Back to Tacoma

The campground we stayed in is just okay (though the bridge tournament being held here is taunting Jerry), it is conveniently located to many good places.  Avoiding more traffic in Mt. Rainier, we chose to visit two great Tacoma museums.  The Tacoma Art Museum (TAM) is primarily the result of an endowment by Anne Gould Hauberg and dedicated to Northwestern Artists.  Hauberg was a patron of glass sculpture Dale Chihuly whose work is on display here (more of his work later in this blog).  We spent a couple of hours enjoying this well-designed museum.

We were not surprised to find a Remington.

Scott Fraser’s Lemon, Lemon uses a long peal to mock 17th art.

A special exhibit showed the work of Zhi Lin who used wall-size art to remind and relate the contribution of Chinese immigrants to the Northwest.  Coming for Gum Sahn (the Gold Mountain), they worked the gold fields, then laid the track for the Transcontinental Railway, and, when the work was finished, they were banished from the area.  Photos of Promontory show the toasting of the joining of the two lines of the railway and deliberately omit the men who did the actual work.

Attempts by artists and local cultural leaders to make known the contribution of the Chinese to the development of the West is a theme we are seeing repeated in this area.  This collection also includes art by other underrepresented artists, women, a Japanese artist who died following internment during WWII and an African-American artist for whom Mark Twain was a benefactor.

Next we went to the Museum of Glass, first enjoying the art outside.  This is a view of the reflecting pool.

Dale Chihuly is a Tacoma native and the Museum of Glass is a homage to his work and that of other artists.  These are Ma Chihuly’s Floats.

Here are a few of his more familiar works.

We stopped for a while in the Pilchuck Glass Studio, aka the Hot Shop, to watch the creation of glass art work.  It is like watching a ballet, the movements are controlled and graceful; the results beauty.

George Stroemple collected 19th century Venetian art.  James Mongrain was part of Chihuly’s team of glass art creators.  Mongrain, under the patronage of Stroemple, has created his own version of this glass.  This is the 17th century work

 and this is Mongrain's vision

This moose guards a gallery.

Jerry refused to buy Anna Lee any of jewelry from Jewels of Glass by Linda MacNeil..

To encourage children to be creative, the museum has a workshop.  Some children’s drawings are selected each month to be turned into glass art and displayed in the museum.  Some are even reproduced on cards for sale in the gift shop.  This is "I Love Cheese."

Outside the museum is a bridge, not an ordinary bridge, a Chihuly Bridge.  Alongside is the Venetian Wall

 in the middle the Crystal Towers

and overhead a Seafoam Pavillion

We have enjoyed these several times, and, no matter how often, we always find some new item or angle to exclaim about.