is about to start its 90th season. Kerr has been filling the director’s chair until a permanent replacement can be found. Former director David Duvall resigned in July. Kerr has freelance directed for TLT, Lakewood Playhouse and Centerstage Theatre. He headed the theater program at Pierce College until he retired in 2001. Why come out of retirement to help TLT? “I just don’t want to see another theater die in this town," he told me. To be clear, TLT is not on its deathbed. But, it could use some financial help, Kerr said. “We’re stressed (financially),” he said. TLT’s season ticket campaign did not get off the ground, he said. Season ticket sales are crucial to most theater’s well being. This is a tough time of year for any theater but Duvall is looking forward. He’s bullish about the upcoming season. The season is opening Sept. 12 with “Much Ado About Nothing,” set in 1812 with costumes by Alex Lewington. Other shows this season include “Leaving Ladies, ” a farce by Ken “Lend me a tenor” Ludwig and “Dear Santa” by Norm Foster. Kerr calls "Santa" a charming play that everyone will love. Kerr is optimistic about local theater and TLT in particular. “This theater has a rich tradition in Tacoma,” he said. And Kerr is putting all his energies into keeping that tradition alive.
Categories: Theater
Posted by Soren Andersen @ 04:15:33 pm
 Matthew Lillard, left, with other cast members of "Scooby-Doo" Hollywood actor Matthew Lillard, probably best-known for his work as Shaggy in 2002's "Scooby-Doo" and its 2004 sequel, "Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed," will be on hand for the opening of the Gig Harbor Film Festival on Sept. 11 and 12. The festival is new this year, and Lillard's mom, Paula Lillard, is one of its founders and serves as vice president of its board of directors. Thanks to that family connection, Matthew will be attending an invitation-only VIP opening night party on Sept. 11, at the festival's hospitality office at the Uptown Gig Harbor shopping center. The following day he'll introduce a 7 p.m. screening of one of his films, 2007's "One of Our Own," at the Galaxy Uptown 10 multiplex, 4649 Point Fosdick Drive N.W. He's the star and also the co-producer of the drama about difficulties encountered by a couple who hires a woman to be a surrogate mother. He'll stay to answer questions after the screening, said festival president Marty Thacker. The festival will run through Sept. 14.
Categories: Cinema
Sunday, August 17th, 2008
Posted by Rosemary Ponnekanti @ 10:43:40 pm
And the winners of the 2008 Seattle Opera Wagner Competition (a.k.a. Wagnerian Idol) are....Elza van den Heever, from South Africa, and Michael Weinius, from Sweden. Selected Saturday night from eight finalists singing Wagner arias accompanied by the Seattle Symphony, each winner received a $15,000 prize. “All of the judges agreed that we had eight fine finalists. I feel that the level was even higher this year than the first year,” said Seattle Opera director Speight Jenkins.”It was a hard-fought decision for the two winners, but a great one.” Van den Heever performed “Dich, teure Halle” (Tannhäuser) and “Einsam in trüben Tagen” (Lohengrin), while Weinius sang “Preislied” (Die Meistersinger) and “Amfortas! Die Wunde” (Parsifal). Van den Heever was also voted Audience Favorite, from votes cast by the audience, and Nadine Weissmann won the Orchestra Favorite.
Categories: Opera
Friday, August 15th, 2008
Posted by Soren Andersen @ 03:15:46 pm
When the sun goes down Saturday night, a "Moon" will rise ... on a big inflatable screen at the McKinley Playfield, 4321 McKinley Ave. Or to be more precise, the Spanish-language film "Under the Same Moon," will be screened there as part of Metro Parks' ongoing Summer Sounds and Comcast Cinema film series. The well-made independent feature traces the long-distance journey of a 9-year-old Mexican boy who makes his way from his hometown in Mexico to Los Angeles, where his mother, an illegal immigrant, works as a maid. The screening is free, and it will be preceded at 6:30 p.m. by a concert by the Grupo Latigo.
Categories: Cinema
Posted by Rosemary Ponnekanti @ 09:49:14 am
...to the Great Hall at Annie Wright School. According to Lisa Fruichantie, publicist for tomorrow's MLKBallet contemporary dance concert Move! #9, the former Stadium High School Theater venue was pulled on MLKBallet at the last minute, so they've had to move. Literally. The ninth in MLK's Move! series features Tacoma boy Joel Myers as well as MLK students, and is the organization's way of regularly raising funds for their tuition-free ballet school on the Hilltop. Ticket prices are still $10 advance, $14 at the door. Times are still 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. tomorrow, Aug. 16. Only the venue has changed. Questions? Call Lisa Fruichantie, 253-921-2858.
