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Nancy Worden, "Shackles of Fear." Photo courtesy Traver Gallery.

It's nearly over, the three-month-long metal arts extravaganza called Metal Urge that took over virtually every gallery in town, plus a museum and several outdoor spaces. The official closing date is this Sunday, September 6, so there's just enough time to check out one last exhibit: Traver's five-person mini-show.

Like a very condensed version of the Helen Williams Drutt exhibit at Tacoma Art Museum, Traver displays around three works from each of five contemporary American metal artists. Nancy Worden is represented by a luscious African-style necklace with shaving brushes and tusks; and "Shackles of Fear," a set of two handcuff bangles linked cleverly to a detachable chain necklace. The silver bangles "open up," one with a zipper, one with a shoelace, giving a tongue-in-cheek, DIY practicality to the concept of bondage.

Ron Ho's two necklaces – one with jade butterflies, the other with three silver Chinese deities – are austere, impeccably balanced. Ada Rosman's brooches are delicate but speak clearly of shut-away memories and events. Laurie Hall's "No Rules Apply" is the best kind of mixed-media jewelry, the inch-long sections of aluminum ruler transformed by bronze crosses and numerical buttons into an abstract mathematical pattern.

Most fantastic of all are Catherine Grisez' seed pod life forms, bulging copper and spilling forth garnets and aventurines on delicate silver chains like a shared secret.

Dick Weiss, "Owl Plate no. 19". Photo courtesy Traver Gallery.

In the main gallery, also closing this weekend, are Dick Weiss' owls, painted in dribbles and scratches on ochre-toned earthenware platters. Their eyes are haunted black whirlpools, their swift texture incredibly lifelike and hiding behind hatched black thickets like something trapped.

Dick Weiss: "Something Different" and Metal-Urge both close this Sunday. Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Next show is Rik Allen, opening Sept. 12. Traver Gallery, 1821 E. Dock St, Tacoma. 253-383-3685, www.travergallery.com

Thinking of visiting one of Tacoma’s awesome museums in the near future? Be prepared – the Washington State History Museum, the Tacoma Art Museum and the Museum of Glass all change their opening hours around Labor Day. Admission prices stay the same, though (and look out for Museum Day on September 26, when they’re all free.)

Here are the new hours:

WSHM (as of Sept. 8): 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. third Thursdays (free from 2 p.m. onwards). 1911 Pacific Ave., Tacoma. 253-272-3500, www.washingtonhistory.org

TAM (as of Sept. 2): 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
third Thursdays (free all day). 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma. 253-272-4258, www.tacomaartmuseum.org

MoG (as of Sept. 8): 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. third Thursdays (free from 5 p.m.) 1801 Dock St., Tacoma. 866-4-MUSEUM, www.museumofglass.org

Catherine Swanson, "Thunder." Photo courtesy of the artist.

Local painters define space at the Washington Convention Center
“Definitions of space” features local painters David N. Goldberg, C.J. Swanson, Patrice Tullai, and Alec Clayton on the middle floor of the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday through September 24. Artist talk at noon Sept. 20. Free. South Galleria, level 2, 800 Convention Place, Seattle. 253-752-1673, www.definitionsofspace.com

Abby Williams on Vashon
The Vashon-Maury Island Heritage Association hosts artwork by 19th-century Northwest landscape painter Abby Williams, who spent much of her time on the island. 1-4 p.m. Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays through Sept. 27. Free. 10105 SW Bank Rd., Vashon. 206-463-7808, www.vashonhistory.org

Community free day at Tacoma Art Place
The non-profit community art center is offering a day of free art making, classes and supplies. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Aug. 29: 10 a.m. jewelry making, 1 p.m. fashion design, 2 p.m. origami, 2 p.m. glass fusing and slumping, 3 p.m. decorate shopping bags. Free. 1116 S. 11th St., Tacoma. 253-238-1006, www.tacomaartplace.org

BareFoot Collective’s 8@8
Eight performances, eight minutes each, at 8 p.m. Dancers, musicians and other artists show work in progress, audience can give feedback. 8 p.m. Aug. 31. $5. Studio B, Merlino Building, 508 6th Ave., Tacoma. 253-627-2273, www.barefootcollective.org

Zoe Williams, "Genesis Deconstruction". Photo courtesy Two Vaults.

Rabbits are running wild all over Two Vaults gallery. The annual group show "Rabbitual" is on almost every single wall, featuring 77 works by 45 different artists, and there's a huge variety: some what you'd expect, some disappointing, but some really intriguing.

