Familiar Faces & New Voices
Surveying Northwest ArtOn view through Summer 2019This exhibition offers a chronological walk through Northwest art history, illustrated with the works of well-known artists from each time period as well as lesser-known figures. Some sections in the exhibition will change regularly to offer in-depth looks at original voices and fresh stories. Visitors can encounter different works and ideas each time they visit during this long-running visual exploration of how Northwest art has evolved. Come experience and celebrate the rich artistic heritage of our region.This exhibition is generously supported by Nordstrom.
Immigrant Artists and the American West
On view through June 14, 2020Immigration is a topic on many peoples’ minds. With changing policies and shifting values that affect many people’s lives in our community and beyond, Immigrant Artists and the American West draws attention to how art relates to and responds to personal and political issues around immigration.Drawing from Tacoma Art Museum’s Haub Family Collection of Western American Art, its Northwest Art Collection, as well as loans of contemporary art, Immigrant Artists and the American West highlights artists from diverse places including China, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, and Russia, among others. Although not fully representative of each of the unique places from which people in the West hail, the exhibition explores how immigrants’ experiences are shared through art.While immigrants and their descendants share many experiences, there is not one universal immigrant story; the exhibition represents a range of viewpoints to highlight just a few of the many stories that can be shared about immigration. The American immigrant experience is a common narrative, but we are also a nation comprised of Indigenous people and descendants of enslaved peoples. In celebrating one group, we should not erase or disregard the histories and contributions of everyone who makes this country their home.Immigrant Artists and the American West was organized by Tacoma Art Museum and made possible through the generous support of the Haub Family Endowment
Native Portraiture: Power and Perception
On view through February 10, 2019Western art is laden with images of Native Americans that range from recordings of direct observations to highly romanticized, invented images. Yet many of these paintings are made by non-Native artists. What is communicated when an outsider portrays someone from another culture? How are these depictions different from when a person connected to a culture shares an individual or collective experience?Contemporary Native artists are actively deconstructing myths and preconceptions about Native people through their art. Many portraits of Indigenous people by non-Native artists romanticize, stereotype, or appropriate Native people and cultures. By countering these non-Native narratives with contemporary art by Native artists, the exhibition aims to give voice to Native people and communities to show their resiliency and power over the ways in which they are portrayed and perceived.This exhibition seeks to continue TAM’s work with tribal members to educate our visitors about the symbolism of the artworks and the historical contexts in which they were created.Native Portriature: Power and Perception was organized by Tacoma Art Museum and made possible through the generous support of the Haub Family Endowment.
Places to Call Home: Settlements in the West
On view through February 10, 2019For centuries people have congregated in specific places in the West to exchange goods, ideas, and cultural practices. From Seattle, San Francisco, Santa Fe, and San Antonio to pueblos and towns, settlements in the West have a vitality that is represented in art. The exhibition showcases the diverse places people have called home and explores the nuances of these thriving sites of cultural exchange.Places to Call Home: Settlements in the West was organized by Tacoma Art Museum and made possible through the generous support of the Haub Family Endowment.
Winter in the West
On view through February 10, 2019Winter is here. This selection of paintings from the Haub Family Collection celebrates the winter season with a juxtaposition of serene snow-covered landscapes alongside images of people living their lives in the cold. Winter in the West celebrates the resiliency and determination of the many inhabitants of the region during this cold and dark season.Winter in the West was organized by Tacoma Art Museum and made possible through the generous support of the Haub Family Endowment.
Animals: Wild and Captured in Bronze
On extended viewWild mustangs and majestic bison are symbols of the American West. However, many other creatures also live in the diverse habitats west of the Mississippi River. This exhibition features all kinds of wildlife that inhabit the West and the artists who have captured their likenesses in bronze.Animals: Wild and Captured in Bronze was organized by Tacoma Art Museum and made possible through the generous support of the Haub Family Endowment.
Dale Chihuly at TAM
Come and see the premier collection of Dale Chihuly's work on public long-term display in his hometown.
