SUNDAY, JULY 13 2014 >>>

1. 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. Tacoma's Art on the Ave community celebration includes Live bands, Grub Crawl, carnival rides, art projects, giant puzzles, local beer and wine lounge, tons of art and more from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tacoma's sixth Avenue. Read Christian Carvajal's full feature on Art on the Ave in our Music and Culture section.

2. At the Best of the Northwest Free Community Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., visitors to the Tacoma Art Museum will get to see up close and personal just what it takes to make a bronze sculpture and take part in a hands-on sculpture project making your own three-dimensional art. At noon the bronze World War II Marine memorial sculpture "Soul of the Forward and Faithful" by Mardie Rees will debut in an unveiling. It will be on view at TAM until July 27 when it will travel to its new permanent home at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Va. The festival will feature artists, fabricators and curators talking about the process of creating bronze sculpture. "Rarely do you witness sculptures taking shape," said museum director Stephanie A. Stebich. "We're giving visitors a close-up look into the sculpture process that most people don't get to see." Admission to the museum will be free all day. 

3. The Social Bar and Grill's patio is a lovely spot to while away a weekend afternoon, sipping cocktails and old world red wine and watching condo residents walk their dogs. Come Sunday afternoon, resident DJ Mr. Melanin and rotating guests spin an eclectic and extremely tasteful selection of lounge, bossa nova and electro soul music 2-6 p.m. This triple threat of delicious happy hour specials, sun and hip tunes is known as Tacoma's only daytime summer party, "Dayclub."

4. The Riffbrokers' Nick Millward has a voice that resembles a more nimble version of Elvis Costello's nasal croon, draws you in, sonically, before you have a chance to really appreciate the beauty of his lyrics. With the rest of the band consisting of Nick's wife Heather Millward (bass), as well as Chris Cline (guitar) and Ryan Maxwell (drums), the Riffbrokers like to refer to themselves as "powerpop twang," which works just as well as anything else. They sound like what would happen if Tom Petty earned his stripes in the indie punk underground. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's full feature on the Riffbrokers in the Music & Culture section, then catch the band with the Dignitaries and the Oly Electric at 5 p.m. in The Swiss Restaurant and Pub.

5. For some of us, karaoke is all about either watching or being drink-sodden disasters - specifically the kind poorly belting out ballads to a hooting crowd of strangers. For the non-voyeurs and the non-exhibitionists, the song's the thing, and Harlequin Productions "Forbidden 12 Night" karaoke party should be a song-centric affair. Harlequin's A Rock ‘n' Roll Twelfth Night cast and crew will be singing each other's songs from the show karaoke style, with the live band, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The $40 ticket is good for a catered buffet dinner and a cocktail as the cast, crew, and band from the musical present an evening of unscripted musical mayhem.

LINK: Sunday, July 13 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area