It's impossible to cover such a huge show completely. "Rabbitual" is this year's version of Two Vaults' annual big group show, and the variety of media is great to see: paint, ceramics, concrete, textiles, mixed and digital media.

One of the best has got to be Zoe Williams. Her "Genesis Deconstructed" (above) puts white felted rabbits in a relief triptych. Three wooden-framed panels, just 4x6 inches, cold white furry rabbit parts squirming delightfully out of the picture plane, red-eyed and pink-eared, both lifelike and intensely sculptural. In "Mitosis I-V", 'stuffed' rabbit heads (again in felted white wool) develop mounting by mounting into a multiheaded mutation, disturbing in its white innocence.

Lee Musgrave, "Soft Encounter." Photo courtesy Two Vaults.

The innocence factor is explored also by Lee Musgrove in the "Unwavering Adoration" series of pencil and watercolor drawings. A naked woman and naked rabbit come face to face in matching wide-eyed naivety, hopeful rather than saccharine.

Then innocence turns sinister: Joseph Larkin's "Paladin" embeds a painted portrait of an evil-eyed Medusa in a fascinating tapestry of braided fabric, wool and snakeskin, coiling like Medusa's snaky hair and snaring the trusting rabbit held possesively in her arms.

Of course, rabbits symbolize more than just innocence, and that's what opens up this animal show to all sorts of levels. Artists take on sexual proclivity (Kelly Lyles' "Viagra Falls"), cuteness (Dayton Knipher's rather slow but interesting photo slide show on a reluctant Easter Bunny visitor), magic acts (Dorothy McCuistion's black-printed rabbit half-disappearing into a miasmic sea of red acrylic) and nature (Lynn di Nino's adorably splayed white concrete bunny earnestly seizing a carrot from a fecund, green egg of earth).

There's also the unexpected view. Christopher Mathie's oils are darkly shadowed with sad paint drips, his earth-toned rabbit lean, huge-eared and wistful. Catherine Swanson's bunnies are funky, their white silhouettes outlined in hot pink and black on a candy-striped background like a '70s music video.

And there's a fair amount of the boringly predictable: tame oils and acrylics, sentimental ceramics, not-quite-funny cartoons. But there's so much in "Rabbitual" that these don't matter - you can take the best and munch on that.

"Rabbitual" is on view 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday, noon-8 p.m. Thursday-Friday and 2-9 p.m. Saturday through Sept. 12. Two Vaults gallery, 602 S. Fawcett St., Tacoma. 253-759-6233, www.twovaults.com

OK...there's a catch. In order to get $25 tickets to the musical "Wicked" opening at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle on Sept. 2 you'll have to enter a lottery.

Click on "more" to read details from the press release...

=> Read more!

Judy Gilbert, "Electron Dance." Photo Jerry Gilbert.

Mad Hat gets waxed
Local artist Judy Gilbert recently turned from watercolor to encaustic (“painting” with pigment and wax.) The results – hypnotic swirls, textured lions’ manes – are on view at Mad Hat Tea Company. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. every day through September. Free. 1130 Commerce St., Tacoma. 253-441-2111, www.madhattea.com

“Port Gamble Anthology”: a play about a town
All Port Gamble’s a stage this Saturday thanks to the Northwest Playwrights’ Alliance and the Academy of International Education. Japanese students and NPA playwrights act this adaption of Edgar Lee Masters’ “Spoon River Anthology,” translated to Port Gamble and set in various locations around town through the day. 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Aug. 22. Free. LOCATTION TBD. www.northwestplaywrights.org

Free reading of two local plays at Origin 23
Give your feedback at a café reading of two plays by local playwright Nick Stokes, slated for full production this November: a tale of homeless locals in Fireman’s Park and the story of a couple snowbound in a Montana motel. 7 p.m. Aug. 24. Free. Origin 23 Coffee, 3518 6th Ave., Tacoma. www.northwestplaywrights.org

Bustles, corsets and bras at White River Valley Museum
This Auburn history museum is showing “Suffer for Beauty,” a history of women from 1850-1950 through undergarments like the 18-inch-waist corset and the hobble skirt. Noon-4 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday Aug. 18-Nov. 8. $2 adults/$1 children and seniors/free on Wednesdays. White River Valley Museum, Les Gove Park, 918 H St. S.E.,
Auburn.
253-288-7433,
www.wrvmuseum.org

Michael Kaiser, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, will be the guest speaker at a free arts leadership symposium at the Pantages this Friday from 9-11 a.m. The symposium, one of two in Washington state, is part of a national tour for Kennedy Center initiative "Arts in Crisis," and will address issues of sustainability and relevance for arts organizations.

