Is there any more vexing wee-hours quandary than "What is art?" According to Teller of Penn & Teller, "Art is anything we do after the chores are done." By that reasoning, most things we do can be art, as long as we enjoy them. (Ideally, someone else enjoys them, too.) Live music can be art, but does haute cuisine qualify? Graffiti can be art, but what about sand sculpture, board games, glasswork or robot designs? You bet! At Art on the Ave in Tacoma, all such pursuits are invited. If you're accustomed to thinking of art as esoteric - or, for that matter, if you regard it as material to enliven the walls over sofas - then prepare to have your mind ba-lown.

The July 14 Art on the Ave Festival has been gracing Sixth Avenue for years now but continues to broaden its horizons. For only the second time, neighborhood restaurants will duke it out in a no-holds-barred Grub Crawl. Starting at 2 p.m., they'll offer six-dollar appetizers to compete for serious bragging rights. As we go to print these eateries are keeping their dishes close to their chef's whites, but choices last year included Argentine chorizo-and-beef skewers from Asado and gargantuan turkey legs from Dirty Oscar's. Each offering must be portable and include at least one local ingredient. The Grub Crawl offers a variety of delectable dishes, so gourmands can start at one end of the avenue and work their way to the end, savoring live music and visual art every step of the way.

As for live music, at least three local venues are offering full programs that afternoon and early evening. Dirty Oscar's Annex will feature Bandolier, Ben Union, the Dignitaries, the Fame Riot, and Roswell. Jazzbones welcomes the Approach, Big Wheel Stunt Show, C-leb and Kettle Black, Nolan Garrett, Randy Hansen, and Mighty High. O'Malley's has scheduled Devil on a Leash, the Fun Police, Kramer, Northslope, and Ten Pole Drunk. We say again: art!

While we're tossing out memorable quotes, here's one from John Anthony Ciardi: "Modern art is what happens when painters stop looking at girls and persuade themselves they have a better idea." That opinion may not be entirely PC, but it's hard to argue most forms of art aren't enthralled by gorgeous women. Certainly the pinups of the mid-20th century, from Betty Grable to Bettie Page, remain as popular as ever. And what goes better with sexy pinup models than classic cars? For the first time ever "on the Ave," 6th Ave Photo Studios is planning an event that unites the va-va-voom of pinup photography with good old American vroom. Classic cars and hot rods from 1972 or before will form the backdrop of a pinup and vintage art showcase. Also, for less than the cost of half a dozen tanks of gas, photographer Vanessa Vancuren is offering a full makeup, hair, wardrobe, and modeling session.

If that's not groovy enough, Clear Channel and a group of local cartoonists, CLAW, are contributing a people-sized game board called Tacomapoly. The board will be used to create fifteen-minute performance art pieces in which unlucky players are sent to an actual jail cell. Meanwhile, guests will be invited to play a round of oversize Jenga, though one imagines their acumen will decrease rapidly as the afternoon of grub- and pub-crawling progresses.

For many, art is first and foremost something pretty or otherwise visually engaging. Rest assured Art on the Ave has that covered, too. Live art demonstrations will include metal sculpture by movie propmaker Saign Charlestein, clay pieces by Patricia Haase, sand art by father-and-son team Brent and Ethan Terry, paintings by Michaela Eaves and Matthew Scott, and glasswork from the Museum of Glass Mobile Hot Shop. Chalk artist and street painter Steve Platt will be on hand, along with Seattle fantasy and wildlife illustrator Nori Retherford. Local artists will create a graffiti mural, and FabLab Tacoma will show off its battery of 3D printers, design software ... and laser beams. That's right: frickin' laser beams! Visitors will be encouraged to get hands-on with many of these arts and crafts, learning the basics while gaining a deeper appreciation of each particular style and technique.

Also for the first time this year, the festival is providing free wi-fi to help visitors share their experiences online. There'll even be a free smartphone app, made available shortly before the advent of the festival. Will everything displayed look pretty over a couch? Not a chance. Does it all count as art? The world, especially college dorm rooms, may never know for sure, but we do know lots of cool places to eat, drink, and argue about it.

ART ON THE AVE, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday, July 14, Sixth Avenue between Cedar and Trafton streets, Tacoma, artontheave.org