Theater District

Pantages.

Rialto.

Broadway Center for the Performing Arts.

Field Trip Anyone?

How about a jaunt to the Skagit Valley

for the Tulip Festival?

It's not that far.

Signs of Spring

     

Signs of spring are everywhere.

The pollen count is up.

Burning, itchy, watery eyes and runny noses

herald spring's arrival.

Beneath the Korean Bride Mask

This was on the wall below

the Korean Bride Mask

that I showed you a few days ago.

I almost missed the galloping horses.

Metal Work

Fancy design.

Building art.

Looking Up

Downtown Tacoma.

A glorious, sunny day.

Something New & Different

I always see something new and different

when I gaze up at the ceiling of The Glass Bridge.

In the Window

In the window

at The Art Stop.

Danish Mask

Another mask on the building facades 

in the Broadway business district. 

The adjacent plaque says

KING MASK

Danish

Stone carvings commemorate important events.

Here, a carving erected by a son

honors his father's death in battle

"when two kings fought."

My father!

My king!

Here

in this place

now sacred

where you were slain.

In stone 

again

we honor you

forever.

In Front of the Children's Museum

There's a Children's Museum on Broadway.

There's a tree in front of the Children's Museum on Broadway.

There are funny things hanging from the tree

in front of the Children's Museum on Broadway.

Theater Plaza

Pierce County Transit's plaza

near the Broadway Performing Arts Center.

Weathered

All eyes on the past.

Field Trip to Wright Park

Two grown-ups, lots of kids on a trip to Wright Park.

And I use the word "trip" purposely.

Right after I took this photo, 

one of the children tripped and fell.

No harm done - just a few tears.

Arts and Crafts on Broadway

It shares space with Leroy Jewelers

and has a wide variety of artful items.

Graffiti: Day Three

Priming the canvas.

I'll have to go back to see what's new.

Graffiti: Day Two

Some people don't think this is art.

I disagree.

(This is a public garage where painting walls
and columns is authorized on Sunday).

Garage Art

Some of the freshest art in Tacoma

can be made only on Sunday.

The artists were busy at work,

some with respirators on.

Most didn't want to be photographed,
at least in a way that identified them.

Japanese Noh Mask

Another piece of Tacoma's public art

displaying the cultural diversity

of the Pacific Northwest.

The accompanying plaque says

Grandfather Noh Mask

Japanese

In classic Noh performance,

emotions are conveyed 

through actors' gestures 

and poses, while expressionless

masks identify the characters

and focus on the play's meaning.

Now this grandfather

with no face speaking

holds us

in his hands.

Watch! Watch!

See his words!

Hear the stories

in his hands.

"- CA"

More Glass

I probably bore you

with my passion for colorful art glass,

but when Tacoma has Chihuly glass in abundance,

I can't help myself.

Wishing for Sunny Summer Days

I'm ready for warmer weather

and gentle breezes.

Off in the distance, across Commencement Bay

you see Brown's Point.

Not too Far to the East

Though Tacoma is sited on Puget Sound,

it is rimmed on the east and west by mountain ranges.

You've got to drive only a little over an hour

to see views like this.

Due to the mild winter,

the ski season will probably end a bit earlier than usual,

but the snow-covered slopes are gorgeous.

Public Art

I don't know what this is called

or who the artist is.

I can only tell you to look for it on Broadway,

half a block north of the Hotel Murano.

Eye-catching, isn't it?

American Art Company

A gallery and framing shop

on Broadway.

Korean Bride Mask

As I was wandering in downtown Tacoma

a couple of days ago,

I stumbled onto this piece of public art

on Broadway near American Art Company.

I'd never noticed it before.

The bronze marker adjacent to the piece says:

Ha Hway (Bride) Mask

Korean   Korea

The bride dancer, symbolizing a new generation

and life style, usually dances with an old man --

representing old values and ways.

Oh! Young bride!

Dancing new life --

Tomorrow!

She is dancing

with the shadow

of the old man

of the past.

  (then the initials:  CA)

Chihuly Mosaic

I thought you might enjoy a mosaic 

that features closeups of a glass installation

designed by the master Dale Chihuly,
who has Tacoma roots.

The original pieces are featured on the Bridge of Glass

at Tacoma's Museum of Glass.

Anti-Depressant

As far as I'm concerned

blue skies and flowering trees

are a natural anti-depressant

with only the best kinds of side effects.