We Art Tacoma

The Gritty City Sirens burlesque troupe likes to say that they put the T and A in Tacoma. Two performers, Rosie Cheex and Ava D Jor, share their story about how they got into burlesque, how they think of it as an art form, being entrepreneurs, and what it’s like to perform burlesque in Tacoma.

We also talk about the upcoming Sirens show “VarieTEASE” on Saturday, September 28. Enjoy!

Poet Michael Haeflinger joins the podcast to talk about the nonprofit Write 253 and his new book of poems Low Static Rage. At the end of the poem, he reads a poem from it about Karaoke at the Flying Boots—it’s all very Tacoma. Enjoy!

In the early 1980s, Andy Warhol submitted a piece of art to the City of Tacoma. It would make the roof of the building a giant flower. It wasn’t a winning entry, but the idea of putting an Andy Warhol on the roof of the Dome has cropped up again. Should we put the Andy Warhol Flower on the Tacoma Dome?

Dan Voelpel is one of the citizens calling for the flower to become a new icon of Tacoma.

This week’s episode of We Art Tacoma is with Native American glass artist Preston Singletary, who has an exhibit called Raven and the Box of Daylight at the Museum of Glass. Preston is a legend in the world of glass art and the conversation is delightful.

The exhibit closes Labor Day, Monday September 2.

Kareem Kandi joins the show to talk about his life in jazz music. From teaching 40 music lessons a week to performing to teaching to managing a nonprofit, Kareem has his hands full.

Dan Friday comes on the podcast today to talk about his glass art and the Saturday August 10 “In the Spirit” Northwest Native Festival. Dan’s glass piece Full Circle Totem won the “Spirit of the Northwest” award in the juried art exhibit at the Washington State History Museum, open this weekend as well (and closing Sunday!)

The Washington State History Museum, Museum of Glass, and Tacoma Art Museum will all be free on Saturday, August 10, for this festival and cultural celebration.

The delightful Kim Archer joins the podcast this week to talk about how music brought her to Tacoma, the concert series she helps produce every summer, and her new work. Enjoy!

Did you know there’s a local film production company in Tacoma called Zombie Orpheus? And that the team behind it has been making movies and web series here since 2002? And that they just raised $443,000 on Kickstarter for Season 4 of JourneyQuest, their latest web series?

Matt Vancil, a screenwriter, director, and novelist joins the show to talk about his writing and filmmaking and how a small indie film company has grown in Tacoma.

Bill Heeter is a collector of animation cels from The Simpsons. These hand-drawn cels are put together for the public for at Tacoma Art Museum for the first Simpsons animation exhibit in the US!

On the podcast, Bill shares how he started collecting animation cels, his interest in The Simpsons, and why this is a great fit for a museum that focuses on Northwest and West art. This is a colorful, delightful, and very funny exhibit.

Nicole Rathburn is the artist hired to create public art based on the novel Dune by Tacoma native Frank Herbert. She talks about what it was like to create a sculpture based on the book and how she participates in the local art community as part of a local foundry.

The park opens July 6 and Nicole’s art will be installed in the fall.