10 in 10: 2006 City Arts Magazine Hits Tacoma

(In celebration of 10 years of Art at Work Month, our 10 in 10 series spotlights the top 10 ideas, people and organizations to hit Tacoma in the past decade.)

Move over, Stranger. Make room, Seattle Weekly. If magazines could talk, that would’ve been the opening shot for City Arts, a 32-page glossy that launched in 2006 and put Tacoma on the cultural map next to our artsy neighbor to the north. The free monthly, under editor-in-chief Jeffrey Hirsch, focused a wide-angle lens on Tacoma’s up-and-coming artists, and on movers and shakers in the realms of music, fashion, technology, exhibitions, arts organizations and the museums. The slick gave the local art scene a surprising new perspective on itself – its rising breadth and quality – served up in full-color magazine photography and smart prose. The creative community found a lively forum for ideas in its pages.

“People who love the arts have always known that Tacoma is full of artists and people who love art,” says Virginia Bunker, a former Associate Editor of City Arts’ Tacoma edition. “But perhaps that came to a surprise to some readers, in Seattle and elsewhere, who know the city less well.” Bunker cites diverse topics such as the work of cowboy painter Fred Oldfield, the “jerkin'” dance craze, and an undying local penchant for graffiti, as gems capturing the essence of Tacoma’s quirky art scene. The local spoken-word scene was a revelation: “There are some amazing poets in this town.”