>>>BEST SPOOK HOUSE
The Woman in Black at Lakewood Playhouse
Live theater can evoke almost any emotional state, but it seems to have special difficulty conjuring goose bumps. Lacking post-production visual effects or the months it takes to produce a battery of terrifying sound effects, stage horror tends to languish behind its cinematic offspring. Now, throw all that out the window, because Beau Prichard managed real chills and thrills on a limited budget at Lakewood Playhouse. Consummate directing, aided by a crack technical team at Lakewood Playhouse, crafted a world in which every detail was not only appropriate to the story but also poetically atmospheric. Keith Jewell's soundtrack worked auditory miracles. Booooo! - Christian Carvajal

>>> BEST USE OF SPACE/ATTENTION TO DETAIL
Sherlock's Last Case and The Importance of Being Earnest at Lakewood Playhouse
Lakewood Playhouse has recently changed their stage from a thrust (audience on three sides) to theatre in the round (audience on all sides). They have skillfully produced plays on each of the types of stages and rose to the challenges that are created due to the closeness of the audience. There are no ways to cut corners without it being obvious and the set and costume design and blocking have shown just how masterful Lakewood Playhouse is at using their space. Special nod to Props Master Jeffrey Weaver and Set Dresser Hally Phillips' for Sherlock's Last Case and director Marilyn Bennett for blocking in The Importance of Being Earnest. - Joann Varnell

>>> BEST GOOD CRY
The Joy Luck Club at Tacoma Little Theatre
I'm an easy cry - a wuss. Over the course of any given year at least two movies, a play or two, and God knows how much TV wrings big, gloppy tears out of me. Even so, this past season of theater left me largely unperturbed, including shows that self-evidently aspired to punch me in the cry holes. The one notable exception was David Shieh's production of The Joy Luck Club, which transformed my wife and me into sobbing wrecks. Not only did it boast a beautiful script, it attracted a full cast of Asian-American actors, many of whom had never been seen on Tacoma stages, then stirred them into an ensemble of memorable, distinct, and emotionally open characters. I was absolutely spellbound. - CC

>>> BEST (FAST) CRASH COURSE IN SHAKESPEARE
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged (Revised) at Tacoma Little Theatre
It takes skill to be able to make Shakespeare's tragedies funny without ruining them. It takes greater skill to simultaneously educate and amuse using the type of irreverence that demonstrates how much the playwright is respected. And seriously, pulling off the presentation of Titus Andronicus as a cooking show a la Julia Childs? Genius. Tacoma Little Theatre didn't just choose a fabulous script, the actors exuded an earnestness that made the script so entirely accessible and entertaining to the audience that the 97-minute run time seemed way too brief. The audience walked away with a greater knowledge of Shakespeare's plays, nearly 97 minutes of hilarity, and one of the most moving Hamlet speeches I've ever "scene." - JV

>>> BEST ART ART
Eric Carle
Tacoma Art Museum brought renowned children's book author Eric Carle to town on the occasion of the exhibition of his personal art, which he calls his "art art" - the work he does for himself, most of which has never been shown publicly. And it is stupendous. Who knew Eric Carle was such an outstanding artist? The show includes paintings, sculptures, poster art, photography, costume and set designs and painted glass assemblages created in collaboration with glass artist Tom Patti. Carle was on hand to meet and greet Tacomans of all ages. In connection with this show the museum offered many children's art activities. - Alec Clayton
 
>>> BEST MOLDING HOT ART
Museum of Glass
From its beginning, Museum of Glass' Hot Shop and Visiting Artist Residency Program has given locals and visitors the unique opportunity to watch glass artists make hot glass in the confines of that big upside-down cone that has become a Tacoma landmark. Internationally-known and emerging artists come to the museum for residencies lasting from a single day to many weeks, and the public gets to watch them at work from stadium-style seating in the Hot Shop. Many of these visiting artists present a "Conversation with the Artist" lecture and slide presentation on the final day of their residency. Every Friday from noon to 1 p.m. visitors can watch them create artwork from molten glass in the Hot Shop Amphitheater while enjoying a delicious boxed lunch from the Choripan by Asado. - AC
 
>>> BEST TRIPOD SLIDESHOW
Lynn Di Nino
Kinky, funky and always creative, Lynn Di Nino has been hosting the monthly "Tripod" shows at Madera Fine Furnishings near downtown in the Dome District - three artists presenting slide shows of no longer than 15 minutes followed by 10 minutes for Q/A. Di Nino says the pace is lively and no one gets bored. Each showing is a theme show. There have been themes such as "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral" and  "Parts" such as car parts and body parts, and once even the theme of comb-overs featuring Donald Trump's famous hair, presented by Kim Sparks-Wilmer, showing a very large hidden part, under Trump's comb-over. Then she showed that all serial killers have right-side parts. The Aug. 16 show will be a one-time-only full hour presentation by The News Tribune photographer Peter Haley who will do a show on his trips while embedded with the military in Afghanistan. - AC
 
>>> BEST WORKS OF ART FROM THE NORTHWEST
Herb and Lucy Pruzan
The loan of more than 100 artworks from the collection of Herb and Lucy Pruzan to Tacoma Art Museum means the rest of us get to see many of the best works of art produced in the Pacific Northwest. The Pruzans have promised nine iconic works of Northwest art to the museum, in addition to five gifts already in the permanent collection. Works from their collection now on display at TAM include pieces by many of the most famous artists in the region, including William Cumming, Gaylen Hansen, Paul Havas, William Ivey, Fay Jones, James Martin, Alden Mason, Ginny Ruffner, Preston Singletary, Akio Takamori, and more. The show opened in June and will run through October. - AC

>>> BEST RECAPTURING OF TACOMA
Recaptured City
Can a Facebook page be considered an ongoing local art event? In this rapidly changing digital age, of course it can. Recaptured City at www.facebook.com/RecapturedCity is a history of Tacoma in words and pictures with the intention of becoming much more and evolving to a wider platform. According to page administrators Michael Sean Sullivan, Andy Cox and Joe Keller, it is "an assault on the barricade of Tacoma's forgetfulness by the forces of image and backstory." They describe it as being about the way memory is "unvarnished" and how it affects the way we see and change our built environment. The intention is "to create a visual and written narrative of how and why the city of Tacoma arrived at its current appearance, form and design ... an experiment in culture building and applied storytelling." - AC