Categories: Contemporary dance
Posted by Rosemary Ponnekanti @ 06:00:00 am
 "Fresh Salad" photography exhibit at The Helm gallery opens Thursday 21 Aug. Joel Myers Moves it for MLKBallet New Theater at “Play Buffet” Traver Gallery Hosts Women’s Glass Show Do the Monkey Photographs, Paintings and more at ArtWalk
Categories: Ballet, Critic's picks
Wednesday, August 13th, 2008
Posted by Rosemary Ponnekanti @ 10:08:11 pm
There's certainly a lot happening in Tacoma this Saturday arts-wise: Joel Myers dancing in Move!, a "Play Buffet" of local playwrights' new works, women's glass art at Traver Gallery. But for die-hard Wagner fans, Seattle is the place to be Saturday night, when the annual Seattle Opera Wagner competition hits the stage. Eight international singers will battle it out with orchestra-accompanied arias for two $15,000 cash prizes, plus an audience-vote and an orchestra-vote prize. They nicknamed it "Wagnerian Idol" last year, due to the following (apparently) in the crowd. And actually, with the Wagner-mad friends I have myself, I can understand it. (Sort of.) I'm not in the Wagner-mad category myself, but if I go, I'll put in my vote for fellow Aussie, mezzo Deborah Humble. Other contestants are tenor Erin Caves from Stockton, California; tenor Jason Collins from Beaufort/Seneca, South Carolina; bass-baritone Darren Jeffery from Cambridgeshire, England; bass Peter Lobert from Jena, Germany; tenor Michael Weinius from Stockholm, Sweden; mezzo-soprano Nadine Weissmann from Berlin, Germany; and soprano Elza van den Heever from Johannesburg, South Africa. The judges are made up of a handful of opera experts from around the world, including Stephen Wadsworth, frequent director of Seattle Opera productions, including the 2001 and 2005 Ring cycles and upcoming 2009 Ring; and Eva Wagner-Pasquier, daughter of Wolfgang Wagner and an artistic advisor to the Aix-en-Provence Festival. The competition begins at 7:30 p.m. in Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, Seattle Center. Tickets 800-426-1619 or 206-389-7676 or www.seattleopera.org
Categories: Opera
Posted by Soren Andersen @ 03:21:44 pm
One of the best movies ever made about adolescence, in the humble opinion of this writer, anyway, come to Grand Cinema on Friday. It's "American Teen," a documentary that focuses on five seniors attending a small-town high school in Indiana. Director Nanette Burstein spent a year following the kids around, and in the process gained their trust to such an extent that she was granted an astonishing amount of access to them, their families and their friends. Private moments, some of them excruciatingly painful, play out before her lens in real time, and give the picture an immediacy and intensity rarely seen in documentaries. These seemingly ordinary kids are anything but ordinary once the viewer gets to know them through this extraordinary film. For show times, go to www.grandcinema.com
Categories: Cinema
Tuesday, August 12th, 2008
Posted by Rosemary Ponnekanti @ 10:56:48 am
 Anthony Callaway, design for Tacoma Film Festival poster. Ever wondered who designs festival posters? Well, here's your chance to help choose one. The Grand Cinema is about to decide on a winner for their competition to design a poster for their upcoming Tacoma Film Festival in October. The criteria? Just to include the words "The Grand Cinema presents the 3rd Annual Tacoma Film Festival, Oct 2-9, 2008". And he needs your help. We've put all the entries into a photo gallery here. Check them out, and send your comments along to Cowan by Friday at thegrandcinema@gmail.com. The winning designer will receive $350, two festival passes to the Tacoma Film Festival and a joint membership to the non-profit Grand Cinema--plus, of course, the honor and glory of having their art on windows and utility poles all around Tacoma. All serious entries will receive four passes to any movie at the Grand Cinema. My faves? Anthony Callaway's vaguely Japanese erupting Mt. Rainier (above) and elegant lime/olive halucinations from Chin Fong, below.  Chin Fong, design for Tacoma Film Festival poster. Oh, and check out the Grand's schedule while you're at it. Some good flicks coming up, plus a regular film discussion group: the next one meets Saturday Aug. 16 at 6:15 p.m., after the 4:45 p.m. screening of "Vicky Cristina Barcelona."
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Rosemary Ponnekanti is the arts reporter at The News Tribune, and has been a classical music nerd nearly all her life. Besides spending way too much time in galleries, museums and concert halls, she occasionally brings a whistle or double bass to Celtic jam sessions, and insists on singing "Happy Birthday" in four-part harmony. Other contributors include: > Movie critic Soren Andersen Category
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Arts reporter and critic Rosemary Ponnekanti keeps you in touch with the arts and culture scene with the help of other News Tribune writers, critics and editors.
