ARTS COVERAGE TO END ALL ARTS COVERAGE >>>

It just fell. That lone, emancipated leaf twirled to the earth with the glorious abandon of a modern dancer. Or perhaps to you it fluttered, valiantly fighting its descent before plummeting to the ground like of a fallen opera hero. Simply watching the collision of nature with gravity can be as viscerally beautiful to behold as an introspective tour of an art gallery.

It's all in the perspective.

Winter is the time of year when temperatures drop like the last leaves, and the focus of audiences shifts to the more somber and serious exercises of the mind. The Weekly Volcano's know this. Each week we provide the best local arts coverage possible to our fantastic readers – always be on the lookout for ways to shine a light on all the awesome creativity we see around us ... even if it's a lone entity swaying back and worth in the wind.

Here's a look at the Volcano's arts coverage waiting for you this week in print and online. Enjoy.

FEATURE: TACOMA AUTHOR'S DEBUT NOVEL

Tacoma-native Megan Bostic's book, Never Eighteen, hits bookstores nationwide Jan. 17. Never Eighteen tells the story of 17-year-old Austin Parker, who lives in Tacoma and is dying of leukemia. The book falls into the young adult genre, but Austin is a wise and believable character who appeals to older readers as well. His heartbreaking situation resonates with anyone who has lost a loved one to a chronic illness or cancer. – Kristin Kendle's 

MOVIE BIZ BUZZ: A WAY WITH WORDS

Luke Smiraldo likes using the word "enamored" a lot, and why not? The man has plenty to love. One could start anywhere with this multi-talented artist, but his strong connections to the Tacoma community strike me right away. A resident since '91, Smiraldo realized only recently that he hasn't lived anywhere else for as long before. My own time here goes a little farther back (I arrived in '89), and he says something during our conversation that rushes right to the heart my experience. On seeing 20 years go in a flash he says, "It crept up on me, like Tacoma does for some of us." – Christopher Wood

VISUAL EDGE: NOSTALGIA AT TACOMA ART MUSEUM

At the risk of sounding snarky, I have a hard time imagining why anyone would want to see At Home Across America: Scenes from the 1930s to 1950s in Prints at Tacoma Art Museum. Unless they're writing an art history thesis. Or very nostalgic for the 1940s. On the other hand, people who are going to TAM for the Mexican folk art show or the Chihuly show or the Northwest Biennial (opening Jan. 21) should stop in anyway just to see what American art was like between the beginnings of modernism (which happened in Europe and kind of missed America) and the advent of Abstract Expressionism (which changed the whole world of art). – Alec Clayton

PLUS: A night-by-night round trip through Olympia's arts scene

PLUS: Free events this week

PLUS: Complete arts and entertainment calendar for the South Sound

PLUS: The Philosotoddler Meme