>>> BEST ROAST

Marcus Walker

Well-known Lakewood Playhouse managing artistic director and all-around community hero Marcus Walker succumbed to his battle with cancer in March of 2011. In November of '10, after word had spread of Walker's malignant metastatic melanoma, a benefit roast at Urban Grace Church was held in his honor to raise money for the theater he put his heart and soul into. Walker's final production of My Name Is Asher Lev would end up being heralded by crowds and critics alike. And the evening of celebration in November that preceded it, even with so much heaviness in the air, was described by those in attendance as truly something special. - Weekly Volcano  

>>> MOST AVID PATRONS

Tacoma Musical Playhouse

There are theatergoers and there are theater critics. And then there are those who critique the critic. Tacoma Musical Playhouse has patrons who fill up the theater opening weekend, every show, without fail. Elderly, middle-aged or family of the cast, they often have season tickets and occasionally sell out a show. These supporters of musical theater also read the Weekly Volcano's critiques, and heaven help the critic who delivers an unfavorable review or suggests something wasn't up to snuff in a beloved Sondheim production. TMP's patrons love their playhouse and defend it with vim and vigor. - Joann Varnell

[Tacoma Musical Playhouse, 7116 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.565.6867]

>>> BEST VIEW FROM AN ART MUSEUM

Tacoma Art Museum Balcony

Tacoma Art Museum is always an enjoyable place to spend a few hours, but my favorite part about it is a kind of accidental art - the view. Head to the upstairs balcony on a sunny day. There are a few chairs on the balcony and no one minds if you sit there for a while to take in views of the mountain, Union Station, the port and all the things that make Tacoma beautiful in its own unique way. - Kristin Kendle

[Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.4258]

>>> BEST CREEPY-ASS MURAL

Alice in Wonderland

Whenever I drive past the Alice in Wonderland mural on the side of Smooth & Juicey and Market Street Coffee Co. on Market Street, I am pretty sure the likeness of Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter is staring directly into my soul. I try to look away, but I just can't. Because he's there. Watching. Staring. Granted, the Alice in Wonderland movie was kind of off-kilter, so this mural captures the spirit of bizarro-land well, but there is just something a little extra creepy about the Hatter's large green eyes here. I can't prove it, but I think maybe he comes alive when no one is looking. - Kristin Kendle

[Alice In Wonderland mural, 1122 Market St., Tacoma]

>>> BEST PLACE FOR UNPRONOUNCEABLE ART SHOWS

Fulcrum Gallery

Where else but Fulcrum could you see a glass art show called Pr3v1eW & Pr0t0tyt3ps? That's just one of many outstanding shows presented by Fulcrum founder Oliver Doriss - no slouch of a glass artist himself - whose gallery is beyond cool and beyond trendy. It's burning hot and never lukewarm. Now showing through Aug. 13 is Science and Industry, paintings by Peter Sheesley, who hurls viewers into a sepia-toned futuristic monument to flight. - Alec Clayton

[Fulcrum, 1308 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma, 253.250.0520]

>>> BEST FILMMAKER WITH A BIG HEART

Rick Dupea

Not every person who enters the film game craves only fame, fortune and a far-reaching soapbox on which to Say Something Important. Rick Dupea uses his video-producing powers for good in the community. In 2011 he hopped a continent to train Italian artists in an economically hurt Naples. Dupea's generosity shines back home too - his nonprofit Arts Renaissance, among other things, mentors local churches on effective uses of media. And I can't forget to mention beautifultacoma.com, Dupea's visual poem to a wonderful city and its peeps. Thanks for the love, sir ... you have my vote. - Christopher Wood

>>> BEST ARTSY PASTOR

Tad Monroe

When you think of a church pastor, you might think of an old dude - someone a bit stodgy, conservative, probably not the life of the party. Tad Monroe at Urban Grace Church is one of the least pastor-like pastors I have ever met. He helps to ensure UGC is lively and accepting of its diverse and sometimes contradictory congregation. Best of all, part of the way he does this is by embracing the arts. Poetry, art projects, music during services and vespers and gallery space in the church all make Urban Grace totally rad. - KK

[Urban Grace Church, 902 Market St., Tacoma, 253.272.2184]

>>> BEST GUERILLA ART

Beautiful Angle by Tom Llewellyn and Lance Kagey

Together, local writer Tom Llewellyn and artist Lance Kagey make up guerilla art team Beautiful Angle. What's awesome about these two? They create completely hand-crafted posters using a 1950s letterpress, and they use only staples and wheat paste to put them up around Tacoma. Wheat paste! That's hardcore. They create about one poster per month and have for the last eight years - posting them somewhat mysteriously in various locations. You can see the complete collection at King's Books. - KK

