Metal-Urge Free Community Festival this Sunday!

Tacoma Community College wows crowds with a molten iron pour.

Join us for a free, fun-filled afternoon of metal arts for the whole family.

Metal-Urge Free Community Festival
Sunday, October 19
12 – 3 pm
Tollefson Plaza, S. 17^th & Pacific Avenue, Tacoma
Free and open to the public

We’ll keep you entertained with:

• Live sword fighting reenactments and display of armor and artifacts by Knights of Veritas
• Scratch block activity and molten iron pour with Tacoma Community College’s sculpture department
• Blacksmithing demonstrations with Lisa Geertson and Travis Conn
• Textured metal charm activity with Tacoma Metal Arts Center
• Hands-on metal crafts with Tacoma Art Museum
• Steel music under the direction of Miho Takekawa
• Three Graces sculptures by Mary Coss, in the plaza pools
• Food trucks – Lumpia World and The Original House of Donuts!

 

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Metal-Urge is a city-wide celebration of metal arts that explores the many ways artists push this versatile and diverse medium. From October 1 – November 30, 31 venues will feature metal-themed exhibits, workshops, lectures, festivals, and more.

A list of all events and exhibits is available at TacomaMetalUrge.com, and brochures are available in coffee shops and cultural venues around town.

Besides the Metal-Urge Free Community Festival, two additional anchor programs are:

• “Protective Ornament: Contemporary Amulets to Armor”
  October 18, 2014 – February 1, 2015
  Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Ave.
  This exhibit showcases nearly 100 works—including helmets, brass knuckles, breastplates, aggressive or defensive jewelry, chain mail, amulets, talismans, and protective gear—designed to address issues of protection and empowerment in the face of everyday perils and social challenges. Ranging from protective hardware (physical fortification) and protective “software” (faith-based adornment), the array of contemporary works underlines the crucial safeguarding function of jewelry and other wearable ornaments. Organized by the National Ornamental Metal Museum Foundation, Inc. The exhibition was curated by Suzanne Ramljak, Editor of Metalsmith magazine.

• Seattle Metals Guild 19^th Annual Northwest Jewelry & Metals Symposium
  October 18, 9 am – 5:30 pm
  Washington State History Museum, 1911 Pacific Ave.
  This metal arts symposium features lectures by Metalsmith magazine editor Suzanne Ramljak, historian Stephen Fliegel, Vivian Beer, artist Jennifer Trask, jeweler Todd Pownell, and metalsmith Myra Mimlitsch-Gray. For more information or to register visit seattlemetalsguild.org/programs/symposium.

Metal-Urge is organized by the Tacoma Arts Commission and sponsored by Click! Cable TV and The Greater Tacoma Community Foundation.

 

Tacoma takes on the metal arts this Oct & Nov

Metal-Urge
October 1 – November 30, 2014
31 locations around Tacoma

Metal-Urge, a city-wide celebration of metal arts, explores the many ways that artists push this versatile and diverse medium. From October 1 – November 30, 31 venues will feature metal-themed exhibits, workshops, lectures, festivals, and more. It’s time to explore Tacoma!

A list of events and exhibits is available at TacomaMetalUrge.com, and brochures are available in coffee shops and cultural venues around town.

Three Metal-Urge highlights are:

• Metal-Urge Free Community Festival
  October 19, noon – 3 pm
  Tollefson Plaza, S. 17^th and Pacific Ave.
  Come out for a free, fun-filled afternoon of metal arts. Below the majesty of Mary Coss’ site specific public art installation “Three Graces”, watch live sword fighting reenactments by Knights of Veritas, see a molten iron pour and create a scratch block with Tacoma Community College’s sculpture department, and check out a blacksmithing demonstration with Lisa Geertson and Scott Szloch. Try your hand at making a textured metal charm with Tacoma Metal Arts Center and participate in some hands-on crafts with Tacoma Art Museum. Do all this while listening to steel drum music under the direction of Miho Takekawa and munching on good eats from food trucks.

• “Protective Ornament: Contemporary Amulets to Armor”
  October 18, 2014 – February 1, 2015
  Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Ave.
  This exhibit showcases nearly 100 works—including helmets, brass knuckles, breastplates, aggressive or defensive jewelry, chain mail, amulets, talismans, and protective gear—designed to address issues of protection and empowerment in the face of everyday perils and social challenges. Ranging from protective hardware (physical fortification) and protective “software” (faith-based adornment), the array of contemporary works underlines the crucial safeguarding function of jewelry and other wearable ornaments. Organized by the National Ornamental Metal Museum Foundation, Inc. The exhibition was curated by Suzanne Ramljak, Editor of Metalsmith magazine.

• Seattle Metals Guild 19^th Annual Northwest Jewelry & Metals Symposium
  October 18, 9 am – 5:30 pm
  Washington State History Museum, 1911 Pacific Ave.
  This metal arts symposium features lectures by Metalsmith magazine editor Suzanne Ramljak, historian Stephen Fliegel, Vivian Beer, artist Jennifer Trask, jeweler Todd Pownell, and metalsmith Myra Mimlitsch-Gray. For more information or to register visit seattlemetalsguild.org/programs/symposium.

Metal-Urge is organized by the Tacoma Arts Commission and sponsored by Click! Cable TV and The Greater Tacoma Community Foundation.

Metal Artists and Local Venues Wanted for Tacoma’s Metal-Urge

Metal-Urge, organized by the Tacoma Arts Commission, is Tacoma’s city-wide celebration of the metal arts during which venues around Tacoma will program a wide variety of metal-based activities including exhibits, workshops, lectures, festivals and more. The event, which will run Oct. 1– Nov. 30, 2014, will showcase the vast range of talent and creativity present in metalworking to date.

In conjunction with Metal-Urge, Tacoma Arts Museum and Seattle Metals Guild will host two major metal arts events. The first is a metal arts exhibit, “Protective Ornament: Contemporary Amulets to Armor”, running Oct. 18, 2014 – early February 2015, at Tacoma Art Museum (1701 Pacific Ave.). The second is the Seattle Metals Guild’s 19^th Annual Northwest Jewelry and Metals Symposium at the Washington State History Museum (1911 Pacific Ave.) on Oct. 18, 2014.

Opportunity for Artists

Professional metal artists or artists whose work incorporates metal as an important component are invited to apply for exhibition opportunities at traditional and non-traditional venues around Tacoma in conjunction with Metal-Urge. Artists must reside in Washington or Oregon.

Application submissions will be juried by representatives from local galleries and venues participating in the event. Selected artists will be assigned to shows and contacted directly by the gallery or venue mounting the exhibit. Exhibition details will be worked out with each venue directly.

The deadline for artist applications is midnight on April 25, 2014.

Opportunity for Tacoma Venues

Galleries, museums, organizations, businesses and alternative spaces in Tacoma are invited to participate in Metal-Urge, a free joint programming opportunity to build excitement and attraction for Tacoma’s residents and tourists alike around metal arts. Possible avenues of involvement include but are not limited to: exhibiting metal-related artwork, offering metal-related classes or workshops, and hosting metal-related events.

The City of Tacoma’s Arts Program will pull together the metal-arts activities and exhibits happening around Tacoma and provide extensive print and electronic publicity materials.

More information about Metal-Urge and applications for both artists and venues are available for download at cityoftacoma.org/artsopps. For additional information, please contact Vyra Saran at vsaran@cityoftacoma.org or (253) 591-5191.