SHOWDOWN: Tacoma Third Thursday Artwalk

By Michael Swan on August 18, 2010

FORECAST SAYS 66 DEGREES AND NO RAIN TOMORROW >>>

Here's a Polaroid-style primer of what a few of the participating galleries, museums and spaces will have on display Thursday, Aug. 19 during Third Thursday Artwalk.

253 COLLECTIVE: The Collective has, er, collected soaps, jewelry, artwork, ceramics and other handcrafted, one of a kind items for you to ponder as your walk the hall and peek inside each room. 5-8 p.m., 1901 S. Jefferson, Suite 100, 253collective@gmail.com

THE ART STOP: The opening reception for the three-day Second Fabulous Trunk Show With Maralyce Ferree happens inside The Art Stop during Artwalk. 5-8 p.m., 940 Broadway, 253.274.1630

BKB & COMPANY: The gallery of wearable art and contemporary crafts will aim the spotlight on Katherine Sylvan's scarves during Artwalk. Rumor has it the gallery will go markdown crazy Thursday night. 5-8 p.m., 1734 Pacific Ave., 253.272.6884

BRICK HOUSE GALLERY: What does it mean to be naked? The Brick House Gallery encouraged artists to come up with their own definitions of the word with strong hints that they should feel free to interpret nakedness in ways other than the obvious (i.e., figures without clothing). Read the full review here. 5-9 p.m., 1123 S. Fawcett, 253.627.0426

FULCRUM GALLERY: Cell phone towers are everywhere. They're a manifestation of the world we've created, and the evolution of human interaction. You can look at this as good or bad. Matthew M Johnson chooses to look at it throughtraditional charcoal and watercolor portraits - the results collectively titled Impersonal Portraits. "As the cell phone has integrated into my life it has led to a depersonalization of my relationships through convenience. The towers represent my connection the world," says Johnson. 6-9 p.m., 1308 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, 253.250.0520

MADERA ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS: Their Don't Look group show - a boudoir vignette viewed through a peephole, will be open until 10 p.m. during Artwalk. It looks bitchin' cool in the dark. 5-10 p.m., 301-B Puyallup Ave., 253.572.1218

MAVI CONTEMPORARY ART: The new gallery housed in the spot formerly occupied by Two Vaults opens during Artwalk. Joe Malik chats up the new gallery in his Slouching Toward Utopia column here. 5-9 p.m., 502 Sixth Ave.

MINERAL: A new batch of chastity belts are back at Mineral Gallery, this year under the title Access Denied: the 2010 Exhibit of Chastity Belts by Artists, and running through Oct. 9. Here's what the press release states: "The historical origins of the chastity belt reach back to the Middle Ages, and as an anti-sex mechanism (for both sexes) it was in use as late as the 1930s. The works in Access Denied explore the social, cultural, historical and metaphorical nuances of chastity in an age when the Internet has all but dissolved the invisible boundaries between individuals. 5-8 p.m., 301-A Puyallup Ave., 253.250.7745

ROBERT DANIEL GALLERY: Former Two Vaults Gallery owner Paula Tutmarc-Johnson has gathered Ethan Jack Harrington's hot soft landscapes, Karl Krogstads inimitable "French Funk" architecture, street scenes and figures, and J. Neils Harvey's breakthrough "post post-modern folk art revival" for a show. 5-9 p.m., 2501 S. Fawcett, 253.534.5125

SPACEWORKS TACOMA: All its loveliness will be on display in downtown Tacoma. The Weekly Volcano wrote about the tour, windows, Letters and the Seaside Opera performance art.

TACOMA ART MUSEUM: You can roam the rich, panoramic views of Where Sky Meets Earth: The Luminous Landscapes of Victoria Adams exhibit at TAM, or you can actually climb inside them when the Vashon Island artist drops in on the show from, 5-7 p.m. to discuss the processes and her moods during its creation. Bonus: Museum staff will host a geocaching and geotagging workshop and scavenger hunt.  5-8 p.m., free, 1701 Pacific Ave., 253.272.4258

VICEROY ART GALLERY: The Viceroy opens another show during Artwalk featuring abstract painting by noted New York artist Michael Rubin and another big-ass installation - this time featuring Cory Mattheis' "an exploration of porous masonry screens informed by contextual numeric patter...ning." 6-9 p.m., inside office G|O architects, 711 Court A, Suite 100, 253.572.9818

LINK: Take the ART BUS tomorrow night

LINK: More visual art goodies