If you have ever planned anything: weddings, birthday parties, 50th anniversaries, what ever it may have been, during this process you probably asked yourself a few qualifying questions. "When? Where? How? And Why?" Depending on the answer or dependent on how you carried on with your planning, if it was a 21 and over party, it probably wasn't hosted in Mom's living room with the turn-of-the-century antiques and fine China. Tacoma Art Museum's Teen Art Council is hosting such a teen party inside the museum, and it's not exactly Mom's fine China, but still a little scary. 

This Saturday will be TAM's 2nd annual Teen Night. From 7-10 p.m., teens will be immersed with live music and open mic, a photo booth, DIY button making, screen printing, mural painting, and what's a teen night without gourmet tater-tots and pizza? Students get in free with a student ID card, or if they don't have one they are required to fill out a short getting-to-know-you survey as their entry. This is also one of the few times a year that TAM offers free parking. When parents drop off their kids, they are also handed a guide to Tacoma. The guide goes into detail of what's happening in Tacoma that evening as well as a restaurant guide.         

In charge of what some would call organized chaos, is Christina Westpheling, educator of Youth Learning at TAM. We all have been the "new kid" on the block at some point in our lives. Whether it was a new school or neighborhood, it was hard to be stuck in a place where you weren't yesterday. In that light, Christina put together a student council, and Teen Night was born. When we asked Christina what she liked most about this event, she said, "It's an opportunity for kids in the area to meet and mingle with other kids in the area that they wouldn't meet otherwise."

What I really loved about this event is everything is student run. All the flyers that you see were designed and created by the students. All the events and activities for the event are there because the student council decided it should be. This event gives your kids an opportunity to celebrate life, art and each other. If you have a teen in your life, do them the favor and drop them off at the museum for the evening.          

Teen Night, 7-10 p.m., Saturday, March 24, free with ID, Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.4258, tacomaartmuseum.org