Outdoor Sculptures at TAM
View great art just outside the museumAdding to all of the excitement of November 2014, Tacoma Art Museum unveiled two new outdoor sculptures: Julie Speidel’s Kinetic Repose, and Marie Watt’s Blanket Stories: Transportation Object, Generous Ones, Trek. A third outdoor sculpture, Scott Fife’s Explorers, was installed in June 2015. All three sculptors are well-known to the community through previous exhibitions and works in the museum’s permanent collection. These commissions begin TAM’s ambitious new outdoor sculpture program.Ten painted stainless steel pieces comprise Julie Speidel’s Kinetic Repose, including three benches for seating; the tallest piece, affectionately nicknamed Big Red, stands around 14 feet and has already become a well-appreciated “photo opp” for visitors. Speidel’s colorful installation enlivens the new parking level foyer and introduces TAM’s art collection upon arrival.Marie Watt’s bronze Blanket Stories: Transportation Object, Generous Ones, Trek graces TAM along Pacific Avenue. Watt explores the humble yet significant role blankets play in people’s lives, in Native American communities, and in the history of the West. The blue patina of this sculpture references both water and sky, revealing their importance to the Northwest and the West. TAM and Watt collected more than 350 blankets from community members, and even received blankets in the mail from people outside the region.Scott Fife’s Explorers delights visitors with two endearing Northwestern creatures—an eaglet and a bear cub—arriving in the “urban wilderness” via raft. Fife is fascinated by how these species are reintroducing themselves into the new Western landscape. Explorers is located outside the main entrance of TAM.
Leroy, The Big Pup
The Story of LeroyArtist and creator of Leroy, The Big Pup, Scott Fife follows in the footsteps of pop artists from the 1960s and 1970s by focusing on the fads and fascinations of American culture and using nontraditional materials to create his sculptures. Beginning with commercial products, he turned to objects from everyday life and also created a series of portraits of celebrities, all fashioned using archival cardboard, glue, and screws. To give these simple things greater cachet, Fife often re-creates them at an exaggerated scale, making them literally larger than life. His sculpture of his dog, Leroy, The Big Pup, was acquired in 2007 and has since become the museum’s mascot.Scott Fife, a realist sculptor and Seattle artist, earned a Bachelor of Arts in architecture from the University of Idaho in 1972 and a Bachelor of Arts from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1976. He was granted fellowships by the New York Foundation for the Arts in 1989 and Artist Trust in 1999. Galleries and museums have hosted his one-person exhibitions since the mid-1970s, and he regularly exhibited in Berlin in the 1980s and 1990s. Tacoma Art Museum held a retrospective exhibition of his work in 2004 and Missoula Art Museum, Montana, hosted a solo show of his work in 2010.
Richard Rhodes' Stone Wave
Stone Wave sits at the heart of the museumRichard Rhodes’ untitled “stone wave” sculpture sits at the heart of the museum and is made of 650 stones in a 1,650-square-foot enclosure. The primary stones are 24 inches square and weigh about 250 pounds. The stones are 500-year-old pavers that come from a village slated to be engulfed by the Three Gorges Dam reservoir in China. The sculpture was originally assembled in China and each stone was marked for reassembly in Tacoma. The team of installers had to fit all material and supplies into the central courtyard space through a small door in the glass walls. Workers squeezed between the windows and the waves to fit the stones in place. Each stone had to be placed within 1/8 inch of its calculated position in order for the whole pattern to work.Rhodes calls the shape a hyperbolic paraboloid, with only one of the four corners at a right angle. It was designed to look like water in a fishbowl that had been jostled and frozen forever in mid-slosh. The stones rest on foam pedestals attached to foam risers that are higher at the corners. The design of the supporting structure creates a void between the stones and gives the illusion that they are floating. The foundation is a plain concrete floor above the museum’s parking lot. The base is covered in a waterproofing membrane and the honeycomb of support beneath the stones facilitates drainage.The space has a certain serenity as the wave seems to go on for eternity, reflected in the mirrored walls. The sculpture brings a strong water motif into the heart of the building, much like Puget Sound and the region’s rainy season is at Tacoma’s heart.Playing on the WaveIn recent years, Tacoma Art Museum has begun to experiment with the wave, with full support and encouragement from Rhodes. Dale Chihuly’s Ma Chihuly’s Floats–multi-colored Niijima Floats that are now part of the museum’s permanent collection–drift across the wave during the warm summer months. In 2007, local artist trio SuttonBeresCuller lowered a sailboat into the courtyard to create Ship in a Bottle as part of the 8th Northwest Biennial.
Chihuly Glass Walking Tour
Tour Dale Chihuly's artwork throughout Downtown Tacoma. Hear Chihuly talk about his inspirations, collaborations, and artistic processes.