>>> BEST UPSTART IN THE GALLERY SCENE

B2 Fine Art Gallery

B2 Fine Art Gallery (pronounced B squared) is the hottest new gallery in town. Who knows what the name stands for? Ask Deborah and Gary Boone. Remember their fabulous show of the collaborative works of Ric Hall and Ron Schmitt? And then there was the recent Native American show featuring Joe Feddersen, Gail Tremblay and others. Part one of B2's newest show, which will show in two parts, is called Hot Fusion: Exploration into Abstraction, and will run through Aug. 6. Part two, Cold Fusion, is slated for November. - AC

[B2 Fine Art Gallery, 711 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma, 253.238.5065]

>>> BEST ART THAT THREATENS TO FALL ON YOUR HEAD

"Lovesick Walls" by Alex Schweder

The art threatens to fall on your head and squash you like a bug. It's an integral part of the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center. Wander through the building like you belong there and enjoy the "Lovesick Walls" by Alex Schweder. If you've never seen it, I'll give you a hint: It has something to do with public toilets and things punching through walls. And walk beneath the hand-hewn old-growth fir beams suspended by cables, called "Apotheosis Part II." Don't worry, it only looks like it might fall on your head. - AC

[Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center, 1500 Broadway, Tacoma]

Photo credit: Matt Driscoll

>>> BEST USE OF EMPTY BUILDINGS

Spaceworks Tacoma

Spaceworks Tacoma has put Tacoma's art scene in the major league by filling empty storefronts with the edgiest and most provocative art to make its home in T-town since Scott Fife's 12-foot-tall cardboard puppy came to the Tacoma Art Museum. It has revitalized the Woolworth window installations and made walking around downtown a visual treat. Don't miss what Portland-based Amy Bay has done with blackberry brambles in the old Woolworth building - an installation on view through the end of October. Watch for Spaceworks to expand soon into the empty buildings next to Fulcrum on MLK. - AC

>>> BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER

Chris Joseph Taylor

Tacoma comes alive as its own character in the short film Scamp, due largely to the camerawork of Chris Joseph Taylor. Using neither effects nor artificial lights, he manages to distill the essence of our City of Destiny in a few simple shots. This is Taylor's specialty - drawing life from the everyday world surrounding us. His eclectic eye finds warmth and solace in a Gig Harbor home (Fantastic Confabulations), or terror in an empty room of white (Shallow Copy). It's good to have an artist with such varied visual talents right here at home, showing the world Tacoma's best side. - CW

>>> BEST DOG LOVE

Greater Tacoma Community Foundation show at Kittredge Gallery

The Greater Tacoma Community Foundation show at University of Puget Sound's Kittredge Gallery was one helluva sight to see. In my review, I said there were some clunkers, but let's forget about them. The best stuff included sculptures by Nicholas Nyland such as "Dog Love," a decorative little statuette that looks like a circle of butt-sniffing Dalmatians with big yellow flowers. How can you go wrong? There were also a couple of great little paintings by Jeremy Mangan demonstrating his unique vision and meticulous attention to detail, and four transparent photographs of urban scenes, mounted over other photographs by Victoria Bjorklund. - AC

[Kittredge Gallery, N. 15th St. & N. Lawrence St., Tacoma]

>>> BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK

Tacoma Little Theatre

Oh, Tacoma, the theater options are many, and many are wondrous. But none so much as Tacoma Little Theatre! TLT's productions regularly contain top-notch acting, directing, lighting, sound, costuming, set design and all-around atmosphere. There is truly no bad seat in the house, so if you're pinching pennies you can sit in the Rear Section (rows J-N) and save $9 per ticket. The theater also offers "Pay What You Can" nights for those who love amazing performances but struggle to afford full-price tickets. Even without a discount, it's incredible theater worth more than what the tickets go for. - JV

[Tacoma Little Theatre, 210 N. I St., Tacoma, 253.272.2281]

>>> BEST NEW FILM FEST

The Grand Cinema's 25 New Faces

Adding to its growing-in-prestige Tacoma Film Festival, last summer The Grand Cinema gambled on an original concept - an event based solely on a magazine article. Each year Filmmaker publishes its "25 New Faces of Independent Film" feature, and from this the 25 New Faces Festival came to be. The Grand welcomed as many Faces as possible to its humble abode, and for seven straight days these artists shared with us their promising works and their in-the-trenches stories with humor, intelligence and a warm enjoyment for what they do. I wish every film festival was like this one. - CW