ART: ONE CITY. 30 DAYS. WHAT WILL YOU DO? >>>

My name is Art. I'm the Weekly Volcano's janitor. Throughout November I will take time off from picking up after these slobs to post a daily review of a piece of art hanging inside a South Sound workplace. The Volcano thinks it's a clever take on the city's Art at Work: Tacoma Arts Month celebration as my name is Art and I work for a living â€" unlike the jokers I pick up after. It's a crap idea but I need the extra dough.

The Volcano sent me and photographer J.M. Simpson to the Lakewood home office of minister Ron Kearns who has played Santa for the last seven years. The minister of the New Hope Community Church and a former chaplain to the Steilacoom Department of Public Safety, Kearns’ white hair and beard, ample girth, twinkling blue eyes and hearty laugh personify the character of Santa.

SANTA CLAUS:  The painting of Santa Claus in Kearns home reminds me of the Santa images by artist Haddon Sundblom who drew advertising images of Santa and Coke beginning in the early ‘30s. Can't say for certain. Haven't been into Santa Claus since that crap Who Moved My Cheese? paperback he gave me back in the 90s.

Below are the Volcano’s Art at Work picks for the day:
 
Art at Work Month: Tuesday, Nov. 3

November 2009 marks the eighth anniversary of Art at Work: Tacoma Arts Month. There is something for everyone to enjoy throughout the month: lectures, music, dance performances, readings, workshops, theater performances, visual art exhibits and more.

Here are today’s highlights:

Dr. Priti Joshi from the University of Puget Sound will discuss British Classics in the Franke Tobey Jones' parlor at 3 p.m.

You know it. You love it. The Victory Music Open Mic hits the Antique Sandwich Company's stage at 7 p.m. just as it has every Tuesday since Peter Puget sailed past Point Defiance Park.

There are many more events today. For a complete Art at Work schedule, click here.