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What's considered chic one week is trashed by the trendsetters the next. It's in this blink-and-you-missed-it environment that Tacoma's Third Thursday ArtWalk has become something of an institution. Nothing more than an intermittent and amorphous congregation of people who enjoy original art, the monthly night has managed to snowball into a downtown Tacoma support system for the visual arts. Or something like that. Here's a primer for Thursday's ArtWalk, which officially takes place from 5-8 p.m. in downtown Tacoma.
Also on Thursday are several South Sound art events not on the Thursday Artwalk path.
Let's take a look. ...
Tacoma Art Bus Two-Year Anniversary Tour: Tacoma's Little Engine That Could celebrates its two-year anniversary Thursday with two buses, two celebrity hosts - Pierce County Auditor Julie Anderson and former State Rep. Dennis Flannigan - two VIP hostesses (Jackie Fender and Jada-Moon Gridley) and 15 art venue stops during Third Thursday Artwalk. Pay your $10 ($20 VIP), chose a bus and route at 5:45 p.m. in front of Tacoma Art Museum and tour Brownie Morrison, Rampart, Tacoma City Grocer IGA, Nine Lives Vintage, Freighthouse Square Studio 6, Tacoma Custom Jewelry, Brick House Gallery, Embellish Multispace Salon, Millesime Designs, 253 Collective, The Swiss, Art Stop, Posh Homes and Mousai Studios. At the end of the route is a party at The Swiss featuring an ART BUS drink special. 5-9 p.m., $10-$20, 17th and Pacific Avenue, Tacoma
Liz Sales at The Evergreen State College: An opening reception for video artist Liz Sales' Home, Itself, Strange will be held Thursday night in the Daniel J. Evans Library Lobby on The Evergreen State College Olympia campus. Sales' series of 69 synthetic images combines the data in still frames with audio data from the Magnetic Field's three-volume album, 69 Love Songs. She reinterprets image, audio, and text data allowing for the integration of essential information from each song into each image. 5-8 p.m., free, Galerie Fotoland, Daniel J. Evans Library Lobby 1st Floor, 2700 Evergreen Parkway NW, Olympia, 360.867.6289
Survivor show at flow Gallery & Studio: Of course mixed media artist Lynn Di Nino recaptures the archival nature of Hostess Brand products as they were recently unearthed near the newly discovered underground lake in Antarctica. Of course Di Nino uses polypropylene, cement, wood, paint, plastic, enriched bleached wheat flour (flour, reduced iron, "B" vitamins (niacin, thiamine mononitrate (B1), riboflavin (B2). Folic acid), sugar, water, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated vegetable and/or animal shortening (soybean, cottonseed and/or canola oil, beef fat), whole eggs, dextrose, sweet dairy whey, soy protein isolate, calcium and sodium caseinate, soy flour, salt, mono and diglycerides, polysorbate 60, soy lecithin, cornstarch, cellulose gum, sodium stearoyl lactylate, natural and artificial flavors, sorbic acid (to retain freshness), yellow, 5, red 40, contains wheat, egg, milk and soybeans to create temperature-sealed wall hung vignettes of pink Snowballs, Zingers, DingDongs Cupcakes and more, in their found environments. Check it out Thursday at flow by the Tacoma Dome. 5-8 p.m., 301 A Puyallup Ave., Tacoma, 253.255.4675
Creatures of Habit at Fulcrum Gallery: In celebration of the 46th annual NCECA ceramic conference Fulcrum Gallery presents Creatures of Habit. Artists Heather Cornelius and Spencer Ebbinga explore both the human and the animal consciousness. Heather uses her smooth visual language to articulate messages of feminine ideals and iconography. Similarly Spencer opens up his subconscious to us by extracting his surrealistic visions from the dream state and giving them physical form. Drop by tonight for the show's opening reception. 6-9 p.m., 1308 S. MLK Way, Tacoma, 253.250.0520
Sharon Carr at Morso: An opening reception for local painter Sharon Carr's solo show featuring acrylic on canvas works will be held at Morso. The Gig Harbor wine bar will serve wine and hors d'oeuvres, naturally. 5-7 p.m., free, 9014 Peacock Hill Ave., Gig Harbor, 253.530.3463
Shawn Sheehy at Pacific Lutheran University: Pop-up books that are as much feats of paper engineering as works of art. Don't take our word for it - just try snatching away your kids' copy of Star Wars: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy. How does one make something as magical as a pop-up book? Where do the ideas and the skills come from? Shawn Sheehy talks about the influences and experiences in his life that have enabled him to concept and engineer pop-up books. 7 p.m., free, University Center Regency Room,12180 Park Ave. S., Tacoma, 253.531.6900.
Lisa Mereddy at 253 Collective: Fine artist Lisa Mereddy will display her works of oil on stretched canvas working with both brushes and painting knives. 3-8 p.m., 1901 S. Jefferson, Suite 100, Tacoma, 253collective@gmail.com