Congressman Dicks, who represents Washington's sixth congressional district and is the chairman for the House Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, will give opening remarks before a 90-minute conversation with Michael Kaiser, moderated by Andrea Allen, education director for Seattle Repertory Theatre. There will also be a 30-minute meet-and-greet session with Kaiser, and refreshments will be provided. The event is hosted by ArtsEd Washington.

Interested participants should register online at www.artsedwashington.org/artsincrisis

From now until the end of August, children under 18 years will get free admission to Tacoma Art Museum, in an offer made possible by museum donors.



“We want young people in our community to be exposed to the arts,”
said Paula McArdle, director of education and audience development.
 “We’d love to see teenagers and families take advantage of this
affordable, educational activity as the summer winds down.”



So what can kids see and do now at TAM? Current exhibitions include the vast array of art jewelry in the Helen Williams Drutt collection, some really funky jewelry from Seattle artist Nancy Worden, the best of Northwest painting and glass in the 2009 Neddy award show, selections from the permanent collection in "Speaking Parts," and the permanent showcase of Dale Chihuly's glass art (including the floats in the sculptural courtyard.)

There's also the excellent art studio, where activities are linked to current exhibitions, and the resource center/library.

TAM is open through Labor Day from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. third Thursdays and noon-5 p.m. Sundays. Hours change in fall. $9 adult/$8 student, senior, military/$25 family. Free for five and under and third Thursdays. 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma. 253-272-4258, www.TacomaArtMuseum.org

Dancers at last year's Tango at the Museum of Glass. Photo courtesy Mark Anderson.

Swishing skirts, sultry music, sexy footwork, and – a 90-foot-high steel cone. Yep, it's tango time at the Museum of Glass this Saturday night, as the tangueros and tangueras from Tango Puget Sound get together for their annual milonga on the plaza outside the museum. If you add in a backdrop of water, mountain and architecture to one of the world's sexiest dances, plus live music, you end up with a pretty romantic evening.

Tango Puget Sound organizes weekly Tacoma classes and indoor milongas, or tango dance sessions, and they've been dancing outdoors every summer for years. Their Tango by the Fountain at Heritage Park in Olympia on July 31 saw around 50 dancers, the most in 12 years of outdoor milongas there, and organizer Mark Anderson says he's expecting twice as many dancers this weekend at MoG.

The milonga runs from 6 p.m. until sunset on Aug. 22, and features tango duo Bandemonium (playing the bandoneon, a tango instrument similar to a small accordion and made famous by tango master Astor Piazzolla.) There's no charge, but donations will be gladly accepted.

If you're interested in dancing more tango, TPS holds weekly milongas every Sunday from 5:30-8:30 p.m. (future venue to be determined - see website) with an Olympia practica every Tuesday from 7-9:30 p.m. Tango classes are held Thursday nights at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the Tacoma Tai Chi center, 508 6th Ave., Tacoma.

For more information, see www.tangops.com or call 253-222-0105.

More money for local arts! The Washington State Arts Commission today announced that it will be investing $1.2 million in arts organizations and education across the state, some as a result of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (also known as the "stimulus" act.) Recognizing the role the arts play in the country's economic and cultural well-being, the Act provided $50 million in stimulus funding to the National Endowment for the Arts, which has in turn passed on $285,000 to the WSAC to preserve arts jobs in 24 non-profit cultural organizations throughout the state. Tacoma's Broadway Center for Performing Arts is one of the recipients.

“This funding will help arts organizations minimize layoffs during this economic downturn,” said governor Christine Gregoire. “Jobs in the arts are important to the health of our communities and to the economic future of our state.”

In addition, the NEA has provided $1.2 million dollars in stimulus funding directly to 23 Washington arts and cultural organizations, including the Evergreen Longhouse in Olympia and the Museum of Glass in Tacoma. Other WSAC grants include $525,000 in arts education money to support 29 community partnerships that develop arts education programs in K-12 public schools, and more than $350,000 in organizational grants to 115 arts groups around the state, including the Tacoma Art Museum, the Tacoma Symphony, the Tacoma Youth Symphony and the Tacoma Arts Commission.

A full list of WSAC funding recipients can be found at www.arts.wa.gov; more details on stimulus funding in Washington can be found at www.recovery.wa.gov.